A Bad Summer Is Finally Over

I haven't had much good news from sports lately. The Yankees' season ended without making the Playoffs. Record-wise, it was their worst in 22 years, 82-80, just 1 game better than .500. And there will be no change in either the field manager or the general manager, offering not even the slightest bit of hope for improvement.

Typical of them, the Rutgers football team is 4-2 overall, but just 1-2 in the Big Ten Conference. The football team at East Brunswick High School, just 2 years after a Playoff berth, goes into tonight's game 0-7. And our last 2 opponents are 6-0 and 5-1.

The New York Red Bulls, as usual, are going nowhere. And, due to the Nets' abandonment of New Jersey leading me to seek hoop rooting elsewhere, the Philadelphia 76ers have as much disarray as talent.

This followed a Summer in "the real world" where the heat was hard to bear, and yet, due to circumstances beyond my control, including a lot of rainy days, I wasn't able to make a single trip to a beach town. It was the warm-weather equivalent of C.S. Lewis' line about Narnia being a land where it was always Winter, but never Christmas. And my computer has been acting screwy lately.

Meanwhile, the threat of another Trump Administration hangs over America like the Sword of Damocles. Russia's war against Ukraine has no end in sight. And now, Hamas have decided to finish the Nazis' job and end Israel, with Israel, unlike back then, being strong enough to fight back, resulting in the side that I support killing as many as the side that must be opposed, because that side is acting in an inhuman way.

And, on top of all of that, I was thisclose to "firing" my primary-care doctor, for cause, and then, yesterday, his receptionist told me that he no longer accepts my insurance. The choice is no longer in my hands: In essence, without intending to, he has "fired" me as a patient.

And you thought today was Friday the 13th.

It hasn't all been bad, though. I've been reasonably healthy, as has the rest of the surviving family. The heat has finally broken, and we've had a few nice days in a row in Central Jersey. The computer did not act screwy at all yesterday. Also yesterday, I finally got a much-needed haircut. The day before, I had a nice visit to "the old neighborhood." The leaves have begun to change.

In sports, the Philadelphia Eagles are 5-0, while The Arsenal are, for all intents and purposes, top of their league as well. The New York Liberty have made the WNBA Finals, although they now have their backs to the wall against the defending Champions, the Las Vegas Aces.

And, last night, following a season in which they made the Playoffs, and beat the arch-rival New York Rangers in the 1st Round, the New Jersey Devils opened their 2023-24 season, at home at the Prudential Center, beating the Detroit Red Wings, 4-2.

A bad Summer is finally over. Maybe there will be a nice Autumn, after all, and then a Merry Christmas.

*

Hours until the next East Brunswick High School football game: 8, tonight, at 7:00 PM, home to North Brunswick.

Days until the next Rutgers University football game: 1, tomorrow, at 12:00 Noon, home to Michigan State.

Days until the next game of the U.S. National Soccer Team: 1, tomorrow, at 3:00 PM, an international friendly, home to Germany, at Pratty & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.

Days until the New Jersey Devils again play a local rival: 7, a week from tonight, at 7:30 PM, away to the New York Islanders.

Days until the next Arsenal match: 8, a week from tomorrow, at 12:30 PM New York Eastern Time, away to West London team Chelsea. Arsenal are as good as they've been for years, Chelsea as bad as they've been for years. Trap game?

Days until the next New York Red Bulls game: 8, a week from tomorrow night, at 7:30 PM, away to Nashville SC. This is the last game of the season, as they did not make the Playoffs.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 36, on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at 12:00 Noon, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. A little over 5 weeks.

Days until the Red Bulls again play a nearby rival: Unknown. The 1st game of next season will be on the weekend of March 9 and 10, 2024, and it's unlikely that it will be against a nearby rival. So, most likely, the next week at the absolute minimum, March 16, which would be 155 days. A little over 5 months.

Days until the next North London Derby: 197, on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at 10:00 AM New York time, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The game will almost certainly be rescheduled, to a different time, maybe to a different day, for the purpose of TV ratings. But it will still be that weekend. Under 7 months.

