Want to see into the future? Who doesn’t? Lucky for you Prime has connections. Mr. Know It All tells all on what to expect next month in the world of sports, pop culture, and whatever the hell else he feels like spouting off on. Read on if you like, but don’t tell your friends who like surprises.

Major League Baseball All-Star Game – July 15

This year’s contest will be held in Yankee Stadium, and it marks the last time the All-Stars will gather at the House that Ruth Built. The historic ballpark is being replaced next year after 85 years of tobacco spitting and groin scratching. The American League is so much better than the National League; it’s hard to think the game will be competitive. What should be interesting is the Home Run Derby. Dingers are down everywhere in baseball. Geez, I wonder why? Without their “vitamins,” the boys of summer might want to rename the contest, “the Solid Base Knock To Left Derby.” My winner? Natural big-bopper Ryan Howard of the Phillies.

New Events Center/Stadium for Sioux Falls

It’s a fact. People in Sioux Falls take a long time to make up their minds. Whether it’s paper or plastic, pavilion or pool. The citizens of our fair city struggle with new ideas. Hell, it took 15 years before Sioux Fallsians stopped trying to put diapers on the Statue of David. This peculiar aversion to new and improved now has us tied up in knots deciding if, when, and where we should build a new events center/sports complex. What should have taken a year or two to decide on and plan, now marches on a decade in the “what if” stage, with no end in sight. The fact that this issue has bounced around between the Mayor, the City Council, local business, and now a commission of volunteer citizens, shows a dire lack of leadership from the people in this city who are charged with making stuff happen. My prediction? They’ll still be passing this hot potato around when the Arena celebrates its 50th birthday in 2011.

Viking Training Camp – Starts July 23

If you read the blogs and football previews, the Minnesota Vikings are a trendy pick to make it to the Super Bowl. Haven’t we seen this movie before? God bless Vikings fans. Every year it seems their team teases them with some promise of greatness before collapsing in increasingly spectacular fashion. No matter how many times fate pulls the football away from the Charlie Brown Vikes, they keep coming back for more. Sigh. I guess they’ll never learn. Like Gomez Adams, I can’t wait to see how the next train wreck turns out.