The year that was 2009 – sports wise – consisted of the New York Yankees winning yet another World Series title, a 40-year old quarterback in Brett Favre returning to play in the National Football League (and actually play well for that matter) and the captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins (who could conceivably be young enough to be Favre’s son) lift the Stanley Cup in the air.

What’s in store for 2010? Will the Yankees repeat? Will Favre return for a hundredth consecutive season? Will the Penguins and Sid, no longer a kid, sip champagne from Lord Stanley’s mug once again?

These are questions that are yet to be answered and it’s what makes the plethora of sports fans around the world excited and chock full of anticipation for what’s to come this year.

So I’ve decided to take a peek at my crystal ball and predict what might transpire this year. These predictions are the major sports stories of 2010.

I want to warn you, I’m not great at the whole prediction thing.

National Football League: Favre retires, and then un-retires to become mascot for Cleveland Browns

In a devastating move, Favre returns midway through the 2010 NFL season to join his former head coach, Mike Holmgren and the Cleveland Browns as head mascot. Unfortunately Favre is later removed from his mascot duties due to the Browns’ problems at their quarterback position. Holmgren, general manager of the team, names Favre the starting quarterback and the Browns miraculously win the Super Bowl – defeating the Oakland Raiders 38-37 in one of the most memorable games in recent memory.

Major League Baseball: The Toronto Blue Jays decide to return to their glory years

After re-hiring Cito Gaston less than two years ago as the team’s manager, the Toronto Blue Jays opt to return the entire 1993 World Series winning club in an attempt to bring the team out of its lengthy slump. The team gets hot and the middle of the lineup – consisting of Paul Molitor, Joe Carter and Ed Sprague – give opposing pitchers headaches. Unfortunately, the Jays could not get into contact with their former ace closer Duane Ward and opt for Mitch Williams. The team loses in game 7 of the World Series in the bottom of the ninth inning to the Philadelphia Phillies. Pitcher Roy Halladay of the Phillies is the World Series MVP.

National Basketball Association: Shaq vs. Kobe

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers meet in the NBA finals. Cavaliers centre Shaquille O’Neal and Lakers guard Kobe Bryant finally embrace after a lengthy well-publicized dispute. Except the embrace consists of the two of them hugging for a lengthy period of time – midway through game 7. The championship trophy is then split in two and both teams decide to end the championship in a tie. Talk about a love-fest.

National Hockey League: The Toronto Maple Leafs . . . still stink

It’s a fairly uneventful 2010-2011 NHL season except for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ attempt at bringing their fans a Stanley Cup championship. General manager Brian Burke pulls off a number of trades including the acquisition of forward Alexander Ovechkin from the Washington Capitals for a sixth-round draft pick. Unfortunately, nothing Burke does really matters as the Leafs still find ways to lose, going 0-82 during the regular season. They did however break records for attendance – and force Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment to build yet another new arena.

Those Leaf fans love their team!