The Blind Side Page #8

You betcha, buddy.

Congratulations on gettin' hired.

Thank you, Ma'am.

Ole Miss is my dream job.

You're coming a little late to the party

and we're diehard Rebels

so I'm gonna give you

a frickin' road map.

- All right?

- Got it.

LSU is out. Everybody knows

Saban's going to the NFL.

I don't wanna name names, but on

Michael's first two recruiting trips

somebody took him to a tittybar.

- That's terrible.

- Tell me about it.

He had nightmares about it for weeks.

So when he comes to visit

I want you to feed him Italian -

he likes Fettucine Alfredo -

and I want you to take him to a movie -

not Chainsaw Massacre

because he'll just cover his eyes -

and get him in bed by ten.

- You got it?

- Yes ma'am.

- All right.

- What about Tennessee?

It breaks my heart but they're still

in the hunt.

Fulmer made SJ a sweet deal.

I heard that kid can really

pepper the gumbo.

He's his daddy's boy.

- You ready?

- Let's do it.

All right.

Mike, do you love barbecue?

I tell you what, Mike.

You can go to a gas station

and get best barbecue,

you ever got in your life.

It's a wonderful place to live,

fried catfish,

all the good food

that we love to eat

and it's not good for us

as football players,

you're gonna have it there, Mike.

I promise.

And for you, SJ,

this is what I can do.

At Ole Miss we have the grove

by the stadium.

We walk it before every game,

in front of thousands of people.

It is a sacrad ritual. And I'm in front.

Seen it a thousand times.

Ever seen it from the front

of the line?

Next year, you and me;

leading the team.

Tennessee offered to let me run

on the field and flip the coin.

I'll throw in a sideline pass.

Have you decided yet, Michael?

No, Miss Sue.

But you like Tennessee?

It's a good school.

Not at the academic level of Ole Miss,

but they have an outstanding

science department.

You know what they're famous for?

They work with the FBI

to study the effects of the soil

on decomposing body parts.

What's that mean?

Well when they find a body, the police

want to know how long it's been dead.

So the fine folks at Tennessee

help them out.

They have a lots of body parts.

Arms and legs and hands -

from hospitals and medical schools.

And you know where they store 'em?

Right underneath the football field.

So, while it's fine and dandy,

to have 100,000 fans cheering for you,

the bodies you should be worried about

are the ones right under the turf.

Set to poke up through the ground

and grab you.

But it's your decision where you wanna

play ball.

Don't let me influence you.

All the other teachers are on board,

I don't know what your problem is.

I'm sorry.

I will not give a student a grade

he, or she, doesn't deserve.

Well, Michael needs a B.

What does he have to do to "deserve" that?

Right now Michael is doing C minus,

D plus work.

His best chance at improvement

is the written essay

at the end of the year.

It counts a third of the grade.

Well that's it. We're sunk.

Why don't you write about

"Great Expectations"?

You're a lot like Pip.

I mean he was poor, he was an orphan

and someone kind of found him.

You should be able to relate to that.

Fine, let's go through the reading list.

But you're gonna have to pick one, Michael.

"Pygmalion"...

"A Tale of Two Cities".....

"The Charge of the Light Brigade"...

"Half a league, half a league,

half a league onward"

I love that one.

He loves it.

Why don't you do this

and I'll watch basketball?

Okay.

"All in the Valley of Death rode

the six hundred."

They named LSU's stadium Death Valley

because of this story.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was writing

about LSU-Ole Miss.

- You're kidding?

- No. It's a great story.

It's a poem.

"Forward the Light Brigade!"

It's like the offense.

"Charge for the guns he said."

That's the end zone.

"Into the Valley of Death rode

the six hundred."

"Forward the Light Brigade!

Was there a man dismay'd?

Not tho' the soldier knew

someone had blundered."

Someone made a mistake?

Yeah, their leader, their coach.

But why would they go ahead

if they knew he messed up?

"Theirs not to make reply,

theirs not to reason why,

theirs but to do and die:

Into the Valley of Death rode

the six hundred."

They're all gonna die, aren't they?

Yeah.

That's really, really sad.

I think you just found something

to write about, Michael.

Courage is a hard thing to figure.

You can have courage based

on a dumb idea or mistake,

but you're not supposed

to question adults,

or your coach

or your teacher

because they make the rules.

Maybe they know best

but maybe they don't.

It all depends on who you are,

where you come from.

Didn't at least one of the six hundred

guys think about giving up.

and joining with the other side?

I mean, Valley of Death

that's pretty salty stuff.

That's why courage is tricky.

Should you always do

what others tell you to do?

Sometimes you might not even know

why you're doing something.

I mean any fool can have courage.

But honor, that's the real reason

you either do something or you don't.

It's who you are and maybe

who you want to be.

If you die trying for

something important

then you have both

honor and courage

and that's pretty good.

I think that's what the writer

was saying.

That you should hope for courage

and try for honor.

And maybe even pray that the people

telling you what to do have some, too.

Kevin Lynn.

- Good job.

- Excuse me.

Matthew Nichols.

Michael's final GPA.

Got it off Paul's computer.

Jamie North.

He did it, Sean. He did it.

Wait a minute. You broke into

the principal's computer?

Michael Oher.

Where in the world did you find

a baby picture of Michael?

Scanned it off an Internet ad

for a toddler boutique.

Congratulations, Mike.

Michael, up top!

Way to go, bro!

All right, that's enough.

Young man...

I think I need a proper hug.

All right. You're gonna be staying

in Deaton Hall - where is it?

And you're gonna be on the meal plan

so you're gonna be eating all the way over

here in Johnson Commons. Right there.

Johnson Commons. All you can

eat self-serve ice cream.

As much as you want?

Mm huh, that's how Mama put

on her freshman ten.

Stop it!

Hello?

This is Mrs. Tuohy.

They just want to ask you a couple

of questions, Michael.

You have nothing to hide.

Ms. Tuohy? Mr. Oher?

My name is Jocelyn Granger,

and I'm the Assistant Director

of Enforcement for the NCAA.

Please, call me Leigh Anne.

So, let's do this. Shall we?

Mrs. Tuohy, if you wouldn't mind

I'd prefer to speak with Michael alone.

- And how long is that gonna take?

- Awhile.

All right. Go.

Michael? Michael! I'll be waiting

for you in the lobby, All right?

I don't know, Sean. I just have

a bad feeling about this one.

This woman is tough, tough...

Hold on.

Hey.

The client wants what?

Were you aware that Coach Cotton

was accepting a job at Ole Miss?

No.

And that this job offer came after

you signed with them?

Sean Tuohy, your legal guardian

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