Arsenal Are the Premier League Champions!

Today, it was 103 degrees in Central New Jersey. But I didn't care: I wore a polyester shirt and a wool scarf.

Today, May 19, 2026, at 4:25 PM U.S. Eastern Time, 9:25 British time, despite a goal in the 95th minute, Manchester City ended its game with AFC Bournemouth in a 1-1 draw. This means that they cannot finish ahead of Arsenal FC in the Premier League table. This means that, for the 1st time since 2004, Arsenal are the Premier League Champions!

It is the 14th title for the club. Under the old format, the Football League First Division, they won in 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1971, 1989 and 1991. Under the current format, the Premier League, they have won in 1998, 2002, 2004 (going unbeaten, the only team ever to do so) and now, 2026.

Having won the FA Cup right after his arrival as manager in 2020, having previously won it with Arsenal as a player in 2014, Mikel Arteta has now won the Premier League title as a manager.

Tonight, the 115 rule violations for which Man City have still not been punished don't matter. Their manager, Josep "Pep" Guardiola, who cheated like hell at FC Barcelona and then Bayern Munich before Man City decided they would do anything to win, legal or otherwise, leaving after next Sunday's season finale doesn't matter. All the cheating that was done to Arsenal in the intervening 22 years doesn't matter. All the accusations that Arsenal are "boring" (we've heard that before) or won because of VAR (Video Assisted Referee, as if getting calls right was a bad thing) don't matter.

All that matters is, Arsenal have triumphed.

Someone said online, "We've gone from the drama of the Aguero moment to referees watching a screen to give a foul from a corner to decide titles. Premier League is a mess."

Wrong. As if Sergio Agüero's goal to give City the 2012 Premier League title, before Guardiola got there, was better than Michael Thomas' goal to give Arsenal the 1989 title.

The Premier League is not a mess. It has reached the minimum it always should have. We have gone from referees giving Guardiola at City, Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, and Jose Mourinho wherever he has managed (mostly at Chelsea), calls they didn't deserve; to forcing the referees to acknowledge their mistakes and get the calls right, so that the team that actually deserves to win the League title actually wins it.

It reminds me that, in 2015, Met fans demanded that Yankee Fans root for their team in the World Series, because they were "the New York team."

Really? Met fans have never rooted for the Yankees because they were the New York team in the World Series.

They didn't root for the Yankees in 1963, 1977, 1978, 1981 or 2024, when we were playing the Los Angeles O'Malleys.

They didn't root for us in 1962, when we were playing the San Francisco Giants, and wouldn't have rooted for us in any of the other seasons when the Giants, had they made it, would have played the Yankees.

They didn't root for us in 1964, against the St. Louis Cardinals.

They didn't root for us in 1976, against the Cincinnati Big Rose Machine.

They didn't root for us in 1998, against the San Diego Padres.

They didn't root for us in 1996 or 1999, no matter how much they hated the Atlanta Braves.

They didn't root for us in 2009, no matter how much they hated the Philadelphia Phillies.

They didn't even root for us in 2001, against the Arizona Diamondbacks, after the 9/11 attacks, when New York really needed that World Championship, more than it needed the one the Mets won in 1969, more than it needed the one the Yankees won in 1977.

But Met fans wanted Yankee Fans to root for them in 2015, Oh, hell, no!

But then, baseball doesn't have promotion and relegation, does it? If it did, the Mets would currently be struggling to get back from Class AAA to the major leagues.

Now, there have been fans of other teams who have said they would rather see Arsenal, or anybody else, win it than see Man City (or, at least, Guardiola) win it again.

But the vitriol of people who didn't want to see Arsenal win it...

I know why. It's because Arsenal have always been seen as a "foreign team":

* The team began in 1886, and while some of the founding players were English, some were Scottish, including the original Captain, David Danskin.

* In the 1930s, they won the League 5 times, and the FA Cup twice, with Scottish forward Alex James and Welsh players, halfback Charlie Jones and forward Bob John.

* They won the League in 1948 and 1953, won the FA Cup in 1950, and were runner-up in both in 1952, with Scots Alex Forbes at right half and Jimmy Logie at inside right, and Welshman Walley Barnes at left back.

* They won the League and the FA Cup, "The Double," in 1971, with Scots Bob Wilson in goal, Frank McLintock as centerback and Captain, and George Graham and Eddie Kelly in midfield; Welshman John Roberts as another centerback; and starting right back and reserve left back Sammy Nelson were from Northern Ireland.

* They won the FA Cup in 1979 with "The Irish Connection." Midfield wizard Liam Brady, forward Frank Stapleton, and centerback David O'Leary were from Dublin. And 1971 holdovers Rice and Nelson, goalkeeper Pat Jennings, and manager Terry Neill were from Belfast. And centerback Willie Young was Scottish.

* Graham became manager in 1986, and built a League title winner that included 1979 holdover O'Leary, and one of the earliest continental Europeans to make a difference in the English League, Swedish midfielder Anders Limpar. He also built one of the earliest English Champions to have a significant black contingent, with players like David Rocastle and the aforementioned Michael Thomas. He then went back to Scandinavia to get Dane John Jensen.

* Arsène Wenger became manager in 1996, coming from France, and built a true United Nations roster, with Europeans, Africans, Europeans of African descent, South Americans. He won The Double in 1998 and 2002, went unbeaten in winning the Premier League in 2004, won FA Cups in 2003 and 2005, and reached the UEFA Champions League Final in 2006.

During this period, it became impossible to win the Premier League with a team of all Englishmen, or even of all men from the British Isles. A foreigner-filled lineup became necessary. But it seemed as though English referees were treating all Arsenal players as foreign, including the Englishmen; and all players on certain classically English teams -- the Manchester teams, the Liverpool teams, Chelsea, West Ham, Newcastle, etc. -- as English, regardless of their national origin.

Arsenal finished 2nd the last 3 seasons, behind Liverpool once and Man City twice. This time, nothing stopped them, not even a bad defeat to Man City a few weeks ago.

So, if you like, call them "the worst Premier League Champions ever." You have the right to be that stupid. Call them that.

As long as you call them the Champions.

Their game on this coming Sunday, away to South London team Crystal Palace, now means nothing. But the following Saturday, they will play in the Champions League Final for the 1st time in 20 years, against defending Champions Paris Saint-Germain, in Budapest, Hungary.

With the big domestic trophy in hand, there will be desire, but no desperation. The season is a success, regardless of what happens in Budapest.

But they've been the best team in the CL all season long. One more game.

The Manager of Arsenal Does Not Owe You the Title

Mikel Arteta took over as manager of Arsenal Football Club in December 2019, replacing Unai Emery, who had replaced Arsène Wenger in May 2018, and took a situation that was not great, but not that bad, and made it much worse.

