Mike Kays: HASHMARKS: Rolling out the cracked crystal ball for a crazy-good 2023

Dec. 31—To be honest, a lot of 2022 stunk. Same for 2020 and 2021. The world's just a weird place these days, not as much fun and not near as affordable.

My grandparents used to talk about the "good ol' days" and yours probably did too. And in our early days, we thought those were like cavemen days.

Well here I am, around the age they talked about those days, and I see some good ol' days that seem long gone.

Some predict bleak things for 2023 worldwide. To heck with that. We need to have some fun.

So maybe even the wildest predictions from my annual gaze at my ever-so-cracked crystal ball will happen to come true. And again, try not to take all of them seriously, and unless you're feeling really, really lucky, don't take them all to the bank. And if by chance they all turn out to happen, you're welcome.

—January: A collection of area dispensaries offer to step in to sponsor a high school basketball tournament to replace the defunct Shrine Tournament and toss in Name, Image and Likeness incentives for player participants. The soon-to-come Olive Garden counters with its own offer. Muskogee's own "Monday Live" airs a coin flip to decide it. ... Georgia defeats TCU 44-28 to repeat as national champions. ... Muskogee's own Kaylee Bryson wins the Chili Bowl Nationals.

—February: Patrick Mahomes throws for 310 yards and three touchdowns as Kansas City defeats San Francisco 35-27 in Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz. ... There's a late "consultant" staff hire for Fort Gibson boys soccer, which seeks to regroup after getting knocked off in 4A quarterfinals to Hilldale. The same connections that once got Herschel Walker to the Fort for a Youth Football Banquet get Lionel Messi to agree to be in town for a two-week break in March. ... Hilldale's Jax Kerr's slam dunk in the area round causes a shift in game locations when it not only shatters the goal he scores on, but the one at the opposite end too. ... Wagoner's Kale Charboneau joins brother as state wrestling champion with special move he coins as the "QB keeper" — just plowing through opponent. Fort Gibson's Blade Walden and Checotah's Colt Collett both repeat as champs. Peighton Mullins wins her third state title for FGHS and Cole Mahaney wins his first as the Tigers take second overall teamwise.

—March: Muskogee boys lose to Putnam North in triple overtime in Class 6A area basketball consolation final, winning seven of its final 10. State-bound: Okay boys reach finals in Class A, lose to Rattan. Warner girls reach Class 2A semifinals, lose in overtime to Dale, Oktaha girls fall in quarters to Pocola. Oktaha boys fall to Dale in 2A final. Fort Gibson girls reach state tournament for the 19th straight time in excruciatingly challenging circumstances, winning back-to-back four-overtime battles followed by a seven-overtime victory in the area tournament finals that pushes the boys final to Sunday. Dead-legged, the Lady Tigers lose in the state quarterfinals that for them begins on the following Tuesday against Bethany. ... College hoops: Oklahoma women reach NCAA basketball Final Four with South Carolina, LSU and Indiana, lose to South Carolina in semifinals. Connors State ends season in Elite Eight in NJCAA Men's Tournament.

—April: Houston, Texas, Kansas and Arizona make NCAA Men's Final Four, with Kansas defeating Houston to give the Big 12 its third straight national champion. ... At the Augusta Country Club bar during the Masters, Rory McElroy and Greg Norman get into a heated argument that almost comes to blows. When order is restored, CBS signs both along with Dustin Johnson (with Norman, representing LIV) and Tiger Woods (with McElroy, representing PGA) to a Battle Royal at Royal Liverpool with the winner dictating the full 2024 schedule for the other. ... Meanwhile, Muskogee golf coach Brad Huddleston scores an earth-shattering coup when he recruits Charlie Woods — yes, that Charlie Woods — to Muskogee and MHS lands Nike NILs for all golfers. In return, Charlie's dad merely asks for naming rights to Rougher Village.

—May: Thunder fall to Clippers in first round of NBA playoffs. ... Oktaha finally gets atonement against Silo, run-rules the Rebels in the Class 2A baseball championship. Fort Gibson and Hilldale reach state tournament in baseball. Tigers knock off Hornets in 14-inning quarterfinal but lose to Heritage Hall in semis. ... Connors State coach Perry Keith and company reach the NJCAA College World Series and afterward accepts a player personnel gig with the St. Louis Cardinals, overseeing all Central American operations. Korey Keith takes his dad's old job.

—Summer: Jacobe Smith wins his UFC light heavyweight debut at UFC 291. ... Thunder land Kristaps Porzingis as a free agent, giving Chet Holmgren time to heal from Lisfranc injury. ... Project Veritas exposes LeBron James admitting to causing Holmgren's injury to "stick it to another small market team that doesn't serve the big dogs' needs." ... Citing the growing number of women on football play-by-play, Paramount/Nickelodeon forces the NFL to blink on lawsuit threats to include kids on call teams: "They're using our slime now, they need to use our choice kids." ... To kick off her 30th year — longest tenure among any coach at Muskogee, Angie Hillmon holds a book signing at the state capitol of her biography "No Rougher Tougher Than This Rougher," debuting No. 5 on the New York Times Best Seller List.

—September: Thirteen college athletes debut on the New York Stock Exchange as a result of their NIL deals. ... Wagoner Public Schools strikes deals with Guy Fieri for hospitality services at its spacious new press box and an NIL deal for the Bulldogs. Inspired by Bradley Beesley's "Fathers of Football" documentary chronicling the Bulldogs' 2015 title run, Fieri debuts a new series, "DawgGone Good Food." ... After a delay due to last year's construction slowdown at Rougher Village, Kamburgers, named after Washington safety and ex-Rougher Kam Curl, make their debut as the hottest selling item at Muskogee football games, having just recently berthed franchises in Landover, Md., another in Fayetteville. A third is going up adjacent to Braum's.

—October: MHS ex Victor Williams stuns the boxing world with a unanimous decision win over reigning IBF super welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. in Philadelphia. ... Refs infuriate teams at final Oklahoma-Texas contest as members of the Big 12 when six touchdowns are called back and 591 yards of penalties assessed in a 7-6 Sooners win. ... Wagoner, Hilldale and Porum reach state fastpitch tournament. Wagoner goes as far as semifinals in 4A as freshman sensation "Goose" Hutchens, after drawing her 55th intentional walk, steals home to defeat Lone Grove.

—November: Texas Rangers defeat New York Mets 4-3 to win their first World Series in franchise history. Jacob deGrom wins the AL Cy Young and Bruce Bochy Manager of the Year. ... Muskogee's Kaylee Bryson signs with Joe Gibbs' NASCAR team.

—December: Muskogee defeats Lawton, then Choctaw, and in the title game, Jamarian Ficklin tosses a 22-yard TD pass to Kayden McGee with 51 seconds to play to give Muskogee its first state championship since 1986, 37-33 over Edmond Deer Creek. Wagoner knocks off Clinton 38-22 for its seventh state title in Class 4A. ... With a 12-team football playoff a year away which gives conference champions a first-round bye, four of the five Power 5 conferences nix conference championship games, opting to use a committee to rank a champion. "Who really wants to give up board room influence?" says one conference head. ... OU goes 11-1, winning its last seven including a Big 12 title game over upstart Texas Tech, and joins Florida State, Alabama and Penn State in the playoffs set for Jan. 1. OU assigned to Rose Bowl for semifinal against Penn State, Alabama gets Florida State in Sugar Bowl. OSU goes 6-6 and beats Auburn in Liberty Bowl. ... A record number of college football players are stranded in the portal with no place to go after the initial signing period.

Hope your 2023 has its crazy-good moments.