The Rise of The Hotspurs

When the transfer window closed this season, there was much criticism directed at the manager. Many believed that Pochetino hadn't done enough to push Levy to bring in the players he needed. There had been no additions to the roles of striker and central defensive midfield- two areas that Spurs were found lacking.

There was no back up for Kane and the fact that our central defensive midfielder was actually a centre back didn't ooze confidence. Many were also critical of the pre season tours, complaining that our players hadn't got enough rest. The critics went to "I told you so" mode when Kane failed to find the net in the opening games.

But now after 14 games and a 13 match unbeaten streak, even his greatest critics are applauding Mauricio Pochettino. The change he has brought to the team is incredible. He has cut out the dead wood and removed the poisonous weeds. He tilled the ground and sowed fresh seeds. No wonder he is reaping the dividends.

Some might say that Lady Luck has favoured him. After all Kane was able to maintain his form and fitness. Well, that was not what most of us thought when Kane was facing a goal drought in the beginning of the season. But Pochettino kept faith in his striker and the forward shone because of it.

It is to Spurs' credit that they have been able to maintain their unbeaten run even after a string of injuries to crucial players. Chadli, Bentaleb and Pritchard are still recovering whereas Eriksen, Dembele, Mason, Lamela and Son have all had their share of injury woes.

Spurs owe most of their success this season to the transfer window. Pochettino remoulded the team to his liking by "not buying for the sake of buying". With the help of Vertonghen, he was able to add Alderweireld to the team and we all know how crucial that signing has been. The Belgian duo have formed a formidable pairing and have been a brick wall in central defence.

The addition of Wimmer and Trippier has given Pochettino more options at the back while Son and Njie have strengthened the midfield and also proved to be effective covers for Kane.

But our best buy was undoubtedly Dele Alli from MKDons in the January window. The teenager was the catch of the season and has stunned everyone with his brilliant performance. He has shown skill and maturity surpassing his years and will surely go a long way.

The rebranding of Dier as a central defensive midfielder has now been hailed as Mauricio's masterstroke. Clearly the decision has put opponent teams in Dier-stress. He has mixed aggression and defence very well and exelled in his new role. The fact that he is yet to reach his peak is heartening.

While these have been factors of Spurs' success, the most important factor is the team spirit. Finally we have a Tottenham "Team". Its no longer about a Bale or a Modric. The Spurs are finally a team. "One for all, all for one" is the new motto in the Spurs dressing room. The work ethic has been brilliant and the team morale is in cloud nine. The transformations of Dembele and Lamela "from boys to men" have been remarkable. Add to it the clinical precision of Eriksen, the creativity of Mason and the penetrative runs of Walker and Rose and we have a deadly attack.

Lloris, who has not lost a league match this season, has lead from the front( or from the back as some might say). He has pulled off spectacular match winning saves this season and has played his part to perfection.

And with Pochettino giving chances to academy youths like Carroll, Winks and Onomah, we surely have a bright young future ahead of us.

COYS

HAIL MARY, FULL OF GRACE!!

The Catholic Church is often viewed as a patriarchal establishment by those outside the Faith. With an all male clergy and an equally male Trinity, who can blame them for thinking so. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! What other proof do you need of male domination?

It may then come as a surprise to many that among Christians, the Catholic Church is often criticised for its matriarchal nature or more specifically for its Marian worship. Why do Catholics adore, love and respect the Holy Virgin so much? After all she is just a woman. It is written no where in the scriptures that she is a goddess or that she is divine. Then why recite rosaries in the name of a mere mortal?

First of all, let us not confuse Marian devotion with Marian worship. No where in the Scriptures is Saint Mary depicted as a goddess and no where in Catholic doctrine is she considered one. Well, that is pretty clear isn't it? After all does a god have to be declared a saint? That would be a clear demotion and an insult.

So what's the root reason for all this Marian devotion? Why is she considered Holy? What is her importance in Christianity? Let us analyse this one by one.

1.What is Mary's importance in Christianity?

Well, without Mary there is no Christianity. She is its centre. We believe in the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and it was through Mary that the Trinity was first revealed to the world. She was the Daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Son and the Body unto which the Holy Spirit came. In fact, she is the reference point through which we define the Undefinable.

The angel said to her,'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;therefore the child to be born will be holy;he will be called the Son of God.      
(Luke 1.35)

2.But why should she be considered divine or holy?

Jesus gives us the answer. "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit;for each tree is known by its own fruit.Figs are not gathered from thorns,nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush."(Luke 6.43:44)

If the fruit was divine, could the tree be less divine? Can a holy fruit come from an unholy tree?

3.But why ask Mary to offer our prayers to her Son?

Mary is "the favoured one". The one who has found favour with God. The Lord is with her. The events of Cana is an eye opener. When help was first asked, Jesus declined, saying the time had not come. Yet the Lord saw his mother's special interest and so put aside his reservations and performed a miracle.

Jesus gave his mother to his beloved disciple. Are we not his beloved disciples? Then is it wrong to share our sorrows with our mother? Is it wrong to love, admire and respect our mother? Is it wrong to ask her to join in our prayers?












