The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Wednesday, November 7

Hello, Hoddlers!

I keep wanting to spell the word skip with another “p” at the end. Wonder why...

Ramble of the Day

Another prompt from the land of Twitter:

It did not take me very long to think of an answer. Remember that old place called Blockbuster?

I’d argue my love of movies came from that place, and I still have pretty vivid memories of going to Blockbuster as a kid. One of my parents would take my sisters and me to our local Blockbuster every Friday afternoon so we could pick out a movie or two to watch over the weekend. I never planned in advance, always waiting to see what the selection was inside. (In a day and age without the internet access we now have, it wasn’t exactly uncommon.) The older I got, the more eclectic my choices were; having a sister that is seven years older than me meant I wanted to watch some Tom Cruise movies I was a bit too young for, but still wanted to pick up a Rugrats video game to spend the weekend with.

We’d go through the shelves, starting with the new releases and moving through all of the various genres, picking up a few DVDs in the process. Eventually, we’d whittle down our choices, but regardless of how things shook out, there was a good time had by all. We would all get in line, discuss the candy options that surrounded us (but hardly bought any — Dad usually hooked us up with the goods separately), and then walk out with our movies and a good weekend.

Blockbuster wasn’t great for the convenience; no one would argue that it’s easier than accessing any of our current options, from Netflix to iTunes. Blockbuster, though, was an experience, and a rather enjoyable one. It’s probably a bit much to ask for Blockbuster to come back, and maybe it shouldn’t. I don’t know how you make it successful in today’s market, but I’m not here to discuss that. I guess I’ve missed the point of the prompt entirely, but it’s far too late for me now. The Hoddle deadline is only a couple of hours away, and I’m having a nice little time reminiscing about Blockbuster as the sun goes down and the weekend begins.

Is there a good answer to this question? I don’t know. Everything that would be eligible is tinged with nostalgia, and nostalgia can be blinding. As for Blockbuster, it had its time and place. Perhaps that’s true for almost everything else worth considering to answering this question.

tl;dr: I loved Blockbuster.

Links of the Day

The FA will keep the money received at the gate of the England-U.S. friendly at Wembley despite partnering with The Rooney Foundation to raise money from that match.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he “trust[s] the club” when it comes to following Financial Fair Play rules.

Paul Pogba has described his relationship with José Mourinho as one of “happiness.”

David Squires’s latest cartoon is about the proposed European Super League and making money.

Today’s longer read: Sam Borden profiles José Mourinho as the mess at Manchester United shakes out the way the manager prefers for ESPN