Days until the Yankees' next series against the Boston Red Sox begins: 245, on Friday night, June 14, 2024, at Fenway Park. About 8 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympic Games: 287, on Friday, July 26, 2024, in Paris, France. Under 10 months.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge game: Unknown. If the 2024 game is played in the same week of the year as was the 2023 game, a close 30-28 loss, it will be on Friday, September 20, at 7:00 PM, away, at Vince Lombardi Field. That would be 343 days. A little over 11 months.

Days until the next Presidential election: 389, on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. A little over a year, or under 13 months.

Days until the next elections for Governor of New Jersey and Mayor of New York City: 753, on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. A little over 2 years, or a little under 25 months.

Days until the next Winter Olympics open in Milan, Italy: 847, on Friday, February 6, 2026. Under 2 1/2 years, or under 28 months.

Days until the next World Cup opens: 969, on Monday, June 8, 2026. Under 3 years, or under 32 months.

Friday the 13th Is Piling On

The Yankees have now lost 8 of their last 12, and fallen out of 1st place. Robinson Cano returned last night from his accidental beaning the night before, and made a key error in the 2nd inning. In fact, the 2nd inning was a disaster, both for starter Ivan Nova and for the defense. It looked like the Yankees might get out of it down only 1-0, but it ended 6-0.

Included in that Royal rally was a Melky Cabrera double. Then Melky homered in the 4th. Sure, rub it in: After all, the trade for Melky was designed to bring back the execrable Javier Vazquez. (Pardon me while I bang my head against the wall.)

(Ow.)

The Royals tacked on another run in the 4th, and the Yankees just weren't hitting. Going into the bottom of the 5th, it was 8-0 K.C., and Royal starter Sean O'Sullivan was pitching a perfect game.

I was already thinking about comparing this to the 2 most embarrassing regular-season Yankee games I can remember: The no-hitter thrown by 6 Houston Astros in June 2003, and the 22-0 clobbering the Cleveland Indians gave us in September the next season. Both at home. (Funny, no one seems to remember that, in each case, the Yanks took the other 2 games in those series.)

And, of course, there was the embarrassment of losing the 1st-ever Interleague game with the Mutts on June 16, 1997 (I was there, Upper Reserved Section 2, Andy Pettitte got rocked, 6-0), and the steroid-induced humiliation by The Scum in October 2004 (I was not there, but stuck it out to the inevitable end on TV). But losing a perfect game? By a pitcher I'd never heard of? On the Royals? At home?

I had the title for today's post all picked out, forgetting that today would be a Friday the 13th:

"Worst. Yankee. Game. Ever."

Sean O'Sullivan. I went to East Brunswick High School with an athlete with that name. Very good defensive lineman on our 1984 team that went undefeated and won the State Championship. What's that, we lost the State Championship Game? Never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Anyway...

This Sean O'Sullivan retired the 1st 13 Yankees he faced. Fortunately, as I said, Robbie Cano, who had been listed as "day-to-day," came up and knocked one out. Perfect game over, no-hitter over, shutout over.

Disaster over? Not by a long shot. The inning went on, and a Francisco Cervelli double drove in 2 runs and a Jeter sac fly drove in 1, and suddenly it was 8-4, and we had a ballgame again.

But that damn Hosmer doubled home a run in the top of the 6th. He plays 1st base, which is appropriate, because, before Wednesday night, if you'd mentioned his name to me, I would've said, "Who?" "Who" was on 1st.

A-Rod finally broke out of his homer drought by hitting Number 619 in the bottom of the 8th, but it was a typical pre-2009 A-Rod homer: Nice, Alex, try hitting one when it will do some good.

Final score, Royals 11, Yankees 5. WP: O'Sullivan (2-2). LP: Nova (3-3).

Losing 2 out of 3 at home to the Royals? This is bad.

Cheer up, Yankee Fans: Today is Friday the 13th!

However... The Scum come to town. That's right, the Red Sox! That ought to get the Bombers' attention.

