Transcript of The Hungry and the Hunted
Transcribed by Angela
[From the darkness we hear two football announcers over a television.]
Announcer #1: [VO] ... leaving them just two yards shy of the first down and, Bob Palmero, what do you do if you're the Florida State Seminoles in this situation?
Announcer #2: [VO] Well Bobby Bowden....
[Newsroom: Casey and Isaac are watching the game on TV.]
Isaac: He's gonna go for it.
Casey: He's gonna kick the field goal.
Isaac: Nah, he's gonna go for the first down.
Casey: They gotta score twice to win, why not just get the three right now? He's got the wind at his back.
Isaac: He doesn't have the leg.
Casey: He's got the wind at his back.
Isaac: I don't care if he's got the wind at his back and a song in his heart, he doesn't have the leg.
Casey: You're a crazy man from St. Louis. You have no business being in sports.
[Jeremy enters with some tapes in his hand. Isaac stops him.]
Isaac: Jeremy-
Jeremy: Yes, sir?
Isaac: Florida State, fourth and two on the Purdue thirty-nine and down by nine. What's Bowden gonna do, kick or play?
Jeremy: I really don't know.
Isaac: I'm asking what you think.
Jeremy: Well, it'd just be a guess.
Isaac: I want you to guess.
Jeremy: I don't like to guess.
Isaac: Guess anyway.
Casey: Come on, come on.
Jeremy: Why?
Isaac: Because this is fun. A job should be fun.
Jeremy: I'm having fun.
Isaac: You should have more.
Jeremy: I'm having a lot of fun.
Isaac: Jeremy-
Jeremy: I'm having tons of fun.
Isaac: Guess.
Jeremy: Alright, fine. He's gonna split three wide receivers and put a tight end in the backfield with the tailback in motion. A play-action fake'll freeze the strong safety and Kittis'll find his primary receiver over the middle. It's a play called Red Rocket Right, Slant-42, Z-Out. He'll get the first down and probably a lot more.
Isaac: What're you, insane?
Casey: Hey, wait, wait, wait - they're not kicking.
Announcer #1: [VO] ...lines up under center with three wide receivers split and the tight end in the backfield. Tailback in motion, the play action fake, and Kittis has Renfo over the middle for the first down and more! First and ten Florida State on the sixteen! Incredible!
Announcer #2: [VO] That's a play Coach Bowden's got called Red Rocket Right, Slant-42, Z-Out.
Isaac: You take a lot of the fun out of this, Jeremy.
[Conference Room: A staff meeting is underway.]
Dan: Newport's gonna put up a challenge, New Zealand and Australia each have new keels, and Japan's looking for an American tactician, maybe even a whole new afterguard. Now, interestingly, Italy has developed a new hundred-and-forty percent Genoa, but the I.O.R.C. says it may not meet specs because of a bolt in the backstay.
Dana: Honest to God, I have no idea what sport you're talking about.
Casey: Dan's talking about the rough-and-tumble, live-on-the-razor's-edge, run-'til-you-drop, never-say-die world of offshore yacht-racing.
Kim: Time for the America's Cup?
Dan: We're only a year and half away.
Dana: I don't want to get scooped, but we can probably postpone our coverage for, I guess, like a year and a half, can't we?
Dan: Greatest sport in the world, Dana. Greatest sport. Great for kids.
Natalie: All you need is forty millions dollars and a dream.
Dana: On the NHL-
Dan: "I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky. To the flung spume and the blown spray and the"- I don't know, the thing in my eye.
Dana: Thank you.
Dan: That was a poem by Mr. Henry David Thoreau.
Casey: It's Wordsworth.
Dan: Or Wordsworth.
Elliot: Might be Whitman.
Kim: Might be Byron.
Dan: It's not Byron.
Casey: I think it is Whitman.
Dana: Okay-
Isaac: It's not Whitman.
Casey: I think it is.
Isaac: It's not Walt Whitman.
