Tag: Premier League

  • Yet Another Tottenham Hotspur Blog

    Tottenham beat Chelsea on Saturday.

    Let me say that again.

    Tottenham beat Chelsea on Saturday. At Chelsea! And Tottenham looked good pretty good out there, as in they were the better of the two teams. It did help that Palmer got a Red Card, but Spurs were going to win the match no matter what. It was the kind of game that made you get some hope back.

    Which is like the worst thing that I can say right now. I know that. I know.

    But for 90 minutes, it was just fun to watch the team play like a good team. Smart set pieces, good passing, working together like, you know, a team. It was like I had been waiting a whole year for Tottenham to show up. And come to think of it, I have been waiting a whole year for this. And I loved every second of it! Spurs played like a team that expected to win, not hoping that they’d win.

    Yes, yes, yes… I know I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. It was only one match after all. (But it was a win at Chelsea, which is where Spurs NEVER win.) There is still a bit of work that needs to be done, and everyone needs to stay healthy. (Looking at you Madison.) Saturday’s lineup was good, but something in my gut tells me that they still haven’t worked out the kinks and will continue to try different formations and combinations of players.

    Look, if Tottenham ends the season somewhere in the top 10, I think they should consider the year a resounding success. And I should leave it at that.

    But I won’t because they won one huge match, so clearly Tottenham is going to win the Premier League and then return to the Champions League next season!

  • ODDS and ENDS: Chicken Stock, Breakfast Tacos, and Tottenham

    (Till I stop coming back to you…)

    There are many things that make it feel like Autumn to me. I skip all the easy ones, like leaves and pumpkins. For me, one of the best things that make me feel all warm and Autumn-like, is chicken stock simmering on the stove. It usually starts a couple days before, when I roast a whole chicken for a Sunday dinner. I’ll take all the leftover bones, throw it in an old weathered stockpot – carrots, celery, onion, garlic, fresh thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper – and just let it simmer away for a couple of hours. The smell fills the apartment, throwing shade at the cold outside, and making the idea of a warm blanket on the couch sound like a friendly “How do you do!” as dreams of soups and stews dance in my head as I drink a cup of coffee. The simple act of stock making is a life affirming exercise of epic proportional steps.

    Beware you in the world of simple breakfasts. I have come down from on high to explain to you the joy and wonder that is the simple and honest Texas Breakfast Taco. A creation of Tex-Mex joy and wonder, as how can something so simple be so gratifying and satisfying. The flour tortilla, the scrambled egg, bacon. If one were to get wild and throw a starch in it, like maybe some tater-tots or fries, or one weekend I tried some leftover mashed potatoes. They have to be wrapped in foil, which allows the warm taco to steam the tortilla, keeping it soft and a little spongy. They can keep for a little while that way, but the pleasure really comes in the unwrapping and dipping in a salsa. An experience that can be savored, or rushed, depending on what the demands of your day might be.

    Hey! They won a match on Monday! They might win another this Sunday! Things are changing! I can feel it! #COYS

  • ODDS and ENDS: Getting Started, Oh Tottenham, and Bloody Mary Brunch

    (Forgetting her’s the nature of my flight…)

    Boy, do I suck and starting something new. And I also suck at just getting back to good habits. I say this because I have found a way to completely, and in the most air-tight form of rationalization, not go to the gym for a month. Even this morning, I was ready to not go to the gym, and I made sure that I did not go. Do I feel good about this decision? Absolutely not. Will I go to the gym on Monday? Odds are that I will not. Yes, indeed; I have found a way to squander the entire month of September. To a degree, I have impressed myself. You may think that this is easy to do, but it is not. Okay, okay, okay… Tuesday of next week; I’m going to the gym.