Emery took Wenger's team and brought it to what Wenger's worst critics lied and said he'd brought it to: Midtable mediocrity. Arteta, who had been one of Wenger's players, took Emery's team and won the 2020 FA Cup. He has now taken the team to 2nd place in the Premier League in 3 straight seasons. In the last 2 seasons, he has taken it to the Quarterfinal and the Semifinal of the UEFA Champions League.

There are alleged Arsenal fans who believe this is not good enough. They turned on Wenger when he stopped "challenging for the title" because he had to pay off the Emirates Stadium debt. They felt entitled to the trophies that Wenger won, and turned on him, without ever thanking him. They gave Emery the benefit of the doubt, even as he alienated and sold off the team's best players. They have not given Arteta the benefit of the doubt.

Now, we are in the Summer transfer window, and, as usual, these people are demanding that the manager "spend some fucking money" on "a world-class striker" who will "win us the title."

Which was done for Olivier Giroud, and again for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and again for Gabriel Jesus. In each case, these same fans turned on them, calling them "shit."

Give me a break.

The manager of Arsenal does not owe you the Premier League title. He does not owe you the Champions League title. He does not owe you the FA Cup. He does not owe you anything other than his best effort.

This is true now under Arteta. It was true under Wenger.

Arteta took an Arsenal team whose honor had been trailed in the dust by those who claimed to be its most ardent fans; and whose best players had been alienated by a buffoon of a manager, who had followed the noblest soul in the sport, Wenger. Arteta took this team and restored it to a place of prominence, at home and abroad.

For those of of you who have shown him the proper respect, I thank you. For those of you who have not, it's time to start.

Arsenal: So Close

The Premier League season has come to an end. Arsenal beat Everton, 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium in North London, but needed not only that, but for one of Manchester City's last 2 opponents to hold them to no more than a draw.

Arsenal's nearby arch-rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, played like garbage on Tuesday, and City beat them, 2-0. The "Spurs" fans cheered their own defeat, knowing it meant Arsenal wouldn't win the title, but also knowing it meant their own team would not qualify for the next season's UEFA Champions League.

At least West Ham United, the pride of London's East End, showed up at Man City's home, the Etihad Stadium, yesterday. They did their best, closed to within 2-1, and for a moment seemed to have closed to within 3-2. But it was not to be.

I guess it was too much to ask a team managed by David Moyes to match a team backed by billions of dollars from a corrupt slaveholding oil-based monarchy, already known to have committed 115 rule violations, and may yet end up having this league title stripped from them.

Certainly, it was too much to ask Tottenham, the biggest joke franchise in sports, any sport, any country, to show up. Their idiot fans call their team "The Pride of North London," but neither the team nor the fans showed any pride.

Arsenal have come so far from the brief dark period, from the sacrificing of manager Arsène Wenger on the altar of "It's the title or failure" erected by a few loud and stupid man-boys, to the firing of Unai Emery and his replacement by Mikel Arteta. We have won the 2020 FA Cup, once again qualified for the Champions League, gotten to its Quarterfinals, and now have back-to-back 2nd-place finishes behind "the best team in the world."

Arsenal won 28 League games this season, more than in any season except the 1971 "Double" team, which won 29 -- but that was in a 22-team Football League Division One, with 42 League games instead of the current 38. Even "The Invincibles" of 2004 won "only" 26. They finished with 89 points, 1 off the Invincibles' team record, and 2 more than the 2002 Double team.

(The 1998 Double team won the League with just 78 points. The 1971 Double came at a time when a win was still 2 points instead of 3, and they finished with 65; under the current system, they would have finished with 94.)

Several times since the founding of the Premier League in 1992, the title has still not been decided going into the final day. But the last time the team going into the final day in 2nd place finished 1st was in 1989, under the old Division One, when Arsenal famously had to not only beat Liverpool at Anfield, but do it by 2 goals, in order to tie them on points (76), at which point the tiebreaker favored them. And they did win, with Michael Thomas scoring the winner in the 92nd minute, what would have been, had he not scored it, the last minute of the season.

Under Mikel Arteta, Arsenal have restored their place in the PL's elite that they had before Chelsea (which can no longer afford to do so), and later Man City, began spending gobs of energy money on star players (and possibly bribes for referees), breaking the hammerlock that Arsenal and Manchester United had had on the title between them for a few years.

From 1989 to 2004, the League Champion was either Arsenal or Manchester United in 13 out of 16 seasons -- and, in 5 of those 13 seasons, the other finished 2nd. Chelsea began spending the big bucks in 2003, and, from 2005 to 2011, they and Man United were the only League winners. Man City began spending the big bucks in 2010, and they've won 8 of the last 13 League titles, including the last 4, something never done before. (Doing 3 in a row had been done a few times, including Arsenal in 1933-35, and Man United in 2007-09.)

Arsenal have paid off the debt from building the Emirates Stadium in 2006. They have reorganized, with Arteta managing in the method of his former manager, Wenger. Equally importantly, changes in ownership have led to United and Chelsea dropping off. And, with the departure of manager Jürgen Klopp leaving Liverpool with a big question mark, it appears that Arsenal and Man City are now prepared to duel for the League title for years to come.

Unless the Football Association, or UEFA, or FIFA decide to actually punish City for their rule violations. In which case, it will be Arsenal against the world.

As it always is: Many admire Arsenal, but refuse to admit it.

Well, let it be a lesson to all who do not support this team. It took one hundred and fifteen rule violations, and a couple of referees who refused to accept what VAR told them, to beat us, and we never cheered when our own team lost.

We are The Arsenal. We are Herbert Chapman's team, which won 5 League titles and 2 FA Cups in 9 seasons from 1930 to 1938, despite Chapman's death in the middle of it. We Tom Whittaker's team, winning the 1948 and 1953 League titles and the 1950 FA Cup.

We are Bertie Mee's and Don Howe's team, as Howe assisted Mee in building the team that won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (which is now the UEFA Europa League) in 1970 and the Football League and the FA Cup in 1971. We are Terry Neill's and Don Howe's team, as Howe returned after a few years away, and helped Neill manage the 1979 FA Cup winners.

We are George Graham's team, which, over 8 seasons from 1987 to 1994, won 2 League titles, an FA Cup, 2 League Cups and a European Cup Winners' Cup (a tournament now defunct). We are Arsène Wenger's team, which won 2 Doubles, 2 other FA Cups, became the only team to go through a Premier League season as unbeaten Champions, and reached a Champions League Final; then, after a few years of coming close to trophies, won 3 FA Cups in 4 years. And we are Mikel Arteta's team.

Talent and class are not the same thing, but we are the only team in the Premier League that truly embraces both. Unlike the Manchester teams and Chelsea -- and, let's face it, Liverpool and Leicester City would not have won their lone PL titles had it not been for the diving of Mohamed Salah and Jamie Vardy, respectively -- we don't want to win in the worst way, we want to win in the best way.

