And you thought 2020 was a pain, guess what 2021 will even be more dramatic. So, let us look at some good and bad stories that will drive our lives this 2021 the Year of the Ox.
According to the Chinese zodiac, 2021 is the Year of the Ox.
... The years of the Ox in the Chinese Horoscope are: 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949,
1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, and 2021. This year is going to be lucky and also
perfect to focus on relationships, whether we are talking about friendships or
love.
OUT AND ABOUT – Let us start with
something positive and fun. This past week we had the first 2021 meeting via
Zoom of the Molson Chapter of St. Lawrence University Hockey Alumni. From Nova
Scotia to California, the provinces and states in between it was a great start
to 2021.
From left to right: Scott and Laurie Graham, Hass, Jeff
Dillon, Murray Cawker, Paul and Carol Gallagher, Scott Morrison, Joe and Betty
O’Rourke. We missed Ken Brousseau who is under the weather, Brousser we miss
you and wish you all the best and good health.
The Zoom photo does make this group look like we are visiting
Harry Aikens on his planet, but I assure everyone is well and looking good. It has
been forty-eight years since these boys’ first met. After five minutes of zooming,
it was like we just finished a practice in old Appleton Arena with Bernie and
Wilkie giving us hell. Absolutely no one has changed, and the camaraderie is as
strong as ever.
An effort will be made in the coming months to have mystery guests
included in these Molson Chapter meets. So, Peter Blair, Bill Reid, Hugh Lappe,
Peter Hewitt, Tom McGuire, Jacques Martin, Al Karnas, to name just a few of
many of our fellow alumni – stay tuned for an invite.
I am truly blessed to have these friends in my life after all
these years.
COVID-19
UPDATE - The official global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic
surpassed 2 million on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The
tragic milestone came just over a year after the first Covid-19 death was
reported in Wuhan, China.
While the 2 million figure is horrifying,
experts say the real death toll is likely much higher. Only confirmed Covid-19
deaths are included in the tally, which means that people who die without a
firm diagnosis may not be included.
Southern California's COVID outbreak is in a
terrible place, and hospitals haven't even been hit with a wave of potential
infections from Christmas and New Year's.
Hospitalizations have stabilized, but public
health officials say that's just from infections linked to Thanksgiving.
More than 1/3 of the 10 million people in Los
Angeles County are believed to have been infected with COVID.
Authorities are urging essential workers and
people who run errands to wear masks when they're at home.
Officials hope the return of stay-at-home orders
late last year will stem the tide.
Many mortuaries have had to turn away grieving
families because they're at capacity, the owner of Los Angeles Funeral Service
told ABC News.
The L.A. County coroner has been holding some
bodies to free up mortuary capacity. Orange County brought in refrigerated
trucks.
Between the lines: The advice of "stay
home" doesn't work for essential workers and people who can't work from
their couches.
"Los Angeles has small family housing with
lots of people in them. It’s hard to be a gardener working from home,"
epidemiologist George Rutherford told NBC News.
Even a good-case scenario for Christmas and New
Year's infections would leave hospitals in dire straits for the next month,
said Christina Ghaly, the L.A. County director of health services.
Arizona Is America’s Covid-19 Hot Spot and on
the Brink of Crisis, Arizona has the highest Covid-19 infection rate in the
U.S. and is on the brink of running out of space in crowded hospitals,
according to public-health and hospital officials. The state hit a record for
new infections last week, with 11,324 in a single day. It has the highest per
capita rate of new Covid-19 infections in the U.S., according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, and the highest rate of Covid-19
hospitalizations, according to the Covid tracking project.
The five hardest-hit states as of yesterday:
New Jersey — 227 people dead per 100K residents
Massachusetts — 196
Rhode Island — 188
South Dakota — 186
Connecticut — 182
COLLEGE CHRONICLES - Thursday, the
Department of Education made $22.7B available from the COVID-19 stimulus
package signed last month and more may be on the way. President-elect Biden
unveiled a proposed $1.9T stimulus plan that includes another $35B for higher
education. Of note from the summary: "The president-elect’s plan will
ensure colleges have critical resources to implement public health protocols,
execute distance learning plans, and provide emergency grants to students in
need. This $35 billion in funding will be directed to public institutions,
including community colleges, as well as public and private Historically Black
Colleges and Universities and other minority-serving Institutions. ... [The
proposal] will provide millions of students up to an additional $1,700 in
financial assistance from their college.
WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND - "One
Night in Miami...," a fictionalized account of an actual meeting
among four, Black American icons in 1964, debuts today (Friday) on Prime Video.
Director: Regina King ("Watchmen,"
"If Beale Street Could Talk") makes her directorial debut.
Writer: Kemp Powers, who also wrote Pixar's
"Soul," adapts his own award-winning, 2013 play of the same name.
Starring: Eli Goree (Cassius Clay), Leslie Odom
Jr. (Sam Cooke), Aldis Hodge (Jim Brown), Kingsley Ben-Adir (Malcolm X).
The story: On Feb. 25, 1964, Cassius Clay —
who'd recently converted to Islam and was just two weeks shy of changing his
name to Muhammad Ali — defeated Sonny Liston by TKO in Miami, earning his first
heavyweight title.
After the bout, Sam Cooke (singer) and Malcolm
X, as well as NFL star Jim Brown, who provided commentary for the fight's radio
broadcast, retired to Malcolm's hotel room for an evening of shared
introspection.
The film takes us into that room, pulling back
the curtain on a conversation whose exact words may never have been spoken, but
whose ideas were, and remain, paramount to what it means to be Black in
America.
Rink Rats rating 1 – 10 (10 being best) an 8+
· Trailer (YouTube)
REPUBLICAN PARTY, NOW WHAT? - Republicans will
emerge from the Trump era gutted financially, institutionally and structurally.
The losses are stark and substantial:
They lost their congressional power.
Their two leaders, Mitch McConnell and Kevin
McCarthy, are hamstrung by corporate blacklisting of their election-denying
members.
The GOP brand is radioactive for a huge chunk of
America.
The corporate bans on giving to the 147 House
and Senate Republicans who voted against election certification are growing and
virtually certain to hold.
The RNC is a shell of its former self and run by
a Trump loyalist.
Democrats crushed them in fundraising when they
were out of power. Imagine their edge with it.
Sheldon Adelson, the party's biggest donor, died
Monday.
The NRA is weaker than it has ever been, after
massive leadership scandals.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, once controlled by
rock-ribbed Republicans, also gave to Democrats in 2020.
Rank-and-file Republicans are now scattered on
encrypted channels like Signal and fearful of Big Tech platforms.
The big picture: Conservatives hold power in the
courts and state legislatures, two foundational pieces to rebuilding their
party. But they likely will face a raging internal war over policies and
political leaders as they grapple with a post-Trump world — whenever that might
be.
BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday
wishes and thoughts this week to Maureen Dowd (69), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (60),
Faye Dunaway (80), Xochitl Martinez …famous finance administrator, Alison
Rodriguez …. famous mentor to staff and students.
CES 2021 - The first fully virtual CES (Consumer
Electronics Show) wrapped up yesterday, and attendees probably can’t wait to
get back to Vegas for next year’s event—if only to confirm that Vegas still
exists.
Some highlights:
Robots: A self-driving John Deere tractor (How
about that Cat?). An automated machine for removing honeycomb from a
beehive. A personal butler that will pour you wine and fold your laundry (Perfect
for Scotty Graham). These were all new launches from robotics companies,
which received a boost from the urgency to go “contactless” during the
pandemic.
Wearables/health/wellness: Can better tech keep
us healthy? If you’re bullish, then CES had plenty of gadgets for you.
HealthyU, a remote health monitoring device from HD Medical, made headlines for
its ability to handle seven different biometrics. Plus: “smart” masks, blood
pressure sensors, and a vibrating headband that allegedly reduces stress.
Phones: The event wasn’t technically part of
CES, but yesterday Samsung unveiled its new flagship Galaxy S21 line, which
consists of three phones that start at $799. The S21 Ultra, at $1,199, aims to
be the Voss water of smartphones.
MARKET WEEK -
Petco and Poshmark shares both popped on their
first day of trading publicly.
Delta posted its first annual loss in 11 years
due to the pandemic. It’s aiming to stop its cash burn ($12 million/day in Q4)
in the spring.
Instacart, Trader Joe's, and Dollar General
announced they’ll pay workers to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
Google closed its $2.1 billion acquisition of
Fitbit.
WandaVision, the first Marvel series on Disney+,
premieres today.
U.S.-based venture capital hit an all-time
record in 2020, beating the prior high set back in the dot-com craze of 2000.
Interest rates will stay near zero for the
foreseeable future, Fed chair Jerome Powell said.
