#so have unexpected amounts of locker discourse

[thetarttfuldickhead]

What do you think about the fact that Jamie didn't go back to his old locker now that that ZAVA 4 lockers monstrosity was redivided among the players? Seems like O'Biren took one of the places in the corner instead and Jamie kept his new place closer to the rest of the team

Hiya, nonny!

Full disclaimer: I know zero things about locker distribution in professional sports and Google has not been my friend, so I’m just going to roll with the assumption that players are normally assigned a locker but when one becomes free because someone leaves or whatever you might ask to switch. There are probably lockers that are considered better than others (either in general – it’s cool to be in the middle of the room, or something like that – or specific to each locker room, like ‘that one’s best, it has a nice little draft from the ventilation’) and the better the player, the better chance do they have of trading up when the opportunity arises, because that’s how these things tend to work in other settings. Possibly a lesser player might get asked to switch lockers when a new star arrives? I really don’t know, but maybe? And then we have superstars like Zava who can demand 4 locker monstrosities in the Ted Lasso-verse, though at least one podcast I listened to mentioned that this is unlikely to happen in the real world.

In season 1, Jamie has a locker in the middle of the right side. If there are good lockers, this is a good locker, because otherwise Jamie wouldn’t have it. When he returns in season 2 he is assigned – I assume – a corner locker instead. At this time, he shares it with 1 O’Brien, a 22 and a 25 (probably De Maat and Bekoe respectively, though I only see the numbers in 2x03 – you can see the names in 3x02 and 3x03). I am thinking that these are probably not the best lockers in the room? Partly because none of our other main players have a locker there, and partly because it makes sense to put Jamie somewhere not great at this point, kind of like Ted intially putting him among the reserves in training. Even if I’m completely wrong about there being higher status and lower status lockers, it’s probably a good idea not to dump Jamie right in the middle of a room that’s teeming with resentment towards him, but just keep him a little to the side.

Maybe it was just the one free locker, nothing more to it. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and all that jazz. I’m just kind of digging Jamie intentionally and literally being put in the corner while working his way into the team’s good graces. Possibly not pushing for a switch even after he was in a position to do so, either because he got used to the spot or as a continued demonstration of humility.

Now, in the beginning of season 3, the corner is shared by Jamie, 18 Babatunde, 25 Bekoe and 22 De Maat. Our friend O’Brien is seemingly occupied elsewhere. Once Zava leaves and the lockers are redistributed, O’Brien is back in the corner, again with 22 De Maat, 25 Bekoe and probably 18 Babatunde (can only make out the ‘e’ at the end of the name and the vague tail end of an 8 in 3x07). Jamie sticks around where he was put during the Zava takeover.

All this rambling just to lay out what we know and the many assumptions that lead me to believe that once Zava is gone Jamie is in a position to choose if he goes back to the corner or stays with his new locker. He has that kind of clout, he is the star of the team and the coaches owes him a little bit for the whole Zava thing. (You might well have taken this for granted, nonny, but I did not – hence everything that went before in this post.)

So, Jamie chooses to stay where he is – closer to the rest of the team, as you say. And that’s the rub, isn’t it? I think Jamie probably does care at a little about having a higher status locker (if such a thing even exist) because he’s still Jamie fucking Tartt, but he cares a whole lot more about being close to the team. After all, Jamie likes being at the center of things. He is social and he is physically affectionate: he is not someone who thrives on having a little quiet corner to the side. No, Jamie wants to be in the thick of it, part of what goes on, making his voice heard and chatting with his team mates and joking and voicing his opinions left and right. Touching everyone all the fucking time. Being touched. (Sorry, I just have an extreme amount of feelings on the subject of Jamie being tactile.)

Admittedly, he did not seem keen on moving lockers when Zava arrived but that’s arguably due to him not being a fan of getting shoved to the side for the other player’s ego. Once he found himself in his new spot, he probably remembered how much he preferred that position to the more obscure one, and he likely feels like he has less to prove now: he can afford not going back to the corner.

Besides, I think the whole Zava ordeal left him feeling excluded and alienated from all the others and therefore particularly keen to be closer to them. Reforge those bonds. Hang over people’s shoulders. Fistbumps. Hear the chatter properly and take part in it, rather than to watch it from the sidelines. Jamie has fought harder than anyone else for this team in season 3 – of course it’s really important for him that he gets to feel a proper part of it.

(And even if it’s not Jamie’s choice and it’s the coaches’ call who goes back, I think they too realize it’s high time for Jamie to take his place at the center of the team, metaphorically speaking, both because he’s earned his spot there, and because he’ll thrive there, and because they do get that this Zava shit was detrimental to his integration in the team.)