Yep, he called it

Maybe I’m letting you a little too far behind the curtain, but here’s how a “typical” night might go in my house. My wife and I are watching a show. Maybe it’s 30 Rock, Modern Family, whatever. About five minutes into the show, I’ll “call it,” predicting who the killer is in Bones or what the New Girl plot twist will be (that’s also usually when I stop paying attention during New Girl, but I’m usually writing and not really paying attention… I digress.

“KO Buckets” helped Cal Poly reel in Pacific and pull away for their 10th straight home conference win on Thursday night. By Owen Main

I also like to make predictions during sporting events. I’ve never been a gambler, but it’s fun to verbalize your predictions and see if they come true. I do the same thing with “what exact time will I pull into the driveway?” on long trips and “guess the attendance” in a stadium before it’s been announced. Whatever it is, I like to make it into a competition and, as such, I have to give J.D. Scroggin of the Tribune props. He called last night’s Cal Poly vs. Pacific second half spot-on.

After an offensively-ugly first half that ended with the Tigers leading 21-20, Scroggin turned and asked for my second-half prediction. I said “one team jumps out by 7 or so, the other team pulls them back, and it’s close at the end.”

Scroggin replied, “close for the first part of the half, but Cal Poly pulls away and wins by 10.”

I guess, in a way, we were both right. Pacific pulled ahead by 8 early in the second half and the Mustangs reeled them back in. That part I was right about. Scroggin had the last laugh though, with Cal Poly going up by 10 in the final minutes before a botched alley-oop that there was no reason for flew away from Joel Awich and Pacific hit a 3-pointer with just a few seconds left. If Cal Poly converts that open alley-oop, they likely don’t give up the fast-break 3-pointer that cut the margin to 5 at the end — and Scroggin’s prediction would have been spot on.

As it stood, he did a pretty good job. My wife never gives me credit when I “call it,” but I’ll give J.D. props here. He called it.

“Honestly, the scenario just popped into my head in the same way as I imagine it would for a true psychic,” said Scroggs. “Like a premonition. And the more I thought about it, it made sense. Cal Poly is great at home. Their shooters couldn’t shoot that poorly forever. And there have been several games in Mott just this season alone where the Mustangs played their best in the final 10 minutes. I very rarely make predictions, but this one flowed so naturally. Almost supernaturally. Super Driver.”

Somehow a quote from this part of The Waterboy came up. I’m still trying to figure out how it applies, but I can tell you that Cal Poly basketball is way less predictable than any Adam Sandler movie. Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding singer. They’re all really fun movies from my adolescence but damn, are they quotable!