Tesla Inc. has had a remarkable run and its
future looks bright. The company has gone from delivering 41,507 luxury
electric vehicles in 2015 to introducing the Model 3 in 2017 and delivering
nearly 500,000 EVs in 2020.
Tesla’s TSLA stock shot up 743% in 2020 and it
has gone up another 22% in the first days of 2021. The shares are worth 18
times their price at the end of 2015. So what’s not to love?
RINK RATS 2021 PORTFOLIO –
Here are our stock picks for 2021 each stock has
a $1,000 investment (total $5,000) – we will track this throughout the year:
|
Apple |
AAPL |
NASDAQ |
31-Dec-20 |
$ 132.69 8 Shares |
|
Intel |
INTC |
NASDAQ |
31-Dec-20 |
$ 49.82 20 Shares |
|
Vertex Pharmaceuticals |
VRTX |
NASDAQ |
31-Dec-20 |
$ 236.34 4 Shares |
|
Veeva Systems |
VEEV |
NYSE |
31-Dec-20 |
$ 272.25 4 Shares |
|
Clean Harbors |
CLH |
NYSE |
31-Dec-20 |
$ 76.10 13 Shares |
HOW HOT IS IT? - 2020 was the
second-hottest year on record, trailing only 2016.
The last seven years have been the seven warmest
on record. And the 10 warmest years have now occurred since 2005. 2020 rival’s
hottest year on record, pushing Earth closer to a critical climate threshold.
Escalating temperatures poise planet to breach 1.5 C for the first time,
possibly later this decade.
SUMMER OLYMPICS - Less than 200
days from the Tokyo Olympics, Japan has declared a second state of emergency
after another wave of COVID-19 cases.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga expects to lift
the emergency order on February 7. Others, including Japan’s top virus advisor,
are less optimistic about lifting the state of emergency by that date.
The Tokyo Games were first delayed in March
2020. Olympic organizers say that if the events cannot happen in 2021, they
will be canceled.
Even a scaled-down version of the Tokyo Games
would likely require testing and quarantines for athletes and fans, as well as
logistical changes to the events.
The bloated $15.4 billion budget for the games
could continue to inflate. Multiple independent audits have projected costs
amounting to double the current figure.
Costs specifically related to combating COVID-19
total close to $1 billion.
Top sponsors have already contributed over $3
billion to date, at least twice as much as any previous Olympics.
Due to the health concerns and rising cost — the
majority of which is funded by taxpayers — anti-Olympics sentiment is growing
among the Japanese public.
Despite the hurdles, Prime Minister Suga said he
is “determined to hold the games” as he announced the latest restrictions.
PANDEMIC SPORTS – NHL Commissioner
Gary Bettman said he expects the league and its teams to lose more than $1 billion
this year, but emphasized the importance of playing the shortened season —
which drops the puck today.
“It would be cheaper for us to shut the doors
and not play,” Bettman said. “We’re coming back to play this season because we
think it’s important for the game.”
Game-day income makes up approximately 50% of
the NHL’s revenue, but with just 56 games on the schedule and no fans in most
arenas to start, the league is making plays for extra cash.
Teams can now add sponsors to their helmets, and
the league has added existing partners Scotiabank, Honda, Discover and
MassMutual as sponsors of its four re-aligned divisions.
The NHL isn’t alone in its revenue shortfalls:
After NBA revenue declined 10% last season,
projections suggest losses of up to $3 billion this season.
NFL revenue could drop by as much as $4 billion
this season.
MLS took a $1 billion revenue hit during the
2020 season.
MLB lost up to $3 billion during its truncated
2020 season.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs should conclude by
July, paving the way for the start of a normal schedule in October —
potentially with full arenas.
NFL PLAYOFFS FINANCE - The NFL
announced that it will allow CBS, NBC and Fox to sell two additional minutes of
commercials in games leading up to Super Bowl LV.
The additional airtime for commercials will not
be included in the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl LV will be televised and streamed by
CBS, which received $336 million in ad revenue when it televised the 2019 Super
Bowl. CBS is looking for roughly $5.5 million per Super Bowl ad spot this year.
Last year, Fox set a record for selling
30-second Super Bowl spots at a price of $5.6 million.
Commercial spots typically run from $1 million
in early playoff rounds to $2 million during conference championships, meaning
the extra two minutes of ad time will account for millions in new revenue for
the networks.
