Tag: #COYS

  • Okay, So I’m Going to Talk About Tottenham

    I know what I said on Friday, and I don’t care. I need to talk to someone about Tottenham Hotspur after their match with Liverpool, and it looks like it’ll be the four of you who read this.

    So, I had written off the team as of Friday, being that Tottenham had a bit of a meltdown in their Champions League match (I don’t think they will make it past this round) and looking ahead, I saw that they were playing Liverpool on Sunday. And though Liverpool isn’t the same team they were last year and they have they issues of their own, Liverpool is still sitting at the top of the table while Spurs are swimming around the bottom. AND the match was going to be IN Liverpool also lead to my feeling of dread.

    But who knew that a couple of guys on Tottenham actually gave a shit? I’m talking about Richarlison, Tel, and Porro. From my perspective, Richarlison threw himself into this match, and had at least three solid scoring chances in front of the goal, all headers that were either blocked or were just outside. Tel also seemed to be digging and working for it. His play was improved and created several scoring chances. And the last was Pedro Porro, who was severally tested by Rio. I do have to admit that Rio might be someone to keep your eye on, as that guy looked like he was fearless out there. BUT, Porro kept up with him and stopped him, though it was close.

    I know that the one point they received from this draw didn’t change anything in the standings; it’s still a fight between Spurs, Nottingham Forrest, West Ham, and Leeds to see who will be relegated. Yet, getting a point for a team who hasn’t won anything in 2026 was like a weight being taken off their backs. (Mine too.) Also, Spurs got that point against a way better team on that team’s home pitch. So yes, going to Liverpool and getting a point does feel like a win.

    I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. Spurs still have a ton of injuries, and time is running out on the season. Lots of things can and will go wrong from now to the end of May. Yet, on that 90th minute on Sunday, just for a second, all did not seem lost. Hope showed up. Stupid and unfair Hope.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Make It Stop, Three Weeks, and Relax

    ODDS and ENDS: Make It Stop, Three Weeks, and Relax

    (Mama, I know we broke the rules…)

    I know the urban legend is that celebrities die in threes, but man, this week is really pushing the barrier on that old adage. It started with Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and then this week went wild; Ozzy, Hulk Hogan, Chuck Mangione, Connie Francis, and I will also throw in the tragic news that Anne Burrell’s death was caused by suicide. And there is part of me that feels like I am leaving a person or two off this list, but this is just who is popping into my head as I write this. Just kind’a a sad week, as it seems like God is making it pour…

    Hey! Premier League starts up in three weeks! And I am ready because Tottenham had just about the worst season a club could have without being relegated and still winning a tournament. But outside of that, 2024/25 was a trash-ass dumpster fire of a season, and we can only go up from here! The first bit of good news was the hiring of Thomas Frank as the teams new manager. They nicked Frank off of Brentford, which was another club that I like and followed slightly. Frank did an impressive job getting Brentford promoted from the Championship League to the Premier, and then keeping the club competitive ever since. I have high hopes for Frank’s tenure as Spurs manager. And I’m looking forward to the Fall and winter mornings, donning my Tottenham scarf, sitting in bed with my iPad, watching a match, and falling asleep by halftime.

    I need to work on relaxing. I’m not good at it. If I’m not doing something then I think I am falling behind and failing. Gotta work on that. But first I need to go and paint one of the alcoves in the living room…

  • ODDS and ENDS: Bad Habits, Tottenham’s Not Dead Yet, and If David Brooks Says We Need an Uprising…

    (But I can’t go for that…)

    I don’t have as many bad habits as I used to. I am a reformed smoker, which was the worst bad habit I ever had, and I know that I am better off. But man… Some nights, a whiff of smoke will catch me in just the right mood, and I get that craving ll over again. I won’t act on it, but it sure is tempting. To be outside of a bar, slightly tippsy, and smoking a cigarette as the rest of the world is asleep. That feeling of being on the edge of the world, almost outside the boarder of normal and decent life. Not a bad person, just not one that fits in. Maybe that’s a tad romantic when it comes to an addiction, and I don’t want to return to it, but like thinking of a long lost ex, it wasn’t all bad.

    I don’t want to get too deep into it, because if you know you know, but stupid old Tottenham refuses to give up one winning at least one trophy this year. I had written them off, and I felt better for it, but that damn team went and gave me hope. Just a small drop, a taste of things to come, and now I have started caring again, and that annoys me. I would rather be thinking about next season, rather than what might be.

    So, if David Brooks says we need an uprising, then we might need an uprising.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Couch or Sofa, Tottenham Fans, and “Hundreds of Beavers”

    (‘Cuz you woke up in the mornin’ with initiative to move…)

    Do you use the term couch or sofa? Do you use them interchangeable? In fact, a couch is an informal – less structured piece of furniture, while a sofa is more formal in function and design. I say all of this because I am going couch/sofa shopping this weekend. Yeah, our livingroom couch is on its last leg being that it’s kind’a broken just enough to let us know it needs to be replaced, but not broken so much as to be unusable. The wife and I are about the spend a morning, and possible an afternoon, asking ourselves the “Fight Club” question; “What kind of couch defines me as a person?” I’m going with gray, or a navy blue; That defines me quite well as a person.

    I have written before about my odd interactions with other Tottenham fans in New York. Most of the time, I see someone with Tottenham gear on, and I’ll say something to them about the team, or say “Come on you, Spurs!” They react by saying, “What?” or “This isn’t mine, I’m borrowing it.” But the other day, as I had my Tottenham scarf on, a woman yelled at me, “How about that Liverpool match!?!” She was talking about the Carabao Cup match on Wednesday where the most confusing team in all of football, Tottenham Hotspur, managed to beat one of the best teams in the world – Liverpool. But… I wasn’t able to watch the match or see the highlights, yet I knew that they had won… All I could say to the woman was, “I didn’t watch it, but I know they won!” Not the stirring response she was looking for, I know.

    And I want to end with a movie I just watched, and I might review later. It is one of the most original comedies I have seen in a very a very long time. It’s called “Hundreds of Beavers.” Just… just watch the trailer, is all I ask.

  • Still Supporting

    Even though I feel it in my soul, Tottenham’s season is over, I will still be supporting them this afternoon against Man United.

    There is always a chance I could be wrong. That the winds of change will blow and somehow Spurs will find their way back to fourth place in the Premier League. Yes, that might happen…

    Yet, here I sit in park, about to watch the match on my phone. There are a hundred other things I should be doing, that would be a better use of my time. But…

    No matter what happens, I will make sure to write about it. Specifically, on this blog, to my four readers, so that you can share in my pain and suffering with a sprinkle of frustration.