Casey: Well, I'm sayin' I think it's Slim Whitman.
Dana: Fellas, we have ten NHL games, eight NBA, two of them on the West Coast, so let's stay in business on thirty through fifty. Edmonton's at Calgary and we'll pick it up on the two a.m.
Dan: Can I say something?
Dana: Sure.
Dan: There's a chance it might be Dylan Thomas.
Dana: You have to imagine, Danny, how much I don't give a damn about blown spume.
Dan: It's flung spume and blown spray, but actually I like your way better.
Dana: Elliot, Kim, I'm gonna need some people to triple up on games tonight.
Jeremy: I can do it.
Dana: You're not gonna be available.
Jeremy: Why not?
Isaac: We're going to talk to you about it later.
Dana: Meet us in Isaac's office right after lunch.
Casey: Is Jeremy getting the call?
Dana: He's getting the call.
Jeremy: I'm getting the call?
Dan: You're getting the call.
Jeremy: I don't know what that means.
Elliot: It means you're getting the call.
Jeremy: Really?
Elliot: Yeah.
Jeremy: I still don't know what that means.
Dana: Isaac's office after lunch. Meantime, Natalie's got-
Jeremy: I'm sorry, I'm just- is getting the call, you know, good?
Dana: Better than a poke in the eye.
Jeremy: Really?
Dana: Yes. Natalie-
Jeremy: How much better?
Dana: We'll talk about it after lunch. Natalie's got a memo from downstairs about next Thursday night.
[Natalie distributes some envelopes.]
Natalie: Just a note from the P.R. office that the reception's black tie. The cars'll pick you up after the show and wait for you at the Four Seasons.
Dan: Is next Thursday this Thursday or next Thursday.
Natalie: This Thursday.
Casey: Dana said next Thursday.
Dana: This coming Thursday. Today is Monday, three days from now it'll be Thursday.
Casey: We know what today was, we just didn't know what Thursday was.
Natalie: It's Thursday.
Dan: Got it.
Casey: Look, can I ask again? Is it absolutely necessary that we participate in this?
Natalie: Yes.
Casey: Yes I can ask again, or-
Natalie: You have to go.
Casey: Luther Sachs expects us to get off the air at midnight, change our clothes, hop in a car, and go to his cotillion?
Natalie: Reception.
Dana: These are pretty ornate invitations for a reception.
Natalie: What're you wearing?
Dana: The black Richard Tyler.
Natalie: You're fine.
Casey: "October the Eighth, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Eight, A.D." A.D. They're worried I might accidentally show up two thousand years before the birth of Christ.
Natalie: Half-hour. You have a drink, you have a thing, they take your picture, you're outta there.
Casey: This Thursday.
Dan: What shoes are you wearing?
Casey: Whatever shoes are on my feet, what the hell-
Dan: I was talking to Dana.
Dana: Manola Blahniks.
Dan: The black silk sling-backs?
Dana: Yeah.
Dan: Good.
Casey: Thank you, Coco Chanel.
Dana: Bumpers in and out of commercial six, we're holding on the Pete Sampras announcement, and Mike Marovich may or may not be named Athletic Director at TCU. Thank you, that's all.
Natalie: Back here at three.
Casey: Alright.
[Executive Corridor: Dana and Isaac turn the corner and head toward Isaac's office mid-conversation.]
Isaac: This doesn't originate at the network level, this is an FCC regulation.
[Jeremy catches up with them.]
Jeremy: Excuse me.
Dana: Hey, Jeremy.
Jeremy: I wasn't sure. When you said after lunch, is that after I eat lunch or after you eat lunch?
Dana: What time do you eat lunch?
Jeremy: Any time you want.
Isaac: Let's do this now. You worked for Mark Sabath over at USA Today?
Jeremy: Yes.
Isaac: He's a friend of mind.
Jeremy: He used to mention that.
[Isaac, Jeremy and Dana step into Isaac's office. Dana goes to the phone.]
