Come on you spurs!!!

I love this team.  Not that I would ever give up hope and I would completely support Tottenham if that played in the Championship, or any league for that matter.  They are playing so fantastically.  Beating Liverpool 2X in a season!  Wow!  It just proves the resiliency of this team and how much difference a coach who the team believes in can make a difference.  

Which brings me to my topic for this post.  While I was completely confident that Tottenham was going to come out of this funk, what if they did not?  Of course I would still support them, but that would suck.  And I don't say that lightly (I am not allowed to at work).  If the Spurs played in the Championship I would barely ever get to watch them.  We don't get any of those games on any of the channels.  I don't even think we get any at the bars in NYC.  

I love the fact that teams are completely held accountable for playing well.  If a team finishes at the bottom of the league, why shouldn't they go to the league below.  Their should be a standard of play that is in the top league in the world and who are we to decide who upholds that standard.  And why shouldn't a team who is playing amazingly in the Championship be able to play with the big boys?

I think that this is such a fantastic part of the Premiership and European football.  It makes such great underdog stories.  I know that any team can play any other team in England in the Carling and FA Cup, which is also amazing.  But to have teams that one year are in what Americans would think of as the minor leagues, and the next year, battling with the best teams in the entire world is such a motivating factor.  

This is also a testament to the loyalty of the football fans in England.  Footy fans truly put the saying "through thick and thin" to the test.  People have followed the same team for generations and they truly do love their teams.  That is one of the main aspects of the culture of football that I like so much.  

OK.  I guess this is as good a time as any to wrap this up as I can go on for hours with most of these topics.  

Already out of the relegation zone.  Sitting pretty in 16th.  Top 10 here we come.  

New Era

OK.  Well I just watched a fantastic game of football where the spurs were able to win against Liverpool.  Imagine that, the team at the bottom of the table beating the top team in the league.  What a difference a week can make.  So, I figured this would be a good time to post some new thoughts.

As for being able to fire a manager at any point, why not?  I mean, I can understand that players need to have some security for contracts as they can get injured and no one can play their best every day.  But a manager is completely different.  Their sole job is to make sure that the team executes as they should.  If a team is not doing well, especially when they have potential (example: finishing top 5 2 years in a row), you can't expect to fire all your players and hire new ones.  But you have to be able to change something.  The coach is the logical choice.  Ramos was running the team poorly, and as you can see, they do have potential.  

I am not saying that a team should not have loyalty to their managers, because they should. However, it should only be given when it is due.  Ramos was coach for all of half a season.  Someone like Sir Alex should absolutely be given loyalty from Manchester.  He is a knight after all.  I love Redknapp.  Jamie used to play for us Spurs, and there is some history there.    From what I am told, their was a bit of a language barrier for Ramos and the team.  (It would be a whole other post to talk about the fact that a coach does not need to speak the same language as most of the players on their team).  

Well, I guess the moral of the story is that managers should be up for review at all times.  That comes with the territory.  Hey, as long as Tottenham keep on winning, they can have anyone manage them.  Welcome Harry and the new era of Tottenham football.  

In Shock

Well, what a pleasant surprise to wake up to seeing Spurs one up over Bolton and seeing them close out a nice 2-0 win at home.  When I was reading the game commentary on Skysports, (I can't tell you how much I love cheering on my team from reading a slowly updated game summary) I was in a bit of shock.  The initial posts said that Spurs fans were in a bit of shock and confusion before the game.  I checked my sources and what do I see...not only are we winning a match, but we are winning a match under a new manager, Harry Redknapp.  

This is something that you do not see as often in American sports.  I am not saying it is a good or a bad idea to be able to sack your manager, but it must be difficult for the players.  Especially in a sport like football, where every manager has a distinct style of play, and they cannot take time-outs or have an offense and defense that they can speak to throughout the game.  

It is going to take me a little while to collect my thoughts on this aspect of the game.  Regardless, congrats to all us Spurs fans for the first win of the season.  Only took 9 games, but a win is a win.  May it be the first of many more to come this season.  And a warm welcome to Harry Redknapp.  Perhaps you are the change we need for us to act like the team that we have the potential to be.  

COME ON YOU SPURS!!!

Frustrating Start

We can't even beat Stoke?  Its Stoke.  They weren't even in the Premiership last year.  This team is so frustrating.  All the potential in the world and its being somewhat wasted.  

My take is that they never should have gotten rid of Berbatov and they should have kept either Keane or Defoe.  But it comes down to something even before that.  Jol should still be our coach.  That crazy Dutchman knew how to manage this team.  No knock against Ramos.  He is a good coach and all.  I just think Jol was the right man for Tottenham.

I still have faith that we will turn it around and not get relegated this year.  But from last year's predictions of breaking the impenetrable top four, to now having 2 points from 8 matches, something is terribly wrong.  The last thing I would want is to have Tottenham be relegated and have the games that I can watch from across the pond go from few to none.  

Same team, different year

OK.  So I know that this blog is supposed to be about how much I love the sport, which I truly do, one problem I have with the premiership is that the same 4 teams finish in the top 4 every year.  

I am watching (hopefully) the Tampa Bay Rays and the the Philadelphia Phillies about to start competing for the World Series.  That is amazing.  Don't get me wrong, being a Yankees fan, I love watching the Yankees when they win the Series year after year.  But it is refreshing to know that in any given year, any team can bring it together and do something miraculous.

When was the last time you saw any team besides Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal, and Liverpool not finishing in the top 4?  Not since I have been watching the sport (I know that hasn't been for very long, but long enough to understand).  I think that it is BS that when everyone had the highest expectations for Tottenham, they were saying that they would break the top 4 that year.  Why shouldn't the highest expectations be that they should win the Premiership.  

Now don't get me wrong.  This is not all bad.  It is very nice to know that a few games every season, when 2 of these 4 teams meet, you are about to watch an amazing game of football.  You never know that with baseball.  In fact, I can almost guarantee that at some point in the game you will try to shut your eyes and take a nap.  

Still, I think this is somewhat disheartening for football fans.  I know there is much more than winning, but its fun to watch your team win.  One positive to take from this, one of my few arguments against the sport, is that it is a true testament for its fans.  There is such loyalty to your team in the Premiership.  It doesn't even matter if your team drops into the Championship, League 1 or 2, you still love and cheer for them just as much.  Maybe it is enough to watch your team play against the best teams in the world?    

1st Post - The Pilot I guess

So this is the first blog I have ever written.  I was trying to come up with a topic and was coming up with quite a bit of difficulty.  I knew it had to distinguish from the normal blog and it had to be something I am passionate about.  Tottenham was the first thing to come to mind.  I guess a little background about me would help.

My name is Michael, I am 23 years old, living in NYC, raised in NJ.  I am currently working in sales, and I like to consider myself a pretty avid Tottenham Hotspurs fan.  I first started following the Premiership in my teens when I heard about it from some of the British staff that worked at my camp.  I got really into it after I studied abroad at the University of Nottingham in 2005.  

Don't get me wrong, I love watching the game of football (or as us Americans would say, soccer), but what I truly love about the Spurs and the English Premiership is the culture of the sport.  I guess I'll go into more about that as I post more.  

I'll try to post to this on a regular basis, although I can't say how happy I will be with the start of Tottenham's season thus far.  Regardless, I would love to hear your thoughts.