These sports stories could steal the spotlight in 2012

Well, sports fans, there you have it — another year shot to ... heck.

And it was a pretty interesting one at that, what with all the Jimmermania, the sudden departures of Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and the team's top player Deron Williams, the rise-and-out (not to be confused with rise-and-shout) saga of BYU quarterback Jake Heaps, world championships for the Packers, Mavericks, Bruins and Cardinals, and scandalous national stories out of Penn State and Syracuse universities that rocked those programs and shook our sensibilities.

And now a glorious new year is upon us, giving us time to not only reflect on what's happened in the past but, perhaps more importantly, try to make the coming year an even better one.

With that goal in mind, here are my annual "Sports Predictions for 2012" — a list of things that perhaps could happen and, in some cases, definitely should happen during the next 12 months:

January — LSU's football team wins the BCS national championship with a 17-14 victory over Alabama, which is a good thing because if the Crimson Tide had won, 'Bama coach Nick Saban's gigantic, over-inflated ego would no longer have fit in the Superdome. ... Jazz coach Tyron Corbin sets a franchise record for most perspiration expended during a postgame interview.

February — Aaron Rodgers leads the Green Bay Packers to their second straight Super Bowl title with a 35-27 victory over the New England Patriots. After the game, delighted Packer fans can be heard asking "Brett who?" and "Bart who?" ... During the Super Bowl halftime show, Madonna thankfully does not suffer from any wardrobe malfunctions, although a member of the Cirque Du Soleil performing troupe does suffer a pulled hamstring and is subsequently listed as day-to-day.

March — The BYU and Weber State men's basketball teams each nail down berths in the NCAA Tournament, while Utah State winds up playing in the NIT. As for the University of Utah, well, the Utes are just glad their forgettable 6-25 season is finally over.

April — Albert Pujols hits three homers and drives in seven runs on opening day for the Los Angeles Angels, upon which team owner Arte Moreno proudly proclaims Pujols' contract as "the best $254 million I ever spent." ... The youthful Utah Jazz, a gritty group of role players without a true superstar, shock a lot of so-called experts by sneaking into the NBA playoffs with the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.