Tag: jason-sudeikis

The Highs and Lows of Sports, NBA Playoffs, and Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 10

We talk the highs and lows of sports, the NBA Playoffs, and Ted Lasso Season 3, Episode 10 on this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast.

Some of my lows in sports:

  1. Loss to Wabash as the coach at North Miami in the sectional semi final when I was at North Miami.
  2. A loss to Winamac when I coached at North Miami.
  3. Back to back threes against top ranked Illinois Wesleyan as a player in the first half and didn’t get to play in the second half. Lots of really dark days walking to the ONU cafeteria after not playing for Olivet.
  4. Dad camera man yelling at me across the court as I coached a travel league game. Lots of travel ball coaching lows.

High Moments in Sports:

  1. Shot by Jason Yocum to win for North Miami at Culver Military at the buzzer.
  2. 2003 boys state championship as an assistant coach at Vance High School
  3. Bailey Taft three on a baseline out of bounds play with a few seconds to go to coaching at Greenwood to beat Decatur Central.
  4. Come from behind win for Watauga over North Wilkes, whose only regular season loss was to us and then they lost in the state championship.
  5. Another come from behind win for Watauga 50-38 over Myers Park to advance to the NC final four.

Question for discussion: Rebecca asks the owners how much money they really need? Some of the impacts of money on games:

  1. The length of the NBA season, the games, and the best of 7 playoff games.
  2. The NFL (for example the Colts) August 9th first preseason to the last week of January playing once a week, something like 20 weeks before the playoffs. Super Bowl Feb 8th adding another 4 weeks. (25-ish weeks)
  3. NBA: Pacers October 8 preseason to April 13 last game. (26-ish weeks) with NBA Finals starting June 8 lasting through the 22nd. (8 more weeks) So two months longer.
  4. Could the NBA close the gap popularity wise playing 50 games and shortening the playoffs? How much money does anyone really need?
  5. Hope the W can avoid thinking they need to have all best of 7 series and 82 games.

Is there still a David to Goliath in sports?

  1. For me in basketball, the conference winners who receive automatic bids in NCAA give us that a little bit.
  2. Do I care how much more difficult it is for App State to compete with North Carolina in football and basketball?
  3. Regional over National Conferences.
  4. 8 classes in NC basketball.

I was emotionally touched a couple of times in this episode of Ted Lasso. I want to try and analyze the writing and acting. How do shows and film move us emotionally? To help, what moved me in this episode:

  1. Jaimie’s gift to Roy at the Uncle’s Day Party. Realization of best friends. The thoughtfulness of the gift.
  2. Rebecca’s story to the owners about Rupert sneaking in, how much the teams means to the fans.
  3. Ms. Bowen tells Roy he looks unstuck.
  4. Jamie wears Sam’s number for international play.
  5. Nate’s dad tells him he’s brilliant.

Akufo’s argument about phones and cars mine for AI. Where are the flaws in that?