  

The HurriKane is Here!! - A Tottenham Fan Song

The HurriKane is here
And so is Sonshine
Let the whole Lane hear
Our team is divine

With the safe hands of Lloris
We will catch all glories

And Vorm showing promise

We have no worries

The HurriKane is here
And so is Sonshine
Let the whole Lane hear
Our team is divine
The pair of Jan and Toby
Make clean sheet a hobby
Along with Davy and Danny
The defence looks dandy

The HurriKane is here
And so is Sonshine
Let the whole Lane hear
Our team is divine

Once Mason leads the way
Alli shall hold sway
Enter Lamela in the foray
And as one we shall play

The HurriKane is here
And so is Sonshine
Let the whole Lane hear
Our team is divine

When the Walker runs
The linesman can't see
And when the Christian guns
Goal it shall be.

The HurriKane is here
And so is Sonshine
Let the whole Lane hear
Our team is divine

Fazio, Tom and Trippier
Nabil, Njie and Wimmer
Fans couldn't be happier
When Spurs score the winner.

The HurriKane is here
And so is Sonshine
Let the whole Lane hear
Our team is divine

Mousa, Towny, Winks
Connect all the links
Dier's closed the chinks
Poch will break the jinx

The HurriKane is here
And so is Sonshine
Let the whole Lane hear
Our team is divine

The Transfer Window

The "Meet the Transferkars" ad pretty much captures the scenario when people want to watch different programs at the same time. The fight that ensues can give WWE a run for its money. But the P.G (paying guest) scenario is far worse than the family scenario.

In case of families like the Transferkars  some sort of adjustments can be made. After all, tastes do differ and so do timings. The chance of your favourite soap opera or tv series clashing with a wrestling or football match is a rare possibility. It is a possibility nevertheless. But a little bit of emotional drama from your part ought to get the job done :P  

Its a different battlefield when you are in a P.G. Take my case for instance. I live in a 2 BHK room with 5 roommates and one TV. Fortunately, we are all from the same state and speak the same language, so on most days we reach a mutual understanding regarding the program. I do wonder what it would have been like, if all my roommates spoke different tongues. In a multi-lingual nation like ours, this is very much the scenario. Put a Malayalee, a Tamilian, a Kannadiga, a Marathi, a Bengali and a Punjabi in a room and give them a remote. It would take a Chanakya to make them reach a consensus.

Anyways, getting back to my story. So on normal days, we pretty much watch the same programs. But it is the weekends that brings all agreements to an end. So you may ask what happens in the weekends. EPL happens. For those who don't know what EPL is, well this post is not meant for them :P So don't even bother to continue.

As I was saying, all of us are fans of Barclays Premier League. Among us we have three Red Devils and one each of Reds, Blues and Spurs. Spurs?? What's that you might ask. Well, I am the Spurs fan (Maybe the only one :P). So I am not answering that question. To know how I became one, you may check my previous post.

Now coming to the weekends, its a busy schedule. There are 16 teams and 8 matches over 2 days and there are only 2 channels that telecast the match - Stars Sports 2 & 4. Here's when Tata Sky's Transfer feature comes into play. When two matches are telecast at the same time, there is an obvious fight for the remote. And as you rightly guessed, Spurs end up second best :(

Then the only resort is to watch the match on Hotstar. Here again the slow internet speed and the fast paced game combines to ensure a poor user experience. Thanks to Tata Sky's new feature, I will now be able to record the match and watch it on my own leisure in my iPad mini (which I hope to get courtesy indiBlogger :P). 

But for a better user experience, i would like to see some enhancements added to the Transfer feature.  An increase in resolution would always be welcome. Also I should be able to start watching the game before the recording is complete. Waiting for 2 hours is too difficult. And there's always the possibility that someone would shout out the results. 

How I became a Spurs fan...

First things first. When I say Spurs, I am not talking about the American basketball team San Antonio Spurs but the lesser known English football team Tottenham Hotspurs. I hope I haven't offended any fellow Spurs fans by calling our beloved team 'lesser known', but in India and especially in my state, that is pretty much the case.

 When I tell someone that I support Tottenham in the English Premier League, people stare at me in bewilderment and ask,"Are you crazy?". So I have finally decided to clarify how I ended up being a Spurs fan.

All of this began  in good humor at about this time last year. Most of my friends are die hard fans of the top clubs of England namely Reds, Blues, Red Devils and Gunners. EPL was the trending topic in our group. So I too decided to support a team for fun. Call it peer pressure.

So I offered my fan support to the highest bidder and as expected their were no takers. No one wanted a plastic fan :( . So I decided to find a club of my own. My first choice was the Toons because I liked the movie goal :P. But somehow I opted for spurs. Maybe it was the buzz created by the Bale transfer or the fact that they were always on the verge of breaking into the top four. Anyways, that's how I became a Tottenham plastic fan. And normally I would have left the club by the end of the season but something happened in between. Somewhere mid season, I believe I have made the transition from plastic fan to fan. There is still a long way to go to be a die hard fan but lets concentrate on the reasons for being a fan.


The primary reason is of course our boss, Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentine has changed the face of the team by putting faith in youth and homegrown talent. His tactics seemed to have paid dividend last season with Tottenham reaching the final of Capital One Cup and  finishing fifth in the season. The victories against Chelsea and arsenal were especially sweet :). This season too the team seems to be heading in the right direction with the defensive loose ends tied up and most of the dead wood cut out. Though we still badly miss a defensive midfielder.

Anyways even with "Prince" Harry, "Victor" Hugo and Christian we are still the Underdogs. And for some strange reason, I enjoy that feeling.

To dare is to do....