Arteta himself said, after yesterday's game, "Don’t be satisfied. We want much more than that, and we are gonna get it."

The bastards who smeared Wenger don't know what to make of this. Mikel is showing the "ambition" they demanded, but he's one of Wenger's men, playing Wenger's way, which they can't stand.

Go get it, Mikel.

May 17, 2014: Arsenal End the Trophy Drought

Aaron Ramsey, doing his best "Charlie George"

May 17, 2014, 10 years ago: The Football Association Cup Final is held at the new Wembley Stadium in London. For one team, Hull City Association Football Club of Hull, East Yorkshire, England, it starts out looking like "The Magic of the Cup." For the other team, Arsenal Football Club of North London, it starts out looking like the latest in a series of disasters in their attempt to win a trophy.

The Arsenal -- their fans like to call them that, Capital T, Capital A -- had won the FA Cup in 1930, 1936, 1950, 1971, 1979, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2005. They had also lost in the Final in 1932, 1952, 1972, 1978, 1980 and 2001. They had won the old Football League Division One in 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1971, 1989 and 1991. They had won its replacement, the Premier League, in 1998, 2002 and, with an unbeaten season within the League, 2004. They had won both the League and the Cup, for "The Double," in 1971, 1998 and 2002.

They had not won the main European trophy, the UEFA Champions League, formerly the European Cup; but had won secondary European trophies in 1970 and 1994. And they had won English soccer's secondary cup tournament, the Football League Cup, in 1987 and 1993. By winning both domestic cups in 1993, they were the 1st team ever to win a "Cup Double."

The trophies won from 1998 to 2005 were under Arsène Wenger. In 1998, the Frenchman became the 1st manager from outside the British Isles to win the League, and the 1st such manager to win the Cup. He would be followed by others. And he brought in players from all over the world: Europe, Africa, even Asia. By the date of this game, he'd even played, however briefly, 3 players from the United States.

Arsenal, known as the Gunners because of the cannon on their badge, and whose fans are known as the Gooners, were the first team that many English fans "loved to hate." From their beginning in 1886, they had a "foreign" presence, as some of the players on their original team were not English, but Scottish. For most of their history, they had relied on Scottish players, and the occasional Welsh player. Their 1979 FA Cup winners were known as "The Irish Connection," as several players were either from the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland, and even their manager, Terry Neill, was from Northern Ireland.

Their 1971 Double team was Captained by Frank McLintock, and also included among its key players George Graham. Both were Scots. Graham became the Arsenal manager in 1986, winning 6 trophies. That same year, another Scotsman, Alex Ferguson, became the manager of Manchester United. By this point, a Scottish manager was no big deal: United had previously had Matt Busby, while Liverpool had had Bill Shankly and now Kenny Dalglish. In 1999, West London team Chelsea fielded an entire starting XI with no players from the British Isles. Yet Arsenal were still "the foreign team" in the eyes of English fans and the English media.

But the 2005 FA Cup win was, coming into this game, their most recent trophy win. Since then, Arsenal reached the Champions League Final one, the Semifinals one other time, and the Quarterfinal one other time. They'd reached the FA Cup Semifinals once, and 2 League Cup Finals, but didn't win any of them. And, in that time, they did not finish higher than 3rd in the League.

The vast sums of money spent by Manchester United, Chelsea starting in 2003, and Manchester City starting in 2010 had not been matched by Wenger, and as the number of "years since Arsenal won a trophy" mounted, some fans demanded that Wenger "Spend some fucking money!" Or that the club fire him -- "Wenger Out" -- and hire a manager who would spend the money.

In January 2014, Arsenal were in 1st place. But, as seemed to happen every season since the 2006 CL run, an injury crisis struck, and knocked them out of the lead, and they ended up finishing 4th in the League again. Good enough to qualify for the next season's CL, but not good enough to satisfy the few thousand fans with the entitlement complex, the people who thought Wenger owed them a trophy.

Emblematic of this was the 3rd Round of the FA Cup, on January 4. Arsenal were paired with their nearby arch-rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. "Spurs" had last won a trophy in 2008. The last time before that, 1999. Both times, it was the League Cup. This is the difference between the teams and their fans: If Arsenal were to win the League Cup, it would be nice, we'd celebrate that day, then, the next day, we'd move on to seeking the next trophy; but when Spurs won, their fans never let us hear the end of it, treating it as if they'd won the League. They hadn't won the League since 1961; the FA Cup, since 1991, not even making the Finals since, including losing 3 Semifinals to Arsenal.

But, at this point, they had still won a trophy 3 years more recently than Arsenal. Still, nobody joked about how long their trophy drought was -- because it wasn't funny. When Manchester United went 26 years without a League title, 1967 to 1993, it was funny. Same as Liverpool going 30 years, 1990 to 2020. Same as Manchester City going 35 years without winning any trophy, 1976 to 2011. Because those are big clubs. Tottenham fans only think their team is a "big club."

Arsenal won this Cup tie, 2-0, with Theo Walcott scoring the 2nd goal. But, with Arsenal having made all 3 substitutions then allowed, Walcott was hacked down by Danny Rose (still "nicking a living" based on a goal he'd scored against Arsenal nearly 4 years earlier), wrecking his knee. Did Rose get a straight red card? No, not even a booking. Although going down to 10 men didn't hurt Arsenal in this game, losing Walcott for the 2nd half of the season cost them some League games.

Meanwhile, he was getting stretchered off, right in front of the visiting Tottenham fans. They threw things at him, including coins. That was how Tottenham responded to a problem that season: They threw money at it, and got little in return. What they got in return was Walcott holding up 2 fingers in his right hand, and making an O with his left, to signal the 2-0 score. Spurs fans were furious, and wanted him suspended and fined. He wasn't.

The chant was, "Theo! What's the score? Theo, Theo, what's the score?"

In the 4th Round, on January 24, Arsenal hosted Midlands team Coventry City at the Emirates Stadium. Coventry had famously upset Tottenham in the 1987 Final, but were now in League One, the 3rd Division of English soccer. Lukas Podolski scored 2 goals in the 1st half-hour, and Arsenal coasted to a 4-0 win.

Arsenal then knocked off both of the Liverpool teams. A week before taking on Liverpool FC at the Emirates in the 5th round, Liverpool had embarrassed Arsenal at Anfield, 4-1. This time, on February 16, Arsenal controlled the game from first whistle to last, and won, 2-1. On March 8, Arsenal hosted Everton in the Quarterfinal, and won, 4-1, thanks to a pair of late goals by Olivier Giroud.

