Random Notes from a Crank

The last few days I watched the new Netflix series Young Wallander. The six-part series is well crafted, but I didn't like the ending. With that ending, there has to be a second season in the offing. If there isn't, I'm pissed. 

The second installment of All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur came out recently, and I binged it like a mofo yesterday. By the end of episode six, we're still not up to the quarantine, so I wonder how much time they'll spend on the club adjusting to the pandemic. 

As I stated previously in a recent Stay Positive post, I've taken a shine to Mourinho.  

Every day I'm checking a website that moderates the articles that speculate about what's happening with the squad during the summer transfer window. They signed Hojbjerg and Doherty, which were smart signings in lots of people's opinions. The other new face, Hart, is apparently a high character guy. 

I suspect Danny Rose will get sold or loaned somewhere with the emergence of Tanganga. We'll see what happens with Aurier.

But by Gods, they really need to sign a back-up striker who can also play other positions as a forward. That need is clearly apparent if you reflect how the squad played without Kane last season. 

It shouldn't be any surprise by the report by The Atlantic about how Moscow Don talks about veterans and military leaders. The report has been corroborated by multiple sources. 

Stay Positive: The Tottenham Hotspur Documentary's First Three Episodes

Monday finally got here and revealed the first three episodes of All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur. I binged it on Monday evening and thoroughly enjoyed the episodes. 

While I've enjoyed Jose Mourinho's press conferences after matches, I appreciate him even more after seeing how he took over what looked like a broken Spurs squad partway through last season. 

Episode 3 leaves the season when the team is close the top four on the table, so it'll be interesting to see how the documentary depicts the run of bad luck in regard to injuries the Spurs suffered at certain parts of the season. Losing Kane for an extended period time was a blow even though the pandemic softened it somewhat because it upset the regular flow of the season. 

What I'm hoping to see more of is that tactical aspects of his coaching because The Athletic a while back had a great article on how Mourinho used the water breaks in certain games to change formations and tactics according to what the other team was trying to do. 

The next trio of episodes will undoubtedly recount the advent of the pandemic and how the team coped with the lockdown in Britain. 

I also suspect the documentary might also fixate on the disappointing year from Ndombele. 

Aurier and Dele Alli feature prominently in the first few episodes, and we know what happened with Eriksen. The odd deal is that Eriksen seems to be on the outs at Inter Milan currently. And I like how Mourinho busted Delli Alli's chops about being a crap player at practice and was blunt about how he could be a great player. In addition, the point when The Special One calls out Aurier on being a crappy defender in front of everyone was uncomfortable. 

I will say that I'm drawn to Mourinho even though he has a [justified] big ego. He's obviously a devout Catholic, but he swears like a sailor. I like how he says the team needs to stop being nice guys and needs to play with "balls." 

It'll also be interesting to see how the Amazon doc depicts how Mourinho shifts gears to focusing on qualifying for the Europa League when the lucrative Champions League is out of reach. 

Regardless, COYS. 

Random Notes from a Crank

An interesting article in The Washington Post relates that some GOP advisors are worried about losing the Senate: "Republicans Grow Nervous about Losing the Senate Amid Worries of Trump's Handling of the Coronavirus."

I've been watching the polling in Senate races for a while now because I am hopeful of the GOP losing a number of those races. The four most talked about are in North Carolina, Maine, Colorado, and Arizona. I am worried about Jones losing in Alabama because, well, it's Alabama. 

I hadn't heard much about the Kansas race (as the article details a bit), but that factor makes sense since the 2016 flipping of Kansas in a number of elections. As a native Iowan, I would love for Ernst to be booted out of office. And I would be extremely happy if Lindsey Graham and Moscow Mitch have to hit the bricks. But those are long shots.  

I've watched a number of Amazon series during the lockdown. 

The Expanse has been a scary, suspense-filled treat. In a lot of these sci-fi novels and television shows though they depict the world as being run by the United Nations, such as in The Expanse and Altered Carbon, which is a bit odd because in our current reality the UN is fairly ineffectual. Regardless, The Expanse has a number of interesting visual representations of the world after climate change. 

I recently finished Beyond the Loop, which is an eerie yet poignant TV series. 

Here are factoids and stats from May's "Harper's Index," which were compiled as of March 2020:

• Percentage of Americans who operate doors and sinks in public restrooms with paper towels to avoid germs: 65
• Who flush with their feet: 44
• Who hover over the toilet seat: 29
• Number of countries that are carbon-negative: 2
• Estimated number of Americans who spend at least three hours commuting each day: $4,300,000
• Percentage of Democrats who believe that their personal finances will improve over the next year: 60
• Of Republicans who do: 83
• Portion of Trump's 2019 tweets that were live responses to Fox New or Fox Business programs: 1/10
• Factor by which Americans go to the library more often than they go to the movies: 2
• Estimated number of dead-end streets in the world: 17,680,000
• Portion of those dead ends that are in the United States: 1/4