The highs and lows of rooting for Spurs

On the morning of February 24, 2008, Sir James and I woke up at the obscenely early hour of 8:30, had a meeting with a certain Mr. Daniels at 9:00, and were ON OUR WAY TO WEMBLEY... ahem... I mean, LUCKY BAR... by 9:30. It was the day of the Carling Cup Final, and it would be one of the best days of my life.

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The sight at Lucky Bar was pretty amazing - the supporters split was about 70-30 in favor of Spurs. And the place was pretty packed. I didn't see an empty seat when we went in. James and I pulled up the last two chairs in the place right in front of the big screen in the back (a little too close, but I can't really complain).

We came out flying early on. Keane got a chance less than a minute in on a poor giveaway by Belletti (who might have been the worst player on the pitch), but his shot went wide. Chimbonda also hit the crossbar on a header off a corner in the 9th minute, and Berbatov and Woodgate also had decent chances off headers. The first half rhythm that was both steady and unsettling. Spurs had a good share of the possession and threatened often, but our pretty passing couldn't help us break through in the final third. But it wasn't because of a lack of fan support at Lucky Bar. James lead the Spurs fans in song from kickoff to the final whistle.

Chelsea ended up breaking through first with a 39th minute free kick by Drogba from about 26 yards out. He had just tried a free kick a few minutes before and come close, and Robinson should have known he was going to try something similar. Instead he stood basically in the part of the goal that was protected by the wall, leaving the right side more or less open. He stood rooted there as Drogba curled the kick just right of the wall into the lower right corner of the net, and Chelsea had an undeserved 1-0 lead. One of the few Chelsea fans hiding in the corner of the bar came out and did some weird silent dance in front of us and shoved his flag in James's face and then ran back. Before we could figure out exactly what the guy was doing, he halftime whistle blew.

After politely waiting for me to finish my breakfast of eggs, beans, and chips, the game resumed and Chelsea promptly went into their defensive shell. Our chances dried up until midway through the second half, when Wayne Bridge forgot that the game was soccer and not hot potato, and his odd play, which didn't even gain him any sort of advantage, resulted in a penalty kick. Berbagod, the silent Ukranian assassin, hit the coolest penalty you will ever see (aside from any of his other penalties), and the game was level.

With Chelsea lacking the will/talent to respond, regulation time ended with the teams at one goal apiece (but not before Zokora totally blew a breakaway, which left me on the floor, pounding it with my fists). Roman "I'm not a Russian mafia boss, no really guys" Abramovich was unable to buy any other players for $20 million more than their worth during the intermission, and so Chelsea was forced to take the field for extra time with the same obscenely-salaried team that had ended the first 90. It didn't take long for Abramovich's gaffe to be exploited, as Woodgate scored the go-ahead goal on a somewhat fortuitous play. Jenas struck an excellent free kick that Woodgate got a head on unmolested. Cech parried the attempt - but straight into the still onrushing head of Woodgate, who, with his eyes closed, nodded the ball into the back of the net. It was a bang-bang play, but it gave Spurs a much deserved lead they would not relinquish. The rest of the game felt like a coronation. We sang and chanted til the final whistle blew, and then the roof came off Lucky Bar, as all of us who have waited so long for a trophy, after so many close calls, were finally to celebrate. We were so dazed that we sat and watched rugby for the next hour or two, though James first ran outside and declared "LET'S GO BURN DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE!" After James left for Princeton with his pyromania unsatisfied, I took the longest bus route back to my house, still in a stupor, still incredibly happy about the victory. Silverware... beating the Chelski scum after beating the Arsenal scum... it was a happy, happy day.

That was to be the highlight of the season, however - there is no more cup glory left for Tottenham. Last week, we faced PSV Eindhoven - leaders of the Eredivisie - in the round of 16 of the UEFA Cup. We blew a number of chances and lost the first leg at White Hart Lane, 1-0. There was still hope for the return leg - the last time Juande Ramos was there, he was lifting the UEFA Cup itself - but the game ended up being frustrating more than anything. PSV came out in a defensive shell, and stymied our numerous attacks through the first half. When all seemed just about lost, Berbagod broke through with an absolutely stunning strike in the 82nd minute to level the tie at one all. He volleyed a high ball out of the air on the first touch from near the edge od the 18 yard box, and deposited it coolly into the far bottom corner of the net. All of a sudden we had a lifeline.

Fitness would undo us, however. Just a few days before we'd a game against West Ham. It was something of a laugher, as we sent the Hammers to their 4th straight 4-0 loss, but it was still 90 minutes we had to play, much of it with our first XI. Meanwhile, PSV's weekend clash with Ajax was canceled thanks to a Dutch police strike (seriously, what the hell?). The result was that they were completely fresh, and we were unable to make much headway in extra time. Not much, that is, until the final minute, when Steed Malbranque (Steeeeed!) hit an absolutely perfect dipping volley that the PSV keeper was just barely able to touch over the crossbar. It was excruciatingly close.

With extra time a stalemate, it came down to a penalty kick shootout. The order was Berbatov, O'Hara, Huddlestone, Bent, and Jenas. Berbatov was a no-brainer, and I had been hoping that O'Hara would be called upon, as I had faith that the youngster had the confidence not to shrink from the pressure - he has shown himself to be a player who always wants to be a part of decisive plays. Huddlestone was no sure thing, but he's got a good shot so I wasn't too worried. Bent worried me greatly as he's shown little finishing ability in a Spurs shirt. Jenas worried me even more, as he has neither the mental fortitude nor the shooting ability to be a good penalty taker. Weak mental approach + finesse rather than power on the shot = small chance of success.

Spurs ended up kicking second, which is the much more difficult position. Berbatov coolly hit his kick (as usual), and O'Hara muscled in his shot powerfully after Robinson saved PSV's second shot to give Spurs the upper hand. Huddlestone and Bent also put away their kicks, giving Jenas a chance to win it all. Naturally, he lazily kicked a mid-height floater to the right side (giving away his side by opening up his hips on the approach to the penalty spot), which PSV's excellent keeper Gomes saved. In the second portion of the shootout, Zokora nailed his shot, but with Chimbonda up needing to score to keep it going, he missed far to the left, coming nowhere close to the goal. And just like that, our UEFA Cup dreams were over.

I was really depressed after this game, as the season was effectively over. The Premier League season means little, with us sitting in 11th and already qualified for UEFA next year via the Carling Cup win. Many people tried to console me with my Gmail status set as "gutted." though few were really able to comprehend the emptiness I felt. It's not that I was upset about the season overall, but it was hard to come to grips with the fact that there wouldn't be another Spurs game that mattered until next season.

However, I've come out of my funk. This is a good time in sports. As Jonathann pointed out, the NBA is awesome again. March Madness is about to explode. MLB spring training is well underway, as is the MLS preseason, and both will be starting up come April. Right now, I'm watching the ACC final between UNC and Clemson and listening to the Mets spring training game against the Tigers on the radio. Soon I'll switch to watching the Rockets-Lakers game on the TV and the Red Bulls-Charleston game on the computer, thereby hitting all four of those sports in the same short span. In addition, the Olympic qualifiers are going on, and the US has won its first round group. It's a good time for sports, and you can expect more posts on all of these topics from us in the weeks to come.