The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Tuesday, March 30

Hello, all!

The Ever Given is no longer stuck in the Suez Canal, so here’s a video of the folks who helped get it out celebrating their victory. It really gives me some sports celebration vibes.

Ramble of the Day

The news that Sergio Agüero will leave Manchester City at the end of the season had me thinking about his tenure with the club. It is nothing short of amazing before you consider how he was a massive part of the club’s transformation. It’s also wild to consider that, at least for me, he was central to one of the greatest sporting moments I’ve enjoyed as a neutral.

The truly great thing about this game was that it was completely chaotic. The set-up itself was chaotic enough — City were battling Manchester United for the title, and had to play a Queens Park Rangers team that needed a draw to avoid relegation. United got the expected win over Sunderland, but for the City-QPR game, the set-up wasn’t chaotic enough because the game itself was also chaotic.

It wasn’t just that City took the lead, but then conceded nine minutes later. Joey Barton’s red card for QPR is the embodiment of chaos — after getting a red for tackling Carlos Tevez, he felt the need to attack Agüero and start a fight amongst the two teams! Just a few minutes later, QPR somehow take the lead! An underdog story was really being staged for QPR — take on the league leaders, go down a players, and beat them anyway.

They got so, so close, didn’t they? Somehow, City get two of their own in stoppage time — Agüero scores the goal, in a moment that I have to imagine everyone watching will remember forever. The entertainment value of that game was immense, and I look back on it fondly as a result. It’s been almost nine years since and very few sporting moments can match it, but that’s what makes it and moments like it so special.

tl;dr: While reflecting on Sergio Agüero’s time at Manchester City, I realized he was central to one of the most entertaining sports moments I’ll probably ever see.

Stay informed, read this: Brooke Marine profiles actor-director Regina King on depicting the experience of Black Americans for W magazine

Links of the Day

One of the two FA Cup semifinals will be a pilot event as the UK prepares for the return of spectators to sporting events.

Sergio Agüero will leave Manchester City at the end of the season after ten years at the club.

Poland’s Robert Lewandowski will miss the World Cup qualifier against England with a knee injury.

Three Wales players were sent home after reportedly breaking curfew at the team hotel.

A longer read: Tariq Panja and Joe Ward explain the new Champions League format that could be approved as soon as this week in an infographic for The New York Times