Late 9th season – Danny tries to get Steph & Gia to do more school activities as they write a sports story, Jesse & Joey look for new manager of Smash Club, Michelle tries to get on kids’ TV show (based on book “The Problem With Pen Pals”) I'll post the finale sometime later, when antoher I'm writing is also ready.

A/N: Two books are referenced here, but this is TV universe, late 9th season. The reason the books are included: One, “Doubles Or Nothing,” just didn’t have any room in the calendar, Stephanie’s not in the tennis club again in any other book, and Steph, Gia, and Mickey match up well in this one, with Mickey replacing Darcy and Gia Allie, allowing an explanation of where Mickey went near the end of this story. Of course, she can be friends with Steph in the times we don’t see, but there did need to be a reason she doesn’t hang out with them anymore. The other, “The Problem With Pen Pals,” has Michelle matched with a pen pal from an overseas school via computer, and the match is likely to be the same in both universes. The situation is the same as described in the book, and while it’s more likely Michelle would take a loss easily in the Book Universe, it’s still rather likely in the TVU, where she’s lost much of that Jesse attitude by late season 9.

Going for the Gold

Stephanie Tanner, fourteen, and her best friend Gia Mahan, fifteen and a half, were sitting in the room Stephanie shared with her younger sister, Michelle, nine. “Okay, we need a unique topic for our sports story. Any thoughts?”

“Not right now. My mind is on the boys.”

Sephanie told herself not to roll her eyes at her best friend, who had been held back twice and was still a slightly wild eighth grader. “Gia, I keep telling you, it’s important to focus. You can’t think about boys all the time.”

“I know.”

“It’s a few weeks till March Madness, too early to do a baseball preview, our school teams aren’t that great; come on, help me think.”

“I told you…boys.”

At that moment, the Tanner girls’ four-year-old cousins, Nicky and Alex, ran into the room playing a combination of football, baseball, and a few other things – all with an invisible ball, so they wouldn’t break anything. They were the children of Jesse Katsopolis and Rebeca Donaldson. Their Uncle Jesse had moved in, along with their dad’s best friend, Joey, to help raise Stephanie, Michelle, and D.J., now a freshman at San Francisco State who also still lived there, when their mother died.

“Like I said, I’m thinking about the boys – those boys.”

“You know, you’re really starting to learn what’s important,” Stephanie said, considering the bitter divorce in Gia’s life and how bad of an attitude she’d had when they first met, a little over a couple years ago.

They went downstairs and asked Stephanie’s dad, Danny Tanner, if he had any ideas. Danny was enthused – he was always very involved in his girls’ lives, and he was really hoping that they’d get more involved in school activities – especially sports. “You know, I’m glad you mentioned sports. They really are fun topics.” The talk show host – along with Becky – was a former sportscaster. “Why, if a few things had gone differently, the 49ers might have got to the last four Super Bowls. For instance, Charles Haley left them to go to the Cowboys just before they went to three in four years. You know, you two really should go to more high school games; you’re only young once.”

“What was that, Dad?” Stephanie asked.

Danny was excited – he thought he was getting through to them with no effort. “Oh, well, about sports, you know, you can afford to be more active at school; D.J. had to help with Michelle more at her age, but she still managed to be in S.A.D.D. and the school paper’s editor in eighth grade and be the valedictorian. So, you could certainly be in more than S.A.D.D. and the sports section of your paper.”

“No, I mean about the 49ers – could they have really done what the Bills did?” Stephanie thought for a second. “In fact, if they did, they could have won.”

“Hey, yeah, Tanner, your dad’s right. And if they’d won that game against the Giants, they have maybe won three straight there.”

“Let’s do it.” Stephanie and Gia ran off, and Danny sighed.

D.J. – a student at San Francisco State - and Kimmy Gibbler, her annoying and dumb best friend – who was trying to get into beauty school – walked in the back door, while Jesse came up from his recording studio in the basement. “Hey, Danny, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s Steph. Her rebellious phase is over, but she and Gia still aren’t in near as much as I was in school. Or even D.J..”

“Maybe she feels you’re putting too much pressure on her to be like me again,” D.J. offered.

