Ted Lasso is streaming on Apple TV +. All 10 episodes of the first season are available. The second season started on July 23, 2021, and new episodes are released every Friday.
Sport is a theater in which ordinary people have the opportunity to do extraordinary things together. Players learn what they are capable of and how they can grow from interacting with a team. Regular rituals allow members to overcome differences of opinion that they may harbor outside of the game. Sport can be described as the “toy department of life” and offers entertainment and satisfaction, but these games also offer transformative experiences that shape the characters of everyone involved.
1. The story
Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) is an American football coach who led the Wichita State Shockers to a Division II National Collegiate Athletic Association championship. He is a happy soul who takes pleasure and joy in leading the athletes and being with them.
Lasso is hired to coach English Premier League football team, Richmond AFC. He arrives in England with his quietly spoken and loyal friend Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt). When fans find out that these underdogs know next to nothing about the sport they love, a flurry of criticism and anger overwhelms Americans.
The public consternation fueled by a hostile press is just one of the many challenges Ted Lasso faces. He has to get the team to play well together, even though Deva players like Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) and Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) are used to doing their own thing. Team owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) only hired him because she was sure he would fail and granted her desire to get revenge on her ex-husband, who owned and loved the team. He gets some support from the locker room manager who became assistant coach Nate (Nick Mohammed), the team’s shy finance manager, Higgins (Jeremy Swift), and the team’s publicist (Juno Temple).
But Ted has a secret weapon in his coaching and management relationships: friendliness. He has patience with those who criticize him, he understands foreign players on the team who are homesick, and he tries to convey the bad blood between the star players. He’s always positive and points to a “Believe” poster in the locker room. His admirable personal qualities are contagious not only on the soccer field but also in the living rooms of viewers of the series.
2. The wit and wisdom of Ted Lasso
The scripts for this deeply spiritual series were written by some clearly talented comedy writers: Jane Becker, Leann Bowen, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, Bill Lawrence, Jamie Lee, Jason Sudeikis, Phoebe Walsh, and Bill Wrubel. Many of the funniest scenes revolve around the classic fish-out-of-the-water plot.
To give you a taste of the spiritual themes that underscore the drama, here are seven quotes that illustrate Ted’s indigenous ethical wisdom.
Goldfish
“Do you know what the happiest animal in the world is? It’s a goldfish. Do you know why? I have a ten-second memory.
success
“For me, success isn’t about wins and losses. It’s about helping these young guys be the best version of themselves on and off the field.”
curiosity
“Curious, not judgmental.”
Opinions
“I want you to know that I value your every opinion, even if you are wrong.”
Self-esteem
“You beat yourself up is like Woody Allen playing the clarinet. I don’t want to hear it.”
To be alone
“I promise you there is something worse out there than being sad. And that is being alone and being sad.
Believe
“I believe in hope. I believe in faith.”
3. Character traits of a spiritually developing person
At a time when filmmakers fill the screens with myriad of crime thrillers, violent zombie stories, and endless horror films, it is uplifting and spiritually uplifting to enjoy the kindness, positivity, and hope of Ted Lasso.
Here is a round person modeling spiritual traits that can serve as a seedbed for our own growth. Far from perfect as he struggles through a divorce, homesick, warding off his own mistakes, and trying to tolerate the mistakes of others.
4. Kindness
One of the hallmarks of goodness is to put others before us. This spiritual practice not only has its own rewards, but also many practical values. Ted Lasso gives us the opportunity to see and discuss how goodness manifests itself in a variety of relationships. It shows us how to bring it into our life. Relentless kindness, like Ted’s, lights a match and inspires others to reach out in the dark and shine their own light.
Take some time to meditate and talk about the display of spiritual qualities in this extraordinary series that our culture desperately needs today. Here are quotes from a Buddhist, a Sufi, and a Catholic to get your reflection started.
Do good, get good
“I think when you care about someone and you have a little love in your heart, there is nothing you can’t go through together. Do good, become good. Goodness radiates and clings to people. “
– Ajahn Sumano Bhikkhu in the encounter with the monkey halfway
Bring people together
“Everything that brings people together for good is good.”
– Kabir Helminski in The Knowing Heart
The mysterious way of kindness
“We never know where the good we are doing will bear fruit. The most important thing is to just do it in unsafe ways in strange places, so that the heart we know least can be gifted, whether we know whether it happened or not. “
– Joan Chittister in Gospel Days
5. Hope
Ted Lasso makes a strong case for the uplifting powers and benefits of hope. Does this motley soccer team really have a chance to win? It seems like they have a lot against her. But then . . . Your trainer believes in you, as crazy as that may seem at times. When you laugh at Ted’s efforts to get the team on board, you’ll think a lot about how hope works in your experience.
This character quality is portrayed as an emotion that feels good, that changes the way our minds work, changes our future, and breaks negativity. Here are some spiritual quotes from a theologian and a psychotherapist, both of which agree with Mercy Amber
Oduyoyo, who exhorted spiritual people to “wear hope like skin”.
Stretch what you can
“Hope pushes the boundaries of what is possible. It is connected to the fundamentals
Faith in life without which we could not come from one day to the next. “
– Mary C. Gray in The Outrageous Pursuit of Hope
Sow lonely ways
“By growing hope within ourselves and sharing it with others, we illuminate dark paths and sow lonely paths with love and positive possibilities.”
– Sue Patton Thoele in growing hope
Football movies
Ted Lasso sees football as a tough sport where players get the most out of practice, learn the benefits of teamwork, and try to be creative on and off the field.
Here are four of our favorite soccer films that explore the complex desires that animate those who believe the sport is the most adventurous and exciting in the world.
Bend It Like Beckham is a stirring comedy about an Anglo-Indian girl and her efforts to become a soccer player.
The Cup is an endearing drama set in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery where football is very popular with the monks during training.
Goal: The Dream Begins is the story of a young man who has made it his mission to become a star on the international football stage.
Offside is a poignant Iranian film about some passionate football fans.