Notes for Ted lasso Season 3, Episode 10: International Break

  • Richmond 10 game winning streak. Sam.
  • Nate resigns. International break.
  • Ted comes in after win and they announce international teams. Coach says we all contain multitudes. What multitudes?
  • Dani Rojas morphs into a different player. Sam is stiffed. “I am not your bro.”
  • What do you think of Nathan resigning?
  • Higgins comes in. Edwin Akufu back in town. Is this Super League a thing? College football? David’s could cease to exist all together. Rupert is “The Devil” on Rebecca’s phone.
  • Jade is going to Poland for a few days. Nate ends up going to his parents house.
  • Can I make a list of best scenes?
  • Keeley has her funding pulled at KJPR.
  • How did you like Dani as a hard butt? crushes Van Damme’s chips in the bag.
  • Beard calls Nate the Wonder Turd. Where are you at with Karma? Beard would say, Hey Annie Baby!!!
  • Why did we get this moment with Sam and Rebecca with her saying she thinks he’s wonderful?
  • Rupert waiting in Rebecca’s office for her. Akufo
  • Love the Uncle’s Day Party! Phoebe invites Roy’s best friend Jamie to the party. Where is Phoebe’s dad? Emotional scene because it’s perfect and thoughtful. Phoebe gives Roy a tie dyed shirt.
  • Akufu books a bunch of fake reservations. Brings a food blogger from the NY Times. Akufu can do a lot of voices. He paid off the Nigerian government to keep Sam off the team. LOL: Francis does the pull his hand shake. Slug bugs… Hurts Donut.
  • What is a Chicago style hot dog?
  • Nate can’t sleep and goes to his parents’ house. Nate’s mom just wants him to eat.
  • Rebecca and Higgins. What happened to the kids in Willy Wonka?
  • Keeley drinking in the pub. Has a little talk with Mae. The Midas shits. Shit helps things grow, Love. It’s hard though, being the boss?
  • Once you make it to the top of the mountain, what’s left for you but lighting? (what does that mean?)
  • Team watches international play. Dani kicks a ball into Van Damme’s nose on purpose. Rebecca: we get the matchbook, we get the toy soldier. Touching: Rebecca does her little girl puffing herself up thing. Women working in a men’s workplace. Finally imagines them as little boys.
  • Keeley buys a snow globe for Barbara.
  • Ms. Leann Bowen the teacher. She says Roy looks different. He looks lighter. Less stuck. Emotional moment. I don’t mind cleaning up a mess. I just hope that mess didn’t cause too much damage. Roy thinks of Keeley.
  • Barbara says she likes clothes that tell the truth. Juicy.
  • Top 5 or 10 scene of the whole show? Rebecca speech at the Akufo meeting.
  • “Never talk business on an empty stomach.” Chicago style hot dogs as enjoyed by the likes of Scottie Pippen, MJ, and Obama: Place hot dog in steamed bun. Pile on toppings in this order: mustard, relish, onion, tomato, pickle, peppers, and celery salt. The tomato wedges should be nestled between hot dog and top of bun on one side. Place pickle between hot dog and bottom of bun on the other side.
  • Montage of Nate looking through his childhood things.
  • Akufo kicks out the Russian. Pull the door joke.
  • Nate plays the violin and it’s the background. Beautiful song. He’s really playing the violin and it was his childhood violin. Nick’s insta: OK so this ep of #TedLasso is special for lots of reasons… but mostly because it’s my *incredible* wife playing the piano to Arvo Pärt’s ‘Spiegel im Spiegel’ with me on my old violin from home! The piece was Jason’s idea: literally translates as ‘mirror in mirror’
  • Rebecca: how much more money do you really need. Football isn’t just a game. Jamie wears Sam’s number. Christmas morning the next. Tells a story about Rupert from when he was different. Just because we own these teams doesn’t mean they belong to us. Have I lost access to that part of myself? Akufo loses it, as he has been doing.
  • Nate and his dad have a talk. He believes Nate is a genius. You’re brilliant son. Actor has tears in his eyes. I just want my son to be happy. What makes Nate happy? What should Nate do?
  • Rupert leans in to kiss Rebecca.
  • Roy goes to see Keeley. He has written her a tiny letter. “I was stuck. Stuck in my own shit.” I’m so sorry. I love you. Golden Star song plays.
  • Rebecca comes to see Keeley. You Keeley Jones are a bloody marvel. My money, my choice. Rebecca will fund Keeley. Keeley has slept with Roy.
  • Nate gets in and does the locker room. He leaves an apology note for Will.
  • Barbara comes back! “Done did me no good” songs plays.
  • Team is back together in the locker room.
  • Top moments in sports history.
  • Roy is going to tie dye shirts. Trent wears a Dolly Parton shirt and has a rainbow mug.
  • David Hockney.
  • Rebecca spits on Ted. Make a stand, before you fall. play football.

LA Fires with Anne, Our Cell Phones and Us, and Clingy Relationships on Ted Lasso

LA Fires, Our Cell Phones and Us, and Ted Lasso Clingy Relationships on the Torg Stories Podcast.

I read an opinion article in the New York Times titled, “As a Climate Scientist, I knew It was Time to Leave Los Angeles.” Peter Kalmus, a climate scientist now living in Chapel Hill, NC moved out of the Altadena community two years ago. His old home burned in the fire. Here’s a paragraph from that article that has a lot of connections to the Torgersons:

  • “No place is truly safe anymore. A few months ago, Hurricane Helene pummeled the western part of my new state and the city of Asheville, which many once considered a climate haven. The Pacific Northwest seemed safe until the 2021 heat dome. Hawaii seemed safe until the deadly fires on Maui in 2023.”

