Buckle up, here comes 2023, and look what's ahead | KEN WILLIS

Again, anyone can recap the year that was.

Over the coming week, you’ll get a belly full of year-in-review stories, top-10 lists, etc.

But rare is the fella who can give you a Year in Preview.

That’s right, if you’re inclined to step over to the corner and sneak a peek to the right, you’ll see what’s ahead for the sports world in 2023.

But I know you and your type. You’d rather just sit there and let me tell you.

Don’t say I never did anything for you . . .

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BYE-BYE BOSSYAfter 40+ years at Riviera, head pro Mike Boss is retiring

January

● After sheepishly sneaking into the playoffs with an 8-9 record, the Tampa Bay Bucs, behind magical Tom Brady, catch fire and . . . and . . . almost beat the 12-point spread in losing to the Cowboys in the NFC’s wild-card round.

● Just kidding, they lose by 20.

● Tom Brady turns his attention to the feelers coming in from three NFL franchises, one itchy network and, at last count, two-dozen internet models.

February

● Prior to the second Busch Light Clash in Los Angeles, NASCAR’s full embrace of the Golden State backfires when California Gov. Gavin Newsome signs legislation banning all fossil-fuel-burning stock cars by the end of Heat 3.

● Jimmie Johnson, back in NASCAR as a part-owner and occasional driver, wins the Daytona 500. New partner Richard Petty surprises him the next day with a belt buckle made from the winning car’s hood.

● Following the Super Bowl, and after their $2 billion-per-year purchase of the NFL Sunday Ticket, YouTube announces it will pay an additional $500 million per year to televise the Manning Cast — $600 million if they throw in J.B. Smoove and Cooper Manning.

March

● A former all-state catcher out of Junipero High in San Mateo, Calif., shows up at Washington Nationals camp hoping to make the team. That's right: Tom Brady. Twenty-eight years earlier, the Nationals organization — then known as the Montreal Expos — drafted Brady in the MLB draft, and he arrives to collect his bonus, call a good game, and leave a ticket at will-call for an internet model.

April

● CBS’ Jim Nantz, teary-eyed from the tip, calls his last Final Four for the network. When it ends, the visibly shaken Nantz is inconsolable right up until the next afternoon, when he gets his first whiff of dogwood as he passes through the front gate at Augusta National. “Hello, friend,” he tells the security guard.

● Things get testy early during Masters week at the annual Past Champions Dinner. The six LIV Tour golfers who are past winners get a separate invite from the Waffle House on Gordon Highway. "Patty melts all around," Phil Mickelson announces.

● LIV Tour golfer Cameron Smith wins the Masters and dedicates the victory to LIV commissioner and fellow Aussie Greg Norman, who proceeds to accept the honor and promptly lose it to Nick Faldo.

May

● For the 149th consecutive running, a 3-year-old horse wins the Kentucky Derby. Statisticians at MIT call it the freakiest happenstance since Julia Roberts married Lyle Lovett.

June

● MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says the next month’s All Star Game still won’t be in Atlanta.

● For the 32nd consecutive year, Steve Garvey wins Father’s Day.

July

● Between sets in the Wimbledon men’s final, Nick Kyrgios tells the referee he can’t concentrate with all the drama happening in the royal box.

● NASCAR’s inaugural Chicago street race is postponed a day until officials agree to redirect 10% from the purse to “special interests.”

● Ross Chastain wins New Hampshire but loses 50 points when NASCAR discovers seeds in his watermelon. Honestly, who buys seeded melons anymore?

August

● The sports world, a rare moment of solidarity, agrees to fast-forward to September in order to avoid the most do-nothing month in history.

September

● Tom Brady begins his 24th professional season quarterbacking a team of Instagram models. They enter Week 1 as 2-point favorites over the Texans.

● Sitting 14 games out of first place in the NL East, but still owing $98 million in salary for the closing weeks of the season, the Mets appeal to Congress for a continuing resolution to make it through Game 162. They get it, of course, along with a $31 million grant to study the carbon footprint of pine tar.

October

● What’s this? Yes! The Angels finally make the playoffs. Out of habit, Mike Trout flies home to New Jersey to visit family and barely makes it back to Anaheim for Game 1.

● Nick Saban turns 72 on Halloween and celebrates by dressing as Kirby Smart to lure more 5-star recruits.

● YouTube TV’s entrance into the NFL’s Sunday Ticket franchise has been spotty, to say the least. Things come to a head when a Patrick Mahomes pass freezes in mid-air due to online buffering. By the time the buffering ends, Mahomes is in the locker room chatting with Jake from State Farm.

November

● Officials in Boulder determine the Colorado Buffaloes are well over the school’s self-imposed salary cap. Deion Sanders is forced to shove two linebackers and a backup QB into the transfer portal to free up some liquidity.

● Though building on their 2022 renaissance and entering late November at 9-1, the Lions still manage to lose their Thanksgiving game, this time when Tom Brady caps a game-winning drive with a 10-yard slant to a TikTokker named Candy.

December

● YouTube suffers another PR hit when nearly a million Giants fans miss the fourth quarter of a key divisional game due to buffering. Strangely enough, when the buffering ends, they find they’ve been kicked into a wormhole of Elvis videos, and two hours later, they’re no longer angry.

● The Jacksonville Jaguars slip to 12-1 with a loss to Baltimore. “Fire Doug Pederson” signs are spotted in the Duval lawns of newly spoiled fans.

● As the month nears its close, Year in Review columns begin to appear, as does one fool’s attempt at predicting the year ahead.

— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Tom Brady's models, Mickelson's patty melt, YouTube NFL; a look to '23