When you offered my old baseball coach an opinion, you got a customary response.

“Nokes,” he would say. “You know what opinions are like? I’ll give you a hint; we all got ‘em and they all stink.”

For those of you reading between the lines, you can see what Coach Eick was getting at.

The best part of being a columnist is offering those opinions – stinky or not – and making predictions.

Most of the time those predictions are guaranteed to go wrong. Mike and Mike from ESPN Radio have a great segment that pokes fun at those woe-be-gone predictions.

Fortunately, I’ve built a good rapport with coaching staffs, have been in the locker rooms, and as a student at NIU, have taken advantage of the fact that it is easy to get to know our student athletes.

Armed with an arsenal of background material, I feel comfortable looking into my crystal ball and dolling out my predictions or opinions.

For those of you that caught the Mike North Morning Show on WSCR-AM670 yesterday morning, you were treated to a soliloquy on former Cub Jacque Jones.

North and co-host Fred Huebner rallied behind the underachieving outfielder that became the bane of Cubs fans. The suddenly power stricken Jones hit all of five home runs this year, and statistically speaking only played about one quarter of the season. With a sub-par arm from the outfield and the bizarre tendency to constantly lose balls in the lights, the Cubs will be a better team without Jones.

Carl Crawford would sure look good in center field, and if that is what Jim Hendry has lined up, none of us will remember Jones.

Another man also felt the wrath of an angry fanbase. NIU fans fired on former basketball coach Rob Judson as much as Cubs fans fired on Jones.

Thus far, NIU basketball has picked up right where they left off. Ricardo Patton seems like an excellent salesman, and it is encouraging to see the Huskies dip into the Chicago Public League for recruits. Hopefully the charisma Patton exudes will translate into a more athletic squad, and more wins. But it is too early to pass judgment; the man needs some quality horses for the long race that is an NCAA basketball season.

Another great aspect of writing columns is fan reaction. My former roommate is friends with NIU relief pitcher Dave Nykiel. Last year I wrote a rant about the San Francisco 49ers being a sleeper team in the NFL. Nykiel was on the phone to quickly give me grief and tell me I seem like a smart kid and that I shouldn’t have taken advice from my roommate Rich.

Unlike other columnists, I am man enough to have noticed that I was wrong on that one. After suffering through a Monday Night Football bore-fest, props go to Nykiel for calling me out.

Then there is men’s soccer. NIU didn’t tear up the MAC like I thought they would this year, but the team managed to play great soccer in big matches. When I saw them topple then No. 9 Northwestern I thought a torrid stretch was imminent.

A switch however appears to have been flipped, and hopefully not too late for Steve Simmons’ crew. NIU has won two-straight and appears to have been awakened at just the right time. If the Huskies can beat Akron Friday, no small task, they advance to the MAC Tournament Finals. With a rested Marcus McCarty, look for NIU to play in the title game on the pitch of Akron’s soccer field.

Pick me some winners:

Men’s soccer-NIU over Akron, NIU over Buffalo

Men’s basketball SIU over NIU

Women’s basketball-NIU over WIU

Football-Navy over NIU