Tag: Tottenham

  • A Quick Tottenham Blog

    Well, I don’t like telling myself that I told you so, but I did tell myself that I told you so. Yup. Spurs gave up an early goal to Arsenal, then another goal, and they were never able to recover. If Tottenham plays a not so good team, they can dig themselves out of a hole, but not when they are playing a high caliber team. Arsenal made them look bad. Spurs looked like they were out there fighting for it, while Arsenal was playing and having fun. The confidence coming off of Arsenal was deafening. I mean, just the ease and relaxed play that Saka had when he scored that first goal just shook Tottenham to the core. Lloris looked like he had been bonked on his head and didn’t know where he was when that goal was scored.

    Something has got to change on the defensive end of Tottenham if they have any hopes of staying in the top four of the Premier League, and, I hate to say this, but as of now, I don’t see them advancing in the Champions League. That backline needs to be strengthened, and they have to start winning in the middle of the field.

    My fear now is that Conte, Lloris and Kane will all be gone by the end of this season if they don’t finish in the top four. The owners have proven in the past that they have no issue with sacking managers, no matter if the team is building and moving in the right direction. As for Lloris, he’s still a top tier keeper but he is now moving towards the end of his career. What that means is that he cannot BE Tottenham’s defense; he needs a solid supporting cast, and it’s got to be more than Dier back there. Which leaves Kane. He’s a superstar, and he is not going to settle for a career without any major trophies. He was talking about this exact thing two years ago when he flirted with going to Man City. If moves aren’t made soon, Kane is off to one of the other big clubs.

    The ship needs to be righted, and time’s running out.

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  • World Cup Dispatch: The Final

    Was it the greatest World Cup Final, ever?

    I would say so. Mind you, I have only been paying attention since 2002, which means I only have six Finals under my belt, but nothing in my memory compares to what happened on Sunday.

    Argentina controlling the match for 80 minutes, then France came roaring back to life. Then Extra Time drama; Goals and Fouls! All of it ending with Penalties – terrible, unfair, gut-wrenching Penalty Kicks. It was a show, and Messi and Mbappe didn’t disappoint. Those two guys played like the superstars that they are. And in the end, either outcome would have been impressive. France winning back to back Cups would have been amazing, and something to truly celebrate. But Messi winning it, that was the ending everyone was hoping for; what a cap to end a career on? (Though rumors are already flying that Messi has changed his mind.) At the end of that match, no one could say that both teams didn’t give it their all.

    And because of that, I was left feeling that FIFA and Qatar didn’t deserve that Final, let alone this tournament. Let’s not forget the bribery, the intolerable working conditions for the migrant workers building these stadiums, the authoritarian government, the lack of civil liberties, the inability of players and fans to wear a rainbow. I was left feeling that the bad guys got away with it. Like FIFA was saying to me, “You were entertained, so it wasn’t that bad to get here, right?”

    And I was entertained. Morocco was fun to watch, and made you think that anything was possible, like Brazil losing when they looked unstoppable. Don’t forget about Japan never giving up, and fighting for every ball. The drama of Team USA having to beat Iran to get into the Round of 16. I mean, I could go on and on…

    What I am left with is loving the show, and hating the producers.

    I’m still not happy about that.

    Yet, Tottenham picks up play again on the 26th of December, and there still is the Champions League. And, don’t forget that July 2023 is the Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand.

    Lots of football left to play.

  • ODDS and ENDS: World Cup, Lawsuits, and Reading

    (I Believe That We Will Win!)

    So, the World Cup is almost here, and yes, I am excited about it. I have kept my promise of not blogging non-stop about Tottenham, (even though they have been playing like gash, yet still did make it out of the group stage in the Champions League – but that is a blog for another day) and as the World Cup is about to begin, I will be writing about it. The teams I will be watching are Team USA because you support your home country, Mexico as they have good teams that never deliver and their fans are the best, and England. In fact, The English National Team released a video announcing their team lineup that I thought was rather original:

    Now, I woke up this morning to the news that a Texas Federal has ruled the Biden-Harris Student Loan Forgiveness plan unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed by a group called Job Creators Network Foundation, which is an organization that was founded by the billionaire and former CEO of Home Depot, Bernard Marcus. What I find the most interesting about Marcus, and this whole situation, is that if you read his bio, after graduating high school, he wanted to be a doctor, but couldn’t afford college, so he went to a state school – Rutgers – back when college was funded by the government, making it affordable for working class kids from Newark in 1947. Added on top of that, I can find no evidence of Marcus fighting against the Federal Government cutting his taxes back in 2017. I mean, Marcus owed taxes, but then Trump passed a law and forgave what he owed, in essence. I love how hypocritical the uber-wealthy are. And they wonder why no one likes them.

    Did you know the average American reads 13 books a year? I was actually surprised by that number, as I thought it would be much lower. I have a feeling there are a few people out there that are reading way more than 13 books a year, which is pushing the number up, and I would like to thank those people for helping make America seem more literate.

