The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Wednesday, September 23

Hey, everyone!

Nike made a lot of nice training tops this season, didn’t they? I may have to dedicate a ramble to it at some point.

Ramble of the Day

A couple of weeks ago, Arturo Conde wrote for NBC News about a trio of Latinx comic book conventions that are taking place virtually this month, and how they occupy a space left open by mainstream comic book publishers like Marvel and DC by their lack of Latinx superheroes. The piece is naturally about the comic book world created for Latinx readers, but I think it also hit on a few more universal topics, like representation.

While the Latinx community is sometimes described as a small country that exists inside a much bigger America, convention organizers say that their experience cannot be reduced to a one-size-fits-all story.

“There are many Latino stories. You can find autobiographical ones about growing up speaking Spanish, horror stories, historical pieces, superheroes, Latinas living in a macho society, you can find everything in Latino comics,” said Javier Hernández, Mexican-American comic book creator of the Aztec zombie superhero El Muerto and co-founder of The Latin Comics Expo. “But there’s no one defining story of a Latino creator or fan, and there shouldn’t be. Just like there’s no one defining story of a white creator.”

The treatment of any group as a monolith, and it is directly related to that lack of representation. That lack of representation doesn’t allow an audience to fully get to know things they don’t. Again, there’s a closed nature to it that can be tracked to not having a diverse group of people creating the work you want to create.

I always think about surrounding yourself with as many types of people you can allows you a few things — the ability to learn and create a well-rounded world view are the main perks, really. I think. It’s something that should be practiced on the part of bigger companies — in this case, we have the example of Marvel and DC — but there’s also room for us to appreciate the work others are doing even if they’re not doing it in the most famous places. In the end, both of those things improve both the storytelling and the reception of that storytelling.

Hernández spells out the result of seeing himself representation in comic books, and I will let that comment close this out.

“As a kid, I enjoyed reading Spider-Man, Batman, and Superman. I loved all those white guys in colorful costumes,” said Hernández. “But there was one issue in a Spider-Man comic where the superhero White Tiger showed up. He was the first Puerto Rican superhero in Marvel. He spoke Spanish like me with my family at home. And that was a big deal.”

Links of the Day

West Ham’s David Moyes, Issa Diop, and Josh Cullen tested positive for COVID-19.

The FA will scrap the men’s national futsal team and a grassroots coaching mentorship program in its latest pandemic-related cuts.

Italian police is investigating claims that Luis Suárez cheated on the Italian language exam he took to obtain Italian citizenship.

David Squires covers Gareth Bale’s return to Tottenham in his latest cartoon.

Transfer updates: Juventus signed Álvaro Morata on loan from Atléti; Inter signed Arturo Vidal from Barcelona; Villarreal signed Jorge Cuenca from Barcelona

A longer read: Henry Bushnell on why the sport in the United States is dominated by white players for Yahoo Sports