I know I’m delinquent on my end of 2011 posts, but after seeing this post on Grantland, I couldn’t resist interrupting my countdown to make a few predictions for 2012, mostly in the pop culture department. Like Grantland, I will classify these predictions as “Fearless (But Not Insane).”

I predict that, in 2012…

1. JK Rowling will announce a non-Harry Potter project.
   I’m still convinced that there’s at least a 10% chance that she has already released something else under a pseudonym.
2. One of the following people will die:
   Chuck Berry, Elton John, Billy Joel, Ringo Starr, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie
3. One of the following people will have a big public meltdown (an arrest could be involved):
   Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, The Situation, Jennifer Aniston, John Mayer, Ashton Kutcher, Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, Paula Abdul, Steven Tyler
4. The Dark Knight Rises will get an 84% on Rotten Tomatoes
   Brave, meanwhile, will earn an impressive 94%
   
5. At least six sports-related child abuse scandals will emerge — at least one of them major
6. There will be a failed assassination attempt on a major public figure
7. Major competitors to both Steam and NetFlix streaming will emerge
   And they’ll both be Amazon, which will release a slick, unified content manager
8. I will get married
9. At least half of the following long-running comedies will announce a date or a year of their final episode:
   The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, iCarly, South Park, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Daily Show, The Simpsons, South Park, 30 Rock
10. There will be a major Facebook backlash
    And a sexy new competitor with a name of five characters or less will emerge
11. Relient K will release a top-ten album and a top-twenty single
    I think it will be a back-to-basics album packed with catchy hooks that will make some radio noise
12. The world will not end
13. Mass Effect 3 will earn an 89 on MetaCritic, far from the year’s best score, but will go down as the 2012’s best game
    Discontent over EA’s DLC habits and co-op bugs will drag down the score a few points
14. A non-SEC team will win the national title
    And I have an inkling it will unexpectedly be Boise State
15. 2012 will be remembered as a fantastic year for movies, music, games, television, and writing
    For at least some of those media, 2011 was a soft year. 2012 will is shaping up to be great on every one of those fronts, though.