The Semifinal, at Wembley, on April 12, would be tougher. Arsenal were a perennial at the old Wembley, having played their 1st game there in 1927 and their last not long before it closed in 2000. But since the new one opened in 2007, they were 0-3 there, having lost a 2009 FA Cup Semifinal, and the League Cup Final in 2007 and, in embarrassing fashion in the closing minutes, in 2011.

The opponent was Wigan Athletic, from the Manchester area, who had pulled off a miracle in the previous year's Final, defeating Manchester City in stoppage time. They were on the verge of relegation, and were looking to salvage something. And, for a while, it looked like they might achieve another major upset.

Arsenal blew a lot of chances in the 1st half. In the 2nd half, in the 63rd minute, Per Mertesacker -- the 6-foot-6 centreback affectionately known to Arsenal fans as "the Big Fucking German" -- made a critical mistake, tripping Wigan's Callum McManaman in the penalty area, and Wigan were rightly granted a penalty shot, which Jordi Gomez converted.

Wigan led 1-0, and on Twitter, the invective against Wenger by those who wanted him out was matched by the sadness of those who wanted him to stay, but figured now, with another trophyless year, he'd want to leave, so as not to have to put up with that kind of crap anymore.

The Wenger Outers acted as though some other manager brought the 2 Doubles, the "Invincibles" League title, the other trophies, and the new Emirates Stadium whose 60,000 seats allowed Arsenal to compete much better than beloved old Highbury with its 38,000 seats.

And they acted though, after the '06 Final, that aforementioned wonderful manager left, and then this cheap, stubborn old Frenchman came in and brought Arsenal to "mediocrity." Finishing no worse than 4th for 8 straight seasons, reaching a Champions League Semifinal and 2 other Quarterfinals, and reaching 2 League Cup Finals is hardly "mediocrity," or even "decline."

They also failed to take into account all the injuries, bad officiating decisions, and disloyalty shown to him by certain players, some of whom went on to win trophies with other teams. And they thought that spending truckloads of money was the answer. For Chelsea, Liverpool and the Manchester teams, it was. For Tottenham and Newcastle United, it wasn't. For Leeds United and Portsmouth, it meant financial disaster, relegation, and nearly going out of business. Clearly, simply spending a lot of money on hyped players is not the answer.

But in the 82nd minute, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain fired a shot, and Wigan goalkeeper Scott Carson, who'd been playing very well, could only deflect it, and Mertesacker redeemed himself by heading in a tying goal. Suddenly, all the despairing Arsenal fans seemed to believe again. The Wenger Outers, however, remained unconvinced. 

Despite 5 minutes of 2nd-half stoppage time, such a late winner did not come for either side. And, through the pair of 15-minute halves of extra time, neither side seriously threatened to score. Both teams played with a lot of guts -- and when a team with more talent than guts doesn't get the job done, a team with more guts than talent, like Wigan, can surprise. So 120 minutes gone -- 128 minutes, if you count stoppage time -- and no winner could be found.

Penalty kicks. Every fan's least favorite way of settling a soccer game -- unless you're playing the national team of either England or the Netherlands, both notorious for missing penalties in knockout games. Packed to the gills at the Blind Pig in New York's Greenwich Village, then the main bar of the New York Gooners, I yelled, "Gentlemen, start your coronaries!"

Lukasz Fabianski, a much-maglined backup the last few years, first to Manuel Almunia, and now to fellow Pole Wojciech Szczesny, had started every FA Cup game for Arsenal the season. Arsenal's chances rested not just on the feet of up to 5 attackers, but in the hands of a keeper most Arsenal fans (including yours truly, also of Polish descent) would, not that long ago, not have trusted at all.

Wigan won the toss, and elected to kick first. Gary Caldwell fired, and Fabianski stopped it. Arsenal fans were elated, thinking that, now, they had a chance... if no Arsenal players missed. Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta stepped up, and sent it home. It was "One-Nil to The Arsenal!" Jack Collison stepped up for Wigan... and Fabianski stopped him, too. Kim Kallstrom, the only signing Wenger made in the January transfer window (and that, a loan), who'd barely played since the transfer was made, partly due to injury, stepped up, and hit it.

Jean Beausejour was next for Wigan, and he converted. 2-1 Arsenal. Giroud made it 3-1 Arsenal. James McArthur scored to make it 3-2.  It was now all up to Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla, who'd been so good the season before, his 1st for Arsenal, but not so good this season. He made it. 4-2 Arsenal, and the game. Arsenal were through to the Final on May 17 at Wembley.

For millions of Arsenal fans all over the world, jubilation. For many, myself included, more like relief. All the trauma of the last few weeks faded away. All those calling for Wenger to be fired, for Giroud to be sold, shut up for the rest of the day.

*

The Final would also be at Wembley. In other words, Arsenal did not have to leave London for the entire Cup run. One more thing about which the Arsenal-haters could whine.

Hull City, known as the Tigers for their black and yellow stripes, were managed by Steve Bruce, who had been a centerback on Manchester United's 1990s title-winners. His son, Alex Bruce, was a centerback for this team. One of their midfielders was familiar to Arsenal fans: Former Tottenham player Tom Huddlestone.

They had reached the Final by beating Middlesbrough of Yorkshire in the 3rd Round, Southend United of Essex in the 4th Round, Brighton & Hove Albion of Sussex in the 5th Round, Sunderland of the North-East in the Quarterfinal, and Sheffield United of South Yorkshire in the Semifinal. They had reached the Quarterfinal 5 times before, and the Semifinal in 1930; but this was their 1st trip to the Final.

From their founding in 1904 until that 2014 FA Cup Final, Hull had won... not much. They had won trophies for winning the Football League Division Three North in 1933, 1949 and 1966. They had been promoted from the 4th division to the 3rd in 1983 and 2004. They had been promoted from the 3rd to the 2nd, without a trophy, in 1959, 1985 and 2005. They had been promoted from the 2nd to the 1st, without a trophy, in 2008 and 2013. And in 1984, they had won the League Cup. In 110 years, that was their only trophy.

In other words, beating Arsenal would have been nearly as big a Final upset, a bit of "The Magic of the Cup," as Wigan beating Man City the year before; or Portsmouth and Cardiff City both advancing to the 2008 Final, with Portsmouth winning; or Wimbledon beating Liverpool in 1988; or Coventry beating Spurs in 1987.

It almost happened. James Chester scored in the 4th minute, and Hull Captain Curtis Davies in the 8th. Arsenal were already down 2-0, and it looked like it was over early. But Cazorla pulled one back in the 17th, to make it 2-1 Hull. As the old saying goes, "It's the hope that kills ya." But there was more hope in the 71st, thanks to a goal off a corner from Laurent Koscielny. The game went to extra time.

In the 1971 Final against Liverpool, Charlie George hit a screamer in the 111th minute, and celebrated by lying on the ground at the old Wembley. It became one of the iconic images of English football. This time, in the 109th minute, Giroud made a cheeky backheel pass to Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal's oft-injured Welsh midfielder who had come through so many times that season, and he put it in the net.

