RESULTS: the HCRN 2023 BINGO Card

Now, as a dedicated follower of the Howie Carr Radio Network, it’s your turn.

By Emma Foley Last updated Dec 28, 2023 1,318

This time last year, the crew at the Howie Carr Radio Network compiled 24 predictions for the year ahead.

One might say the staff follows the news closely. The Captain has cultivated their skills to notice patterns and predictable outcomes. They put their heads together to come up with their best guesses for the year in politics, entertainment, and culture.

BINGO! Last Call with Emma Foley | 12.22.23 – The Grace Curley Show Hour 3

Now 2023 has come and gone, and it is time to evaluate the guesses from Howie, Grace, and the gang. Which guesses were wildly far off? Which expectations came true? And which did they come dangerously close to?

THESE GUESSES DID NOT COME TRUE THIS YEAR:

BRADY RETURNS TO THE PATRIOTS

The G.O.A.T. remained in retirement for the duration of 2023, and another un-retirement by Tom Brady is out of the question, he told listeners on his Sirius XM podcast “Let’s Go!”

“My parents would call, my kids would call. They’d kill me. I wouldn’t be around by tonight.” The seven-time Super Bowl champion assured us he’s used up his one allotted un-retirement.

NANCY PELOSI PUBLISHES MEMOIR & GETS BRIDGE NAMED AFTER HER

While the start of 2023 saw the final few days of Crazy Nancy’s Speakership, she announced she will be seeking reelection for California’s 11^th District in 2024. So far, there has been no announcement of a bridge named for the bridge-builder. The memoir will most likely debut at the end of her career if she, with almost four decades on Tom Brady, ever accepts retirement herself.

Pelosi’s daughter Nancy Prowda also saw a change in position this year after the death of Dianne Feinstein, for whom she was the on-site, semi-secret caretaker.

When Sen. Feinstein passed in September, Prowda most likely went back to running Hilton’s ESG department full-time.

BIDEN PRE-PARDONS SAM BANKMAN-FRIED

It’s no dice for the curly-headed crypto king. Bankman-Fried, convicted on money laundering and fraud charges, will receive his sentence March 2024. He’s looking at a maximum of 110 years in prison. While there’s still time, the uber-woke Democrat fat fat is unlikely to get a pardon from the Big Guy, at least pre-election.

GOP INVOKES 25TH AMENDMENT

While President Biden’s impeachment inquiry is now underway, and while his senility is on display almost every day (as documented by The Howie Carr Show), there has been no appeal to the 25^th Amendment, the law that would remove him from office due to mental instability.

FDA RECALLS COVID VACCINE

While we heard crickets from the FDA on success rates and newly discovered risks from mRNA research and immunizations, we did get juicy investigative videos from the Project Veritas team that shed a light on the strange—if not inhumane—practices inside Pfizer’s gain-of-function lab when an employee on a Grindr date decided to spill all!

GAVIN NEWSOM ANNOUNCES 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RUN

While the greasy Golden State governor has plenty of time to throw his hat in the ring, 2028 is looking like the more promising race for Gavin Newsom.

This year, Newsom participated in a televised debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Could it foreshadow the two’s future as presidential contenders?

Our morbid minds also predicted an invasion of Taiwan by China and an EMP attack on the West Coast. Thankfully, these did not occur.

WE WERE ON-THE-BALL WITH THESE PREDICTIONS:

CNN HIRES ADAM KINZINGER

Four days into the year, CNN brought on the never-Trumper Republican from Illinois. The press release announcing the network’s new hire notes Kinzinger’s efforts in the “high-profile House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.”

BIG-BUDGET DOCUMENTARY ON FAUCI PREMIERES

PBS followed Anthony Fauci around with a camera for two years to document a “rarely seen side” of the former NIAID director and (unofficial) infectious disease czar of the Biden administration.

Thanks, PBS, but no thanks. America has seen enough sides of Dr. Fauci.

CONGRESS INTRODUCES BILL TO BAN TIKTOK

The “No TikTok on Government Devices Act” was signed into law by President Biden late last year, but attempts to ban the Chinese video app on a national or state level tend to be blocked by courts.

Rep. Brian Baben of Texas proposed a bill that would terminate TikTok on campus for colleges that receive federal funds.

Congress tabled the topic to a future session out of concern for… time.

TRUMP NOMINATED FOR HOUSE SPEAKER

Everyone’s favorite president was nominated for Speaker of the House not one, but twice in 2023. Back in January, Rep. Matt Gaetz tossed the name of the Great MAGA King into the mix as part of the multi-day opposition to Kevin McCarthy, who would eventually earn enough votes to serve (briefly).

Then, when the Californian was ousted from the Speakership by Gaetz in October, Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas nominated Donald Trump for Speaker again.

MAJOR LATE-NIGHT SHOW CANCELED

James Corden of CBS’s Late, Late Show announced his exit, and the show ended in April.

The other mainstream Democrat propaganda hosts watched while Fox’s Greg Gutfeld continued his ascent to the top of the late-night ratings several times throughout 2023. “Analysts” struggled to figure out what to make of America’s interest in real entertainment.

A FORMERLY DISGRUNTLED BLUE CHECK RETURNS TO TWITTER

While Whoopi and Elton stayed far from Elon Musk’s Twitter (and now X), one celebrity could not stay away. Rapper Meek Mill left last December in search of a platform “where it’s more good vibes.”

He was back using the app by New Year’s Day.

JIM LYONS OUSTED BY MA GOP STATE COMMITTEE

The Massachusetts State Committee came to its senses late last January and elected Amy Carnevale to serve as Chair. Howie and Emma detailed the saga last winter.

Rise and Fall of MassGOP Chairman

Amy Carnevale: “I Couldn’t Stand By and Watch our Party Continue to Deteriorate.”

BOSTON CITY COUNCILOR ARRESTED

When it rained, it poured. Howie covered the most corrupt members of the City Council, their various charges, and their lackluster sentences.

Council Cowards

You have choices to vote out the clown show, er, Boston City Council

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR:

MEGHAN MARKLE ANNOUNCES RUN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE

The death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein allowed Gov. Newsom to hand-pick her temporary replacement on Capitol Hill. While the ex-royal sat down with her husband Harry to discuss becoming American politicians, The New York Post reported, Newsom ultimately chose a different black woman (as promised), Laphonza Butler.

GEOFF DIEHL ANNOUNCES 2024 SENATE CAMPAIGN

Our expectations were too high, it seems! The perennial loser candidate may have his eye on state senate—not the United States Senate. Must have been a tough call – he’s already been crushed in runs for both offices, state Senate in 2015 and U.S. Senate in 2018. Those beatings occurred before his most recent drubbing, for governor, in 2022.

LIZ CHENEY ACCEPTS CORRESPONDENT POSITION

Not quite. Cheney is the one with the memoir this year. It’s titled Oath and Honor, and it presumably details her astute work trying to bring down President Trump from every angle.

OSCARS RATINGS HIT ANOTHER RECORD LOW

Sure, the 2023 Academy Awards saw millions more viewers than the past two years did. But the Oscars still have a long way to go if they want to return to pre-COVID numbers, and the out-of-touch celebrities and in-your-face political messaging won’t help.