Um, But it was kind of like he was going through the motions, it felt like, early in the season versus like he's got some sort of conflict.

Yeah.

I think there's a lot in his life that's like he's not really in a transition anymore because he moved back to a place he knew, even if he's transitioning career-wise.

But he had settled into this new post-divorce life.

Life is always changing when you have kids, as you know.

They're getting older and you're moving along with them.

But I think like he's, it seems like he's just been a little lost both themselves and with the direction of that team and like what they need from him in particular.

Like, Ted needs to, like, what are we working towards? What can Ted do to help this team achieve that goal? Keely would probably throw herself back in this, and then we're obviously going to, you know, what's going on with her and Roy? What are we going to see out of this?

So if you were to lay your cards out on the table right now, do you think we are running to an ending where Keely and Roy eventually get back together and realize that they're perfect for each other? Or do you think we're running to an ending where they're like, we're each other's biggest fan and we're just friends?

If they do that, I'm going to be really frustrated with the show.

I think they're leading us somewhere like in a positive direction with a relationship, but it's so frustrating to watch.

It's starting to feel like when you have a friend who just keeps going back to the same shitty person over and over and you're like, hey, remember that time? your partner was a shitty person to you all 14 times you should not go back to them and i'm not saying that's what we have here but it's exhausting me the same way where it's like keely you knew better there's no universe where if i were in love with someone it's never happened but one day if i were in love with someone and we needed to take some time apart for whatever reason I would not be like, go date 10 other women.

And not because I'm scared of like, oh no, what if someone's prettier and more charming? It's truly just because it's like, what are we doing? We're adults.

We're either together or we're not.

I'm not going to like send a guy I love out there.

It was he knew how to connect with them as people and convince them to give... to give him their best effort at all times and that's where alice is failing spectacularly and that is also the thing that ted is the best at because ted still doesn't really know dick about soccer but he does know how to get and expect the best from his players and have his players want to give that for him and that's what he's trying to trying to get out of alice

I think that's, that's the one thing that they are clearly laying out is she's going to have to come out of her shell in some form or fashion.

Yeah.

I mean, I agree with that.

I don't mean to speculate here.

And I want to be really clear before I say this.

Let's make this controversial.

I'm neurodivergent and I've struggled my entire life with it.

She's putting in all the work to try to make this successful, and Rebecca's not even meeting her halfway.

drop some nuggets uh robert dove asked was putting shannon on the team the right call and or slash the or a realistic one for a team struggling financially i actually wanted to talk about this because i had i was conflicted on this i was i was actually surprised because i thought when ted was walking over i thought we were going to get a cut to shannon talking to ted and ted giving some sort of great tedism of you know random like 90s show reference to you know let her know that like this isn't her time but you know in the in the future like it could like it's not it's not no forever or something like that like i was actually kind of surprised that ted was like i'm going over your heads and i'm gonna i'm gonna put her on this team because she's my buddy

the thing about ted that is never going to leave him and they established that in the very first scene when he's at the grocery store He is out this to help people.

He wants to bring the best out of people.

Now, Beard gave him a reality check, and I can't remember which season it was.

It might have been season one.

I need to go back and rewatch.

Where he's like, hey, this isn't college football anymore.

pointing at pointing at phoebe and is all excited about goalie's the best she's oh no she's amazing

And I like that we're back to that.

Yeah, I completely agree.

And I think like, Even though I still feel like there's a lot going on, I think you're right.

They're showing us, they're really guiding us on what to focus on.

Clearly, Roy and Keely is something that we can put in our heart again.

It's something to hope for.

But even just everything we learn about Coach Chilton in this one episode, after hearing about her in episode one, not knowing her, everything we learn about this woman...

Where can the people follow you? And where can people check out Turfman's College Almanac?

And it's like, is that the, are we still, is that still the goal? finding this perfect balance.

Yeah.

And I think too, like, if you, obviously it wouldn't have been as interesting of a show, but if you just pretend Ted's real, a real person who had gone through what he went through in those three seasons would have thought to himself, Would I have been here longer? Would the situation have been different if I had come with my son and his mother, whether they're married or not? If he didn't feel like he had left something behind, how long would he have stayed in Richmond as long as they had him? And did he really love it for what it was? Because, I mean, that was the thing about season three that frustrated a lot of people, and I get it, was a lot of people wanted him to love that place so much that he found a way to make it work.

He was very...

He loved what you did, but he was very focused on the ultimate goal.

And as parents, we get this, is to get back to your kid.

My kid's on another continent.

And important.

Alex, you ever forced your way into any any homes to get get the scoop?

uh i don't think so maybe like enthusiastically you know demanded but um i showed up at the chancellor's house one night in college which was very dumb and he let me in it wasn't even his house it was like the house that they say was his house they have like a performative house on campus i don't know the chancellor now might live there but um i don't even remember what the story was all i know is we couldn't reach him by phone and i was like well he's right there and just marching up All five foot nothing to me.

Hey, sir.

Can I get a quote from you? No, but I think like the way they're persistent is important too, because I think a lot of people's view of journalists are kind of these nagging, like annoying, smug, threatening, like not a person you want to talk to, just people who are abrasive and think that they have the right to just kind of impose and find it.

It's completely straight and professional, the way that they do this the whole time, the way that they plainly ask questions.

i was kind of taking it back when i was re-watching the beginning when he's in the courtroom just asking questions because i'm like there are so many and i'm not i'm not saying young reporters you know these kids today they just don't know i'm not saying that i just think the way that reporting has evolved over the years imagining reporters just going up to people i mean like hey did you do this thing there's um there's a Simpsons episode actually I don't know the names so don't get on me if you guys are big fans where like the local whatever the reporter's name is in town like he goes to a perp walk and he has like a very specific purpose there some listener is gonna correct me on all this and but he's clearly clueless and like I think the criminal walks out and the reporter's like, hello, who are you and what are you doing? It's just like, that's the job.

Like the worst people can say is no.

So I don't know.

I was raised by newshounds who hated cartoons and children's books, so my first loves were newspapers and Peter Jennings.

It's true.

One of my favorite photos from my childhood, I was, I might have been a year old.

It's my mother's on the couch.

It's clearly Sunday morning because the Sunday Dallas Morning News is spread across our coffee table.

And I am a baby who cannot read, can barely stand.

I'm leaning on the table, but I have this look on my face like I've had a pack of cigarettes and some coffee already.

Oh, yeah.