Your Update: Ending The Trophy Drought

Greetings from my cave. I've curled up here like a hibernating bear to mourn Arsenal's Champion's League semifinal loss to PSG and I've been so sad I haven't even watched many Premier League games since then.

Happily, I've been roused from my stupor by Crystal Palace's recent FA Cup victory–the first major trophy in the club's history(!)–and my dad's own semi final victory in our Fantasy Premier League. You see, Dad has promised to donate all his winnings to me, his favorite eldest daughter.

(JK Dad if you're reading this.)

There's a metaphor in here somewhere. Something about the game of football being full of highs and lows, just like life.

Let's all just make like Dory and keep on swimming.

Without further ado, here are a few of the bittersweet things that happened in the past ~two weeks. Trophy droughts! Evangelos Marinakis being a clown! The race for Europe!

Dreams really do come true

While I've been grieving Arsenal's lack of Champion's League trophies, Crystal Palace fans are still on a high. On Saturday, the Eagles defeated Manchester City in the FA Cup final to win their first major trophy. This squad, and this manager, will go down in the annals of history as the most successful Crystal Palace team of all time.

Rebecca Lowe, NBC broadcaster and one of my personal heroes, is a longtime Palace fan. She shared emotional tributes to the team, including this pre-match statement that had me in tears:

"If Palace win on Saturday, it'll be one of the top three days of my life, behind the birth of my boy and my wedding day. You can't say that if you support a team who have won so many trophies. I'm traveling 6,000 miles to watch them, but I'd travel 26,000 miles, 126,000 miles. This is everything and I'm so proud to share that hope and love for something that's been a thread in my life for as long as I can remember."

Ahead of the FA Cup final, fans put up an incredible tifo (below) in support of Palace. It showed a father hugging his two sons in euphoric disbelief, when Crystal Palace beat Manchester United in the 2011 League Cup quarter finals. The father, Mark, died of cancer in 2017, but this image has become synonymous with what football is all about.

Football is the great connector, bringing us together in spite of everything that would pull us apart. It's a legacy carried on through families and generations. I grew up supporting Arsenal because that's who my Dad supports. Now, going to games, cheering on the team, reveling in their successes, and supporting each other through the low points are all experiences that we can share together. It's something I hope to share with my own daughter, too.

Back to the tifo. What was especially amazing about this image is that the brothers (pictured here as young boys with their dad) were actually present at Wembley for this game. They had no idea they would be on the tifo, and burst into tears upon seeing it.

Speaking after Palace's incredible win, the two brothers said,

"It was special, it shows there's still a real love for not just [our] dad, but all the loved ones who love Palace and didn't get to see it. All of them now know we're on the next step."

I am truly so happy for Crystal Palace–in the same way I was thrilled for Newcastle when they won the Carabao Cup earlier this season.

It's been a season of ending years-long silverware droughts for players and teams, and this is what makes football so exciting and meaningful.

I regretfully include Tottenham Hotspur in this list, as they just clinched Champion's League football by winning the Europa League on Wednesday. (I seriously question the level of the opposition *cough cough Manchester United).

Credit where credit is due: I guess Ange "Mr.-I-Always-Win-Things-In-My-Second-Year" Postecoglou was right after all.

Arsenal, you're up next!

2nd place is the new 1st

Speaking of Arsenal. A win over Newcastle on Sunday all but clinched Arsenal's third consecutive 2nd place season. Is this progress?

In a year that may go down in Arsenal's history as the Great Hamstring Recession, it's pretty incredible we managed to come second after injuries derailed the squad. In the absence of any functioning strikers, we repurposed a midfielder to lead the line. And somehow, we made it all the way to the Champion's League semi-finals, defeating the most successful team in Champion's League history along the way.

This moment continues to live rent-free in my head, for example.

There's a lot to be proud of.

But it's painful to always be the bridesmaid, never the bride. Like in that Katherine Heigl movie where she secretly has a crush on her boss and dreams about getting married, but people keep asking her to be a bridesmaid. Come on girl.

To go along with our highs, Arsenal also had a lot of lows.

We led the league in red cards, some of which were, quite frankly, bizarre. We were unlucky. We were wasteful. We just barely missed out on a Champion's League final.

When asked about the overall season, manager Mikel Arteta said,

"We had a dream, it was to be here or in a week's time and bring the big trophies to you guys and we couldn't do it for many circumstances. We need to make sure that chasing a dream doesn't get blurry and make sure we chase the dream with positivity and enthusiasm for next season."

We go again, hopefully after a huge summer in which we buy some quality striker(s). Yes, strikers plural. COYG!

Evangelos Marinakis is a clown

Evangelos Marinakis (try saying that three times fast) is the owner of Nottingham Forest. A man who once spat at the foot of a referee and then tried to make like he was just hawking a loogie, he is not the most stable human I've ever come across.

Two weeks ago, Evangelos again made headlines for being a clown–seemingly because Forest fumbled Champion's League football after tying Leicester 2-2. After the final whistle, Evangelos stormed on the pitch and angrily confronted Nuno Espirito Santo, the Forest manager.

As this TikToker points out (above), it's not a good look. Nuno has done an incredible–say it with me again, louder, INCREDIBLE–job transforming Forest's fortunes. Last year, they flirted with relegation and this year they've been Champion's League contenders. So to rage at Nuno because Forest are no longer in control of their own Champion's League destiny feels a little harsh. And to do so in front of the fans and teammates feels especially so.

Speaking in a post-match press conference, Nuno was incredibly gracious when he was asked a direct question about the confrontation with Evangelos. Nuno said,

"Football is emotions. It's difficult to control. Especially when we had so much expectation and the fans were incredible."

Everyone applauded Nuno for taking the high road.

Evangelos, do better!

The race for Europe

The only thing left to determine this season is who will qualify for Champion's League in the fall.

Now that Tottenham have clinched Champion's League football due to winning the Europa League–a sentence I thought I've never type, given the 💩 way they've played this season–we have three spots all confirmed. Those three belong to

• Liverpool
• Arsenal
• Tottenham

So, three spots are still remaining and Manchester City, Newcastle, Chelsea, Aston Villa, and Nottingham Forest are all fighting for them. Opta supercomputer is backing City, Newcastle, and Chelsea to take them. I guess Villa's bad goal difference and Forest's lower position in the table is ruling them out.

But Opta supercomputer doesn't know everything! I do agree that City and Newcastle are likely to clinch spots. It's especially likely that Newcastle will do so, because the club is giving away free pre-match drinks to home fans at St. James Park on Sunday.

Hooray for drunk Geordie bozos flipping off all the Everton players!

The make-or-break game is going to be between Nottingham Forest and Chelsea. Let's go Forest!!

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing–tune in at 11AM EST on Sunday. This is the last match of the season for everyone and it's going to be a doozy.