The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Monday, May 17

Hi, everyone!

Here’s a fun new warm up shirt a number of MLS teams sported over the weekend ahead of Pride month.

Ramble of the Day

A couple of weeks ago, a very insignificant series of events led me to a list of footballers’ personal logos. It turns out that there are enough to rank, but too many to rank them all in one Hoddle, so instead I’m spotlighting a few from the non-comprehensive list I have assembled. For what it’s worth, it’s pretty fair to assume the rest are very basic and more or less the same.

The obvious reason to single Harry Kane’s one out is because this is a Tottenham website, but it’s where my curiosity began. There was a concern in the Cartilage Free Captain writers’ room Kane’s logo was much simpler (please visit Leyton Orient’s website to see it), but it is the definition of basic athlete logo. I am, though, thankful that it’s better than Tom Brady’s TB12 logo, which is an absolute pain to look at.

Gareth Bale’s logo is far more original. Does it look like a footballer’s logo? Not really, but if you know Bale, you know what the logo’s referencing. You can see the heart he made with his hands to celebrate goals, and the two vertical lines at the top are clearly an 11, the number he used to wear. It’s original for its kind, so it gets points from me.

Apparently David Beckham was the first footballer to have a personal logo, so he decided to use the likeness of a footballer before anyone else could. I originally found it very obvious, but I don’t mind the stylistic choices the more I look at it. That doesn’t mean I truly like it, though — Beckham’s logo for his fragrances is much better.

After a little bit of looking around the internet, I think my favorite of the bunch is Pelé’s. It’s easily recognizable without being basic in design. It has a little bit of versatility, too — it represents a footballer, but it doesn’t confine him to just being a footballer or even just an athlete.

tl;dr: Some opinions on footballers’ personal logos.

Stay informed, read this: Kellie Carter Jackson on Starz’s Run the World and putting Black women at the center of feel good television for The New York Times

Links of the Day

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said the Kroenke family rejected his offer to buy Arsenal.

FIFA approved Aymeric Laporte’s one-time switch to Spain from France.

Eniola Aluko resigned as sporting director of Aston Villa.

Alex Scott was named the first permanent female host of BBC’s Football Focus.

A longer read: Tariq Panja interviews Barcelona’s Lieke Martens on preparing for the Champions League final, the evolution of the women’s game, and her rising fame for The New York Times