#Bobby Moch is stubborn af

[savvylittlecoxswain]

I really wish we got the deleted scenes from The Boys in the Boat because we could have gotten scenes like this one:

Here’s a quote from the book about what this scene might have entailed:

“The next day, at lunchtime, things erupted again. It had become a tradition for different crews to sing national songs during meals. When it came time for the Yugoslavian crew to rise and sing, they launched into an odd rendition of "Yankee Doodle." Nobody could quite tell what the point was. It wasn't even entirely clear if they were singing in English or one of the several languages of Yugoslavia. But the American boys knew the tune, and something about the way certain lines were delivered convinced Chuck Day that the Yugoslavians had figured out the previous night's shenanigans and now were directing a mortal insult at the United States of America. Day bolted out of his seat and plowed into the Yugoslavians, fists flying. Bobby Moch charged in right behind him, going not for the Yugoslavian coxswain but for the biggest man on the crew. Right behind Moch came the rest of the Washington boys, and behind them, just for the hell of it, the entire Australian team. The German crew rushed to the side of the Yugoslavians. Chairs flew. Insults were hurled. Chests bumped into chests. Boys shoved other boys. A few more fists flew. Everyone was yelling again, and again nobody could understand what anybody else was saying. Finally the Dutch national crew dove into the melec, separating boys, pulling them back to their tables, smoothing out their feelings in crisp, perfect, diplomatic English.”

[savvylittlecoxswain]

The Washington oarsmen awoke earlier that morning, ate breakfast, and rested in their rooms. George Pocock caught sight of Hume that morning and conferred privately with Ulbrickson. "He won't make it, Al," Pocock quietly said. "And we can't win with seven men against eight." Waiting all morning and past noon to race was excruciating. "Time dragged on," Ulbrickson recalled. When asked how he felt, Hume gave everyone the same reply: "not so hot." Ulbrickson was on the verge of replacing his stroke when Bob Moch called the oarsmen to a meeting in Hume's room. There were very few words spoken. "We've come a long way for this one, Don," Moch said. "We don't want you to miss it. Set the pace for us, and we'll pull you through." In that moment, in that room, the oarsmen made a commitment to each other. Emotions ran high. There was a brief pause of silence. "Okay," Hume whispered. The rowers then met with Ulbrickson. The discussion did not last long. It was the normally quiet John White who spoke. "Tie him in," White said. "We'll get him across the finish line." "We told Ulbrickson... strap him in, we'll get him there," McMillin remembered.

— an excerpt from Six Minutes in Berlin: Broadcast Spectacle and Rowing Gold at the Nazi Olympics by Michael J., Socolow

[savvylittlecoxswain]

What if the reason Bobby messed up during whatever pinnacle race in the previous season was because he was literally having a medical emergency. Like he couldn’t make clear judgement because of the insane amount of pain he is feeling as he’s trying to bellow out calls to the crew. And he just assumes that’s the reason he got kicked off because Coach Al was just so angry and emotionally charged about losing that he didn’t give Bobby a chance to explain.

Now that Bobby’s back in the boat, absolutely nothing is going to take him out of that seat. He’s going to push through anything and everything for his boys and ensure that win, he’s going to ignore the stabbing pain radiating from his abdomen even if it kills him… and his body sure is trying to kill him.

[savvylittlecoxswain]

I need fics about Bobby trying to get the boys to like him when he first gets assigned to them. And it definitely wasn’t easy because he doesn’t hold anything back when they’re in the boat. Ulbrickson put him with these boys because of that exact reason. He doesn’t hold back punches, isn’t afraid to completely pick them apart when he can. Problem is they’re just as new to him as he is to them.

Those first days are brutal because he needs to find out what makes each of them tick, find out how far is too far, and the only way to do that is to reach it. Once he’s got a baseline things get better; he knows when to push them, but he also knows when to stop, when to crack a joke, or when to boost their confidence. They’re improving and everyone knows it, building up that respect just a bit, but there’s still hesitation when he gives them instructions.

And out of the boat they pretty much give him the cold shoulder, never inviting him to hangout or waving back when he sees them on campus. It’s hard, but somethings gotta click, somethings gotta happen that triggers them to acknowledge that he’s their coxswain and not just a coxswain.

Maybe they find out the varsity team is messing with him again, their taunting turning more physical now that he’s not the coxswain of their boat

Maybe he has a health scare or a particularly awful asthma attack and they need to step up and help him, making them realize that they really care about the little guy

Maybe they’re all having a great day but Bobby isn’t like he’s just having an off day (which he is perfectly entitled to but they just didn’t think that was possible for him).

Maybe he runs into an ex who wasn’t exactly a great person

Maybe they show up early to practice and find Bobby sleeping at the table in the Coach’s loft, clearly never having left after their practice the previous day. And apparently he’s been working on rowing strategy and studying film all night even though he said he was just going to rewatch their most recent footage quick.

