The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Thursday, July 16

Hello, all!

Fun fact to start today: the last time Tottenham won two games in a row was February 16, when they beat Aston Villa 3-2 after winning an FA Cup tie against Southampton 3-2 on February 5.

Ramble of the Day

It’s 9:24p and I have just beens taring blankly for a few minutes. I was planning on writing about Texas toast, but a quick Google revealed that I did that once last year, so I’m not going to repeat myself. Staring and not thinking has been a fun exercise, though. Sometimes, a little bit of doing nothing is pretty relaxing, especially when you find your brain working at almost all waking hours. I know I’m not the only one, and I wish a couple of minutes of nothingness for anyone who needs it.

The next best thing, of course, is writing a version of my stream of consciousness. I’m doing the bare minimum of thinking — making sure the sentences are good, and that I’m not going too off track. Why the second? My brain has a theory about famous people and Google it wanted to flesh out just a couple of minutes ago, but this isn’t the space for it. Plus, I’m trying not to think a lot right now, which is probably I should not admit. I think I’ll rephrase — I’m trying to do this while being mellow, which isn’t my natural state. I’m always a bit more active and intense, but I am enjoying this feeling.

It’s 9:34p and the San Jose Earthquakes just scored a hilarious own goal, and I keep hearing the commentator pronounce Judson differently. I’m still quite mellow. I don’t know how the own goal didn’t disrupt that, but I’m not complaining. (That makes it worth mentioning that I am an enthusiast of a funny own goal, and would you look at that? I came up with a Hoddle topic for the future.) I’m wondering if it’s just me accepting fatigue, or dealing with it in a better fashion.

It’s 9:39p and I just jotted down that Hoddle topic. I frequently end up figuring one out in the middle of a free write. I’ll call it productive, but I don’t want to praise myself too much for it. Weirdly, I don’t want the satisfaction right now. I just want to continue the mellowness, not excite myself any more (or less, for that matter). I suppose I will say it is a mission accomplished, but because I can wrap this up, though I do have a parting theory: I think it is just me responding well to fatigue.

tl;dr: Mellow free write

Stay informed, read this: Jemele Hill on DeSean Jackson’s anti-Semitic remarks and how “the thirst for liberation and equality can never come at the expense of dehumanizing other marginalized groups” for The Atlantic

Bonus read: Meg Linehan on the NWSL’s recent embrace of Pride Month compared to other points in the league’s history for The Athletic

Links of the Day

IFAB said five substitutions will be allowed for any club competitions that end by July 31, 2021 and international tournaments that take place in July and August 2021.

Most FA WSL clubs reportedly do not want the Premier League to take over the league, fearing the Premier League would not properly invest in player and coaching development.

Retired U.S. international Lauren Holiday and New Orleans Pelicans’ Jrue Holiday will use the rest of his game checks for this season to launch a social justice fund.

A longer read: Mandeep Sanghera on Jarnail Singh, a retired Sikh referee in England, and his sons Sunny and Bhupinder, the sons who followed in his footsteps, on visibility and increasing the number of people of color in refereeing positions for the BBC