Anne, I was landed in Maui as Lahaina was on fire, I was with mom coming home from our dad’s funeral as hurricane Helena destroyed region where I live in the mountains of North Carolina, and as my wife Megan said, we’re sitting out the LA fires but we’ve got you there representing the Torgerson family. What do you have to say about the fires?

  • Where are you in proximity to the fires?
  • Is the lack of water and dryness ever too much for you? Are you LA to the end?
  • Also from the NYT: The area burned by the various fires has grown to more than 36,000 acres — larger than the footprint of San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Boston or Miami. About 100,000 people are under evacuation orders, and more than 330,000 electricity customers are without power.

Summary and Discussion Questions from Ted Lasso Season 2, Episode 7 titled “Headspace.”

  • The episode opens with football star Roy Kent either being really sweet and devoted or very clingy depending on your perspective.
  • Assistant Coach Nate the Great goes to visit his parents house and has an exchange with his father about Nate being called the Wonder Kid in the newspapers.
  • Quote from Nate’s Dad: Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking about yourself less.
  • Last episode Coach Ted Lasso had a panic attack and left the pitch during an important match. Now Ted makes his first attempt at meeting with with Dr. Sharon for a therapy session. Ted does a whole fidgeting around stalling tactic and then leaves when he is asked about what happened the other night.
  • As Ted stalls, he uses the word accoutrement meaning items of dress or equipment. Ted means the things that decorate Dr. Sharon’s office. Click here for web pronunciation and definition.
  • Anne, I love Dr. Sharon’s office that looks out on the pitch. I am in two of my favorite home and work offices right now. St. John’s was very good. I had a bathroom at North Miami. My old App State and the basement in Stratford, CT were bad. Work spaces matter a lot.
  • The next scene is on the practice field. Beard says the only face they should have on is their, “Game face baby!” Reminds me of Knight’s game faces press conference. Our dad loved that. The players tease Coach Nate because he is in the news. Nate takes offense at Colin (who you always have trouble remembering) teasing him. Colin repeats his mantra to himself, “I am a strong and capable man.”
  • Sam the football player for Richmond continues to message with Rebekah the owner of the team on a dating app and they don’t know who each other is. Sam’s favorite movie is Ratatouille. I have seen it and ridden the Disney ride at EPCOT! Higgins gives an astute diagnosis of Rebekah’s mental state. There is so much mental health in Ted Lasso at the moment.
  • As Higgins and Rebekah talk about relationships in the boss’s office, it comes up naturally that Keeley is feeling that she is with Roy an awful lot. Roy walks in on the conversation and Higgins jazz scats with Rebekah to stop the conversation. Roy doesn’t care that people are talking about him. “Big whoop.” Two things (1) talking about relationships with friends and (2) the fun workplace shown and that I think exists among the cast.
  • Here’s another clingy montage. Roy is reading Dan Brown’s The Da Vincci Code.
  • Coach Ted and Dr. Sharon give it a 2nd try. What do you make of the drinking bird on Dr. Sharon’s desk? Ted tells Dr. Sharon off about her profession.
  • Rebekah and Sam are messaging each other on their phones and bump into each other. There’s a quote about devices separating us. What would you say are the top impacts of you owning a cell phone?

Pro cell phone for me:

  1. Connection to family. Where is everyone?
  2. Meet ups: mall, amusement park, park, college
  3. navigation
  4. podcast listening, streaming music

Cell phone negatives for me:

  1. Immediately accessible at almost anytime to do stuff for basketball. The common complaint that we’re always available for work.
  2. The posting of stats and game day stuff. I think it matters less than it did pre-Elon’s X but it’s still an expectation. (Anne likes the stats; that helps me a little!)
  3. I wouldn’t mind putting aside the smaller moments (2-8 minutes) where I pick up my cell phone while I wait.