Maybe they notice that his weight at weigh-in has been slightly declining over the course of a couple days and they need to figure out why and how they can help him because they weren’t even aware he had any weight left for him to lose

I just need Bobby struggling to connect with them like give me all the hurt/comfort fics

[savvylittlecoxswain]

AU where Bobby got super sick his Freshman year after he’d already been accepted into the rowing team, but before his first race. And he had to get surgery and had some complications, because of course he does, and he’s forced to drop out that semester and quit the rowing team because he’s in the hospital for so long. He comes back the next semester but isn’t able to rejoin the rowing team because they’re mid season.

The next year he’s so freaking determined to make the team and he does. Then the year after that, technically his junior year, he makes Varsity. Then there’s the issues and he gets kicked off, but brought back a several weeks into his “senior” year to cox the JV crew and they win gold at the Olympics. He’s left feeling super accomplished and everyone is super excited for him because like like what a way to go out for your last year. But sike, he’s actually gotta stick around for another semester because he’s behind on some credits he missed his freshman year, not that anyone on the crew knows that. And he would love to stay with his boys for another year, even if he’s gotta stay for another full year and even if they lose every race (which Bobby knows for a fact they won’t), it’ll be worth it.

He’s a pre-law student so he looks through the every handbook and rulebook for athletics and academics and he discovers that technically he’s still eligible since he didn’t even get to compete in a single race his freshman year. So he gathers his extensive medical records and stuff and goes to Ulbrickson. He keeps it a secret because he doesn’t want to get the other boys’ hopes up, and the other coaches have to agree to it or something.

TLDR; Bobby gets redshirted his Freshman year due to medical reasons (ie dropped out of school and rowing for his first semester) and finds a way to get approved for a “fifth” year

[savvylittlecoxswain]

What if they studied Bobby’s medical lawsuit in one of his law classes? Like the names were changed but he still knows it’s about him. And the prof is asking all the students “how much does this boy and his family actually deserve?” and Bobby refuses to answer. And he’s like Bobby you need to answer for participation credit for today’s lecture. So he’s like “fine, $100 bajillion.” And the prof just sighs and asked anyway “and why do you think that?” And he just explodes saying something like “sure, you can assign a price to the medical expenses, to the x amount of surgeries and x amount of specialist hospitals and x amount tests. That boy would spent then next x amount of years in a hospital barely able to do much more than sit up in bed. He’d collectively spend xx,xxx amount of days in the hospital. There is no fathomable cost for a childhood. “

And then he just gets up and leaves and goes straight to his boys because he’s suddenly very much not okay.

[savvylittlecoxswain]

Oh noooo I’m totally here to maybe potentially ruin your day 🫣

So imagine the boys are working one night cleaning up after some event and there’s leftover cookies on these large trays on the refreshment table. And Bobby is like “oh hecks yes don’t mind if I do” and starts eating one and stuffing as many as can fit into his pockets and shit. The boys are all like “I know we call you a gremlin but the frick Bobby??” And makes a snide remark back but doesn’t stop eating cookies, and eventually one of them is like “Jesus H Christ Bobby keep it up and the bow’ll be in the air with how much you’ll be weighin us down.” Bobby just totally waves them off and all nonchalant says “Quit your complaining I’ll just purge it all up later. When have you ever seen me weigh in above 120?”

Almost all of the boys are new to rowing, right? Or at least they’re new to this structured environment rowing 8+ crew and the competitive culture around the sport. So they have no freaking clue what he’s talking about and are immediately all staring at him like “hold. the frick. up… you what now??”

*Cue the camera panning over to Bobby frozen in place mid-shoving another cookie into his mouth* and he’s like: 👁️👄👁️ “was it something I said?”

[savvylittlecoxswain]

Bobby would make a tiktok to the latest trend while in the hospital without ever acknowledging he’s in the hospital as a way to tell people that he’s indeed in the hospital. Like he’s wearing the hospital gown and hooked up to an IV and stuff, yet captions the video with something about random out of context quote from one of the boys. It’s degrading enough to have to make the calls to Coach and his academic advisor, thus making the alternative format much more appealing. Besides, he knows Don gets a notification whenever he posts a new tiktok and almost always watches them immediately, so it’s the perfect way to relay the information without actually telling his friends.

[savvylittlecoxswain]

A couple of the boys get the idea to go and do a certain activity together and so they’re like “we should totally go do this!!!” And everyone is like “yesss!!” Bobby is kind of sad and says he can’t go, but when they offer to reschedule it for a different day he gives them a (fake) smile insisting that they go do it without him anyway.

Of course none of them realized that the reason he couldn’t do said activity was because of his health history, like maybe they were planning like an all day hike through the mountains or something like he can do the shorter, less intensive hikes with them but for this activity he literally can’t physically keep up. The oarsmen don’t know that though because Bobby’s never let his health or size stop him before, like they’ve never seen how bad it can get and don’t quite understand how fragile he can be sometimes with how rarely he lets it slow him down.

Queue someone pointing this out to them, maybe one of the coaches or Pocock or even Joyce, and a lot of hurt/comfort/fluff follows.

