The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Monday, August 12

Hey, everyone!

It’s time once again for me to remember that the Monday Hoddles are for your discussions about football. I must admit, I’m thrilled it’s back, even if I do worry that players in general don’t get enough time off.

Ramble of the Day

I couldn’t really tell you why I thought of DJ Casper’s “Cha Cha Slide” while watching referee Martin Atkinson work during Newcastle-Arsenal yesterday — pretty sure my younger sister was cracking a joke. The two of us then recited some of the lines for a couple of minutes because, honestly, the ‘Cha Cha Slide” is the anthem of our childhood.

I’m going to embed the song out of what feels like a sense of obligation to the format of this ramble. I must warn, though: this tune is distinctly catchy and obnoxious. I tend to cringe thinking of it, but perhaps it’s because I listened to it way too many times as a kid.

There’s probably a song everyone can call fitting into this very specific category. At every school event or every birthday party from my early elementary school years to the end of middle school, I heard that song. I only engaged in it so often — I figured out pretty early on in my life that I wasn’t into dancing in an organized group setting (because I’m bad at it), but it was always there. My younger sister said her kindergarten class would do the Cha Cha Slide once a week in the hallway.

Wikipedia says the song is just as common in school settings as it is at dance clubs and weddings, among other places. I haven’t been to the wedding of someone who would’ve grown up with this song yet, but I was momentarily shocked. I shouldn’t be, though; I once heard it as a college student and my older sister told me they played it at a work event a couple of years ago.

No matter how annoying I find this song, I also have a lot of respect for it. Becoming an international phenomenon that lives in the brains of most humans of a certain age and in certain places is no easy feat, and so I just wanted to formally acknowledge its status as such. Good for you, DJ Casper.

tl;dr: “Cha Cha Slide” was the anthem of my childhood.

Links of the Day

AFAS Stadium, home of AZ Alkmaar, suffered a partial collapse because of strong winds on Saturday.

MLS side Real Salt Lake has fired Mike Petke after he directed homophobic slurs towards referees in a Leagues Cup match against Tigres last month.

Two men were arrested after a security incident related to the attempted carjacking of Arsenal’s Mesut Özil and Sead Kolašinac last month.

Transfer updates: Manchester United has signed 16-year-old Hannibal Mejbri from Monaco

Today’s longer read: Nick Ames interviews Wolfsburg’s Pernille Harder and Chelsea’s Magda Eriksson on their relationship and joining Common Goal for The Guardian