Disclaimer

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A run-down meeting is about to begin. Casey is the last one entering the room.

Casey: I just would like to inform everybody that tomato soup does not- I repeat, does not- help cure poison ivy or poison oak, no matter what myths you may have heard.

Everybody in the room starts laughing.

Casey: Oh. I guess everybody hasn't heard the myth.

Everybody is seated and they are ready to begin the meeting.

Dana: Okay, we are starting to slow down. There's two games on the schedule tonight from the NBA, one from the NHL, and the usual fifteen games in baseball. We're continuing our series on Rasmussen. Natalie, what do you have?

Natalie: They had to return to base camp earlier due to weather. A storm was spotted on radar about an hour away, so they felt it was wise to retreat.

Casey: A storm with 80 miles-per-hour winds and near zero visibility.

Kim: And that's considered a minor snow storm.

Chris: More people die on Everest in May compared with any other month.

Will: That's because more people climb it in May than any other month. May is the climbing season.

Dana: Well, we are sticking with the story until they reach the top or pack it in, but I do hope they do not pack it in. Daniel has a question.

Dan: Yes. What is an adequate substitute if tomato soup doesn't work for poison ivy?

Everybody starts laughing as Dan nudges Casey.

Dana: Okay, everybody. Casey? How is the Milstead interview shaping up?

Casey: It's getting worse. They want to limit the questions to just football.

Dana: How is that getting worse? Football is a sport, and guess what? We do a sports show!

Casey: They want easy football questions. They don't want anything negative coming out from the interview.

Dana: He's testifying in a prostitution trial. I'm sure that doesn't have a negative impact on his reputation.

Casey: They also want a say in what questions are asked.

Dana: What are we? A teacher giving an open-book test? Casey, tell them no, and if they don't like that then they can kiss my ass.

Casey: What if they don't mind kissing-

Dana: Don't even go there!

Casey: All right. I'll let Milstead and his agent know.

Dana: Anything else?

The phone rings in the corner. Kim answers the phone.

Dana: Anybody?

Kim leans over to Isaac.

Kim: Isaac, it's for you.

Isaac: I'll take it outside.

Dana: Well, I want to close this meeting with an inspiring story Natalie shared with me earlier today. It is about a boy...

Isaac leaves the conference room. He walks over to the phone outside of the control room. He picks it up and pushes a button.

Isaac: (on phone) Isaac Jaffee. (listens) Okay. Sam is out on assignment and will be back next week. (listens) I've already been working seventy hours each of the last two weeks. (listens) No, no. I'll come in tomorrow. I'll be glad when we get all this straightened out. Then I'll be able to take my scheduled days off away from work. (listens) Yeah.

Isaac hangs up the phone. He walks back into the conference room.

Dana: ...Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases toward home.

As Shaya reached second base, the opposing short stop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base and told him, "Run to third."

As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming, "Shaya, run home!" Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a "grand slam" and won the game for his team.

"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "those 18 boys reached their level of God's perfection."

So what do you think?

Agreement and a round of smiles answer Dana's question.

Jeremy: I don't particularly like the story.

Dana: What was that?

Jeremy: I don't like the story.

Natalie: Why not, Jeremy? It's inspiring.

Jeremy: Inspiring to you may be, but it isn't inspiring to me.

What are we to make of an incitement to treat the disabled to a pat on the head instead of granting them acceptance for who they are, even when that means accepting the limitations placed upon them by their infirmities? Has a disabled child who has been conditioned to believe he's good at baseball somehow been helped, or has he been set up for a greater hurt when he comes to realize he's been made the object of pity and an accomplishment he'd been praising himself for was just a sham?

Kindness is all well and good, but not when the expression of it sets up the recipient for greater harm later. The less abled don't require our pity -- they want acceptance, to be seen as viable and valuable members of the world. Lying down for them doesn't accomplish this; it just reinforces the belief they can't succeed on their own.

Can a disabled child hit a baseball as well as a perfectly-abled one? No. But can that same child learn to work within his disabilities to the point of achieving real accomplishments he can take honest pride in? Absolutely. And I believe that beats all the pity-driven home runs in the world.

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A somber Dan is sitting quietly at his desk. The phone rings, and he picks it up right away.

Dan: Hello? (listens) Abby? (listens) Yes, yes. I am available. (grabs a pen and paper and writes something down) I will be there. Thank you very much.

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Dan walks quickly into Isaac's office. He is very excited.

Isaac looks up and takes off his glasses.

Isaac: May I help you?

Dan: I have an idea!

Isaac: Good for you. Please share it with me later.

Dan: I know how to keep Casey.

Isaac: Danny-

Dan: I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner.

Isaac: Go ahead.

Dan: Okay. Here's the plan. Let's renegotiate my contract. I am willing to take less. My salary jumps tremendously with this new contract, and I don't necessarily need all the money. So, why don't I give some of it back? That way, they can re-sign Casey.

Isaac: I have to talk it over-

Dan: What is there to talk over? This can be a done deal!

Isaac: I have to run it through the proper channels.

Dan: Okay. You do that.

Isaac: I will.

Dan: It's a good chance it will happen, isn't it?

Isaac: Dan, you need to worry about your own career.

Dan: I am. I am being considerate of my co-workers.

Isaac: Have you thought they might take advantage of you? Have you thought that they might give you less money, and then decide not to re-sign Casey?

Dan: It would be contingent that Casey and I would be signed at the same time.

Isaac: You need to be very careful.

Dan: Isaac? Why is it that I am the only person who seems to care about this? I've come up with a brilliant plan, and it will work. Please, let me do this. Please, let me make this happen.

Isaac: Dan, you need to worry about your own future. I will worry about everything else.

"So, you felt Isaac wasn't too receptive to your idea?"

Dan is sitting on the couch in Abby's office.

Dan: I felt like he wasn't listening to me.

Abby: Have you given him a chance to try and resolve the situation?

Dan: I realize that he is extremely busy right now, and he just seems agitated every time I bring it up. I have a plan. It will work. I know it will work. But I can't let this happen again. This plan is the best solution for everybody, yet everybody is too blind to see the truth.

Abby: Maybe you're too emotionally involved in the situation to give a fair assessment.

Dan: No, I'm fine. I just need something to say, I need to find out what I need to do to make this work.

Abby: Have you helped Casey with his contract before?

Dan: Not really.

Abby: This is the first time you two have dealt with contract negotiations when you two are partners?

Dan: Yes. He was the one who gave me the chance in San Francisco and the chance to go to Dallas. He's been able to make it happen for me.

Abby: You would feel like you failed if you didn't keep Casey with the network?

Dan: Y... Yes.

Abby: You said this happened to you once before?

Dan: No, I didn't.

Abby: Yes, you said that you, and if I'm quoting you correctly, "can't let this happen again."

Dan: I said that?

Abby: Yes, you did.

Dan leans back on the couch and takes a deep breath.

Abby: Did something happen with your family?

Dan: I don't know. Maybe.

As Dan looks up to the ceiling, the room goes dark. Suddenly, a light flicks back on.

Dan: Come on, Dad. Let me do this.

Mr. Rydell: Daniel, this is the end of the discussion.

Dan: I'll stay home and help around the house. Mom's sick and we need the help.

Mr. Rydell: You're taking that internship.

Dan: Why don't I get one closer to home? Hartford? Or even Providence?

Mr. Rydell: I asked a lot of favors to get you this chance. You are not going to blow it.

Dan: But it's out west.

Mr. Rydell: Listen to me, young man. You're just a freshman. Once you graduate, then you can make your own decisions.

Dan: What about Mom?

Mr. Rydell: Your mother will be fine. She just needs some time to recover. She's sick, she's not dying.

Dan: Dad? David is out-of-state, and Ann won't hang around the house this summer. That leaves you and mom. Let me stay home and help out. I've got other summers to do an internship.

Mr. Rydell: You need to worry about your future. End of discussion.

"You went out and got your internship. You met Casey, and you started your journey to the top of cable sports."

Dan: And yet, I sit in here to complain about it.

Abby: You feel that if you lose Casey, then you will lose Sports Night.

Dan: I guess.

Abby: Just like you lost your family.

Dan: What?

Abby: You feel that if you stayed home that summer, your family would not have drifted apart. Your brother and sister would not have moved away after college, and your parents would be in a happy marriage.

Dan stares at the floor.

Dan: Maybe I should have stayed home. Things may have been better.

Abby: You feel responsible because you had the plan to help keep things together, and when you didn't get to live through your idea, you feel like you failed.

Dan: You're scary.

Abby: I'm a medical doctor.

Dan: But still-

Abby: Do you feel like you failed? Do you feel responsible?

Dan: Um... yes.

Abby: And you still have that guilt.

Dan: Yeah.

Abby: Your father forgave you for your mistakes, your family has always forgiven you, Casey has forgiven you recently, and it looks like people always forgive you for your mistakes.

Dan: I guess so.

Abby: So, if you are forgiven, then what seems to be the problem?

Dan: You know the answer.

Abby: I want to to say it.

Dan: I don't know the answer.

Abby: I'll make this easy on you. Everybody has forgiven you for your mistakes. What you need to do is forgive yourself.