Dana: We think you're doing real well here, Jeremy, and we'd like you to get some segment producing experience. [into phone] Natalie, I'm in Isaac's office, would you bring me the material for Jeremy? [to Jeremy] Um, thoroughbred racing, golf chat, beach volleyball ...
Isaac: It's not a prestige assignment, it just lets us take a look at what you can do.
Dana: We're sending you out this week to put together two seven-minute segments for "The CSC Outdoorsman."
Jeremy: The hunting show?
Dana: Camping, fishing, hiking-
Jeremy: And hunting. I mean, there's hunting along with the camping, the fishing, and the hiking.
Dana: Yes.
Isaac: Is that a problem?
Jeremy: The hunting?
Isaac: Yes.
Jeremy: No, sir.
Isaac: Good.
Jeremy: No problem.
Isaac: Good.
[Natalie enters with some books and papers and a brown paper bag.]
Jeremy: It's just I don't know anything about hunting. I've never hunted. I've got a deli on the corner and they deliver 24 hours so-
Dana: Natalie?
Natalie: This is some briefing material we put together for you. You should take it home and study it the rest of the day. Tomorrow morning you'll take a van with your crew up to the Adirondacks where you'll meet Bob Shoemaker, the professional guide, and Ed Bruckner from the Cincinnati Reds, the guest celebrity. Wednesday you're gonna go after New England Blue Mallard. Thursday you're going after deer. Deer get very big in the Adirondacks, so please be careful. Friday you come home and cut your segments together. All that information is in here, plus all your contacts at the show.
Isaac: Any questions?
Jeremy: Am I being punished 'cause I guessed right on that play in the Florida State game?
Dana: Jeremy-
Jeremy: Mr. Jaffee, it was a guess! You asked me to guess so I guessed!
Dana: What's he talking about?
Isaac: A lucky guess.
Jeremy: That's right.
Isaac: Ooh, I'm late for a lunch. Jeremy, you're gonna do fine. I'll see you at the end of the week.
[Isaac exits.]
Natalie: [to Dana] We've got a camera meeting in the studio.
Dana: [to Jeremy] I'll see you Friday. Knock our socks off.
[Dana exits.]
Jeremy: He talked to Mark Sabath.
Natalie: Isaac?
Jeremy: Yeah, he talked to Mark Sabath. He's my old boss.
Natalie: Isaac and Mark Sabath go way back.
Jeremy: Yeah, I know.
Natalie: Listen, I brought you some snacks for the ride up.
Jeremy: Really?
Natalie: It's nothing. Candy and stuff I got from the machine. Twinkies.
Jeremy: Thanks a lot.
Natalie: Don't be so nervous, Jeremy. Enjoy it. You're getting the call.
[Natalie exits.]
Jeremy: [calling after her] I still don't know what that means.
[Studio: The studio is empty except for some technicians sweeping up. Dan is in street clothes, looking at a newspaper. Natalie enters.]
Natalie: What are you doing?
Dan: Reading the paper.
Natalie: Why aren't you changed?
Dan: Into what?
Natalie: Your tuxedo.
Dan: Today is Thursday.
Natalie: Yes!
Dan: Today is next Thursday.
Natalie: It's this Thursday. This is next Thursday.
Dan: I'll go change.
Natalie: Wait. There are two cars downstairs.
Dan: Good.
Natalie: I want you to ride with Isaac.
Dan: Fine.
Natalie: I want you to ride with Isaac so that Casey rides with Dana.
Dan: That's fine.
Natalie: I want Casey to ride with Dana.
Dan: I get it.
Natalie: Do you?
Dan: I ride with Isaac, and Casey and Dana fall in love.
Natalie: Right.
Dan: Wow is that a stupid plan.
Natalie: Go change.
[Newsroom: Kim is helping Casey with his tux.]
Casey: Ow.
Kim: Well, hold still.
Casey: You're stabbing me in the chest.
Kim: I'm stabbing you in the chest because you're squirming.
Casey: I'm really pretty sure it's the other way around.
