St. Totteringham's Day

It's graduation day.  Six years at Columbia University came to an end with today's PhD convocation held in a cool, steady rain.  For me, the dominant emotion was more relief than elation. The memory of dissertation struggles and the stressful job market process are too fresh to look back fondly.

The happiness of graduation day was somewhat tempered by the celebration of St. Totteringham's Day.    I joined my friend Nick this morning to watch the final day of the English Premier League season at a New York pub, hoping (more than believing) that St. Totteringham's Day would skip this year. For the uninitiated, St. Totteringham's Day refers to the day in the English Premier League season after which Tottenham Hotspur cannot finish above their North London rivals Arsenal in the table. Over 18 years, Arsenal have finished above Tottenham without fail - often well before the last day of the season.

This year, as last year, Spurs pushed Arsenal to the end of the season, but nevertheless ended up a point behind the Gunners despite enjoying a sizable lead a couple months back. The fact that this ignominious occasion was postponed to the last day of the season provides little solace. I probably should not feel so strongly about a team I have only been following for three years, but English football has that effect on fans.  Maybe next year . . .

In the meantime, with graduation past, some last minute preparations await tomorrow before I start west on Tuesday.