Column: Jon Laging, Talking Sports

Predictions have a long history. The prophets of the Old Testament were honored and revered. I’m not a biblical scholar but it seems to me they were always right. There were a few occasions when they didn’t fit into the current political thinking and suffered for it.

Perhaps the most famous of the medieval forecasters was Nostradamus. There has been a cult that has grown up around him. I guess that proves that if you can make your predictions obscure enough you have a better chance of being interpreted as right.

So with some trepidation and the happy realization that a year from now no one will remember these predictions, here they are:

Even though the Chicago White Sox have beefed up their team for 2011, the Minnesota Twins will again dominate the Central Division of the American League. Joe Mauer will finish with one of the league’s top five batting averages. His home run totals will not increase and this will mark the first year he plays a few games in another position besides catcher. Justin Morneau will fully recover from his concussion, lead the Twins into the playoffs and be named American League MVP. The Twins will have trouble with their middle infielders and Nick Punto will play as many games as Nishioka and Casilla. Ben Revere will take over center field in July and be in contention for Rookie of the Year. Kyle Gibson will be called up with Revere and take his place in the middle of the Twins’ starting rotation. Michael Cuddyer will be injured, and Denard Span will move to right field. Danny Valencia will continue playing a good third base, suffer a small sophomore jinx and his batting average will drop, but will still hit .290 and be a solid contributor to the team.

Joe Nathan will not regain his previous form and leave the Twins after 2011. Francisco Liriano will become more and more effective and take his rightful place as the ace of the pitching staff. The Twins will not spend the money or give up their two high draft choices to sign Carl Pavano. (This prediction has a chance of being wrong even before you read this.) The middle of the starting staff will be Baker, Duensing, Slowey and Blackburn as before, with one used as trade bait.

The Twins will not lose to the New York Yankees in the playoffs, because the Yankees won’t be there. The Twins will reach the World Series and surprise the nation.

The Minnesota Vikings will make the decision to rebuild rather than trying to reload and fail to make the playoffs for the second year in a row. The Wilfs will get their stadium, and the Vikings’ future looks bright, but not for 2011.

Tubby Smith’s Minnesota Gophers will grab a No. 3 seed in the Big Dance. Play well and advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen behind the leadership of Blake Hoffarber and Trevor Mbakwe. They will finish in the top four in conference play behind the eventual winner Michigan State.

The Minnesota Gopher football team will not contend for the Big Ten crown. They will have a losing season, but improve from 2010 and new Head Coach Jerry Krill promises better things to come.

The Minnesota Timberwolves come together the last half of the season and learn how to win. Michael Beasley and Kevin Love prove to be the genuine article. As of yet they are no threat to the memory of the Minneapolis Lakers and George Mikan, but the possibility is there.

That does it for the predictions. If you flip a coin enough times, it will eventually turn 50% heads and 50% tails. If my predictions are under 50%, I need a new coin.