Summary and Discussion Continued:

  • Nate is mean to the equipment manager and to Colin who checks in about what happened on the field previously. Beard hears it. Beard is starting to seem to have an appear / disappear power that is fun for me. Kind of a mystical “Beard is everywhere” feeling.
  • What’s your diagnosis of Nate?
  • Everyone gathers in the boot room! Rebecca says to Keeley, “Stop auditioning your complaints.”
  • Keeley and Roy have a blow up at home. Do they live in Keeley’s house? Does Roy have a house?
  • You have been waiting for this. Beard confronts Nate on his behavior. Do better.
  • Roy and Keeley are fighting. They arrive separately to work and don’t talk.
  • Sharon and Ted give the session the third try of the episode. Ted stills the drinking bird. Sharon says, “I can’t be your mentor without occasionally being your tormenter.”
  • Back to practice. Nate apologizes. I think Nate is taking for granted what it is to be on this team. Because he hasn’t been on teams, he doesn’t know how special this one is. Ambition is eating him up. Football becomes a metaphor for life. Jamie says he needed to give his teammate space and Roy realizes he just needs to give Keeley space.
  • The team gives Nate a Wonder Kid gift.
  • Ted runs into Trent Crimm the reporter at Mae’s pub. Ted lies to Trent about what happened.
  • Roy does 1 more pretty clingy needy thing as a kind of giving her space but it works out great.
  • The episode ends and Nate berates the kit man for the Wonder Kid jersey.

Thanks for checking out this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!

The Roy Kent Effect, If People Can Change, and Whether or Not You Should Say Something

On this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast, Anne and I discuss The Roy Kent Effect and a team’s confidence, whether or not we think people can change, and if you should say something to your friend about their relationship.

Season 2, Episode 5 Summary and Discussion Questions:

  • Richmond add Roy Kent as an assistant coach and the team starts to believe.
  • Cut to Rebecca sleeping with some guy from dating apps while also texting with someone on Keeley’s BANTR app. Do you believe in guardian angels? Naked guy in kitchen. That okay? Rebecca’s mom shows up and says she’s leaving her husband.
  • Coach Lasso arrives to work. He knows everyone by name and stuff about their lives. Call back to laughing Liam. We’ve heard about him. Mantra for Collin: “I am a strong and capable man.” Doctor Sharon pushes Ted to do an appointment with her.
  • Who is Mr. Pufnstuf? It is a 1970 American comedy fantasy musical film produced by Sid and Marty Krofft Enterprises and released by Universal Pictures. It is based on the children’s television series H.R. Pufnstuf, a show that features a cast of puppets on a “living island.”
  • Into the coaches office. FA Cup. March Madness Tournament. NBA Cup. Pearl Jam vs. Ticketmaster. Higgins pokes his head in the office. Beard is exhausted. He and Jane got back together. Higgins is against this. None of the other guys will say anything. Higgins feels like they should. None of the guys jump in to defend Higgins saying something.
  • We learn Nate the Great’s dad told his HS girlfriend that she could do better. “Stupid barking means the meeting is over, right?” asks Roy. Now Jane is moving in.
  • The practice field: Jamie positive. The team believes in the Roy Kent Effect. Roy won’t catch Jamie. Roy says they can take 4% of his check. Roy and Beard play secret sandwich switch every other Friday. Ted goes to lunch with Rebecca and her mom. She lists her sort of bio… Let’s come up with three adjectives to describe ourselves and each other.
    • Ted has something with his son at school. Henry forgot his lunch. Freaks out for a second. His ex wife shows up and it’s okay. Jamie comes in and says someone needs to tell Roy to coach him. Keeley gives advice: she agrees with everything he says. Try that Jamie. I like this…let whatever they say sit. Jamie had called the coaches Philistines. Beard tells him he’s going to want to look up Philistines. Ted Lasso is a show that has a lot you could look up.
    • What do you think of Rebecca’s mom? They are in Mae’s bar. Ted gives the advice, “to leave people well.” The boys are yelling at a baking show like it’s a football game.
    • Ted says, “People can change.” Can they? “Poor little cake” chant.
    • We see Jane on a face time call. She’s going to Cafe Solo to meet Finn for a coffee. He’s an underwear model. How is this relationship looking? Higgins overhears the conversation.
    • Jamie tries out the agreeing with everything Roy says advice. Roy makes him say a bunch of things such as, “I am an ugly, ugly boy.” Roy takes Jamie’s side. Roy says Ted messed him up by making him a team player. The team needs Jamie to get into people’s heads. He has to go back to being that way sometimes. Roy says they will give him a signal.
    • Rebecca texting with the guy she was sleeping with and still getting texts on the BANTR app. Mom skipping game and going to a reading. Mom will make Rebecca’s favorite. Any memories of mom making stuff for you?
    • Back to football. Trying to win match to go to Wembley to play in final. Shot of the pub watching the game. Funny bar joke, “If we win I will channel my enthusiasm in ways to help my community.” The coaching staff gives him the signal which is everyone flipping him off. “We apologize for the fruity sign language.” Jamie calls his shot which seems like Larry Bird and Jason Sudeikis certainly has the basketball background to know about that. In our book, it says that Jamie hits this shot on the first try. Real celebration that followed.
    • Jealously among coaching staffs…among work teams / staffs.
    • Higgins has a gagging noise he makes when he’s stressed. Jane lurks around the car park. Tipsy Reese Witherspoon. One of the big questions of the episode, do you say anything? Lots of stories of how it doesn’t work out. Higgins says, “You have to keep trying.” Dad and my first marriage.
    • Ted has a panic attack. What factors would you say are contributing to this? He hustles off. Love the third fan, “Be kind, he looks poorly.” The team is mostly sympathetic.
    • Nate takes over. Spits. “Park the bus.” Nate is assertive. Obisanya to Tart and he scores and they win and they are going to Wembley. Emotional moment for Rebecca about Ted in the locker room and the team comes celebrating in. Roy passes along the credit to Nate. He’s a team player. Nate is all dressed up. Nate messes up the saying and says he’s not some kind of Wonder Kid. It catches on.
    • Higgins. You’re a great man. Does Jane make you greater? Beard seems to appreciate it.
    • The flip off signal. Hand signals are difficult as a coach, just to get enough, especially that can be signaled with one hand.
    • Nate scrolls social media. Roy, “Great fucking work today.” Do we understand how this can happen to Nate?
    • The team asks Dr. Sharon to go out with them. It’s a team!
    • Rebecca calls Ted on the way home. Offers help. Ted is laying in Dr. Sharon’s office.
    • Rebecca was right about her mom. Her dad bought her mom a Tesla. She sees if the guy on BANTR has left a message. He hasn’t and so she calls Hunky Luka. It’s revealed that it’s Sam who has been texting her. Like the Ginobili reference in that Drake song. “I wanna make an appointment,” says Ted to end the episode.
    • What happened? Where are we going?

