John Zant
Z?S PICKS:
Houston Texans (2-10) at Jacksonville Jaguars (3-9)
Indianapolis Colts (8-4) at Cincinnati Bengals (8-4)
Oakland Raiders (4-8) at New York Jets (5-7)
Tennessee Titans (6-6) at Denver Broncos (10-2)
Cleveland Browns (4-8) at New England Patriots (9-3)
Buffalo Bills (4-8) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-10)
Minnesota Vikings (3-8-1) at Baltimore Ravens (6-6)
Kansas City Chiefs (9-3) at Washington Redskins (3-9)
Detroit Lions (7-5) at Philadelphia Eagles (7-5)
Miami Dolphins (6-6) at Pittsburgh Steelers (5-7)
Atlanta Falcons (3-9) at Green Bay Packers (5-6-1)
Seattle Seahawks (11-1) at San Francisco 49ers (8-4)
New York Giants (5-7) at San Diego Chargers (5-7)
St. Louis Rams (5-7) at Arizona Cardinals (7-5)
Carolina Panthers (9-3) at New Orleans Saints (9-3)
Winning Prediction in Bold
John Zant knows a thing or two about football. The veteran local journalist not only won a CIF championship as a key player with the 1963 St. Francis High Golden Knights, but he?s spent his lifetime covering football as an award-winning sports writer.
Zant, currently the sports columnist for the Santa Barbara Independent, tends to follow the college game more closely as a devoted fan of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but tries to keep up with the pros when he can. It didn’t help when his favorite team, the Los Angeles Rams, moved to St. Louis after the 1994 season.
“My favorite team no longer exists,” says Zant. “I grew up a fan of the Los Angeles Rams, from the days of Crazy Legs Hirsch and Tank Younger to the reign of the Fearsome Foursome, Roman Gabriel, Jack Snow, and the Chuck Knox teams. I watched many Rams games in the L.A. Coliseum and didn’t like their move to Anaheim. When Georgia Frontiere put them on her broomstick and flew to St. Louis, it was a divorce.”
Even still, Zant stepped up this week by taking a turn helping raise money for local youth scholarships by predicting the winners from the weekend?s NFL football games.
Zant went with a majority of home teams, predicting only Oakland, Kansas City and the New York Giants to win on the road this week.
“I hardly think there are any big surprises “on any given?Sunday” in the NFL. Some teams are nearly invincible at home, which is why I pick the Saints to bounce back in the Superdome against a very tough Carolina team,” Zant reasoned.
Find Zant’s local sports columns and weekly “Local Sports Highlights” on the Independent’s website HERE.
The “Local Celebrities Football Picks” promotion with PresidioSports.com and Santa Barbara Brewing Company?is raising money for local Junior Lifeguard scholarships while simultaneously raising awareness about different events and important causes around town.
Every week, Presidio Sports is collecting predictions from a local celebrity on the winners of NFL football games. Each correct pick will trigger a donation that will accumulate throughout the season. The promotion will provide scholarship money for the seven-week summer camp that promotes fitness and an active lifestyle. For over 40 years, the Santa Barbara Junior Lifeguard program has helped develop youth with strenuous daily workouts, water safety, first aid, surf lifesaving, marine education and competition.
So far, Olympic beach volleyball champion Todd Rogers was nearly perfect. Rogers nailed 12-of-13 winners to really set the bar high. Then professional surfer Lakey Peterson took her turn predicting the winners from the NFL?s Week 9 slate of games. Lakey herself went through the Junior Guards program as a Santa Barbara youngster. Also having participated so far is KEYT Sports Anchor Mike Klan, Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Axelrod,?and Australian adventurer Tim Cope.
The “Local Celebrity Football Picks” will be posted online each week and will also appear in the print weekly Santa Barbara Sentinel.
The Santa Barbara Brewing Company, located at 501 State Street since 1995, shows all NFL games and hosts Happy Hour M-F from 3 pm to 6 pm.
