The Yankees opened the postseason last night, hosting the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium II, and won 10-4. James Paxton had his worst start in over 2 months, allowing 2 runs and not getting out of the 5th inning. But home runs by DJ LeMahieu and Brett Gardner highlighted the Pinstriped attack. Tommy Kahnle got the win in relief.
From the 3rd to the 7th inning, the Yankees' linescore was 30223. That's the ZIP Code for Griffin, Georgia, 45 miles south of downtown Atlanta.
The Houston Astros won the opener of the other American League Division Series, while the National League Division Series are both tied at 1-1: Last night, the Washington Nationals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, continuing Clayton Kershaw's reputation as the Alex Rodriguez of pitchers (brilliant in the regular season, coming up small in the postseason), and the Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals.
So the Yankees have 10 wins to go to win the World Series. I should be in a great mood, right?
But the Devils, boys, the Devils.
They opened their 38th season of play (37th if you don't count the canceled 2004-05 season) last night, at home to the Winnipeg Jets, and got off to a brilliant start. Nikita Gusev scored his 1st NHL goal late in the 1st period. In the 2nd, this was followed by a stunner from Blake Coleman, one by Sami Vatanen, and another goal by Coleman. With just a shade to go in the 2nd period, the Mulberry Street Marauders were 4-0.
But, as they say in English soccer, we bottled it. Four-nil, and we fucked it up. Dmitry Kulikov scored with 11 seconds left in the 2nd, and "Uh-oh..." The Jets ended up scoring 4 goals in 12 minutes and 47 seconds of on-ice time. And then the Devils lost the shootout. So it goes in the books as a 5-4 Winnipeg win.
This was the most embarrassing Devils loss since January 26, 2014, when we went into Yankee Stadium and blew a lead against the New York Rangers in front of a national television audience.
My alma mater, East Brunswick High School, also lost, 42-7 to Montgomery of Somerset County, a school that barely had a football program until recently. My Bears are now 1-3.
In 2 hours, Rutgers kick off. And then the Yankees have the Triple Threat: A Saturday afternoon game, on Fox (well, FS1, but that's still Fox), against a pitcher they've never seen before. Oy vey.
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Hours until Rutgers University plays football again: 2, today, at noon, home to the University of Maryland. It will be the 1st game under interim head coach Nunzio Campanile. It could be a winnable game. Who knows, maybe "Coach Nunz" will turn out to be the permanent guy.
Hours until Arsenal play again: 21, tomorrow, 9:00 AM New York time, home to Dorset team Bournemouth. Then comes an international break, an "Interlull."
Hours until the New York Red Bulls play again: 30, tomorrow, at 4:00 PM, away to the Montreal Impact. It will be the regular season finale.
Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 4, this Wednesday night at 7:30, against the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The season's 1st game against the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, will be on Thursday, October 17, at the Prudential Center. The 1st game against the New York Islanders will be on Thursday, January 2, 2020, at the Barclays Center.
Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 6, Friday night at 7:00, home to J.P. Stevens of Edison. The rivalry of the late 1970s and all through the 1980s is no more. It's just another game now.
Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 6, Friday night at 7:00, against Cuba, part of the CONCACAF Nations League, at Audi Field in Washington. They will play Canada at BMO Field in Toronto the following Tuesday night.
Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": Unclear. They have made the Playoffs, but the seedings are not yet established. Each of their 4 regional rivals have qualified for the Playoffs: New York City FC, the Philadelphia Union, D.C. United and the New England Revolution. Most likely, the Red Bulls and DCU will get the 5th and 4th seeds in the Eastern Conference, although not necessarily in that order. The 1st Round will be played on October 19 or 20, which would be in 14 or 15 days.
Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 56, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Just 8 weeks.
Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 74, on December 18, 2019. A little over 10 weeks.
Days until the premiere of the final Star Wars film, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: 76, on December 20, 2019.
Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 108, on January 21, 2020. Under 4 months.
Days until the 1st Presidential voting of 2020, the Iowa Caucuses: 121, on Monday, February 3. Under 4 months. The New Hampshire Primary will be 8 days later.
Days until the next North London Derby: 203, on Saturday, April 25, Arsenal's 1st visit to the new Tottenham Stadium, adjacent to the site of the previous White Hart Lane. Under 7 months. It is currently scheduled to be on the 16th Anniversary of the 2nd time that Arsenal won the League at White Hart Lane -- but also the last time Arsenal won the League anywhere. Of course, for TV reasons, the game could be moved to another date, probably the next day.
Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 216, on May 8, 2020, at Yankee Stadium II. A little over 7 months. Yes, the 2020 MLB schedule has already been released.
Days until Euro 2020 begins, a tournament being held all over Europe instead of in a single host nation: 251, on Friday, June 12, 2020. A little over 8 months.
Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 293, on July 24, 2020. Under 10 months.
Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge football game: Presumably, given the 2019 schedule, 342, on Friday night, September 11, 2020, away at the purple shit pit on Route 9. A little over 11 months.
Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 395, on November 3, 2020. A little over a year, or under 13 months.
Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 456, on January 3, 2021. Under a year and a half, or under 15 months.
Days until Liberation Day: 473, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under a year and a half, or under 16 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.
Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 853, on February 4, 2022. Under 2 1/2 years, or a little under 28 months.
Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,143, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. A little over 3 years, or under 38 months. The charges of corruption against Qatar may yet mean that they will lose the tournament, in which case it will be moved to a nation where it would not be too hot to play it in June and July.
Days until the next Women's World Cup is scheduled to kick off: As yet unknown, but probably on the 2nd Friday in June 2023, which would be June 9. That would be 1,343 days, a little under 4 years, or a little over 44 months. A host nation is expected to be chosen on March 20, 2020. Since 2 of the last 3 host nations have been in Europe, North America (Canada) hosted in 2015, and Asia (China) hosted in 2007, my guess is that it will be in either Asia (Japan, possibly Korea, but not China) or Oceania (Australia, possibly a joint bid with New Zealand).
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