We're famous (if you squint)

On why everyone should be into sports, or at least fake it.

Well, this is embarrassing: I wrote yesterday that 119 Americans over the age of 18 do not have U.S. passports, which could make it very tough for them to vote if President Trump's new executive order on elections stays in force.

Should we really change national policy for 119 people, some asked?

This was a good point, but in fact, the correct number is 119 million Americans over 18. Maybe that changes the calculus? Up to you.

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I took my daughter to a New Jersey Devils hockey game the other night, and we had a blast. I mean, the game itself was a nail-biter, but everything else made it even better.

• I talk to everyone, so when I saw a family of four dressed completely in Vancouver Canucks jerseys and other fan gear, I asked if they were visiting. Yep, they were from British Columbia, spending spring break here. We had a nice chat. In retrospect, it was impromptu international diplomacy!

• The 15-year-old next to me, visiting from Florida with her family, was one of the most knowledgeable hockey fans I’v ever met. It was like the game was on video delay compared to her calling out what was happening. "That's too many men on the ice!" she exclaimed. Ten seconds later: "Vancouver penalty, too many men on the ice!" (How do I know basically her life story? Again, I talk to everyone.)

• Also, I told my daughter that she and I are now famous since we had good enough seats that we were on the TV broadcast. If you squint really hard, anyway, and you know where to look, you might sort of make us out on the screenshot. (I'm perfectly happy with it being a squint-only situation, for reasons other parents might understand.)

From the beginning of this newsletter, I haven't written about sports all that often, which is interesting because I write about almost everything else.

It's not that I don't have an interest; it's more that I'm by no means an expert.

However, does that really stop anyone else?

Granted, in the last decade or so I've fallen off a lot of the sports I followed, mostly due to moving to a different media market, and having a lot more time taken up with family and work (both good things, but time is limited).

But, having a kid who is old enough now to appreciate (and also having finally admitted to myself that after 12 years, yes, I live in New Jersey with no plans to go anywhere else), the local teams here are now my home teams.

This is one of the prime "sports times" in American culture: Opening Day for MLB baseball, nearing the playoffs in the NHL and NBA, the stretch run in European soccer, and of course NCAA March Madness—both men's and women's brackets — just for starters.

And, I feel like this year especially, it's important for people to find other things to relate and get into, and even argue with each other about, that have nothing to do with ...

Well, you know.

Sports can fit the bill, right?

I'm definitely not saying NOT to pay attention to all that political, governmental, or societal stuff.

Lord knows I am paying attention. In fact, I’m doing a terrible job of living up to my aspiration of not following every twist and turn out of Washington: both in real life and sometimes in this newsletter.

All I can say is thank God I finally got a good anti-anxiety prescription that actually works last summer. We're living in a world-historical time right now, and it would be malpractice not to pay close attention.

But that doesn't mean all the time.

Someone shared a remark from a person in Russia in the first few years after Putin took over when people realized they couldn't talk freely about politics.

"I've never spoken about the weather so often in my life," she said. We could talk about that, too, I guess.

My overall point, I suppose, is not that you necessarily have to be into sports -- music, theater, reading, etc. work too.

For me, however, a newfound goal is to have a lot of other things to talk about all the time -- especially with people I know I'd disagree with vehemently if the topic turned to ...

Well, you know.

I'm still going to include some "what's going on in the world" stuff in the 7 other things. I mean, how can I not?

But maybe this whole "talk about sports and other interests" idea can spark something in the comments.

Let me know your thoughts. And let’s go Devils, or whatever your team may be.

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7 other things worth knowing today

• Here, let's start with this: The ultimate guide to every Opening Day matchup. (MLB)

• The Atlantic released unredacted messages from the now-infamous Signal chat in which top Trump administration officials discussed plans to bomb the Houthis in Yemen. Why it matters: Top Trump officials had denied that any classified information was discussed, effectively daring The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg to release texts he had previously withheld for national security reasons. (Axios, The Atlantic / Gift Link)

• President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on imported automobiles and auto parts, gambling that consumers will accept higher prices on cars today in return for the promise of regaining lost manufacturing jobs in the future. The White House later told reporters that the tariff would be added to an existing 2.5 percent levy, making the total charge 27.5 percent, and was aimed at addressing “a critical threat to national security.” (The Washington Post)

• All European Union households should stockpile essential supplies to survive at least 72 hours of crisis due to "the possibility of armed aggression against member states," the European Commission said this week, as Russia’s war in Ukraine and a darkening geopolitical landscape prompt the bloc to take new steps to increase its security. (Financial Times)

• Health chiefs in Washington D.C. have confirmed a case of measles in a patient who traveled throughout the nation’s capital within the last week, including two Amtrak stations and an urgent care center while contagious. Anyone who is unvaccinated, or who got their MMR shots before 1968, and came into contact with the infected person is being urged to contact their care provider. (Daily Mail)

• Bill Gates: Within 10 years, AI will replace many doctors and teachers, and humans won't be needed "for most things." (NBC Bay Area)

• I Quit Google Search for AI—and I’m Not Going Back: Ads and search-optimized junk made a mess of the go-to engine. Now ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude—and even Google’s own AI—do it better. (WSJ)

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Thanks for reading. Photo by Greg Bulla on Unsplash. I wrote about some of this before at Inc.com. See you in the comments!