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!

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  • 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!

Macy’s Day Parade Report

Six a.m. wasn’t early enough for a front row seat to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  We were lucky enough to meet a man from Phoenix who gave up his scaffolding seat to the girls.  It was a wooden bench-like spot.  Perfect!

Macy's Day Parade Prof. Torg
Notice CJs bump from diving into Sister

Holding my cell phone over my head, I was able to take pictures of what I couldn’t really see.  CJ kept getting irritated at me for asking her to turn around so I could take her picture.

Is This Sonic?

I didn’t realize before just how big the balloons really are.

Wimpy
Should I Read One of these Wimpy Kid books?

The ropes attached to Spider Man seem more authentic than on the other balloons.

Two Years Ago My Daughters Threw Me a Spidey-Themed Birthday Pary.

There were cool Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade logos on the big drums, but I never got a picture of them.  You’ll have to take at my word on those babies.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Prof. Torg 2011 New York City
Tricky to get the band photos in my narrow line of sight

My line of sight was right under that “No Standing” sign.  If it would have rained, we would have had cover under the scaffolding.  It was a beautiful day.  As you might know, most NYC city blocks contain lots of scaffolding.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Prof. Torg 2011 New York City
No Leaving Early Even if We Wanted To

Did Buddy the Elf call Santa “The Big Guy.” That’s how I remember it.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Prof. Torg 2011 New York City
My Wife Turned on Christmas Music as We Cleared Thanksgiving Meal

I have not bad picks of somebody from The Fresh Beat Band and of Mary J. Blige.  There was kind of a cool restaurant on the other side of the street that meant everyone tended to look away from us.  I have a very blurry picture of Avril Lavigne and one of Neil Diamond’s back standing in front of a fake Mount Rushmore.  I’ll link you up to the Yahoo pictures of the parade after you get a look at my daughter doing a chant that she heard this morning on 7th Avenue.

If I had a better seat and camera, I could have done these too:  🙂   Click on my smiley for those pics.