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  • ODDS and ENDS: Times Square Casino, ANDOR, Tottenham, and UK Prime Minister

    (A Certain Point of View)

    As a New Yorker who stayed here during the Pandemic, I watched the City empty out, especially in Midtown. Though things are getting closer to being how they were before, there are still neighborhoods in Manhattan that have not economically recovered. Office buildings are sitting semi-empty, and ideas have been kicked around for the past two years about changing these spaces into apartments as there is a housing crisis in NYC. (Though I just read that landlords are warehousing 60,000 rent stabilized units that they refuse to rent.) But the idea that seems to be picking up steam is a casino in Times Square, because, clearly, there are not enough tourist there. Or the old Times Square hookers are looking to make a comeback. If this were to happen, I know two things will come true; One, no self-respecting New Yorker will be setting foot in Times Square (not that we ever did), and Two, the Disney-ifcation of Times Square is officially over.

    I have noticed that when my friends recommend a new great show, they always add the qualifier – get through the first three episodes. I have heard this more times than I care to count, and sadly Andor on Disney+ is following the same pattern. I think it is the reason they released the first three episodes when the show debuted. That having been said, I am truly enjoying Andor. This is the Star Wars for grown-ups who grew up with Star Wars, and now know that not all issues are light and dark. This is a universe that thrives in gray. Diego Luna is great as Cassian Andor, which is not surprising as Luna is an amazing actor. (Check out him in Y tu mama tambien if you haven’t already.) As the show has progressed, I have found myself more interested in the B-plot; Mon Mothma forging and leading the rebellion. It helps that Genevieve O’Reilly has the ability to play the smartest person in the room who is hiding the fact that she is the smartest person in the room. Not to mention that there is this whole subtext of the difficulty a woman faces trying to lead an ideological and physical movement. It seems the patriarchy needs to be fought all over the galaxy as well.

    Okay, I’m going to lay off the Tottenham stuff. It’s not because they lost to Man United, and Ronaldo walked out the end of the game like a little whiney bitch. No, it’s not that. The team has taken up a great deal of my mental space, and I think I need to narrow it down to a more compact form. That’s not to say that I won’t be writing about the World Cup in November, or any of the Champions League stuff… It just might be a little more truncated.

    My opinion: Ozzy for UK Prime Minister.

    (Speaking of Ozzy. The life blood of any blog is engagement. So please, make sure to like this blog, or share it, leave a comment, and if possible, follow it. And for doing that, I will remind you that Randy Rhoads was one of the greatest guitarists of all time!)

  • ODDS and ENDS: Not a Tottenham Blog, Sweaters, and Call Your Mother

    (Don’t Believe the Hype)

    I lied. I will talk about Tottenham, because they beat Frankfurt in their Champions League Group match. It didn’t start off well, with Dier giving up a stupid pass in their own box which allowed Frankfurt to score a pretty easy and embarrassing goal. But, Spurs rallied and didn’t go down the rabbit hole of self-destruction. Finally, the Kane/Son Rainbow connection of goal scoring showed up, and Son looked back to true form with a goal in the 19’ and 35’ minute. Harry Kane scored on a penalty shot, but uncharacteristically missed a second penalty kick by sailing the ball over the goal. On the Conte front, I appreciated the amount of substituting he did, getting Gil and Lucas on the pitch. (I do have a soft spot for these two players and hope to see more of them, as they are aggressive and tenacious players that I think Conte would want out there more.) Now, Spurs did give up a late goal in the 86’ minute which did put the fear of God in me, as I started having flashbacks to their Sporting CP match earlier in the group stage, when they blew that game in the last few minutes. This time around, they held it together to get the three points. Tottenham is currently sitting on top of the stage with 7 points, but Sporting CP and Marseille are right behind them with 6 points apiece. I didn’t think this would be an easy group, and with two matches to go, any of these teams could still take this.

    As for Spurs in the Premier League this weekend, Everton comes to play at Tottenham Stadium. Being that Everton is middle of the table, and Spurs are playing good football, I expect Tottenham to win. AND, NBC is showing the match on NBC, so I might actually be able to watch this one live.

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    The majority of the sweaters I own are pilly. You know, the sweater material in certain spots has bunched up forming little spots, or balls. This is caused by too much wear or cheap fabrics, and when I looked it up on the internet, the word “unsightly” was used often. Funny, but in my dynamic vision, I see a pilly sweater as one that is well worn and loved. Not a thing of unsightliness, but a badge of many a survived Fall and Winters. Instead of calling these sweaters unsightly, I think they should be referred to as “active vintage.”

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    Don’t forget to call your mom. She’d love to hear from you.

    (It’s Friday, which means this will be my last blog post for the week. If you’d like to give me a good send off, please take a moment to like, share comment, or even follow this blog. If you do, I promise I will redesign it to look really cool and engaging.)