Old Moore's Almanac clearly has a great belief in what we may call the power of player power.
Their in-house psychic has revealed his predictions for 2016. The publication has been unafraid of sticking it's head above the parapet since it was founded by the old man Theophilus Moore back in 1764.
The accuracy of their predictions has sometimes been called into question. In 2012, they predicted that the European Union would collapse, a prophecy that was at best premature. But they keep coming back for more. They don't let the false prophesies get them down.
So, what does 2016 hold in store?
Well in addition to predicting an assassination attempt on Barack Obama and a recession in Australia (where were they at the start of 2007 though?) they are boldly predicting a Connacht double next September.
Yes, according their anonymous psychic, two of the most tortured teams in the GAA will reach the promised land. Tears will surely be shed as Mayo will end their long wait for Sam and Galway will finally deliver on All-Ireland hurling final day.
What a month that will be.
One would caution westerners not to get too excited at this point. The record of psychics and seers in sport is far from unblemished. In 1978, Hereford United were desperately scrambling to avoid relegation from the Third Division.
Their manager Tony Ford did the only rational thing he could think of and enlisted the help of a psychic/hypnotist called Ronald Markham who went under the professional name 'Romark'. We interviewed Daniel Taylor of the Guardian and the author of 'I Believe in Miracles' about the incident this week.
As Taylor detailed, 'Romark' was not only a psychic and a hypnotist but a trash talker who boasted he could 'outclass anything Uri Gellar could do'. Romark's reputation grew after he successfully predicted that Hereford would 'beat Chesterfield 2-1 and Peter Spiring will score the winning the goal'. The sceptics were initially confounded. Managers from all over England were no doubt badgering Tony Ford to secure Romark's services.
However, his first prediction was to prove his last successful prediction. In the psychic game, anything less than an 100% success rate is deemed unacceptable. He predicted a Hereford victory next time out but they lost 2-0 to Cambridge. In a desperate attempt to prove his bona fides, he offered a free sample of his work by placing a hex on League leaders Nottingham Forest and saying that they would finish the season empty handed.
A fortnight later, Forest won the League Cup and a couple of months later they won the League. Romark later went to jail for robbing expensive jewellery from his mother.
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