[savvylittlecoxswain]

Seven Sentence Sunday

Tagged by: @sparrow-in-the-field and @nicijones

Rules: post 7(ish) sentences of your current

Ok so I promise I am still working tirelessly on this wing AU fic. The google doc has 10,000 words and is so incredibly much a WIP in that the plot is still in development, so I’m not sure when it’ll be ready haha.

Becuase I was tagged twice, here’s two separate chunks :)

Chunk 1:

“Yessir,” he confirmed. He knew he should leave it, just get into that shell and do his job like the good little coxswain the coach wants him to be. He licked the water off of his bottom lip, nervously glancing back at the boys behind him. Only Don was looking his way, watching the interaction with a frown a bit deeper than the one he usually sported. The entire line of boys flinched as a clap of thunder echoed above them. Bobby took a deep breath, compiled his thoughts and prepared himself for whatever would inevitably come from sticking his neck out for his boys. “But we have never—“

“Moch!” Ulbrickson bellowed.

Chunk 2:

Don pretended it was the chill that made Bobby's face flush red. Don leaned down and tilted his head to look directly into Bobby's eyes to relay how serious he was. "I don't want you to get sick," Don soothed. Bobby bit his lip. He didn't speak, but he didn't put up a fight. "Please?"

[savvylittlecoxswain]

Currently infatuated with the idea of a sort of wing au where people who have seriously nearly died manifest wings as a way to show what they've been through. And by nearly die I mean they basically did die but survived or it wasn't their time or whatever.

And so ofc Bobby has them, but he's had them for so long that over time he’s learned how to "tuck them away" for extended periods of time. There’s nothing he hates more than being perceived as weak and so he keeps them hidden all the time unless he's alone (or maybe with family), which isn’t entirely comfortable to be honest. Like he's got this love-hate relationship with his wings because on one hand they really represent his strength and stubbornness and tenacity, but at the same time he doesn't want people to pity him for what he went through.

[savvylittlecoxswain]

Here me out, what if Bobby has a health scare or something and had to get tests done. Problem is, it takes a week or so for the results to get in and in the meantime the boys notice that he’s acting off. Like he’s pushing them a tad bit harder than usual, easier to piss off and generally has a short temper, picking more fights than usual, etc.

And they’re having practice or a meeting or something and Coach Ulbrickson’s phone rings, except it’s not his phone it’s very distinctly Bobby’s ring tone. He gives Bobby the phone and tells him he can take the call in his office, but he’s up there for a while.

[savvylittlecoxswain]

Wait wait wait with Bobby’s medical history, I’m sure he’s super careful about avoiding getting sick. Like just because he’s fairly healthy now doesn’t mean that he won’t be seriously affected by something as common as a chest cold. And when he finds out Don, the man he sits across from in the boat, is pretty significantly ill? That can’t sit well with him.

I personally know a relative who had caught a chest cold that ended up getting her hospitalized, and at the age of 20, three days after she fell ill, she passed. So I intimately know that the last thing Bobby wants is to catch whatever Don has, but I also know that not being there for his boys during a race wasn’t an option. He would do anything for his crew, even if it meant risking his life. Besides, even if he does get sick, what are the chances of it affecting him so severely?

And he definitely keeps all this to himself because he never wants to make them worry or throw them off their game.

[savvylittlecoxswain]

Ok but what if Bobby didn’t actually get kicked off of the rowing team, he had to step away form the team due to health complications or some procedure and didn’t know if he’d be cleared by his doctors in time for the next season if at all. So he talked with Ulbrickson about how he didn’t want to have to tell people about his medical issues and they came up with a cover story. It was believable because Bobby did have a tendency to go off script and maybe it costed them one race during the previous year, but that wasn’t the sole reason their season had been a disaster.

Thanks to his willpower and insane stubbornness, the doctors tentatively cleared him for rowing. Unfortunately, the season had already and the crews had already been named. Still, he approached Ulbrickson to let him know anyway like “hey if you need someone I’ll be here like I can be your guy” and a couple weeks later he got the call.

[savvylittlecoxswain]

I need a fic where the crew goes to the children’s hospital to hang out with the kids and surprise!! It’s the one Bobby had been transferred to or spent a lot of time in when he got super sick after his botched appendectomy. And maybe some of the nurses recognize him or maybe he volunteered a lot after he got better because he knew how much it meant to the kids to have someone who didn’t treat them like they were fragile yet understood first hand what they were going through.

But everyone’s confused because Bobby never told his crew the full extent of his medical history. The last thing he wanted was the look of pity people got when they found out he spent like maybe over half of his life in the hospital or something idk. Obviously during their visit they start to notice some things like maybe they find a picture of him as a kid is on the wall, maybe some of the nurses are asking questions about how he’s been feeling because they care about him, or maybe he hesitates before he enters a particularly familiar room.

[savvylittlecoxswain]

Bobby is the type of person who would casually (secretly) call an ambulance minutes before a race saying “hey I think I probably need to go to the hospital, look for the guy being tossed into the water by a bunch of tall, jacked guys like it’ll be impossible to miss” because he’s just that confident that they’ll win but also not that confident that he’ll be functioning properly by that point.