The goal wasn't much on style, but it was huge on significance. Ramsey ran around the corner where the Arsenal fans had been placed, to celebrate, and then slid on the grass, flat on his back, like George before him, before his teammates pounced on him.

But it wasn't over. Counting stoppage time, there were 12 minutes to go. And Fabianski nearly blew it in the 115th minute, rushing forward for an unsuccessful steal, with only left back Kieran Gibbs clearing the ball just in front of the net saving him from the most ignominious goalkeeping "howler" in FA Cup Final history. (In some minds, that title is held by an Arsenal man: Dan Lewis, against Cardiff City in 1927.)

When referee Lee Probert blew the final whistle, tremendous cheers went up -- inside Wembley, in North London, and wherever Arsenal fans gathered. I can vouch for East 14th Street in Manhattan, where there were 3 bars within a one-block stretch showing the game, known as Gooner Alley. Champagne flowed inside the Blind Pig.

Arteta, serving as Captain for this Final, and the injured Belgian centerback Thomas Vermaelen, the usual Captain, received the Cup from Prince William, head of the FA, on behalf of the royal family. The "years since Arsenal won a trophy" counter reverted to 0.

Wenger at the 2014 FA Cup celebration

Wenger led Arsenal to win the Cup again in 2015, beating Aston Villa in the Final; and 2017, beating Chelsea. A funny thing happened, though. Two funny things, really. Actually, neither of them were funny in the least.

First of all, the Wenger Outers, who kept saying that trophies matter, and "4th place is not a trophy," suddenly decided that the FA Cup didn't matter any more: It was winning the Premier League and the Champions League that mattered. To borrow a phrase from American football, they moved the goalposts.

And along the same lines, the English media, and fans of every other team, took the same tack, saying, "The FA Cup has been devalued." Except they didn't say that when it was won by Man United in 2016, Chelsea in 2018, Man City in 2019, Leicester City in 2021, or Liverpool in 2022. Certainly, they didn't say it the year before, when Wigan pulled off the major upset. Those times, it was "The Magic of the Cup."

In 2018, the small but loud minority finally convinced Arsenal team owner Stan Kroenke to give Wenger his "retirement." Unai Emery was hired, and his 1st season was worse than the "mediocrity" of the preceding years. He was fired early the next season, and replaced by Arteta, a "Wenger man," and he led Arsenal to win the FA Cup in 2020, another Final win over Chelsea.

Arsenal Are a Joy to Watch Again

In their last 2 games, Arsenal have beaten Tottenham Hotspur in a North London Derby, decisively at 3-1; and then, today, beat Liverpool 3-2, on 2 beauties, one in the 1st minute of the 1st half and 1 at the stroke of halftime, and a 2nd-half penalty.

It has been a long time since Arsenal were a joy to watch. Even when we were winning trophies from 2014 to 2017, a small, stupid, but increasingly loud and selfish subset of the fanbase ruined it for the rest of us.

They got what they wanted: Arsène Wenger out. They said, "We want our Arsenal back!" They got their Arsenal back: A non-Wenger Arsenal, a bunch of slowpokes who struggled to qualify for Europe.

If they'd left the great man alone, he could have handed the team over to Mikel Arteta on his own schedule, we would have won more, and we'd probably be where we are now, but it would be a "still," not an "again."

But, 9 games into the 38-game Premier League season, The Arsenal are top of the League. They have gotten great goalkeeping from Aaron Ramsdale; superb defense from Kieran Tierney, Ben White, Thomas Partey, Gabriel Magalhães, William Saliba, Granit Xhaka and Oleksandr Zinchenko; amazing playmaking from Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard and Emile Smith Rowe; and fantastic goals from Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus. (Yes, 3 players named Gabriel. All from Brazil.)

Too soon to get excited? No. Too soon to talk trophies? Perhaps. But even the media is talking about The Arsenal as if they are for real. And I am enjoying it.

The State of The Arsenal on Founders Day

December 11, 1886, 135 years ago today: The Arsenal Football Club played its 1st game. It was on the Isle of Dogs, at a ground recently occupied by Millwall Football Club, against a team named Eastern Wanderers, which went out of business a few years later. The new club won, 6-0.

They were originally a works team -- what we in the U.S. would call a company team, as both the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers began -- at the Royal Arsenal (hence the nickname "The Gunners," which led to their fans later being tagged "The Gooners") in Woolwich (the 2nd W is silent), in what was then the county of Kent but is now part of Southeast London (SE16).

They called themselves Dial Square Football Club, after the section of the Arsenal where they worked. On Christmas Day, December 25, 1886, they met at the nearby Royal Oak pub, to make things more official, and changed their name to the Royal Arsenal Football Club.

The 1st game under the new name, and the 1st game that could be called a "home game" for them, was on January 8, 1887, at Plumstead Common, 2 miles away, against a nearby club called Erith, and Royal Arsenal won, 6-1.

(The Royal Arsenal at Woolwich. Photo dated 1960.)

In 1893, they turned professional and were admitted to England's Football League, but had to change their name, as Queen Victoria had signed a law prohibited any professional team from having "Royal" in its name. (This is not the case in Spain, where there are professional soccer teams named Real Madrid, Real Mallorca, Real Betis, etc.) And, of course, being professional, they had ceased to be a "club," even though the word remains part of the organization's name, and the fans continue to call their team "my club."

So they took on the name of their locality, and were Woolwich Arsenal from then until 1913, when they moved to a new stadium at Highbury in North London, "The Arsenal" until 1919 and "Arsenal Football Club" since, although "The Arsenal" is frequently still used, especially by the club's fans.

They could have changed their name to "Highbury Arsenal," or "Islington Arsenal," even though neither the Borough of Islington nor the Highbury neighborhood had any connection to the Royal Arsenal, aside from the club. As a result, Arsenal are 1 of only 2 professional clubs in England without a locality as part of their official name. The other is Port Vale, located in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

Not quite the 1st Arsenal team, but perhaps the earliest known team photo, 1888.

Herbert Chapman was signed to manage Arsenal in 1925. He led them to win the Football Association Cup in 1930, and the Football League Division One in 1931 and 1933, before his death midway through the 1933-34 season. Under Joe Shaw, and then George Allison, the team he built went on to win the League again in 1934, 1935 and 1938, and the FA Cup in 1936. A rebuild after World War II, under manager Tom Whittaker, resulted in League titles in 1948 and 1953, and an FA Cup in 1950.

Like Chapman, Whittaker died in office, in 1956, and a down period resulted. The team's fortunes were turned around under Bertie Mee. In 1970, he guided the team to the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the tournament now known as the UEFA Europa League. In 1971, Arsenal took both the League and the FA Cup, "The Double." A mid-1970s rebuild under Terry Neill led to an FA Cup win in 1979.

