You Are a Survivor. Yes, You.

NOTE: When I wrote this, COVID-19 was still pretty much a rumor in America. We had no idea of what its effect on America would be. Little did we know just how badly Trump would screw up his response to it. And over 1 million Americans did not survive it. But for those who did survive it, the following still applies.

Today is January 20, 2020. One year from today, there will be a Presidential Inauguration.

If we do what we have to do, the President inaugurated on that day will not be Donald Trump, or any of the Republicans standing with him now, including Vice President Mike Pence.

We have survived 3 years of this Administration.

You have survived it.

You, yes, you are a survivor.

Think about it:

* If you are at least 11 years old, you survived the George W. Bush Administration.

* If you are at least 19 years old, you survived the entire Dubya Administration and the 9/11 attacks.

* If you are at least 29 years old, you survived at least some of the Cold War.

* If you are at least 31 years old, you survived the Ronald Reagan Administration.

* If you are at least 39 years old, you survived the entire Reagan Administration.

* If you are at least 46 and 51 years old, you survived the Richard Nixon Administration. And I have survived each of the preceding along with you.

* If you are at least 51 years old, you survived the entire Nixon Administration.

* If you are at least 58 years old, you survived the Cuban Missile Crisis.

* If you are at least 65 years old, you survived the Vietnam War, either serving in it or avoiding having been drafted into it.

* If you are at least 85 years old, you survived the Korean War, either serving in it or avoiding having been drafted into it.

* If you are at least 93 years old, you survived World War II, either serving in it or avoiding having been drafted into it.

* And if you are between 79 and 91 years old, you survived the Great Depression.

Congratulations on surviving everything that you have survived.

So why not live one more year? If you've survived even half of this stuff, anything after surviving the Trump Administration is going to be icing on the cake.

*

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 1, tomorrow.

Days until Arsenal play again: 1, tomorrow, 3:15 PM New York time, in Premier League action, away to West London team Chelsea.

Days until the 1st Presidential voting of 2020, the Iowa Caucuses: 14, on Monday, February 3. Just 2 weeks. The New Hampshire Primary will be 8 days later.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 17, on Thursday night, February 6, against the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, will be at the Wells Fargo Center. The next game against the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, will be on Saturday night, March 7, at Madison Square Garden. The next game against the New York Islanders will be on Saturday night, March 21, at the Prudential Center.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 41, on Sunday, March 1, at 1:00 PM, home to FC Cincinnati. Under 6 weeks.

Days until the Yankees' 2020 Opening Day: 66, at 1:00 on Thursday, March 26, away to the Baltimore Orioles. Under 10 weeks. And now, it feels as though we can look forward to it.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 66, at 3:45 PM New York time on March 26, 2020, against the Netherlands, at Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, home of PSV Eindhoven.

Days until the Yankees' 2020 home opener: 73, on Thursday, April 2, against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 89, on Saturday, April 18, at 1:00 PM, against the New England Revolution, at Red Bull Arena. On Sunday, April 26, at 3:00 PM, they will play D.C. United, at Audi Field in Washington. On Sunday, May 31, at 3:00 PM, they will play New York City FC, at Yankee Stadium II. And on Saturday, June 6, at 6:00 PM, they will play the Philadelphia Union, at Red Bull Arena.

Days until the next North London Derby: 96, on Saturday, April 25, Arsenal's 1st visit to the new Tottenham Stadium, adjacent to the site of the previous White Hart Lane. A little over 3 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: 109, on May 8, 2020, at Yankee Stadium II. Under 4 months. 

Days until Euro 2020 begins, a tournament being held all over Europe instead of in a single host nation: 144, on Friday, June 12, 2020. Under 5 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 186, on July 24, 2020. A little over 6 months.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 229, on Saturday, September 5, at noon, home to Monmouth University, a Football Championship Subdivision School in West Long Branch, Monmouth County, New Jersey. In other words, if they don't win this game overwhelmingly, especially now that Greg Schiano is back as head coach, it will look very, very bad. Anyway, under 8 months.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, as the 2020 schedule has not been released yet. Most likely, the season opener will be against arch-rival Old Bridge, on Friday night, September 11, away at the purple shit pit on Route 9. That's 235 days.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge football game: See the previous answer.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 288, on November 3, 2020. Under 10 months.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 313, on Saturday, November 28, at home. A little over 10 months.

Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 349, on January 3, 2021. Under a year, or under 12 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 366, at noon on January 20, 2021. Exactly 1 year, or exactly 12 months. (Remember: 2020 is a Leap Year.) 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 Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz become eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame: 722, on January 11, 2022. Under 2 years. We will then find out if it's okay for a Red Sox steroid cheat to be in the Hall, but not for a Yankee steroid cheat.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 746, on February 4, 2022. A little over 2 years, or a little over 24 months.

Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off in Qatar: 1,036, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 3 years, or just 34 months.

Days until the next Women's World Cup is scheduled to kick off: As yet unknown, but space on the international women's soccer calendar has been cleared for July 10 to August 20, 2023. So if July 10 is the tournament's starting date, that would be 1,267 days, a little over 3 1/2 years, or under 42 months. A host nation is expected to be chosen on March 20, 2020. Bids have bee put in by Brazil (South America has never hosted), Colombia (ditto), Japan (Asia last hosted in 2007), and a joint bid by Australia and New Zealand (Oceania has never hosted).