With editor Randy McRoberts out of the office at the beginning of this work week, it fell on me to write today's column, which messed up my normal routine, that being to wait until late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning for inspiration to strike.

That almost always fails, because watching classic boxing matches on youtube.com (check out Marvin Hagler vs. Tommy Hearns, if you want to see a real slugfest) and scouring baseballreference.com for obscure records (the last 17-year-old to play in a major league baseball game was Larry Dierker, who made three pitching appearances with the Houston Colt .45s in 1964) fails to ignite my muse, and I'm left staring at a blank page.

As panic sets in, my brains says "forget the 'athletics as a metaphor for the human condition' masterpiece, and just give everyone the power rankings," which more often than not is what I do.

So, with high school sports done until autumn, and needing to produce something with 72 fewer hours than normal, I'm just going to pick up where I left off on Friday, when I ended my column with a prediction. Here's some Harford County sports prognostications for the second half of 2011, and the first half of 2012:

1. Last week I wrapped up my rant by pointing out that the North Harford baseball team, which fell one game short of going to its first ever state final, will only lose two starting players to graduation, and that the combination of returning varsity experience and painful memories of their 2011 semifinal loss will make the Hawks a very tough team to beat next season. I'm not dumb enough or confident enough to predict a 3A state title, because I've seen some awfully strange things happen in the post-season, but I'll go ahead and say that North Harford makes it to the championship round in 2012.

2. It's very tough to make pre-season predictions for the Aberdeen IronBirds, because their roster changes so dramatically from year to year, but I'm going to go ahead and give it a shot. Were it not for a bad run in August last season, the IronBirds would have finished at or over the .500 mark, and I say this year they have their first winning record since 2006, when they wound up 41-34. The Brooklyn Cyclones will win the McNamara Division again, but 42 victories would probably put the 'Birds in contention for a wild-card playoff berth.

3. Last fall, for the first time in my four years with The Aegis, the Fallston field hockey team failed to bring home a state title, losing 2-1 in the 2A semifinals to eventual champion Glenelg. The Cougars were also beaten in the UCBAC's Chesapeake (upper) Division race, as Patterson Mill snagged the title on its first try with a 4-1-1 record (Fallston went 4-2). In the upcoming 2011 field hockey season, I'm calling for Fallston to recapture the conference crown, which won't come easy, and get back into the 2A title game, which will be even harder. Like I did with North Harford baseball, I'm going to stop short of predicting a state championship.

4. In boys basketball, I'm betting that Aberdeen regains its title as UCBAC champ, dethroning Havre de Grace, which won the Chesapeake crown for a second straight year earlier in 2011 with an 11-1 division record. Last season, the Eagles had some impressive showings, including a victory over powerhouse Lake Clifton, but suffered from an inability to tighten up late in close contests, and if they iron out that problem they'll be tough to beat.

I've got more rumbling around in my head, but I'll save those for next week.