In 1986, George Graham, one of the players from the '71 Double was named manager. He led the team to the 1987 League Cup, the 1989 and 1991 League titles, the 1st-ever English domestic "cup double" (the League Cup and the FA Cup) in 1993, and the European Cup Winners' Cup (a tournament that no longer exists) in 1994.

In 1996, Arsène Wenger was named the team's 1st manager not a native of the British Isles, and he revamped everything, from tactics to exercise to diet. In 1998, now in the era of the Premier League, he took Arsenal to another Double. He did it again in 2002. He led them to another FA Cup in 2003. And he led them through the entire 2003-04 Premier League season without losing a game: Played 38, won 26, drawn 2, lost exactly none. It had never been done before, and it hasn't been done since. The unbeaten string eventually reached 49 games.

(The 1st season of the Football League was in 1888-89, and Lancashire team Preston North End went through the 22-game season unbeaten, and also won the FA Cup. But 38 is a lot more games than 22.)

After another FA Cup win in 2005, Arsenal advanced to the Final of the UEFA Champions League in 2006, their last season at Highbury. With the opening of the new 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium, the construction debt had to be paid off, and Wenger had less of a budget than before. Still, he managed to keep the team in the Champions League places.

A small but loud and angry section of the fanbase began to demand that Wenger spend more money on "world-class players," because they believed that winning the League title was all that mattered. When Wenger ended a 9-year trophy drought by winning the 2014 FA Cup, this small but loud and angry section decided that it wasn't enough.

Nor was it enough when he did it again in 2015 and 2017. They demanded that he be fired for not giving them another League title -- as if he hadn't already given them 3, as many as any other Arsenal manager had ever done. (Allison had won 3; Chapman, Whittaker and Graham had each won 2, Shaw 1.)

By 2017, Arsenal had been surpassed by bigger-spending teams run by billionaire owners, and fell out of the Champions League places. Late in the 2018 season, Wenger announced he was leaving. It is still debated whether he was fired, or he quit due to even his great patience finally being worn out by the whiners.

New manager Unai Emery turned out to be a poor replacement, and was fired in favor of Mikel Arteta, the Spanish midfielder who had captained the 2014 and '15 Cup wins. Things have been shaky under his leadership.

On this Founders Day, Arsenal hosted Hampshire team Southampton, and beat them 3-0, following 2 awful-looking losses to the only 2 teams in England that have won more trophies, Liverpool and Manchester United.

The Arsenal have a great past, and a promising future. But the present is a bit of a mist. The hope is that the team can, within a short time, return to its former heights.

Good old Arsenal, we're proud to say your name.

While we sing this song, we'll win the game!

Happy Anniversary, and come on you Gunners! (COYG)

Difficult to Process

When you get to a certain point in life, you realize certain things. Yesterday, I had beautiful weather, a good day the supermarket, I got to see one of my nieces, and I got talk to the other 2 on the phone. Last night, I got to see some decent television. I've had one of my COVID vaccinations, and am currently awaiting the other. And Donald Trump is no longer occupying the Presidency.

Based on that, I had a good day.

However, the Yankees lost the finale of their home series against the Houston Astros, in ignominious fashion. And Arsenal were knocked out of Europe, possibly for the long term.

Sports-wise, yesterday was a very bad day. But, with what was going on a real life, I can see that it wasn't the end of the world.

Whoever said sports, or any sport, was life and death was wrong. Whoever said sports, or any sport, is a microcosm of life had a point, but wasn't completely right.

*

Before this series with the Asterisks started, if you had told me that the Yankees would take 2 out of the 3, I would have taken that. But if you had told me the 1 they would lose would be the 1 that Gerrit Cole started, I would have been stunned.

Certainly, it wasn't Cole's fault. He breezed through the 1st 3 innings, before allowing a home run to Yordan Alvarez in the top of the 4th. He shrugged it off, and was fine through 6. But in the top of the 7th, he gave up another home run to Alvarez.

That made it 3-2 in the Yankees' favor. Giancarlo Stanton had hit another home run, this time leading off the bottom of the 3rd, to the opposite field. Aaron Hicks, hitting so poorly until this series began, continued his comeback with 3 hits and a walk. He was hitting below .150, now he's at .202. His single in the 4th was followed by a home run by Clint Frazier.

But in the 8th inning, Aaron Boone brought Chad Green in to pitch, and he had nothing. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. He allowed a walk and a single, before getting a strikeout. And then, of all people, it was Jose Altuve -- the midget at the heart of the Astros' 2015-19 cheating, turning 31, and facing chants from Yankee Fans of, among others, "Fuck your birthday!" -- who hit a home run, making it 5-3 Astros.

The bottom of the 8th featured a wild play that sure seemed like an omen that the Yankees would come from behind and win. Gleyber Torres led off with a single. Mike Ford struck out. Then Hicks singled, against the shift. Torres was running all the way, and noticed that the Astros' positioning meant that he could score. And he did. 

The run against the shift was reminiscent of Johnny Damon's double steal in Game 4 of the 2009 World Series. Scoring from 1st on a single was reminiscent of Enos Slaughter's "Mad Dash" in Game 7 of the 1946 World Series, giving St. Louis the title over Boston.

It was now 5-4 Astros, and easy to believe that the Yankees would get it done. But Kyle Higashioka, who has done so well this season, grounded into a rally-killing double play.

Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you. Justin Wilson (no relation to the late famous Cajun chef of the same name) gave up a walk and a homer in the top of the 9th. In the bottom of the 9th, Brett Gardner led off with a single, but DJ LeMahieu struck out, and Stanton grounded into a double play.

Astros 7, Yankees 4. WP: Andre Scrubb (1-0). SV: Ryan Pressly (5). LP: Green (0-3).

I hate losing. I hate losing in ignominious fashion. I hate the Astros. This was all 3. Still, taking 2 out of 3 against the Astros is a good thing.

*

But Arsenal...

Based on Premier League position, Arsenal would, for the 1st time since the 1994-95 season, fail to qualify for Europe. They would have to finish at least 7th to qualify for the UEFA Europa League for the 2021-22 season. They are currently 5 points short of 7th place, and both of the teams ahead of them have a game in hand.

There was still a chance that they could win this year's Europa League, and thus qualify for next season's bigger tournament, the UEFA Champions League. But to do that, they would have to win the Semifinal against Spanish team Villareal, and then win the Final.

Villareal are managed by Unai Emery, who had previously won the Europa League 3 times with Sevilla, before winning the EL automatically qualified a team for the CL. In 2018, Arsenal hired Emery to replace Arsène Wenger. It was a horrendous decision: Emery was completely out of his depth in the Premier League, alienated Arsenal's best players, employed pathetic tactics, got Arsenal to the 2019 Europa League Final against Chelsea but hopelessly botched it, and had to be fired midway through the 2019-20 season.