What got my attention was that, earlier today, Carlyle was sent down to Triple-A Scranton. A mercy killing, perhaps. Hector Noesi was called up. He was scheduled to pitch for Scranton tonight, which means he should be ready to go in any of these 3 games, and you know how Yankee-Red Sox games go: You can never have too many pitchers ready. Especially at Fenway, although this series will be at Yankee Stadium II.

Maybe the Red Sox will stay, "Don't stick your Noesi in our business!"

Tonight, at 7:05, on YES, Bartolo Colon pitches against Clay Buttholes. I mean, Buchholz.

Tomorrow, at 7:10, Fox doing its Game of the Week in prime time, CC Sabathia against Super Punk, Josh Fuckitt. I mean, Beckett.

Sunday night, at 8:05, on ESPN, Freddy Garcia against Uncle Fester. I mean, Jon Lester.

As you can tell, I hate the damn Red Sox. All that teaching about loving thy neighbor and not using profanity goes out the fucking window when those assholes are involved.

Jeter 2963 37
Rivera 572 29
A-Rod 619 144
Magic Number (N/A)

*

Days until the Red Bulls play again: 2, this coming Sunday night, home to Chivas USA, "the other Los Angeles team." While the Galaxy have U.S. World Cup hero Landon "I'm brilliant on the pitch, but at home I'm so dumb I let Bianca Kajlich get away" Donovan and former Manchester United legend and failed England Captain David "I'm too sexy for Milan" Beckham, Chivas -- Spanish for "Goats," the nickname of its Mexican parent club, Club Deportivo Guadalajara -- has as its biggest star former Red Bull, and New Zealand international, Andrew Boyens, plus U.S. international Heath Pearce.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins (after this one, that is): 25, starting Tuesday, June 7, at Yankee Stadium II.

Days until the Red Bulls play another "derby": 29, on Saturday, June 11, against the team that should be considered their biggest rivals, the New England Revolution, at Red Bull Arena. Just 4 weeks. The next play the team that is usually considered their biggest rivals, D.C. United, on Saturday, July 9, at Red Bull Arena. And they next play their closest rivals, the Philadelphia Union, on Thursday night, October 20, at Red Bull Arena.

Days until Derek Jeter collects his 3,000th career hit: 44 (estimated to come on June 26 -- his 37th birthday). A little over 6 weeks.

Days until the next North London Derby: As yet unknown. The 2011-12 Premier League season begins on August 13, so it can't be any earlier than that. The schedule -- sorry, forgot to speak English there, the fixture list -- is usually released in the 2nd week in June.

Days until Rutgers plays football again: 111, on Thursday, September 1, home to North Carolina Central. Just 16 weeks.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 117, on Friday night, September 9, and the opponent and location are TBD. Just 17 weeks.

Days until the Devils play another local rival: As yet unknown. The next season's schedule hasn't been released yet, save for the season-openers at the neutral but hockey-loving site of Helsinki, Finland, games that will include the Rangers. That will be on October 7. Figure the Devils' season opener will be the next day, which is 177 days from now. Figure they'll probably play a local rival, either the Rangers, the Islanders, or the Flyers soon thereafter, maybe a week after, so, tentatively, I'm going to say the number of days is: 155.

Days until the Rutgers-Army football game at Yankee Stadium: 183. Just 6 months.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 295.

Days until the last Nets game in New Jersey: 345 (estimated, as the 3rd Sunday in April 2012 is the 22nd). Less than 1 year, unless new owner Mikhail Prokhorov decides he'll stay in the Prudential Center, the great new arena he's already got.

Days until the 2012 Olympics begin in London: 441 (July 27).

Days until Alex Rodriguez collects his 3,000th career hit: 752 (estimated).

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 700th career home run: 874 (estimated).

Days until Super Bowl XLVIII at the Meadowlands: 996 (tentatively scheduled for February 2, 2014, although it could end up being moved back a week or 2).

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 756th career home run to surpass all-time leader Hank Aaron: 1,494 (estimated).

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 763rd career home run to become as close to a "real" all-time leader as we are likely to have: 1,608 (estimated).