[Dan comes out of the office.]
Dan: Casey?
Casey: Yeah?
Dan: I've been thinking a lot about soccer lately.
Casey: And?
Dan: I'm pretty much through with that.
Casey: Yeah?
Dan: Ya know, to save my life I couldn't name five teams that play in the MLS? I know there's Luxembourg.
Casey: The MLS is an American soccer league.
Dan: Luxembourg doesn't play in this league?
Casey: No.
Dan: So I don't even know Luxembourg.
Casey: [to Kim] Ow again.
Kim: Ya know, this is what you get for being a grown man who can't dress himself.
Casey: I used to have a wife for that.
Dan: I'll tell you what else. I'm starting to get a little cheesed at people telling me the reason I don't like soccer is that I don't understand it. I think I do understand it. I think I understand it just fine. I just happen to think it's a mind-numbing bore, and that any reasonable person would rather be playing it than watching it.
Casey: Well I know it doesn't match the pulse-pounding excitement of a good sailboat race.
[Natalie enters.]
Natalie: Wait 'til you see Dana. She looks amazing.
Dan: Alright, nobody move. Name five teams that play in the MLS. And Casey says it's an American soccer league, so you can't choose Luxembourg. Go.
Natalie: Columbus Crew.
Elliot: Miami Fusion.
Natalie: New England Revolution.
Kim: Tampa Bay Mutiny.
Natalie: D.C. United.
Dave: Chicago Fire.
Natalie: Colorado Rapid.
Chris: Dallas Burn.
Natalie: Kansas City Wizard.
Will: Los Angeles Galaxy.
Natalie: And the New York/New Jersey Metro-Stars.
Dan: You all just made that up, didn't you?
Casey: You got smoked.
Kim: Yeah.
[Casey exits to Dan and Casey's office.]
Natalie: The cars are waiting downstairs. Right? Dan? The cars?
Dan: Yeah, yeah.
[Dan exits to Dan and Casey's office.]
[Reset to Dan and Casey's Office]
Dan: Say, about these cars-
Casey: What about 'em?
Dan: There are two of them.
Casey: There are four of us.
Dan: I was just thinkin' I could ride with Isaac if you like.
Casey: Why?
Dan: So you could ride with Dana.
Casey: Why would I want to ride with Dana?
Dan: Why wouldn't you want to ride with Dana?
Casey: There's no reason I wouldn't want to ride with Dana.
Dan: You see?
Casey: I'm just asking why in particular you asked me specifically if I wanted to ride with Dana?
Dan: You don't want to ride with Dana?
Casey: No, I'm happy to ride with Dana. But I'm also happy to ride with you or with Isaac.
Dan: Good.
Casey: But what's more important is, ya know, why did you ask me?
Dan: Why did I ask you what?
Casey: If I wanted to ride with Dana.
Dan: I gotta tell ya, at this point the length of this conversation is way out of proportion to my interest in it.
Casey: Well alright then, let's just leave it at that.
Dan: Fine.
Casey: Except to say this. Now, I just finished an hour-long broadcast at the end of a fourteen-hour day. And I'm not in the mood to go to a party, I'm not in the mood to have my picture taken, and I'm not in the mood to notice Dana's dress or notice Dana's hair or notice Dana's shoes. Dana's not my date, she's my producer, and the workday's over.
[Casey grabs his coat and heads out of the office while talking.]
[Reset to Newsroom]
Casey: I'm not in a mood to notice anything tonight.
[Dana enters from the other end of the room.]
Dana: Forgot my purse.
[Dana is gone. Casey turns 180 degrees to watch her and trips over his own feet. Dan, with his coat on, comes out of the office and walks pas himt.]
Dan: [without breaking stride] On your feet, partner, let's go.
[Elliot enters.]
Elliot: Danny, where's Isaac?
Dan: Control room.
[Elliot heads into the control room. Isaac, in his tuxedo, is sitting and reading a newspaper as Elliot enters.]
