A dozen can't-miss, pop culture predictions for 2012:
1. The Green Bay Packers will repeat as Super Bowl champions (defeating the New England Patriots by a score of 37-31).
2. There will be a wave of Margaret Thatcher nostalgia when Meryl Streep wins the Best Actress Oscar.
3. The United States will dominate the London Olympic Games in medal count (and trash-talking).
4. The presidential campaign will be remarkably civil, for a change.
5. There will be a wave of nostalgia, too, for all things Watergate on the 40th anniversary of the break in, next June.
6. The U.S. stock market will perform better than the pundits have been expecting.
7. California will launch official plans to secede from the union (just want to make sure you're paying attention).
8. The Tampa Bay Rays will win the World Series (yes, I'm serious).
9. Rookie quarterback Andrew Luck will struggle in the National Football League.
10. Yes, the Miami Heat will win the National Basketball
Association title and LeBron James will be cheered by hoops fans.
11. My New York Rangers will fight and claw their way to the Stanley Cup championship.
12. The movie industry's box-office results will continue to
decline, indicating that consumers care more about convenience and thrift than the movie experience.
A bonus prediction: It will be a good year to be British in general.
Jon Friedman writes the Media Web column for MarketWatch.com. Click here to read his latest column.
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