Hope you had a great holiday and we wish you a happy New Year! Thanks for listening to the Torg Stories Podcast!

Thanksgiving Reflections, Anne Wins in Vegas, and Do the Right Thing With Ted Lasso

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode we’re doing Thanksgiving Reflections, asking Anne about being an Aunt, and Discussing Doing the Right Thing with Ted Lasso on Season 2, Episode 3. Anne, you went to Vegas by yourself for Thanksgiving!

click player above to listen to podcast episode
  • Colts win! (But it was stressful)
  • Anne wins pretty big (for us) in Vegas!
  • Christmas lists

Questions for Anne about Thanksgiving trip to Las Vegas:

  1. Booked when? Why?
  2. How many stops on the drive? What do you get at White Castle?
  3. Stayed where, why? Looked like a great room!
  4. Tell us about where you went. Any more eating?
  5. You won, at least for us, a big bet!
What’s the big deal about White Castle?
Anne’s room at The Venetian in Las Vegas
Donnie Osmond still at it!

Torg Thanksgiving in Boone:

  1. 8:30 Optional Shooting with the Team. 10 players and three dads came!
  2. Brunch: hash brown casserole, french toast casserole, sausage balls
  3. Bet on the Bears with $5 from Draft Kings for my birthday. Bears incredibly mismanage clock to lose 23-20. Coach gets fired a couple of days later.
  4. As my wife Megan would say, “Linner.” Turkey, Sweet Potato Casserole, Green Bean Casserole, Cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes
The Torg Women and the Thanksgiving Food Spread

Summary and Discussion Questions for Season 2, Episode 3 of Ted Lasso titled “Do the Rightest Thing.”

