Staff Picks: The Wit & Wisdom of Ted Lasso

Looking for a summer series that is heartwarming, filled with fun, and might even change your life? Try Ted Lasso this summer! The complete series is available on DVD & Blu-Ray at the library. With rumors of a 4th Season kicking around, now is a great time to rewatch the complete series, or try it out for the first time.

Released on Apple TV in 2020, Ted Lasso stars Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein and more. Sudeikis stars as Ted, an American college football coach who moves to London to coach a professional soccer team. Knowing nothing about “this football” - Lasso throws himself into a new city, new career, and new life with wit, wisdom, and an overwhelming dose of positivity.

Not a football (either version) fan? Don’t worry! This show is about so much more than sports. 
In fact, the soccer is probably the least important part of the show. Ted Lasso is head coach of the Richmond Greyhounds, with a team made up of players from all over the world, the talent, personalities, and challenges are endless. Lasso leads to improve not just the team in a sport, but the individual men in their lives, thereby improving their performance as a team, as a community, and as cultural icons.

Ted Lasso tackles topics ranging from divorce (the catalyst for Ted moving across the country), parenting, teamwork, leadership, identity, revenge, LGBTQ, grief, mental health, and more. But it is all done the Ted Lasso way. Most of Ted’s lessons come in quippy quotes, obscure late ‘70s references, and famous role models. But it is delivered with positivity, sarcasm, and unending enthusiasm. 

Popular “Ted Bits”

'Be a Goldfish'
This comes from a moment when one of the players (Sam) makes a mistake. While some of his teammates give him a hard time for it, Ted says “You know what the happiest animal on Earth is? It’s a goldfish. You know why? Got a 10-second memory. Be a goldfish, Sam.” - We all make mistakes, but when we dwell on them and relive them over and over again, they seem larger than they are, making us seem worse than we are. If we can move on more quickly from mistakes, we can make improvements and progress a lot more quickly. Be a Goldfish, forget about the bad things and move on to the next one. Let go of the things holding you back, they deserve no room in your mind or energy anymore. 

'Be Curious, Not Judgmental'
This moment happens when Ted is playing for some very high stakes (which let’s be honest, he does through out the entire season). Ted challenges perceptions - an American college football coach now coaching London soccer, the definition of leadership, that people can change, that the rude playboy has a heart, that the grumpy old guy can soften and grow, that the underdog can win, and so much more. He also challenges egos, societal stereotypes, mental health stigmas, and hearts and minds of human nature. In this scene, Ted quotes Walt Whitman, “be curious, not judgmental” - not just about other people, but about society, about yourself, and the secret struggles that everyone faces. Get curious about what you can learn about or from a person, get curious about who you are or who you can become when you try differently, get curious about how your role impacts those around you and you can be the best example of “curious, not judgmental.” 

'I promise you, there is something worse out there than being sad, and that’s being alone and being sad.'
This moment comes after the team suffers a devastating loss, changing the course of their season and careers. But Ted reminds them that they are a team, and that means that none of them needs to suffer alone, reinforcing the importance of being there for each other, on and off the field. This sentiment appears many times throughout the series, but in many different contexts. It comes up after a player suffers a career-ending injury, we see it when Ted faces challenges with mental health, we see it during a holiday special, and even in an episode that takes place during a funeral. Life is hard. And no one should have to go through hard things alone. Finding the people we can rely on in all facets of life, and being those people for others, is among the most important things keeping us all going.

'Believe' - 'I believe in hope. I believe in believe.' 
Some of the best speeches happen behind closed locker room doors. This phrase comes from a moment when Ted is rallying the team against the superstitious assumption that they will lose before they’ve even tried. If you’ve seen images of the series, you’ll know that a crookedly scrawled “Believe” sign in gold and blue is probably the most iconic (aside from Ted’s mustache). It is hung up in the locker room and is the centerpiece of numerous touching moments throughout the series. It is the reinforcement of all of Ted’s teachings, that believing in yourself, and believing in one other, is the ultimate key to everything. Believe that you can be your best self, believe that the others around you are trying to do the same, believe that you can make a difference, believe that your belief means something to someone out there. Ted offers someone to believe in you, because we all need that, no matter how old we are, or how long we’ve been playing the game, Ted is on your side.  Believe. 

This is just the beginning of memorable moments from Ted Lasso. The entire series is filled with laughter, inspiration, and growth. With characters that make you love to hate them, or hate to love them, you’ll find a character, a challenge, or some words of wisdom that have helped this series score a place in many hearts.
 

Check out these titles at the library for more of Ted’s wisdom and philosophy: