The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Tuesday, September 28

Hi, all!

Here’s a lovely follow up to the Rhys Porter video from last week — Fulham players celebrated with him after Aleksandar Mitrović scored Saturday.

Ramble of the Day

Pizza is one of those foods that can be adapted a seemingly infinite amount of ways. There are different types of pizza in the US alone; it almost makes me entertain the idea of becoming a pizza aficionado of sorts, but that’s mostly a fleeting thought. I suppose when you have something as adaptable as pizza, the possibility exists for great adaptations and horrible ones. I’m afraid I recently came across a horrible style of pizza.

The name is a direct reference to the Altoona Hotel in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Per the Pittsburgh City Paper, Altoona-style “is composed of Sicilian-style dough and cut into squares. On top of the dough is a layer of sweet tomato sauce, then some deli-style salami, then a sliced green bell pepper ring, and then topped with yellow cheese.”

There are a lot of decent elements here. I have absolutely no issue with Sicilian-style dough, and as long as the “sweet tomato sauce” being referenced isn’t unnaturally so, that’s probably fine, too. I have no problem with green bell peppers on pizza, even if I genuinely feel green bell peppers are extremely limited and offer almost nothing to any given dish. My main issue is the cheese, both the cheese used and its integration into the dish.

The cheese situation here creates one of the least appealing dishes I’ve ever seen, I must be honest. I don’t find American cheese or Velveeta particularly tasty; there are a lot of other cheese that will work nicely with the ingredients the Altoona-style pizza requires. I think it’s possible putting the cheese on top of the bell pepper and salami might taste better than it looks, but I wonder if doing that gets rid of the one thing a green bell pepper is good for — crunch.

I suppose I can give the Altoona-style credit for originality, but this also seems like the definition of an acquired taste. There’s nothing inherently wrong with being an acquired taste, but I don’t envision myself ever acquiring this one.

tl;dr: Meet Altoona-style pizza, and make your own judgments. (I can’t say I’m a fan from the knowledge I obtained.)

Stay informed, read this: Troy Closson on singer-songwriter R. Kelly, who was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking, on why such a conviction took this long after decades of accusations for The New York Times

Links of the Day

UEFA dropped its disciplinary case against Barcelona, Juventus, and Real Madrid for continuing its pursuit of creating a Super League.

Several non-league matches were postponed in the UK because of fuel shortages in the nation.

Victor Wanyama announced his international retirement after 14 years playing for Kenya.

CONCACAF gave Suriname vice president and Inter Moengotapoe owner/player Ronnie Brunswijk a three year ban for handing cash to opposing Olimpia players last week.

A former University of Southern California coach, on trial in the college admissions scandal, admitted to fabricating children’s athletic achievements in exchange for bribes.

A longer read: Constantin Eckner on Hertha Berlin after entrepreneur Lars Windhorst bought a stake in the club in 2019, and the rebuild that hasn’t gone according to plan for ESPN