The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Friday, May 8

Hi, all!

Above is former Tottenham forward Chris Jones, and today marks a year since that game at Ajax. Relive it with last year’s Hoddle that’s just celebratory images from that day.

Ramble of the Day

Just as I was starting today’s ramble, I saw this tweet, just one of many of this type:

Feel free to make your picks, but that’s not what I’m about to write about. I first disregarded the tweet after maintaining my stance that all fries are good, even if some are better than others. I quickly realized, though, that it isn’t just that I didn’t have an opinion on the task above; I couldn’t have an opinion on the matter. In part, it’s because I mostly quit a fast food habit many years ago — I haven’t had any of these fries in around a year, at least — but the truth is, my upbringing meant I’ve never properly been in a fast food habit.

A New York childhood brings one many things — great pizza and bagels, if we’re sticking to food. One thing it doesn’t is a deep knowledge of the United States’ fast food brands. I wasn’t dramatically deprived — I’d passed by all of the above french fry serving establishments at points during my childhood, minus Chick-fil-A. (The person who created the image probably picked more mainstream brands on purpose.) I just didn’t frequent them all, or attempt to make a habit of getting to know them.

My family picked one fast food joint and stuck to it, and Burger King won for its convenience and solid amount of vegetarian options. KFC and Taco Bell were also part of the rotation, but naturally served different purposes. Fairly quickly, I’d decided against certain others: McDonald’s was unappealing (in the United States, at least), and I never responded to Arby’s or Checkers’ messaging, but Wendy’s was a fine alternative. By my mid-teen years, though, I had developed real habits of a foodie, and food that was actually better for me. I broke up with the old favorites, and those I never mentioned now had no chance.

Many years removed from that decision, I realize that of course there’s value to knowing these brands, or at least their french fries. It becomes an even more daunting task when I realize all of the brands I hadn’t heard of until I got to know people who didn’t grow up where I did — Culver’s! Roy Rogers! Whataburger! There are just so many I never ran into, and to this day haven’t since I’ve never searched for different forms of fast food while on my travels. Maybe it’s something I’ll correct one of these post-pandemic days. After all, being a french fry connoisseur is an attractive idea.

(Also: my answers are Popeye’s, Wendy’s, and KFC.)

tl;dr: As it turns out, New York (or at least my part of it) isn’t a great place to educate yourself on fast food.

Programming Alert

Friday, 6a EST/11a GMT: The K-League returns with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors up against Suwon Samsung Bluewings, streamed live on Twitter and YouTube

Saturday and Sunday, 6a EST: NBCSN runs through Premier League archives again, with two Tottenham matches scheduled for Saturday.

Links of the Day

Coronavirus:

• Players and staff at Fiorentina and Sampdoria tested positive for COVID-19.
• The Bundesliga will return to action on May 16.
• Rangers wants an investigation into the SPFL’s decision to end the season as is for lower leagues.

Bayern hired Miroslav Klose as an assistant coach.

PSG’s Formiga signed a one year contract extension, extending her 27 year career another year to retire after the Olympics.

Today’s longer read: Jonathan Wilson on the legacy of the 2010 World Cup on the African continent, the first part of a series that serves as a retrospective on the tournament for Sports Illustrated