  • Opens with Alanis Morisette’s “Hand in My Pocket” and Sassy’s kid Nora sitting out front of Rebecca’s office. Rebecca’s nickname is Stinky and so in this case, Aunt Stinky. Anne, how is Rebecca doing as Aunt Stinky?
  • Compare and contrast that to Aunt Anne? What are the responsibilities, if any, for an Aunt?
  • Coach Lasso answers questions at a press conference about all of the ties and about the return of Jamie. Cut to the locker room. Jamie is isolated from his teammates. Jamie apologizes. I wonder what the worst thing he did is and then the players run down a list of things he did. Remember any of those Anne Everyone is getting on Keeley’s new dating app, BANTR.
  • At first, Sam is excited for his deal with Dubai Air but his family tells him about the impact of Cerithium Oil and he decides to back out of his deal. Rebecca has to communicate this to the team’s sponsor. Episode inspired by the “Shut up and dribble” comments to LeBron.
  • Roy says kids don’t need a parade everyday, the little idiots. They just want to feel a part of your life. Compare our childhoods to my kids’ childhoods.
  • The team continues to isolate Jamie and Ted tries a plan to become Led Tasso, the evil opposite of Ted and the plan is meant to bring the team together in their anger at Ted.
  • Nora tells Aunt Stinky – Rebecca who owns the team — Sometimes you have to do the right thing even if you lose. What’s the right thing here? With Apple, Amazon, Nike and Wal Mart, we’ve given up, right? Has just about everyone?
  • The way Jamie finally does win over his teammates is that he joins the guys on covering up their jerseys. “We’re a team, ain’t we? Gotta wear the same kit.”
  • Ted turns the press conference over to Sam. He tells him, “Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing.”
  • Episode ends with Nora getting a picture with Sam and the team. There’s a montage of a bunch of pictures that different cast members take with the team. Anne, any pics with famous people?

Anne, what protests can you remember? Some athlete protests:

  1. (1961) Bill Russell and the Celtics boycott a game in Kentucky after being refused service.
  2. (1967) Muhammad Ali refuses the draft. “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.” Convicted but never served jail time.
  3. (1970) Billie Jean King sits out US Open Tennis because men make $12,500 and women $1,500.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!

Trophies for Winning Nothing: Ted Lasso Season 2, Episode 2

We’re using the TV show Ted Lasso to spark conversation. This week we discuss if it’s ever time to give up on a player, heavy is the head that wears the visor, our favorite books, and I tell my Pat Conroy story.

Ted Lasso Season 2, Episode 2 summary with observations and discussion questions. The episode was titled “Lavender.”

