The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Tuesday, January 1

Hello, Hoddlers!

Happy New Year, even to those of you who check this before 2019 gets started because this goes up before midnight on the U.S.’ west coast! May it be enjoyable for us all.

Ramble of the Day

I’ve spent a decent amount of time over the course of the last few weeks talking about New Year’s Eve in New York. The sentiment is always this: going outside is terrible, and one should avoid it at all costs. On the day itself, you end up hearing a bit about Times Square, and I end up with one question: Why?

Of course, this small question is just the result of several thoughts. For starters, Times Square is genuinely awful. I made that pretty clear in one of my first rambles that there’s nothing worth seeing there and that it’s the worst smelling part of a city that smells bad, and that’s on essentially every day of the year. Having more people around on a really cold day most likely won’t make it better.

Plus, the plan itself doesn’t sound great. If you want a good spot, you have to get there pretty early. What actually is a good spot there, anyway? I’d imagine a certain amount of proximity is desired, but not too much; like getting a good seat in the movie theater, I would guess. Considering you’re not allowed to leave once you get in your spot, though, you’ll have to bring quite a bit with you. A few meals, for starters, which is a lot to lug around and plan out, but not impossible. That’s not even to consider the idea of having to use the bathroom while in the setting. I have to imagine that there’s a plan here, but I can’t think of a great one.

You end up packed like sardines with strangers for hours on end, and I’m not sure what the reward is. Maybe it seems magical to some people? I don’t know, but at least I have the Hoddle, where I can put questions on the internet and maybe get an answer. (No pressure, though; if you don’t have an answer, don’t worry.)

tl;dr: New Year’s Eve in Times Square sounds awful.

Links of the Day

Former Liverpool and England midfielder Peter Thompson has died at age 76.

A man has been arrested and charged with homicide following a fan’s death before Inter Milan’s 1-0 victory over Napoli last week.

Afghanistan Football Federation president Keramuudin Karim has denied the allegations of sexual assault brought against him by members of the women’s national team.

West Ham have signed Samir Nasri after the midfielder completed his doping ban

Today’s longer read: Tom Marshall on the dream locals have of Lionel Messi playing for Newell’s Old Boys for ESPN