Mikel Arteta, who had captained Arsenal to FA Cup Final wins under Wenger in 2014 and '15, was hired, and somehow took a team built by Emery to the 2020 FA Cup Final, and did what Emery couldn't do in his Final the year before: Beat Chelsea. It looked like Arteta was the spiritual successor to Wenger.

That idea has completely evaporated, along with the ability to take the slogan "Trust the process" seriously. Arsenal ended up losing at home to teams that hadn't beaten them in North London for decades. Arsenal were now in what the idiots who demanded Wenger's firing lied and said Wenger had brought the team into: "Midtable mediocrity."

Arsenal reached the Semifinal of the EL, but lost the 1st leg to Villareal 2-1. Having an away goal was supposed to give Arsenal hope for the 2nd leg. But it ended 0-0, and Arsenal were so weak throughout, they never looked like scoring. Arsenal go out of Europe by losing to Unai Emery. That's pretty low.

Team owner Stan Kroenke is the new target of hate by the idiots and their protests. He didn't cause any of this, unless you want to blame him for hiring managing director Vinai Venkatesham and technical director Edu Gaspar, a former player on Wenger's 2002 "Double" and 2004 "Invincible" teams. They hired Arteta, and also made some transactions that cannot be rationally defended.

Arsène Wenger never had a loss as damaging as the knockout given to Arsenal yesterday by Vinai, Edu and Arteta. Until all 3 are fired, and another visionary takes his proper place on Arsène's throne, Arsenal will be one of those teams that must measure itself by derby results.

Jim Steinman, the pianist and composer who wrote Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and most of Meat Loaf's hits, recently died. I wanted Arteta to be Wenger's rightful successor. But it's just not going to happen. Looking at Arsenal's "process," I'm reminded of what Steinman wrote in Meat Loaf's song "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad":

You'll never find no gold on a sandy beach.

You'll never drill for oil on a city street.

I know you're looking for a ruby in a mountain of rocks

but there ain't no Coupe de Ville lying at the bottom

of a Cracker Jack box.

I can't lie.

I can't tell you that I'm something I'm not.

No matter how I try

I'll never be able to give you something

something that I just haven't got.

*

"Trust the process." I seem to be rooting for teams that all currently use that expression: The New York Yankees, the New Jersey Devils, the Philadelphia 76ers and The Arsenal. (The Devils and the Sixers are owned by the same people. I haven't yet noticed the New York Red Bulls or the Rutgers University football team using the expression, but it wouldn't surprise me if they started using it.)

How long is the process supposed to take? The Yankees haven't won a Pennant, let alone a World Series, in 12 years. The Devils have made the Playoffs once in the last 9 years, and are currently 1 of the 3 worst teams in the NHL. The Sixers have been in "the process" for 8 years, and have won just 2 Playoff rounds. Arsenal are wrapping up Season 3 since parting ways with Arsène Wenger, and each one has been worse than the one before, in terms of League performance.

Thomas Boswell, the great baseball writer for The Washington Post, said, "Life can't be all big issues and heart surgery. Something has to bring joy into the day. And baseball provides this."

Sometimes. Other times, it's more like what Arsenal fan Nick Hornby put it, in his screenplay for the movie based on his memoir Fever Pitch:

Football has meant too much to me, and has come to represent too many things. See, after a while, it all gets mixed up in your head. You can't remember whether life's shit because Arsenal's shit, or if it's the other way around.

I've been to watch far too many games, and spent far too much money, fretted about Arsenal when I should have been fretting about something else. I've asked too much of the people I love.

Okay, I accept all that. Perhaps it's something you can't understand, unless you belong...

Processes begin. Some have a measure of success. A few of those ultimately succeed. Most of them end up failing. Some have hardly anything that can be defined as "success." It's then that you realize that Franz Kafka, a writer whose very name has become identified with surrealism, wrote a story titled The Trial, and its original German title is Der Process.

Life is difficult to process. Ideally, sports should make life easier to process. But we don't live in an ideal world. Hell, if we lived in an ideal world, we wouldn't need sports. As Yankee Legend Yogi Berra taught us, "If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be."

But sports is not life. Good things can happen in life, even when things are bad in sports. If life is "shit," then a team you love being "shit" doesn't help, but it's not the reason. Some of the best times in my life came when the Yankees weren't doing well. It's even true in sports: On some big days for the Yankees, or the Devils, or The Arsenal, another of my teams lost. You win some, and you lose some.

And, for as long as you live, there's another chance. As Hornby also put it:

The great thing is, it comes again and again. There's always another season. You lose the Cup Final in May? Well, there's the 3rd Round to look forward to in January. And what's wrong with that? It's actually pretty comforting, if you think about it.

We have to process it all. But that doesn't mean we have to trust the process.

This concludes today's Philosophy 101 lecture. Tonight, the Yankees begin a home weekend series against the Washington Nationals. Jameson Taillon starts against Patrick Corbin.

The Comebacks Begin, But Baseball Is Still in the Balance

Slowly but surely, the impact of the Coronavirus is being reduced, and things are starting to open up again.

In New Jersey, restaurants are permitted to open with properly-spaced outdoor seating. Next week, barbershops can reopen. Which is good, because my hair is now long and puffy enough to resemble that of a 1970s Arsenal player.

The above example: George Armstrong, who played with the North London team's 1st XI from 1962 to 1977. His hair is so long in this photo, it obscures the Elvis-esque sideburns he grew. He was only 5-foot-6, but a fantastic player, a key figure on their 1971 League and Cup "Double" team. Sadly, he is no longer with us: After coaching with the team for most of the 1990s, he collapsed at the team's training center in 2000, and died, only 56.

Today, Premier League action resumes in England, with games being played "behind closed doors," meaning no fans admitted, a.k.a. "ghost games." Arsenal, whose manager and former star player Mikel Arteta survived the virus, plays away to Manchester City. Major League Soccer returns on July 8.

The NBA will also soon restart, with teams already eliminated from Playoff competition having their seasons declared over, and the remaining 22 teams going into training camps, and then, starting on July 30, jockeying for seeds in a standard 16-team Playoff.

The NHL will also soon restart, with the top 24 teams -- the Devils not being one of them -- beginning training camps on July 10, and then playing in a staggered Playoff format, with the top 8 teams getting a 1st-round bye.

Both of these leagues usually have their Champions crowned by this time, and will see their Playoffs end later than ever before, possibly even in October, when their new seasons would usually start. We might not seen the 2020-21 season begin until Christmas, or even New Year's.

Football, at every level, looks like it's going to begin on time: College (and, in some States, high school) in the last week of August, and the pros and the high schoolers (at least, here in New Jersey) in the 1st week of September. Whether fans will be permitted to attend remains to be seen.

