So there I was, sitting with sports prognosticator David James
at a table on the Kerckhoff Hall patio, listening to a story about
the NFL’s future star receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Up to that point, every time I had spoken with James over the
phone, he talked my ear off about meetings he had had with NFL
general managers and Major League Baseball stars during which James
made sports predictions that would later come true. And until the
moment James produced a photograph of himself alongside Fitzgerald,
I was a little skeptical about his claims of superior
sports-related foresight and of his supposed friendships with
top-drawer professional athletes.
But there James was in the photo, grinning next to a beaming
Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald, the No. 3 pick in April’s draft, held
up his index finger and James held up two fingers.
“I told this kid, “˜Larry, two years and you’ll
be on the cover of every magazine,’ and he’s saying,
“˜Dave, you know, I’m going to say one,'”
said James, describing the photograph taken at Sky Bar on Sunset
Boulevard.
James showed me pictures of himself alongside a few other NFL
rookies ““ some of whom James thinks will be sleepers and
others will be stars off the bat. While we will have to wait and
see whether James’ assertions about those rookies come true,
many of his past predictions have come true.
With confidence in his own track record, James looks to take his
abilities beyond the radio show he hosted (“Call It What You
Want,” which aired on the San Luis Obispo-based KGLW 1340 AM
station) and is in the process of setting up a consulting firm so
professional sports organizations can utilize his expertise. For a
price.
“What if I go on Michael Thompson’s (radio show)
Lakers Talk and say, “˜Lakers, eh, but Derek Fisher will be
the clutch guy in the playoffs,'” James said.
“What is it worth to a team?”
James did make that Fisher call before the playoffs started and
sure enough, but I know what you’re thinking: This guy is
crazy. Well, that is probably the biggest hurdle James has to
overcome.
But much of James’ foresight comes from hours of studying
players and teams, from stats to video footage. And when he’s
done with the research, he also just gets a “sense” for
his predictions.
“I humbly say, it’s a special gift,” he said.
“It’s intuitive, it’s a quick glimpse that
“¦ I don’t know how to describe it.”
The Los Angeles-based, 41-year-old James has been
prognosticating professionally since 1998. And now he has teamed up
with Michael Pearson, who works at the UCLA Medical Center and
looks to put James in touch with local athletes who want their
proverbial palms read.
“David and I started off as friends, and we took that vibe
in first, knowing we were honest people,” Pearson said.
“After a while, he told me things. He would tell me future
calls. And I was like, wow.”
As I listened to James spew stories about general managers,
agents and players at a frenzied pace, my mind drifted to UCLA.
After all, teams like the UCLA basketball team could use some of
James’ consulting. So how about those Bruins?
“I think (UCLA men’s basketball coach) Ben Howland
was the wrong move,” James said. “They should have
gotten Rick Pitino.”
Probably the most contentious issue surrounding the program is
the departure of freshman forward Trevor Ariza, who has ended his
collegiate career and has put his name in the June NBA draft. And
then there’s junior forward Dijon Thompson, who has also made
himself eligible for the NBA draft but has not signed with an agent
and will likely return to UCLA.
“Dijon ““ nice, Ariza ““ nice. But it’s
nothing to make me say, “˜Whoa, we have got to have this
guy,'” James said. “I never want to tell someone
they made a wrong move; I wish (Ariza) the best . If he thinks he
is ready, then he is ready.”
James says he strives to be correct 80 percent of the time, and
fittingly, his favorite phrase is, “I humbly say.”
“We wish UCLA the best; we aren’t downers,”
James said. “We wish Ben Howland takes the Pac-10 by storm.
We are here for the Dan Guerreros; we are here for all the players
in the area; we are here for radio. We aren’t into saying,
“˜You stink.'”
Around here, you might not have to be clairvoyant to say someone
stinks.
Miller predicts that the Lakers will defeat the Timberwolves
in five. Pay him for that. E-mail him at
dmiller@media.ucla.edu.