    Wow! Tottenham Hotspur sucks this season. Really sucks. They suck in a way I thought was impossible to suck. There was no way they could get worse than last season. No, no, they found a way. And they spent a shit ton of money, and somehow they suck even more! They are at the bottom. Completely at the bottom of the Premiere League table. Sitting at #20, with two points. Incidentally, their two points is equal to as many goals they have scored this season. Just… wow. Now, as a Cubs fan (and the Cubbies did get eliminated from the playoffs recently) I know what it’s like for your team to be at the bottom. And normally I would say that there is only one direction, and that’s up! But in the Premiere League, there is relegation, so we might not have hit bottom yet.

    Saturday, I have brunch plans, which sounds fancy, and a little pretentious… All of that is true. But it also means morning/day drinking in a very socially acceptable way. Happy weekend to all, and to all a good drunken afternoon nap.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Autumn Marketing in Summer, Theatre, and Tottenham Hotspur

    (Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale…)

    It’s not done yet! I know it’s August still, and it’s hot, and the subway platforms are a swamp, and when I step outside, I just start sweating. I’m an old man and I can’t stop talking about the weather, and around this time of year, I want it to be Fall more than anything. But I’m going to throw the marketeers of America under the bus one this one. These Ad-Wizards starting running back-to-school commercials before the 4th of July. Halloween junk on sale at drug stores and Home Depot in August? Just yesterday, I got a catalog in the mail from L.L. Bean telling me that it’s time for Fall! I’m not crazy; they’re all jumping the gun here, right?

    The kid auditioned for a school play. This made me very excited and proud. Also, it put me on notice not to be a “Stage Dad.” See, the kid needed to have a one minute monologue memorized for her audition, and she came to me for help. You know; me, her dad, the guy who got a theatre degree, and did plays and puppet shows and physical theatre here in New York City. Me! She came to me for help, and I said yes! And then I had to tell myself that I cannot live through her, and her experiences in auditioning and doing this play. No! I am here to support, and give guidance when she asks for it. But, she didn’t know how to score a script, or what a beat was in reference to dialogue, so I had to fill her in a little. But no Stage Dad shit!

    This could be a rough season for Spurs. Just saying…

  • Tottenham Dodged That Bullet (Unedited)

    I was out of town this past weekend for Memorial Day. The wife had found a cabin in the Vermont woods. A very last minute find and deal at the same time. I say all of this because we, as a family, were attempting to disconnect for three days in the woods and spend time together.

    Except for Sunday morning, when I had to take my phone, and hide in the back bedroom to watch and see if Tottenham was going to get relegated.

    I, several times in fact, had written off Tottenham Hotspur’s season. I had high hopes with Thomas Frank coming in at the start of the season, but I had hope, so there was my first mistake. I gave up on the team, first time around, at the end of 2025. For me, that was the moment that I realized that Spurs was not going to make the top six on the table, so not chance for European play next season. Then I gave up on the team, the second time, when they sacked Frank. Then the third time of giving up on them was when it looked like they were about to get relegated, and West Ham was going to squeak by.

    But the “Relegation Fight” turned out to be way more exciting than I expected. Exciting in a gallows humor sense, I guess. I mean, I was expecting the worst. And to be honest, I sort of felt like the club deserved it. (Not the players, of course. I don’t fully blame them for what happened.) Almost seven years of mismanagement was finally coming to a head, and in a weird way, I thought the only way for Spurs ownership to learn their lesson was for them to go down to the Championship, pay out the nose, and have a half full world class stadium on match day. And the true salt in the wound would be how American football would come into Hotspur Stadium and sell the place out.

    What I got was a mediocre match between Tottenham and Everton. The person I felt very back for was Pickford giving up a goal to these losers. (Good thing Pickford plays better in the World Cup than for his club.) But a winning goal is still a winning goal, and though Tottenham could have made it through with a draw, I was happy that the season did end on a win.

    That will leave next season. I hope Madison stays healthy and can get back into the starting lineup. Same thing for Kulusevski. Maybe some more help on the attack would be good. And the backline still feels like it’s missing one piece to make it solid. I’m not expecting Tottenham to win the League, but I would be happy with a top ten finish.

    Anyway… I got a World Cup to get through, and then I can start putting all my efforts into getting my hopes.