Bartlet's Ringer — Toby Publicly Blocked
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet brazenly substitutes in Rodney Grant, a former Duke basketball player, as a ringer to secure victory.
Toby and Josh call out Bartlet's history of cheating, citing past incidents with exaggerated outrage.
Grant's identity as a former Duke player is revealed, confirming Bartlet's underhanded tactics.
Grant blocks Toby's shot with dramatic force, humiliating him and proving Bartlet's ruse successful.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Professional and neutral — focused on protocol and physical security rather than the social dynamics unfolding.
Secret Service agents stage and execute the arrival: an agent opens the car door for Grant, manages sidelines presence, and maintains close protective coverage around the court while discrete enough to facilitate the President's substitution.
- • Ensure secure, orderly arrival and departure of the President and visitors.
- • Maintain a protective perimeter while allowing the President's informal activities to proceed.
- • Follow clear orders from the President and senior staff without public interference.
- • Visible presence is necessary for security but should not dominate informal staff moments.
Respectful and attentive; slightly amused but cautious — he reads the room and obeys senior direction without grandstanding.
Charlie Young observes, delivers light commentary about the President's breathlessness, watches Grant arrive, and is later asked to guard Grant — he follows directions and maintains a watchful, respectful presence.
- • Protect the President's interests and follow orders.
- • Keep the game civil and assist in neutralizing any escalation.
- • Hierarchy in the West Wing should be respected in public settings.
- • Maintaining decorum supports the President and the team's wellbeing.
Amused and opportunistic — enjoying the spectacle and aligning socially with the President's gambit.
Josh Lyman reacts with exuberant, partisan delight: he cheers on plays, calls out the moment of the block, and amplifies the competitive tenor, taking Bartlet's side in the exchange.
- • Support the President's banter and social dominance.
- • Fuel the camaraderie/competitive mood and enjoy the humorous reversal at Toby's expense.
- • The President's theatrical gestures are worth backing for group cohesion.
- • Public humiliation of a rival can be harmless and funny in staff culture.
Delighted, teasing, and quietly triumphant — enjoying the theatrical humiliation of a subordinate while masking any cruelty as jocularity.
Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet orchestrates the substitution: he calls for Mr. Grant, directs the court's flow with playful authority, introduces Grant as a federal employee, and savors the outcome after Grant blocks Toby's shot.
- • Reassert informal authority through an on‑court power play.
- • Create a memorable, competitive moment that both bonds and unsettles staff.
- • The Presidency permits a degree of theatricality to maintain hierarchy and morale.
- • A little public ribbing strengthens group cohesion even if it embarrasses individuals.
Calm, focused, and confident—he performs his role without apparent relish for humiliation, simply executing the play.
Rodney Grant appears as the delivered substitute: he steps from the car, shakes Bartlet's hand, answers Toby's questioning about his past (confirming Duke), then physically defends the basket and blocks Toby's shot with authoritative athleticism.
- • Play effectively and represent himself/office with competence.
- • Defend the President's decision by validating his athletic credibility on court.
- • Professional appointment and athletic skill can coexist; being a federal employee doesn't preclude having an athletic past.
- • Performing well on the court will legitimize his placement and the President's decision.
Self‑righteous and performatively superior until immediate humiliation shifts him to shocked, bruised pride and shaken composure.
Toby Ziegler claims the moral high ground, taunting Bartlet about 'cheating' and poetic legacy, confronts Grant about his past, then attempts the game‑winning drive only to be spectacularly blocked and briefly knocked off balance.
- • Expose and shame Bartlet for perceived dishonesty or gamesmanship.
- • Win the game and, symbolically, assert moral dominance over the President.
- • Public behavior reveals character — he can call out the President without consequence.
- • Rhetorical moral superiority can influence social standing among staff.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
A staff motorcade car idles at the court; a Secret Service agent opens its side door to disgorge Rodney Grant at Bartlet's wave. The vehicle functions as the physical mechanism for the surprise substitution and amplifies the spectacle by signaling official backing for the stunt.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The White House as overarching location frames the event, lending institutional weight to an otherwise casual athletic contest — the President's actions are imbricated in the power and protections of the executive complex.
The outdoor White House basketball court is the immediate stage for the exchange: a late-night, informal site where rank flattens into pickup-game dynamics and where Bartlet's gesture reads simultaneously as sport and social theater. The open court allows a car to pull up and Secret Service to form a perimeter, turning a casual game into a site of display.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Both beats showcase the camaraderie and competitive spirit within the White House staff, reinforcing the familial bond established early."
"Both beats showcase the camaraderie and competitive spirit within the White House staff, reinforcing the familial bond established early."
"Both beats showcase the camaraderie and competitive spirit within the White House staff, reinforcing the familial bond established early."
"Both beats showcase the camaraderie and competitive spirit within the White House staff, reinforcing the familial bond established early."
Key Dialogue
"TOBY: You know the thing about you, Mr. President? It isn't so much that you cheat. It's how brazenly bad you are at it."
"BARTLET: Mr. Grant is a federal employee."
"BARTLET: Let the poets write about that there, Byron."