Bobby really said "Imma put a ring on it" and I respect that

They've got an officiant and witnesses and everything.

the nurse asked what I was reading and I had to act normal as I explained the premise of tbitb 😅

Me, in the most normal voice ever: yeah they made a movie out of it that I...liked...so I decided to read the book too

I'm rereading the book (yes already) and this made me think of a silly alternate universe possibility - imagine if Bobby actually got too close to the swan and it fought back (swans are mean! and their wings are strong enough to do real damage if you piss them off) and wound up breaking a bone, so Bobby either can't guide the tiller or he's just not on his game because, you know, broken collarbone. So the boys lose the trials and never go to Berlin all because Bobby picked a fight with a bird 🦢

An opposing player skates into Bobby and you know the boys are immediately there for him. Not because they need to protect him, but because they want to protect him. It’s just straight up instinct.

But he’ll always protest and complain after the game like “I had it handled guys” but they’ll just pat his helmet like “we know you did, Bubs.”

Height gap romance except the shorter one is frequently depicted in situations where they are contextually taller. The taller one sitting while the shorter one looms over them. Both of them lying in bed with the taller one’s head pressed to the shorter one’s chest. The shorter one straddling the taller one’s lap and leaning down for a kiss. The taller one on their knees as the shorter one tilts their head up. Please, it makes me go feral

I remember seeing this is actually Callum and Jack arguing and not Don and Joe (for which Callum takes responsibility) but I love that they kept it in. Making it a character moment instead of an actor blip that should be cut, actually lets Don lose his temper, for the audience to be shown what it would take for Don to lose show that much emotional response, that even Don, stoic, reserved, calm, non-responsive Don can be pushed to an extreme, that he does want this as much as the rest, that it means as much to him even if he doesn't talk about it, and that the boat being out of sync is effecting him too.

Just such a great editing decision

And also how lost, and then amused, and then Bruce Herbelin-Earle entertains me endlessly. Plus, y'know, Don swearing and getting angry is hot as fuck, I'm not proud

Ok hear me out, hockey au where Bobby is their small, loud-mouth goaltender, which is essentially the antithesis of your typical large and much more reserved goalie.

He’s always playing the puck even though Ulbrickson tells him not to, because one of these times he’ll get burned (or maybe he already had??). He leaves the crease a lot, but isn’t totally reckless about it, like it’s a calculated risk he takes. He’s not afraid to shove opposing players out of his crease. During practice he’ll tell his teammates when they’re in his way and that their defense is awful. He chirps so freaking much, especially after a stoppage in play. He’s a huge presence in the locker room even on game days, which is weird at first because their last goalie wouldn’t speak at all before games (like most goalies do). You’d think he loses his temper during games, but he never does. He’s always confident in himself and his teammates, regardless of the score. He never takes any of the credit after wins but will readily take all of the blame after losses.

This passage from The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown discusses how many of the boys lived together in a rented house a block from campus;

“The boys, though, were having the times of their lives. On or off the water, they were almost always together now. They ate together, studied together, and played together. Most of them had joined the Varsity Boat Club and lived in the club's rented house on Seventeenth Avenue, a block north of the campus, though Joe remained in the basement of the YMCA. On weekend evenings they gathered around the old upright piano in the club's parlor and sang for hours as Don Hume tore through jazz tunes, show tunes, blues, and ragtime. Sometimes Roger Morris pulled out his saxophone and joined in. Sometimes Johnny White got out his violin and played along fiddle-style. And almost always Joe got out his banjo or his guitar and joined in as well. Nobody laughed at him anymore, nobody dreamed of laughing at him.”

This had me intrigued so I did a little digging to see if the house might still be around. I found this image of the members of the Varsity Boat Club in 1936. I’m assuming this is referring to Fall 1936 because our boys are all seniors, so Bobby Moch has already graduated.

But on this document is also the address for their rental house: 4551 Seventeenth N.E.

Ok now that I know for a fact that Bobby was on the rowing team (thank you @kjxlll) I need the boys on their day off bored af cause Bobby isn’t there to “organize activities” for them. And so at the last minute they decide to go to a fencing tournament being held on campus. And they go there and def get all into it like goddamn just look at them go. And then a UW fencer wins and everyone is so freaking pumped, but when the fencer takes off his helmet during the celebration they realize that it was Bobby.

Bobby’s father, Gaston Moch, was a champion fencer in Switzerland when he was young and now I need Bobby knowing how to fence.

Bobby’s father, Gaston Moch, was a champion fencer in Switzerland when he was young and now I need Bobby knowing how to fence.

Loving that 5'6" collection of spite, spunk, and sass is a tough job, but Don's never turned away from a tough job before.

Bless Hadley for all her behind the scenes pics

Growing up, Bobby was accustomed to feeling pain when someone touched him. His body would ache so much from the infection running rampant in his body that he couldn’t even handle the loving touch of his parents, nevermind the doctors’ and nurses’ poking and prodding. Even now that he isn’t pain, he still carried an aversion to touch into his young adult years.

Most people don’t ask before touching him, so when Don asks he can’t help but cry.

I previously made a post badly summarizing my WIPS, and one of my TBITB projects was this one:

Step Up or Shut Up: Local Short Guy is mad at his teammates for being 1) not as motivated by rowing as he is and 2) raging dickhead assholes. Also he can't help but notice the cute freshman that just started rowing in one of the other boats.

If that spoke to you at all, I've got great news, chapter 1 is out! With a somewhat calmer title and hopefully better summary.

Bobby wants a crew he can trust. He wants a stroke he respects, and who respects him. He wants crewmates ready to work for greatness. Instead he gets Wink Winslow’s crew and Bo Billings, a spoiled asshole who cares more about making a point than about rowing and who is determined to make Bobby quit so he can get his old cox back. So now Bobby has to scheme and plot just to win over his own crew and convince Ulbrickson he does deserve to be coxing an eight, thank you very much. Meanwhile, he can’t stop noticing the really cute and impossibly talented stroke in the new freshman boat. As if he doesn’t have enough on his plate.