Ted Lasso - It's not about the soccer!

Back in mid-August 2020 Melbourne was about 5 weeks into what I call "the great lockdown" (AKA lockdown 2) and we were introduced to a new show, Ted Lasso.

Now if you know me you'll know I don't give two hoots about sport, so I wasn't sure how I would go with a show that seemed to be all about soccer (football for you Brits), but it had me at hello! It turns out it's not really about soccer - a bit like the movie Invictus, or as I like to call it "It's not about the Rugby" - if you haven't see that, do!

(possible spoilers below)

So if it's not about the soccer then what is it about?

Well depending on who you ask you'll get a different answer, and in part I think that's why the show has resonated with so many people - that and Jason Sudeikis.

I've seen comments online that say it's about teams and leaders and that one can't be successful without the other, and I that's true, but for me it's about connection, it's about supporting your fellow humans, and it shows that what you see on the surface is not necessarily what's going on inside someone.

In season 1 we meet a kooky and upbeat American Ted, who is full of wacky metaphors and sayings that is the very opposite of the English, but over time he manages to win everyone over and brings them together to work towards a single goal.

Then in season 2 (still airing at this time) things for Ted take a bit of a turn. We start to see cracks appearing in his facade as his inner daemons start to break out. We're learning that below that upbeat and positive personality is some deep rooted pain that stems from his childhood. It's showing us that time doesn't heal all wounds and that eventually those wounds will tear open and need to be dealt with.

As I write this we're 2 months into lockdown 6 and approaching 300 days total. It's has been hard. For me season 1 was like us all banding together during lockdown 1 and 2, supporting each other and saying "we'll get through this", and season 2 is the struggle of lockdown 6, and the struggle is real.

Now I don't know just yet how season 2 is going to wrap up, but for our lockdown there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It might be faint at the moment, but it's getting brighter, and if there is one word from Ted Lasso that we should all take away, it's "Believe". We'll get there.

So am I OK? Meh! Will I be? Sure, in time.

Oh, and do we need to talk about Roy Kent? I fucking love Roy Kent!

One final note - is anyone else struggling to reconcile this?