What if Ky Ebright found out Al Ulbrickson kicked Bobby off of the team and immediately tried to recruit him to come cox his crew at Cal? Like he offered scholarship money and the finest accommodations on campus and more because he recognized that Bobby was a damn good coxswain.
Bobby refuses despite how badly he wants back in a boat, but then Al invites him back and what he thought might be a missed opportunity is basically forgotten. After they win their race against Cal, Ebright begins to make his way towards their crew and Bobby sure as hell knows it’s not to talk to Ulbrickson. But he just pats Bobby on the shoulder and says just quiet enough for no one else to hear: “Glad to see you back in a boat, son. It’s where you belong” and then walks away.
And oh god Ulbrickson is literally right there and so is his crew and varsity and now everyone’s just staring at him all confused and some are pissed because ‘why’s he talking with the enemy’ even though Bobby didn’t say a word in the entire interaction. And so now maybe some of them are lowkey worried Bobby didn’t follow the plan because he was trying to throw the race when he was literally just doing whatever it took to win the race.
