1. It’s Wednesday, October 28, 2015

2. The Republicans are debating again tonight. This time, the drama will focus on the evaporation of Donny Trump’s lead and the surge of Ben Carson.

How will Donny, who used to say he was enamored of Carson, strike back at a guy he’s been attacking as the poll numbers shifted? With Carson taking the lead, will CNBC ask the kinds of economic questions that will reveal what he actually knows about the economy? Donny, for his part, will tout his self-described business acumen as a panacea for everything he sees wrong with the country.

And, of course, there are the others. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio now have less than 100 days before the caucus on Feb. 1. Will this debate once and for all get Chris Christie out of this race? And whatever happened to Carly Fiorina – wasn’t she supposed to be surging after the last of these things? That meteor crashed quick.

3. I won’t be watching the debate. I will be performing the act of self-flagellation known as watching game two of the World Series. I’m still feeling the effects of game one – the slow unbinding of the knot in my stomach, the lack of sleep that comes from staying up past 1 a.m. and then staying awake another 90 minutes after the Mets lost the way they lost.

But after about three hours of a fitful night, I’m starting to recharge my confidence. It’s Jacob deGrom tonight. They can’t lose like that twice in a row. I’ve believed in them this long. I can’t quit now.