In the chap­ter titled “The Speech,” the Cubs’ foot­ball team, reel­ing from Felix’s injury, finds moti­va­tion in their first-place rank­ing among Cal­i­for­ni­a’s eight-man teams, as cal­cu­lat­ed by the com­put­er algo­rithm of Cal­Preps. This his­toric rank­ing not only boosts their morale but also ensures their spot in the play­offs. As they approach their next game against Unit­ed Chris­t­ian Acad­e­my, the NFL reach­es out to Coach Adams for anoth­er pregame speech record­ing after dis­sat­is­fac­tion with a pri­or attempt. Coach­es and play­ers eager­ly pre­pare for the new speech designed to inspire and ele­vate team spir­it, empha­siz­ing their tough­ness and deter­mi­na­tion, espe­cial­ly in light of Felix’s absence.

The orig­i­nal speech by Adams includes direct appeals to the team’s pride and desire to win. The NFL, how­ev­er, remakes the speech, adding more flair and dra­mat­ic cadence, focus­ing on their heart and com­pet­i­tive spir­it. The revised speech strikes a chord among the play­ers, espe­cial­ly the younger mem­bers, who look up to Felix as a role mod­el. As the team enters the lock­er room, excite­ment is high, and Coach Adams is filmed deliv­er­ing the speech through an inter­preter, mark­ing the moment with the play­ers’ enthu­si­as­tic reac­tions.

Replac­ing Felix falls to cousins Gio and Luca Vis­co, both ath­letes with strong back­grounds. Gio, a gift­ed but under­ap­pre­ci­at­ed play­er, is look­ing to prove his skills on the field, while Luca faces pres­sure to step up as one of the team’s few African Amer­i­can play­ers. Ini­tial nerves soon dis­si­pate dur­ing the game, where both play­ers high­light their strengths. Gio makes a remark­able kick­off return for a touch­down, show­cas­ing his ath­leti­cism and deter­mi­na­tion. Mean­while, Luca inter­cepts pass­es, con­tribut­ing sig­nif­i­cant­ly to the Cubs’ defense, which ulti­mate­ly records six inter­cep­tions dur­ing the game.

The Cubs dom­i­nate the game against the Eagles, lead­ing impres­sive­ly at half­time. Coach Adams opts to hold some starters back, mind­ful of Felix’s injury. When the NFL asks for anoth­er take of the speech, the atmos­phere becomes sur­re­al yet enter­tain­ing as play­ers pre­pare for the sec­ond half of the game. Despite the game being well in hand, the sec­ond half offers oppor­tu­ni­ty for bench play­ers to shine, lead­ing to stand­out moments that crys­tal­ize their mem­o­ries of the match. Over­all, the chap­ter illus­trates resilience, team­work, and the indomitable spir­it of the Cubs in the face of adver­si­ty.