Musing of the Moment: World Cup Final from a Spurs Perspective

from The Athletic

Spain dominated the match and held Argentina to zero shots on goal. Heck, Argentina only mounted a mere three shots to Spain's twenty, eleven of which were on target. 

Spain had plenty of chances, and the Spaniards were the clearly superior squad. 

For how much footballing talent that country has, I'm surprised this win is only their second World Cup. 

From a Tottenham Hotspur supporter's perspective, I love that Pedro Porro made the cross that Williams headed to Ferran Torres for the winning goal. Porro made himself a mainstay of the team after not starting the first game (if I remember correctly). 

He sent some perfectly weighted passes Yamal's way on a number of occasions. He worked well with the right winger to pose a serious offensive threat. 

I was surprised that Romero got pulled out of the squad. I know he was on a yellow card, but he's probably one of the best center backs in world football. 

Sensei came in at the 101 minute. 

I love that President Adolf was booed by the crowd: "Trump Booed by World Cup Final Crowd, Takes Part in Trophy Presentation." 

Regardless, it appears Tottenham made a good decision on signing Porro to a long-term contract. 

COYS. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Apparently the NFL is moving the Pro Bowl to become a flag football game. It was already that way in the past because like the NBA All-Star game, defense is optional in those silly games. Now the NFL is simply being truthful, which is a rare occurrence. 

"How Kansas Kept Abortion Legal" by Amy Littlefield in The Nation is worth a read. I hope it's a bellwether for the upcoming mid-term elections. 

I'm searching for a professional way of saying "bitch, please" without having to actually say "bitch, please." Here are suggestions from my friends on FB:

• Your opinion is duly noted, but I respectfully disagree.
• Bless your heart.
• Per my previous email
• Thank you for your interest.
• Please send me these concerns in an email.
• I'm sure that makes sense to you given your level of experience. 
• I'll take it from here.
• I appreciate your input, but we will be going in a different direction.
• Thank you very much, but I'm going to pass on that idea/opportunity at this time. 
• Thank you for the information.
• Perhaps.
• I've got you covered. 
• Ok, great. 

While I cannot find it online yet, you should pick up the most recent issue of The Nation and read Stephen Berry's "Confederates Take the Capitol." Berry is the Gregory Professor of the Civil War Era at the University of Georgia. He penned a trenchant essay about the January 6th insurrection and its historical context. 

Here's one of my favorite statements in the article: "At the base of most contemporary American conspiracy theories is the white male fantasy that indulges the feeling of being aggrieved, abused, dominated, or violated, precisely to justify the legitimacy of the ensuing white male vengeance and demonstrations of power and control." 

A few ¶s before, he makes this important statement: "...they [students of history and politics] assume that a majority of people act in their material self interest. Especially in the American context, they often don't. They act in their cultural self-interest. Any government program that benefits everyone (whether Obamacare, mask mandates, or vaccines) benefits out-groups relatively more--and America's traditionally dominant class (white male Christians and their allies) like winning less than they like watching other people lose. They not actually cynical about government; they know it works, but they want it to work for them particularly, perhaps exclusively, as it usually has--or they want it to not to work at all." 

Musing of the Moment: Tottenham's Transfer Window So Far

One of my favorite words I discovered after I started following real football (soccer) is "shithousery," which is defined by Urban Dictionary as "underhanded conduct or gamesmanship in a sport, with the intention of gaining an advantage." 

The club I follow religiously, Tottenham, apparently is signing a guy who has a bit of shithousery in his game, Richarlison. He's a player who can play a center forward when Kane isn't playing and will play as a winger when Kane is at the tip of the attack. 

Spurs have had a fun summer transfer window to follow with five signings so far if Richarlison and Lenglet come through the door, with the last guy coming over on loan from Barcelona. They need to sign a right wingback or two, and the deal for Spence is going quite slowly. 

As for outgoings, Bergwiyn is going to get bought from someone, and Winks is likely to go to a different club. I'd like to see Spurs keep Rodon and loan him out somewhere to get playing time. We'll see what happens with Emerson Royal and Reguilon. 

I'd like to see Tottenham sign Eriksen as a creative midfielder, but rumors on that front have gone very quiet. 

I suspect we'll see some surprises before the window closes. 

COYS

Music Friday: New Mexico State

The hope was that against the Aggies of New Mexico State the Tide would get well. 

They didn't. 

Roydell Williams, the back-up running back, and Jo Jo Earle both went down with injuries, and it sounds as though Williams will be out for a while. So that makes running back depth even more thin. B-Rob is the starter of course, but now Sanders has to step up and provide quality effort. 

As much as I like watching the back-up players do their thing in these blowout games, watching Demouy Kennedy and Christian Leary tote the rock was a bit strange. Those players' primary positions are linebacker and wide receiver. They got pulled into to play running back because of so many RBs getting hurt. 

With three starters out on the offensive line, the reshuffled line played much better than they did against LSU. Then again, the Tide was playing NMSU. 

There's been talk about some defensive linemen from Georgia being in the running for Heisman. 

But if there's any defensive player who deserves to be in the running for Heisman, it's Will Anderson. 

As Aaron Suttles for The Athletic points out, Anderson is only behind the late, great Derrick Thomas for average sacks per game. Anderson is at .85 sacks per game after not recording one in his first seven games as a freshman. He has 12.5 sacks this season over 10 games. 

Next up is a tough Arkansas squad at home. 

Musing of the Moment: Super League Dead & Spurs' Next Coach

The botched rollout of and communication about the European Super League is one of the more intriguing sports stories in recent times. They announced it on Sunday, and by Tuesday the league was effectively dead.

I look forward to watching a documentary about how this disaster went down. I might say it could be a great 30 for 30 doc, but ESPN rarely covers soccer football topics unless it's a great goal for their top plays on Sportscenter. 

The foreign owners of the Premier League clubs, some of whom are Americans, obviously don't understand the culture of British football. There were protests outside of Chelsea's grounds, and Klopp had a spicy interview related to how Liverpool was treated when they visited Elland Road. And then Leeds tied the Reds in the game. 

Perhaps this failed attempt will make some changes to qualification criteria for the Champions League since the "big six" of the Premier League were obviously interested in generating more revenue. But some of that plotting might have come from the American owners of Liverpool, Arsenal, and ManU, who might have MLB or the NFL as their template for making money. 

The articles about the Super League on The Athletic have been fantastic. 

In other matters with the team I support, Jose Mourinho got sacked. 

It's highly doubtful the interim coach can get the Spurs to qualify for Champions League, but I hope to see a more progressive style of play in their games. They have way too many offensive weapons to park the bus and continue looking lethargic offensively. I'd like to see plans of what they want to do in regard to attacking. 

As much as I liked Mourinho because of his old school, sometimes caustic mentality, I suspect he lost the dressing room by blaming players. 

There is all kinds of speculation about who Tottenham will hire for its next manager. Just hire someone who puts the joy back into the play of Spurs.