Former USC Trojans head coach Pete Carroll speaks to the media after being formally introduced as the Seattle Seahawks' new head coach at a news conference at team headquarters in Renton, Washington, January 12, 2010. REUTERS/Robert Sorbo

With 2009 behind all of us it’s time to look towards what 2010 will bring. There are two people whom I hope 2010 isn’t so good for. It’s not that I wish harm on anyone or anything like that. I just want these two people to fail in 2010. Those two people of course are Pete Carroll and Aroldis Chapman.

Pete Carroll

I want Carroll to fail because I am a fan of USC (so of course I am not being biased, wink wink) and I have seen him struggle in the NFL before and he’s dumb for going back. Back in 1994 Carroll went 6-10 with the New York Jets and was 27-21 with the New England Patriots. He made two playoff appearances with the Patriots, but he feels that he is better suited to be in the NFL a lot more now than he was back then because of the experience he has gained.

I don’t care how he feels, it’s how he performs. While at USC he had a record of 97-19 with two national championships and seven consecutive Pac-10 titles. Of course that was college. I want to be one of the first people to say that the Seattle Seahawks are an emerging team in the NFL, so his choice of teams was not the worst. They had a very depleted defense this season and an offense that has multiple weapons, including former Bengals star T.J. Houshmandzadeh and former Patriot Deion Branch. Matt Hasselbeck should also be back and healthy for the first time in awhile.

OK, so all my arguments benefit Carroll going to the Seahawks to be their head coach but that doesn’t mean he’ll be successful, or I like it. He is one of the two people I want to see fail this year and I like the guy. He’s a great coach and is a players coach. Last year when Mark Sanchez left USC prematurely Carroll criticized him tremendously and now he’s already won his first playoff game. I feel as if Carroll cannot wait to get revenge on Sanchez but I think Sanchez would want the revenge even more. No I don’t think that was one of the reasons Carroll came back to the NFL to get revenge on just him, I think he left because he has something to prove.

A lot of people are saying that his USC team wasn’t as good as it had been before and that’s entirely true. They struggled this year and didn’t show up when the games mattered the most, except against BC in the Emerald Bowl. USC is still expected to be one of the best teams in NCAA football next year and he’ll be missing out. If USC struggles next year people will look at Carroll as the reason as to why they had a successful organization, but if they do well, it will show that Carroll was expendable. Especially because they let him walk so easily.

So I really hope that his team doesn’t make the playoffs and Mark Sanchez gets his revenge. The Seahawks are a good and upcoming team but I just hope Carroll isn’t the difference maker in 2010 for them. I also hope USC goes on and wins a national championship without him.

Aroldis Chapman

I know that it’s bad to say I hope this kid doesn’t do well in 2010 but I honestly don’t think he will. For all of you who don’t know who he is, he is the Cuban pitcher who is coming to the majors next year and has signed on with the Cincinnati Reds for the next season. He is supposedly only 22 years old and can throw something around 100 mph, but is that ever true? No. I bet the kid is closer to 25 and only throws a max of 96 mph.

The kid only went to the Reds because of their depth in Latin America players. He had never even seen a game played in the MLB before and had to look at a google map in order to find out what teams are from where. Now I know that he didn’t pick the Yankees and I am grateful for that, but he should’ve picked the Red Sox. The Red Sox have many Latin American players and are a good team. The Reds, are not. The Reds will not compete this year and Chapman might not either, but they are just not the best fit.

I am not saying that the Red Sox are the best fit but they definitely aren’t the worst. I guess if we really needed another pitcher we would’ve gone after him much harder but maybe he was not the pitcher everyone thought he was and that is why he ended up with the Reds. The Yankees always need pitching but they didn’t pursue this kid as much as they probably could’ve. So that leaves me to wonder if he will ever live up to the hype the media has created.

There are so many players that come from other countries that are supposed to be “the next big thing” but end up being a bust. I am not saying that I want him to be a bust, but I just don’t think he will have a good year this year. I predict that he will start in their minor league system, get called up mid-season and placed in the bullpen. Then he’ll get rocked for tons of home runs and maybe then he’ll convert to a starter in 2011 and be the next Jose Contreras. I hope he proves me wrong because I might feel bad if something dramatic happens to him.

So those are the two people in sports that I think/want to fail this year. Carroll might not have as difficult time as Chapman but I think both people will find it hard in their new respected homes.

By Greg Petersen