The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Tuesday, January 8

Hello, all!

There’s another Tottenham game today. There are so many Tottenham games all the time.

Ramble of the Day

Like plenty of set-ups like it, the movie theater experience is partly dependent on the food and drink you can enjoy during your two-ish hour stay. The art of making sure moviegoers enjoy the experience through those food options has changed over time — the formerly bare options of popcorn, candy, and/or soda have been joined by options like burgers, ice cream, or, in the case of the theater I saw The Favourite in the other day, cappuccinos. (I didn’t have a cappuccino, but may consider it in the future.) It’s a fun world if you’re not interested in eating popcorn every time at the theater.

That said, not everything is made to be consumed in the dark while you’re supposed to be focused on a big screen in front of you. One that automatically sticks out in my brain and has been around for a while: nachos. At their best, they’re amazing, but whether they’re good or bad, they’re messy. If you drop popcorn on yourself, for example, it’s a manageable situation. It sucks for those that have to clean up after it, but you leave your seat relatively unscathed. You drop a nacho, and you end up with (probably bad) liquid cheese on you, and probably a majority of a movie to sit through. It’s not worth the risk.

That probably goes for the burgers, too. I was recently reminded (by someone on television) that a good burger is oftentimes a messy one, though I’m willing to entertain arguments suggesting that a burger’s quality isn’t about its messiness. It’s probably an easy argument to make, though, that most burgers — good or bad — end up being a little bit messy. I actually did eat a burger in a movie theater once rather successfully, but I’m not eager to try the experience again. That’s mostly because a lot of movie theaters aren’t offering the best burgers out there, but again, it’s too risky.

If you’re asking me, movie theaters should be more like cafés. Of course I say this — food options at cafés are appealing to me, and I don’t like to eat meals at the movies. Here’s my argument, though: cafés have a lot more dry food, and tend to be decent places to find snacks. You can obviously adjust as need; keep the popcorn and the sodas and the candy, but really create a good snacking environment. Baked goods might not be such a bad idea, as might things that come in a cup and need to be eaten with a spoon, like yogurt and pudding. Fruit cups might also be a good idea for anyone who’s hungry but doesn’t want anything else. A variety of drink options, like coffees and teas, are probably very attractive to moviegoers.

Variety of choice is ultimately a great way to go, but a hard thing to achieve, and I think movie theaters are already on the right track. That said, this is probably just the inverted way of talking about what we like to eat at movie theaters.

tl;dr: I think I want movie theaters to be more like cafés.

Links of the Day

The unnamed Sheffield United Women player who Tottenham Ladies defender Renée Hector said racially abused her could be sacked if the allegations are proven to be true.

Mauricio Pochettino believes Tottenham needs to change strategy to go to the next level, and would like to chat with Arsène Wenger about sticking around at a club for more than two decades.

Brazilian side Grêmio has set up vending machines at Salgado Filho International Airport so people can buy jerseys.

Transfer roundup: Celtic has signed Timothy Weah from Paris Saint-Germain on loan for the rest of the season

Today’s longer read: Suzanne Wrack on the lack of funds and respect Somalian women’s football receives from the nation’s federation and the call to FIFA to change it for The Guardian