Elliot: Isaac, Bob Shoemaker's calling from the Adirondacks. Something happened with Jeremy.
Isaac: [into the phone] Isaac Jaffee. What's goin' on?
ACT II
Voice: [VO] Studio "A," this is Master Control, you're up on Router twenty-one.
Dave: [VO] Thank you.
[Control Room]
Dana: Five minutes to air. Natalie, find out why Dan isn't in the studio.
Will: Chicago says their sound level's low.
Dana: Ah, lemme hear 'em. [into headset] Talk to me, Chicago.
Chris: They are talkin' to you, Dana.
Dana: They're talking to me now?
Chris: Yes.
Dana: I can't hear them.
Dave: Switch 'em to four.
Chris: We're on four.
Dana: I can't hear Chicago.
Dave: We'll fix it.
Dana: You have four minutes.
[Dan and Casey's Office: Dan, dressed for the show, is typing at his computer as Natalie comes through on her way to the studio.]
Natalie: Why aren't you in the studio?
Dan: I'm trying to avoid Casey.
Natalie: Why?
Dan: He's making me crazy. He's been making me crazy all day. It doesn't work for me. I'm more comfortable when I'm making him crazy.
Natalie: Why is he making you crazy?
Dan: Well, it seems he met a girl last night.
Natalie: Who?
Dan: Who do you think?
Natalie: Dana?
Dan: Yes.
Natalie: It was the dress.
Dan: It's 'cause you made me play musical cars.
Natalie: It was the dress and the cars.
Dan: In combination with a number of things, not the least of which is that she was spending time with another guy at the party.
Natalie: Now we're in business.
Dan: Boy, I'd love to be outta the loop on the next piece of drama that's gonna happen around here.
Dana: [over the PA] Dan, we need you in the studio please.
Dan: But I don't think that's gonna happen.
[Dan exits.]
[Control Room]
Chris: We've got Chicago.
Dana: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Lemme hear the studio.
Will: Which studio?
Dana: Our studio!
Chris: You're not hearing 'em now?
Dana: I'm not hearing 'em now.
Dave: That's a problem.
Dana: Yes, that's a problem. If I can't hear the show, I can't produce the show. They taught me that in producing school. You've got ninety seconds.
[Studio: Kim passes through and hands Dan a piece of paper.]
Kim: Four-three defense.
Dan: Thank you.
Casey: [to Dan] Hey, lemme ask you a quick question.
Dan: You know, right now might not be the best time.
Casey: This is important.
Dan: What's the question?
Casey: How many people can you think of named Gordon?
Dan: How many people can I think of named Gordon?
Casey: Yeah.
Dan: Two.
Casey: That's how many I got. Which were your two?
Dan: Gordon Lightfoot and Gordon Liddy.
Casey: Those were my two. Those are the exact same two that I got. Can you think of any more?
Dave: [over PA] We're live in sixty seconds. Roll VTR.
Dan: Can somebody help me please?
Casey: They can't hear you in there.
Dan: Great.
Casey: Can you think of any more?
Dan: No.
Casey: Neither can I.
Dan: Good.
Casey: And it's my feeling that if those are the only two you got, and those are the only two I got, those should be the only two there are.
Dan: Granting the premise.
Casey: And you should.
Dan: I am.
Casey: You should grant the premise, Danny.
Dan: I do.
Dave: Thirty seconds.
Casey: 'Cause we're two pretty well-educated people and we both thought about it and we both came up with only two Gordons.
Dan: I'm granting the damn premise.
Casey: You should.
Dan: Casey-
Casey: My point is- Here we are. We're going along in life and everything's fine. As far as we know there are only two Gordons out there. When all of a sudden a third one comes along.
Dan: The guy talking to Dana at the thing last night.
Casey: The guy talking to Dana. The guy out there talkin' to Dana. Gordon.
[Control Room]
Chris: We've got sound.
Dana: Oh, thank God.
Casey: That was all I had to say.