Thoroughbred horse racing's Triple Crown has not only been postponed, but had its usual order changed: The Belmont Stakes, usually the last of the 3 races, was postponed from June 6 to June 20 (this coming Saturday, definitely behind closed doors), the normally series-opening Kentucky Derby from May 2 to September 5, and the Preakness Stakes from May 16 to October 3.

The Olympic Games have been postponed until next year. So has the European Championship soccer tournament. Wimbledon, originally set to run from June 21 to July 5, was canceled for the 1st time since World War II. The French Open was set to run in Paris from May 24, to June 7, has been postponed to September 20 to October 4.

This will be after the U.S. Open. With the number of new COVID-19 cases continuing to drop, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York gave the U.S. Tennis Association the all-clear to hold the tournament, albeit behind closed doors, on schedule from August 31 to September 13.

And then there's baseball. Commissioner Rob Manfred, as with all previous Commissioners the tool of the team owners, has been shoveling variations on the same restart deal at the players' union, the Major League Baseball Players Association, over and over again, and the players have rejected all of them as completely unacceptable, because the plans mean the owners will not be honoring their side of the contracts.

Last week, Manfred says there was a 100 percent chance that we would have baseball this season. Yesterday, he said, he was "not confident."

The players make a lot of money. They are not the problem here. They are ready to honor their contracts. The owners are trying to screw them. It doesn't matter that the players make so much more than you do: They are still being screwed. You wouldn't put up with this from your boss, so why should the players put up with it from theirs, regardless of how much they're being paid? They are still being cheated.

One thing is for sure: It looks like the Yankees will be screwed again. But then, what did you expect? I told you that they haven't won a World Series with a Republican as President since 1958, and they still haven't. I told you to vote for Hillary.

*

So, with some kind of schedule once again available, I can, for the 1st time since March 8, update my countdowns. However, Trip Guides are seriously affected. Due to events beyond my control last Autumn, I decided to cut short the NFL ones, and to drop the NBA ones altogether. I still did them for the NHL, and got them done for 30 out of 31 teams before the shutdown, missing only the Minnesota Wild.

Ironically, Minnesota United was 1 of the 3 MLS teams I had already done them for, the others being my home team, the New York Red Bulls, and Real Salt Lake.

Not yet having revised MLB or MLS schedules, I will not do those for 2020. Hopefully, I will be able to do them in 2021.

As for football, the NFL and college games that would apply: These games will probably be played, but it's increasingly likely that they will be behind closed doors, so it would be pointless to do Trip Guides for them. Once I learn for sure, I will have to adjust my schedule accordingly.

According to the schedule I had laid out before my hip replacement surgery on February 19, I had predicted that I would be able to go back to work in 8 weeks, on April 13. Who was I kidding? I might be able to do a data entry job, but I'd still have to get to and from work, and, without a car, and the closest bus stop a mile from my house, that would have been damn near impossible at the time. It would be pretty hard now: It's still twice as far as I've yet walked with the cane.

At any rate, each of the following is tentative, and may not have anyone actually in attendance:

Days until Arsenal play again: 0. They play away to Manchester City, in Premier League action, at 8:15 PM London time, 3:15 PM New York time. They have also advanced to the Quarterfinals of the FA Cup, although they have been eliminated from the UEFA Europa League. So now, their only chance to get into next season's UEFA Champions League is to finish 4th or higher in the Premier League -- or 5th, if Man City's CL ban is upheld, which is by no means a certainty.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 21, in the MLS is Back Tournament, which will be held entirely behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, which is part of the Walt Disney World Resort, in the Orlando suburb of Bay Lake, Florida. Although the schedule has not yet been finalized, they have been put in a group with Atlanta United and the 2 Ohio teams, the Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": Given that neither New York City FC, nor the Philadelphia Union, nor D.C. United, nor the New England Revolution are in the Red Bulls' group for the tournament, and who is likely to advance, is anybody's guess, then so is this number.

Days until the next North London Derby: 24, on Saturday, July 11, Arsenal's long-delayed 1st visit to the new Tottenham Stadium, adjacent to the site of the previous White Hart Lane. When they'll play their 1st game there in front of fans, most of them Spurs' mental acrobats, is anybody's guess, since the 2019-20 season is not yet finished. Usually, by this point, the next season's schedule -- or, as they would say in England, fixture list -- would have already been released.

Days until the Yankees' 2020 Opening Day: Unknown. MLB had been talking about a restart date of July 31, which would be 44 days from now, a decent time to have a Summer version of "Spring Training" to get ready. At this point, nobody knows.

Days until the Yankees' 2020 home opener: See the previous answer.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: See the previous answer.

Days until the Democratic National Convention: 61, on Monday, August 17. It was set for the Fiserv Center in Milwaukee, the new home of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, a nod to the fact that Hillary Clinton "lost" Wisconsin by such a close vote last time. But the Convention may have to be "virtual." Joe Biden might be the 1st Presidential nominee to not give his acceptance speech on the Convention floor since Franklin Roosevelt was too ill to accept a 4th term in person in 1944.

Days until the Republican National Convention: 68, on Monday, August 24. The Republicans have already moved their convention from Charlotte to Jacksonville, since the Governor of North Carolina (Roy Cooper, a Democrat listening to the medical experts) refused to reopen the State; while the Governor of Florida (Rob DeSantis, a Republican listening to Donald Trump) is happy to risk lives for his lord and master at Mar-a-Lago.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 79, on Friday night, September 4, against arch-rival Old Bridge, at the purple shit pit on Route 9. 

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

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 80, 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.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: Unknown, since the 2020-21 NHL schedule has not yet been released.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: See the previous answer.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: Unknown, although the 2nd weekend and 3rd week in October is usually set aside for international games. So, if we presume October 10, a Saturday, then it's 115 days.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 139, on November 3, 2020. Under 5 months.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 164, on Saturday, November 28, at home.

Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene: 200, on January 3, 2021. Under 10 months.


Days until Liberation Day: 217, at noon on January 20, 2021. A little over 7 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 Euro 2020 begins, a tournament being held all over Europe instead of in a single host nation: 359, on Friday, June 11, 2021. Under 1 year.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 401, on July 23, 2021. A little over 13 months.

Days until Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz become eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame: 573, on January 11, 2022. Under 2 years, or under 19 months. 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: 597, on February 4, 2022. Under 2 years, or under 20 months.

Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off in Qatar: 887, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 3 years, or a little over 29 months.

Days until the next Women's World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,118, on July 10, 2023. A little over 3 years, or a little under 37 months. A host nation is expected to be chosen a week from tomorrow. Bids have been put in by Colombia (South America has never hosted), Japan (Asia last hosted in 2007), and a joint bid by Australia and New Zealand (Oceania has never hosted).