The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Friday, February 15

Hi, everyone!

A Valentine’s Day double dose, partly because I had to postpone a ramble because of Moussa Sissoko’s epic tweet. Anyway, here’s an important tweet that has little relation to the ramble, but is worth sharing regardless:

Ramble of the Day

It’s not a common thing, but people like to decorate their homes, offices, and other buildings for holidays. Obviously the Christmas and New Year’s holidays are the popular ones to decorate one’s space, but every now and again, people get in the spirit for other holidays. Halloween is the first one that sticks out in my mind, but Valentine’s Day is another. For the Valentine’s Day decorators, I have just one question: Why?

Valentine’s Day is good for little more than the nice baked goods and other sweet treats people in the business put out, but I won’t criticize anyone’s choice to celebrate it today. It’s fine if you decide to put in effort into a given relationship on a fake holiday, but decorating for the occasion is a step too far.

I don’t think of it so much as forcing the holiday onto people, but the effort that goes into decorating is worthy of a larger holiday that actually has some genuine buildup in the days leading up to it. That buildup for just about all holidays has been somewhat manufactured by companies trying to make some cash, but it still feels rooted in something genuine, in some ways. That’s the case for Christmas and New Year’s, which obviously have roots in something legitimate. Halloween is probably close to Valentine’s Day in that its modern definition is entirely about buying things, either costumes or candy, but the level of buildup is ultimately different. There’s an eye on gifts for Valentine’s Day that Halloween doesn’t, while Halloween also actively encourages creativity.

Ultimately, though, I find that Valentine’s Day sort of shows up randomly in the middle of winter and fades away rather quickly. The feelings of the holiday don’t resonate from a societal standpoint; on an individual level, one might be happy the day after a nice Valentine’s, but society moves on.

It’s an intimate holiday, which doesn’t match the idea of decorating as an expression of celebrating with others, and that’s when Valentine’s Day is at its best. At its worst, it’s someone outwardly celebrating a holiday that doesn’t always promote authenticity in a relationship.

That said, I think I’m complaining about a small percentage of people, so I’ll leave it there.

tl;dr: Valentine’s Day is only worth so much effort.

Links of the Day

Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock and chief executive Ken Choo will attend Emiliano Sala’s funeral in Argentina this weekend.

Diego Simeone has signed a new contract, keeping him the Atlético Madrid manager until 2022.

The Seattle Sounders will become carbon-neutral starting this season.

Today’s longer read: Ewan Murry on the uncertainty facing Derry City, the lone team from Northern Ireland in the League of Ireland, as Brexit approaches for The Guardian