Hi! Your friendly neighborhood Number Two here, hitting the hot tag for today’s Hoddle. Despite the title, there won’t be any news links today.
You may or may not have noticed that, in the past year, I’ve moved to more of a backend role. My articles have become fewer and you generally saw me only on matchdays. There’s a pretty good reason for that, and it’s time to explain.
A little over ten years ago, I stumbled onto Cartilage Free Captain while I was killing time at my boring day job. I wasn’t much for message boards so finding a site that had actual articles specifically for Tottenham Hotspur appealed to me. It was a place that was welcoming and I quickly found myself on the site every day. Back then the Hoddle of Coffee was known to go well over 1,000 comments thanks to daytime boredom.
Not long after that, I connected with Dustin via Twitter and discussed me coming on as a writer. I had experience being a journalist in the game industry and had been covering Columbus Crew for another outlet, so I saw it as a nice step up in covering one of the largest clubs and leagues in the world.
Over the course of the next decade, I contributed everything I could: Transfer rumors, matchday coverage, making fun of other teams (rest in peace, Your Team is Getting Relegated), and eventually stepping into the current role as the Deputy Chief. It has been a blast and we’ve been through some crazy times.
It’s now 2023, and somehow I’m still here. I’ve been the Deputy Chief for about half that time, but as we get older and take on more responsibilities, you have to start letting things go. My career in IT has taken off and I have other hobbies and endeavors I want to focus on that I’ve either had to push to the back burner or just forgotten about. It’s honestly been a wild couple of last years for me and I’m in a fantastic spot, career and life wise.
I’m proud of what we have here. I’ve done a lot, honestly more than I ever thought I would accomplish. I’m especially proud of the Marine AFC fundraiser during the COVID-19 Pandemic, but that has no chance of even happening if it wasn’t for all of you. I never thought I would find myself in a Tifo Football video, but here we are. Quick note, I still need to see if the plaque went up at Marine but that requires me to make my first trip across the pond. Still working on that…
From my taking over Dispatches from Bat Country and Know Your Opponent, to writing an appreciation piece of Erik Lamela, I can confidently say there isn’t much more I can do here. I’m still going to be around for the odd piece and mocking a ridiculous transfer rumor because the people on this site never truly leave, but it’s time for me to step down as the Deputy Chief and move into the Fackin’ Reserves on the Masthead. I leave you with my favorite quote from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time:
The flow of time is always cruel… its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it… A thing that does not change with time is a memory of younger days…
It’s been a pleasure, everyone. From me to all of you, I simply say “Thank You.”
