Musing of the Moment: State of Tottenham Hotspur

I came across this article, "Son Heung-min Often Eclipsed by Kane but Can Dazzle in His Own Right," in The Guardian about Tottenham's Son. He's a huge star in his native land, but he has taken the backseat to Kane. As the author states, Son is "a Tottenham man to his bones, and one who actually wants to be there." 

If I ever buy a Tottenham jersey, and I'd get an away kit, it'll be a Son jersey. 

And as we saw in the second leg of the UEFA Conference League match, Kane is back. We'll see if the January transfer window tempts Man City to actually lodge a suitable offer for him. In Kane's statement, he said he's staying this "summer." 

My hope is that Spurs win some hardware finally this season, and that result makes Kane stay for good. 

Regardless, Dele looks like he's revived his career after being in Mourinho's doghouse during that failed regime. 

We'll see what happens at the end of this transfer window, but from the sound of it, all of the French-speaking players look like they're potentially on their way out of N17. 

Ndombele will the most difficult player to move because of his huge wages. 

The sad deal with him is that he's a fantastically talented player, yet he never seems to impress any of the managers. Jose got some good performances out of him, but from the look of it, Nuno isn't putting up with his crap. 

Music Friday: "Canola Fields"

I missed last Friday's post. It slipped my mind, and I realized it on Sunday. 

I've been so busy with all kinds of crap. 

Anyway, James McMurtry came out with a new album this month titled The Horses and the Hounds. 

Today I'm featuring the opening tune on the album. At first listen, it's a solid album. 

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Slow-Cooked Kale

I am a huge fan of turnip greens and collard greens that are staples of Southern meat-and-three restaurants. I did not grow either of those this summer, but I have a crapton of kale in the garden. 

So I cooked up a bunch of kale like one would do with collard and turnip greens.

Ingredients

A whole bunch of kale, stems taken out and chopped into small pieces

1 smoked ham hock

Water to cover

Red pepper flakes

Healthy smidge of smoked paprika 

Salt and pepper 

Process

This is pretty dang basic. Add all that above into a large pot and simmer for 1-2 hours. 

Musing of the Moment: Tottenham Defeat Man City

With Harry Kane not in the lineup, Tottenham defeated Premier League Champions Manchester City 1 to nil. 

In contrast to the team's play during the Mourinho regime, Spurs played with spirit and grit. Man City did want they always do--dominate possession. So Nuno set up a formation you don't see that often, the Xmas tree formation: 4-3-2-1. 

The often derided duo of Sanchez and Dier played quite well, so hopefully they will continue to do well under the new manager. 

Tanganga earned "man of the match" with a stellar performance of flummoxing Graelish and Sterling on the left side. 

Two players who rarely get much attention, Moura and Bergwijn, had outstanding performances. Bergwijn should have tapped home a goal to put Tottenham up 2-0, but he missed wide left. Dinking a volley over the keeper would have done the job. 

I enjoyed Son playing in a striker role. I think can play anywhere up front. 

If City really want Kane, they need to put together a serious offer soon, so Spurs can find someone before the transfer window closes. 

Musing of the Moment: Start of the Premier League Season & "Sold"

The Premier League season got off to a crackin' start yesterday with Brentford, who haven't been in the top flight level of English football for 74 years, beating dreaded Arsenal 2-0. 

Here are the highlights. 

Meanwhile my beloved Spurs take on Man City tomorrow as the Harry Kane saga drags on. I doubt Levy sells him to Man City. It's too late in the transfer window, and Tottenham have not added a striker to their squad yet. They would surely have to add two strikers if they were to get rid of Kane. 

Rumors abound about which striker/s Tottenham could add, but it's mid-August, and the window closes at the end of the month. 

Two ¶s above I used the word "sells," which is a term that always has not sat well with me. In international football, when teams get rid of a player to another team for a substantial fee, the going term is that player gets "sold." 

The term sold has always sounded a bit slave tradery to me. Ick.

Perhaps we can replace with traded or transfer? For example, one could say that Tottenham transferred Harry Kane to Man City for a fee of 150 million?

Semantics, sure. But I like transfer better than sell. 

Music Friday: "Stone Free"

On satellite radio I've been listening to RockBar lately, which is a station that provides uptempo guitar-based songs that are a mixture of newer stuff and classics. 

Here's a classic of that ilk live from France in 1967. 

Music Friday: "Idiots Rule"

I'm a Vikings fan, and the low vaccination rate of the team is a major blemish on the NFL. And Kirk Cousins' comments about surrounding himself with plexiglass are astoundingly stupid. 

The fact that the delta variant is creating havoc because of morons who aren't getting vaccinated is really angering me. 

The whole situation reminds me of the this song. 

However, I will say the idea of them "ruling" is a bit nuanced. They rule in a sense that we smart people have to go back to wearing masks because of their idiocy that has prevented herd immunity. 

Ruling by dumbassery...