  • We open with the dating reality show called Lust Conquers All during which former Richmond player and boyfriend to Keeley is kicked off the show. We cut to a talk show in the vein of the Today Show during Jamie is being interviewed. He is called a loser on the show and is also informed that his old team Manchester City doesn’t want him back. Question: Do you watch these dating shows?
  • Cut to the Richmond coaches offices where Beard has spent the night after his girlfriend thew his keys in the river. Ted runs out of the office. Later, we find out that he has gone to ride the lawn mower. Nate goes off on the kit manager, whose name I think is Will Kitman!!!, for adding a lavender smell to the team’s laundry. Question: everyone is picking up on Nate? No one challenging him yet?
Ted rides lawn mower to help with his Sciatica
  • Keeley arrives to the Richmond practice facility with Roy. Is that a G Wagon? I think those start at $148k. Roy barrels out of the parking lot before anyone can speak to him. Question: any trouble adjusting to the time when sports were over for you?
  • Doc-tor Sharon has been hired for the rest of the season to work with the team and sports psychology. There’s a funny bit with Ted and Director of Football Operations Leslie Higgins. Check in with me. You don’t have to check in with me.
  • Cut to Jamie at his agency. Almost no one wants him for anything. He seems to have an offer for a reality television show where he’d take ecstasy everyday. Question: any reality show watching for you? I watched last season of American Idol. Does that count?
  • Ted barges into Doc-tor Sharon’s office with biscuits and is scolded. Ted refers to Santa Monica as a godless place, in part because there are people there who don’t eat sugar. Ted does a bit about video games where he was depriving himself of something that just makes him happy. Question: what makes you happy?
  • Ted goes to see the owner Rebecca and he gives her her biscuits that he actually just tried to give to Sharon. Rebecca notices the bite out of the biscuit but eats it anyway. Rebecca doesn’t sound like she is on board with not eating sugar. They ask each other if they have anything to get off their chest.
  • “Isn’t that why we have friends? To burden them with our insecurities and anxieties?” – Rebecca
  • Jamie follows Keeley for her whole lunch hour because he wants to talk. He’s deleted her number. He tells her he wants to come back to Richmond to play for the team.
  • We’re back with Roy and his girls youth football team. One of the girl’s moms has bought participation trophies. The girls are really excited. Roy says, “It must be nice to just burn through cash,” and “Enjoy your trophies for winning nothing.”
  • Roy returns home from his game to find Keeley laying in bed and watching his retirement speech. Keeley pushes Roy again to become a pundit. She says he’s different now that he’s not around the game. I hear the word “oi” again and take the time to look it up. It’s a harsh exclamation to get someone’s attention.
Jamie and Ted meeting shared on social media
  • Jamie meets Ted in the pub. He has saved the little plastic toy soldier Ted gave him a long time ago. He tells Ted the soldier is named Ted and after pausing adds that he named him after Ted Danson in the TV show Cheers. The pub owner Mae seems to be in favor of Jamie’s return and she tells off the fans who stare from the other end of the bar. “Old people are so wise,” Jamie says, “they’re like tall Yodas.” We get a fair amount of Star Wars references in this show. Ted tells Jamie it’s not a good idea to rejoin the team.
  • Did you know Sudeikis / Ted is the nephew of George Wendt, Norm on Cheers? (son of Wendt’s sister) George 76 and still alive.
  • At practice the next day, Sharon observes. The training is especially chippy. The players have seen a picture of Ted and Jamie at the bar and assume he is returning to the team. Sam goes off on Ted. Ted admits everyone on the team is better than him at everything unless anyone wants to play finish that Jimmy Buffet lyric. Sam retreats to the locker room. They have a long talk about the team which includes Sam having a good dad. Turns out Leslie Higgins has heard the whole thing as he moves his work area all over the clubhouse. Bring Jamie back? What are the challenges?
  • It’s in the show that Ted knows there is a Twitter account for his mustaches. Click here to connect to that.
This Twitter account for Coach’s mustache got a mention in the show
  • Roy tries being a pundit. He needs reassurance from Keeley before he goes on. He walks out to “Anarchy in the U.K.” by the Sex Pistols. He’s blunt and bold on air including saying players showed “abject terror, like children waiting in line for the handsy Father Christmas.” He makes a splash. Anne, how does that life look, somebody like Terry Bradshaw or Stephen A. Smith?
  • Ted calls the staff of men the Diamond Dogs. This is not so unlike my college “Brothers in Pursuit.” They discuss bringing Jamie back. Ted notes we talk in sports a lot about never giving up. He asks shouldn’t this include people too? Beard notes Jamie is like “poop in the punchbowl.”
  • Ted comes across Sharon leaving the practice facility. It is after dark. Here we see both have worked long days. Sharon tells Ted what a good job he is doing but challenges him on all of the matches without a win. She says Ted can call her Doc. She tells him that her favorite book is the Prince of Tides. She also says, “Heavy is the head that wears the visor.”
Jamie Makes Return to Richmond Club to play for Coach Lasso
  • Last scene of the episode: Sharon, Keeley, Rebecca, and Leslie are talking in the owner’s office. Leslie is distracted by something he sees on the field. It is snowing outside. Heavy metal music plays. Cut to Jamie walking down the tunnel and out on to the field in the snow to Queen’s song “Tear it Up.” Jamie has returned to play for Richmond.

What are your favorite books? Ted’s was The Fountainhead. Doc’s was Prince of Tides. A few of mine…

  1. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
  2. Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
  3. Wonderboys by Michael Chabon
  4. The Death of the Great Santini by Pat Conroy (also A Losing Season)
  5. The Sportswriter by Richard Ford

Finish that Jimmy Buffet lyric:

  1. But at night I’d have these wonderful dreams, some kind of sensuous treat, not zucchini fettucini or bulgar wheat…but a big warm bun and a huge chunk of meat
  2. You got fins to the left, fins to the right and… you’re the only girl (or bait) in town.
  3. Nibblin’ on sponge cake, watchin’ the sun bake…all of you Parrotheads covered with oil.
  4. This morning, I shot six holes in my freezer, I think…I’ve got cabin fever. (Boat Drinks)