Broadcast networks, forced to shut down
production amid nationwide closures, lost prime-time viewers and revenue as
streaming viewership exploded. Growing interest from advertisers ultimately
sparked the networks’ push for extra ad inventory.
NHL VEGAS FUTURES - The NHL regular
season normally begins in October every year but due to the 2020 regular season
delayed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the 2021 regular
season will be on January 13.
The league set to play a 56-game season and
playoffs, but there are four temporary divisions for this season.
Part of the issues are the U.S.-Canada border,
which has more of an effect on the NHL than other pro sports leagues because it
has seven teams in Canada and 24 in the U.S. until Seattle is set to become the
32nd franchise for the 2021-22 season.
In the meantime, oddsmakers have posted futures
on next year's winners to capture the Stanley Cup.
The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup this
past season, but are not listed as the favorite to repeat as the Bolts are
currently at 15/2 odds.
Currently the Colorado Avalanche are the
favorites at 6/1 odds and the Vegas Golden Knights are at 9/1 odds to win the
Cup next season.
2021 NHL CONTENDERS
Colorado Avalanche 6/1
Tampa Bay Lightning 15/2
Vegas Golden Knights 9/1
Toronto Maple Leafs 13/1
Boston Bruins 14/1
Detroit Red Wings 350/1 “Ouch”
TOP SPORT NETWORKS - Buoyed by its studio
shows, college football games and NASCAR races, FS1 finished 2020 as the second
most-watched cable sports network on a total-day basis.
ESPN remains king — by a wide margin — but this
marks the first time FS1 has drawn more viewers than ESPN2, NBCSN and NFL
Network in a calendar year.
Top 10:
ESPN (564,000 viewers)
FS1 (119,000)
NFL Network (113,000)
NBCSN (108,000)
ESPN2 (107,000)
Golf Channel (83,000)
MLB Network (40,000)
Tennis Channel (27,000)
NBA TV (26,000)
ESPNU (25,000)
SWAMI’S WEEKEND TOP PICKS –
NFL Football Pick of the Week – Sunday 1/17, 3:40
PM (PDT), Fox: Divisional Round, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (12-5) vs. New Orleans
Saints (13-4). Perhaps the last time you see Brady vs. Brees. Tampa Bay in an
upset 38 – 35. (Season to date 11-4)
English Premier League – Sunday 1/17,
8:30 AM (PDT), Peacock: Liverpool (9-6-2) vs. Manchester United (11-3-3). #1
Man U vs. #2 Liverpool in the best soccer league in the world. The Reds win
this one, 3 – 2. (Season to Date 2-2)
NBA Pick of the Week – Sunday 1/17, 1:00
PM (EDT), NBA TV: New York Knicks (5-7) vs. Boston Celtics (7-3). We take the
Shamrocks 96 – 88. (Season
to date 0-2)
NHL Pick of the Week – Saturday 1/16,
7:00 PM (EDT), YES: New York Islanders (1-0) at New York Rangers (0-1). The
Rangers looked off in game 1, so Ranger Assistant Coach Jacques Martin (St.
Lawrence ’75) will have the boys skating in this one. Rangers over the Islander
4 – 3.
NCAA College Hockey Pick of the Week – Sunday 1/17, 7:00
pm (EDT), ESPN+: #13 Clarkson University Golden Knights (7-5-1) at St. Lawrence
University Skating Saints (2-1-2). Another classic in the Route 11 rivalry at
Appleton. Note below an interested spectator in the crowd for this one. St.
Lawrence in an upset 4 – 3. (Season
to Date 1-0)
Season to Date (1-2)
Next Blog: Word of the Month & Inauguration
Week
Until Tuesday January 19, 2021 Adios.
Claremont, California
January 15, 2021
#XI-22-428
3,037 words, seven-minute read
CARTOON OF THE WEEK – The New Yorker, Kaamran
Hafeez
RINK RATS NEW YEARS POLL – You prefer…..
_____ Google Meets
_____ Microsoft Teams
_____ Skype
_____ WebEx
_____ Zoom
_____ other
QUOTE OF THE MONTH: “What we learned in 2020? This country can’t efficiently
deliver Food, Cash or Care to those who need it.” – Mark Cuban
Rink Rats is a blog of weekly observations,
predictions and commentary. We welcome your comments and questions. Also
participate in our monthly poll. Rink Rats is now viewed in Europe, Canada,
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Posted
at Rink Rats The Blog: First Published – May 3, 2010
Our
Eleventh Year.
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