Looking into the 2024 crystal ball

We’re just days away from 2024, a new year loaded with all kinds of possibilities and pitfalls.

It’s a leap year, meaning February has a 29th day. Looking ahead to this year we know there will be a presidential election. Paris, France, will host the summer Olympics. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will continue to be in “the news” though as if most of us really give a rat’s patootie about ’em.

It’s a pretty safe bet that the United States will continue to throw money and other resources at foreign wars. The government will continue to spend more than it takes in. Donald Trump will continue to muddy the political waters, whether as a candidate, convict, or both. Joe Biden will … you know, the thing … support the, uh, 54 states, thanks to Representative Jackie Walorski, who ... is she here?

In Texas, the state’s biggest scofflaw, Attorney General Ken Paxton, will continue taking revenge against every single state lawmaker who voted to impeach him, all while dodging the felony securities fraud charges that have dogged him since just after he took office eight years ago.

On a more positive note, 2024 could be the year that human beings return to the moon, albeit in a flyby mission on Artemus 2. It will be the first time a woman (Christina Koch), a Black person (Victor Glover), and a non-American astronaut (Canadian Jeremy Hansen) have gone to the moon. They will be commanded by Reid Wiseman. The earliest they can launch is late November, so there is a good chance this event will take place in 2025.

The celestial event of the year will be the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8. The path of totality crosses through the heart of Texas from Del Rio to Dallas. Some of the best viewing will be in the Hill Country communities of Fredericksburg and Kerrville. Uvalde, Austin, Waco, and Tyler should also have great views. All of the lower 48 states should get at least a partial view and Wharton will see most of the sun blocked out by the moon.

For the few of us who care, spring football will be different with the merger of the XFL and USFL (United States Football League). I keep seeing a lot of conflicting information about which teams will survive the merger and how the season will be played out. The latest information I have is that each league will keep four of their eight teams. Houston is the only city with a team in both leagues, and it appears that the XFL’s Roughnecks will be disbanded in favor of the USFL’s Gamblers.

When the new league starts play in March, I hope that the Gamblers will be playing somewhere in or near the city. TDECU Stadium at the University of Houston – the home of the Roughnecks – is undergoing renovation and will not be available.

As a huge fan of the original USFL in the 1980s, a relish the thought of being able to see and photograph Gamblers games. I’ve photographed nearly every home game of the Roughnecks in the two seasons they played here and am happy that it appears two Texas teams from the XFL will survive – the Arlington Renegades and the San Antonio Brahmas.

Before we get to spring football, however, the NFL continues its march to the Super Bowl. I think the AFC championship game comes down to Miami and Baltimore and the NFC championship pits Detroit and San Fransisco against each other. I’m betting the Super Bowl features Detroit and Baltimore with the Ravens taking it all.

This spring, while my attention is on football, Major League Baseball will get under way. I think the Houston Astros will once again make the playoffs, but it’s too soon to say how far they’ll go. Can the Texas Rangers repeat as World Series champions or was 2023 a one-off for the team? With the Dodgers signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto, they should be the early favorite to win the World Series. There are a lot of question marks going into next season and I’m anxious to see how it all plays out.

Other things to look for in 2024 include continued construction of Wharton’s long anticipated levee project. There will be at least three elections, with the primary on March 5, city and school board elections on May 6, and the presidential election on Nov. 5. If necessary, the primary runoff will be May 28.

If anyone still cares about Hollywood, the Oscars will be held on March 10. Early on it looks like a continued battle between “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” I used to really enjoy the Oscars, but they’ve become so convoluted in leftist politics that they aren’t much fun anymore. They’ve become a slap in the face to real entertainment.

So yeah, we march on to 2024 and all of its cheers, jeers, ballots, and bullets. Happy New Year’s everyone!