Dan: Thank merciful God.
Dave: In three, two, one-
[Studio]
Casey: Good evening, from New York City I'm Casey McCall alongside Dan Rydell. Those stories plus- grab your galoshes, we're gonna take you out to the Iditerod.
Dan: Why? 'Cause we just can't believe it ourselves. Also grab your notebooks, we're gonna take you inside the four-three defense on this week's edition of "Inside the Four-Three Defense."
Casey: All that comin' up after this. You're watching "Sports Night" on CSC, so stick around.
[Control Room]
Dave: And we're out. Back in sixty.
Dana: Dave, Chris, Will, what are you guys doing tomorrow morning at ten?
Dave: We've got a basketball game at the Y.
Will: Yeah, it's a three-on-three with the guys from-
Dana: Dave, Chris, Will, what are you guys doing tomorrow morning at ten?
Chris: Fixing the sound system?
Dana: There you go.
[Studio Backstage: Elliot crosses through.]
Elliot: Camera, your wrap is twelve-oh-six. Let's not get into golden time.
[Casey and Dan cross through on their way to their office.]
Casey: One more question.
Dan: [calling out] Can I get a Teamster to hit Casey in the head with something heavy?
Casey: Look, how did you know the guy's name was Gordon?
Dan: We were introduced.
Casey: At the reception.
Dan: Yes.
Casey: By Dana.
Dan: Yes.
Casey: Interesting.
Dan: Not really.
Casey: You think they were on a date?
Dan: Yes.
Casey: You think they were on a date.
Dan: Yes.
Casey: I totally disagree. She introduced you to him. Big deal. It's not like she walked up to you and said "Dan, this is my date, Gordon." I want to know exactly what she said when she introduced you to him.
Dan: She said "Dan, this is my date, Gordon."
Casey: Ah, we're crankin' this whole thing up a notch.
[Newsroom: Jeremy enters. Elliot, Kim and a few others are around. Natalie, followed by Isaac and Dana, enter the newsroom and see Jeremy.]
Natalie: You're back!
Jeremy: Yes.
Natalie: Yay!
Jeremy: Thank you.
Elliot: Hey, how'd it go?
Jeremy: Good.
Natalie: Really?
Jeremy: Yeah, it cut together pretty well.
Natalie: We saw the rough cut a few hours ago, we thought it looked great.
Kim: Really.
Jeremy: Thank you.
Natalie: When you get a final cut, we'll send it to your parents in a nice package. It's your first on-screen credit. They'll flip.
Jeremy: They'll like it.
[Dan and Casey pop out of their office.]
Dan: Welcome back.
Jeremy: Hey.
Casey: Hey, how'd it go?
Jeremy: Oh, real good.
Isaac: Jeremy, can we see you in my office for a moment?
Jeremy: Yeah, sure. What's up?
Isaac: My office.
[Isaac's Office]
Isaac: I was wondering why you were lying just now.
Jeremy: What do you mean-
Dana: Jeremy, did you think we weren't gonna find out?
Isaac: What the hell happened out there?
Jeremy: It was nothing.
Dana: It was not nothing.
Jeremy: I got sick, I threw up.
Dana: They took you to the hospital. You passed out.
Jeremy: I told them they didn't have to take me-
Dana: Bob Shoemaker said you were sweating and hyperventilating.
Jeremy: It was hot outside.
Dana: Not in the Adirondacks in October.
Jeremy: Look-
Isaac: Tell us about your hunting trip.
Dana: [prompting Jeremy] The first day you were going after New England Blue Mallard...
Jeremy: Yeah. Bob and Eddie were using the IR-fifty Recon by Bushcomber. It's got a sixteen-inch micro-grooved barrel with thirty-thirty mags, side-scope mount, wire-cutter sheath, quick-release bolt, mag catches and a three-pound trigger. So I figured we must be goin' after a pretty dangerous duck.
Isaac: You can wise-ass all you want, you're gonna tell me what happened.
