The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham news and links for Thurs. April 15

Editor’s note: this was scheduled to go live at 2:30 a.m. this morning! I tried! I really really tried!

Hi, Hoddlers. Happy Thursday.

I know that now is not a very fun time to be a Tottenham Hotspur fan, and that watching soccer has probably fallen down most people’s priority lists these days. I get it. I feel the same. I have the added pressure of this being my literal job to watch and cover Tottenham, and if it not for that I’d likely be checking out some myself.

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So that got me thinking — what are some other sports that are on right now that you’re watching? If Tottenham is ludus ingratus at the moment, are there other SPORTBALL TEAMS that are scratching that itch for you?

I’ve got a few, and here are mine. I should note that I’m not a baseball fan and so that’s not included here, but if you are, fantastic! You do you!

Australian Football League (AFL)

I kind of fell in love with Aussie Rules football during the pandemic when most sports were shut down. AFL was one of the few sports that continued with modified rules and very few (and properly distanced) spectators. I don’t know why I picked Port Adelaide as my team to follow, but I’m now a dedicated Power fan and have been for a few years now. It’s a little bit harder these days to follow the team from the United States, and especially now since FOX Sports doesn’t carry every match anymore, but I manage. And there are other teams that I Tivo (god, who remembers Tivo, and why do I still default to that word to describe digital recording of TV shows and sports?) when Port Adelaide is not on American telly. Carn the pear! ← [basically “Come on the Power” in a heavy Australian accent]

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WNBA

I’m a college basketball junkie, but I’ve never really transferred that to the NBA, ever. It’s just not my thing and there are way, way too many games. So imagine my surprise last year when I started watching Indiana Fever games with my wife, very much not a sports fan but who enjoys the snot out of the WNBA? My partner learned about and started following Caitlin Clark (despite her legions of, uh, problematic fans) and was thrilled that she played for our “local” team. And I’ve really come to appreciate the excitement and fun of the WNBA. It’s just a great league to watch, family friendly, and super competitive. I love it. We plan to attend a Fever game or two in Indianapolis once I have a settled medical situation.

Formula 1

Okay, big caveat here — I am a gargantuan F1 casual. I don’t support any one team, or any one driver (though if I have to choose I probably gravitate towards Alex Albon who seems like an underrated driver stuck on a pretty bad team, and as a childhood Mario Andretti fan I’m Cadillac-curious). I do, however, kinda enjoy the spectacle of it all, even if it is a billionaire sport run and driven by wealthy people and funded by shady financial orgs and nation-states. I’ll be honest and say I blitz through recorded qualifying and races and don’t watch the whole thing, but I still find it quite fun. And screw Max Verstappen, the whiny git.

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Professional Women’s’ Volleyball

I’ve watched both Major League Volleyball and the LOVB league (which is playing now) whenever I’ve managed to find a live game on in the evenings, and I’ve also watched a fair amount of Big Ten collegiate volleyball whenever it’s on. Again, I’m a casual and don’t follow any one team but I find the sport to be super compelling and fun to watch, and I think it’s awesome that we live in an era where women’s volleyball is not only on TV but apparently widely supported! That rules.

What are the sports that are getting you through the rough times right now? Share them in the comments.

Song of the Day: “Camel Walk” by Itai Armon

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