The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Friday, February 3

good morning good morning!

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I woke up to the sound of a murder of crows singing before dawn.

Their cacophonous caws pierced through my windows. I hear them as I prepare my morning coffee

Outside it is dark and cold.

Somehow, in their migration, these hundred or so crows have made my neighbourhood their home this year. I first heard their song a couple of weeks ago and saw dozens and dozens of the black-feathered beauties fly over Arlington as I drove along the 110 highway this weekend.

They are here again this morning, perched on the naked branches of the trees in my apartment complex courtyard. Their caws break the silence of a mid-Atlantic metropolis not yet ready to wake.

But I am awake, and their caws give me great comfort.

The moon still hangs in the sky as I leave for work. I see my breath within the first steps out my door. The caws grow louder.

Dozens of birds are nestled in the trees to my right. For a moment I wish I were back inside in the warmth. How I wish I could hear their muffled songs under a blanket and not with my knuckles exposed to the freezing weather.

Twelve hours later this murder of crows will crowd the streets of my neighbourhood and lay siege to the trees that line it.

And still it is dark and cold.

An echo of caws ring around Arlington. Birds sing, birds answer, birds refrain.

These gorgeous, black-eyed birds.

I do hope they keep singing. And when they do, I hope I will be sound asleep under the covers.

Fitzie’s track of the day: You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory, by Johnny Thunders

And now for your links:

The Athletic ($$) dives into Tottenham’s transfer window

Dan KP: UK government to introduce independent regulator of football next week

Mason Greenwood attempted rape charges dropped

The New York Times ($$) asks if Chelsea are setting or breaking the market