Jeremy: We shot a deer. In the woods near Lake Mattatuck on the second day. There was a special vest they had me wear so that they could distinguish me from things they wanted to shoot and I was pretty grateful for that. Almost the whole day had gone by and we hadn't gotten anything. Eddie was getting frustrated, Bob Shoemaker was getting embarrassed. My camera guy needed to reload, so I told everybody to take a ten-minute break. There was a stream nearby and I walked over with this care-package Natalie made me. I sat down and when I looked up I saw three of them: small, bigger, biggest. Recognizable to any species on the face of the planet as a child, a mother, and a father. Now, the trick in shooting deer is you gotta get 'em out in the open. And it's tough with deer, 'cause these are clever, cagey animals with an intuitive sense of danger. You know what you have to do to get a deer out in the open? You hold out a Twinkie. That animal clopped up to me like we were at a party. She seemed to be pretty interested in the Twinkie, so I gave it to her. Looking back, she'd have been better off if I'd given her the damn vest. And Bob kind of screamed at me in a whisper, "Move away!" The camera had been reloaded and it looked like the day wasn't gonna be a washout after all. So I backed away, a couple of steps at a time, and I closed my eyes when I heard the shot. Look, I know these are animals and they don't play bridge and go to the prom, but you can't tell me that the little one didn't know who his mother was. That's gotta mean something. And later, at the hospital, Bob Shoemaker was telling me about the nobility and tradition of hunting and how it related to the Native American Indians, and I nodded and I said that was interesting while I was thinking about what a load of crap it was. Hunting was part of Indian culture - it was food and it was clothes and it was shelter. They sang and danced and offered prayers to the gods for a successful hunt so that they could survive just one more unimaginably brutal winter. The things they had to kill held the highest place of respect for them, and to kill for fun was a sin. And they knew the gods wouldn't be so generous next time. What we did wasn't food and it wasn't shelter and it sure wasn't sports. It was just mean.
Isaac: Jeremy, why didn't you tell us how you felt about hunting when we gave you this?
Jeremy: Because you told me you spoke to Mark Sabath at USA Today.
Isaac: Yeah, but what-
Jeremy: In fact, I know you must have spoken to him before you ever hired me.
Isaac: Of course I did. I also spoke to Dave Heller at the Free Press and Tom Monahan at the Sacramento Bee.
Jeremy: And they all said pretty much the same thing.
Isaac: Yes. They all said that Jeremy Goodwin was a bright guy with a world-class understanding of popular sports, but that he didn't quite fit in and there was little chance that he'd advance in their organization.
Jeremy: Due respect, Mr. Jaffee, but I have eighty thousand dollars in college loans to pay back. My instincts told me to shut the hell up and do what I was told.
Isaac: Your instincts were wrong.
Jeremy: Not fitting in is how qualified people lose jobs.
Isaac: Yeah, but a lot of the time it's how they end up working here. Now, you had an obligation to tell us how you felt. Partly because I don't like getting a phone call saying I've put one of my people in the hospital. But mostly because if you feel that strongly about something you have a responsibility to try and change my mind. Did you think I would fire you simply because you made a convincing argument? It's taken me a lot of years but I've come around to this: If you're dumb, surround yourself with smart people; and if you're smart, surround yourself with smart people who disagree with you. I'm an awfully smart man and Mark Sabath is an idiot. He had you and he blew it. You're gonna do great here. But you gotta trust us. You fit in on your own time. When you come to work for me you show up to play. I'm going home. You don't know us very well. So if it's hard trusting us at the beginning, maybe it'll help to know that we trust you. Good-night.
[Isaac exits.]
[Closing music starts: "Hymn to Her" - The Pretenders.]
Dana: Good-night. I'll see you Monday.
Jeremy: Good-night.
[Dana exits. Jeremy picks up the phone and dials.]
Jeremy: Hi, Dad? It's me. [listens] No, nothing's wrong. Just wanted to tell you something nice happened at work today. I got the call.
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