Kimmy, as usual, had an odder suggestion. “Or, maybe she has a secret romantic liaison”

“She’s got that kid she’s been courting that she met at camp, Caleb,” Jesse noted.

Kimmy looked oddly at him. “I said romantic. Said when is courtship romantic. You have someone staring at you all the time when you kiss.” She thought a second. “Of course, I guess it never stopped you with boys, Deej.”

“Hey, I would not stare, I would simply sto in for a minute and, well, investigate.” He caught D.J.’s look. “In a slightly awkward way sometimes, I know.”

“Yeah, like looking for stray ketchup bottles,” she said, referring to her thirteenth birthday part. “Face it, dad, you were a lot more anxious with me than Steph. But, Steph and Caleb are having lots of fun, too, Kimmy,” she told her friend. “And, it’s having a positive impact on Gia; she’s seeing that a girl can have a fun, enjoyable relationship with a boy without it being all about looks and feelings.”

“True; like with Steve, a lot of it’s about food.” Kimmy was referring to Steve hale, the boy D.J. dated for over a year, broke up with, then started back with once he took her to her senior prom.

Joey came in from the living room. “Jesse, I just got off the phone with the manager of the Smash Club; I thought you were still busy so I took a message.”

“Really, what’s the message?”

“He’s giving his two week notice.”

“What?! That’s impossible!”

“What’s he saying will happen in two weeks?” Kimmy wanted to know. D.J. reminded Kimmy that she should know what that means.

“Why should she know? She’s been fired from every job she ever held before she could give a two week notice,” Jesse said sharply. He turned back to Joey, and hung his head. “Ah, I should have known it was coming. He did say he just wanted the job to build his resume toward a bigger gig elsewhere; he’s had it for about a year and now he’s goin’ somewhere bigger, huh?”

“He said he had an offer to run the day to day stuff somewhere down in Los Angeles.”

“I knew it. Well, guess we’re gonna have to go looking for applicants; oh, hey, shorty,” he said to Michelle as she walked in, having come from a friend’s house. He explained what was happening.

“I could try to do it, but I’ll be too busy.”

“Michelle’s traveling All-Star soccer team is doing great,” D.J. said.

“Not only that, but Aunt Becky told me this morning about a show for kids down at your station, Dad. I want to audition to be the host.”

“That’d be great. Now, I’m not going to put any pressure on you; but, if this is what you really want, then go for it. Anyway, Jess, how would you hint to Steph and Gia about middle school activities?”

“Oh, we got a whole mess of schedules at the radio station; I’ll bring some home Monday.” Danny thanked him.

Early next week, Danny had just finished decorating – really, covering - the refrigerator with magnetic sports schedules when Stephanie and Gia came in from school. “Oh, Steph, you’re just in time. Doesn’t the refrigerator look great?”

“I think your dad’s flipped,” Gia told Stephanie. “If he wanted to wallpaper something, he should put them on the walls. Nobody wallpapers the refrigerator.”

“It’s not wallpaper; it’s just that I wanted to get all the sports schedules of various middle and high schools so you have a choice. Look here.” He pulled one off and showed her. “Dimaggio Middle School Volleyball. You know, everyone goes to the football, basketball, even baseball games, but when I went to school, the volleyball team had something like five fans in the stands.”

“Cool; thanks, Dad,” Stephanie said with little interest. “Anyway, our story’s hit a snag.” Danny asked what kind. “Well, we had the Cardinals draft Herschel Walker, so he could have good seasons for a really bad club while not being traded; that takes some key players off of Dallas, along with giving Haley to the 49ers. And, we have one play different in the NFC title game. But, we’re hung up on getting them past the 1991 Redskins; that was aone of the most dominant teams in history, and it’d be fun to make it 8 straight.”

“Uh, Steph, don’t you want to talk about your school’s sports teams?”

Stephanie put a hand on his arm. “Dad, if you want to come to a game, go ahead. Nothing’s stopping you. Just don’t try to clean the dirt on the ball field.”

“I’ll remember that. Oh, Caleb’s in the living room; your Uncle Jesse and Joey are interviewing his dad, after you suggested it.” They went into the living room.

Meanwhile, Jesse and Joey were interviewing Caleb’s dad in the recording studio, where they planned to do their show live. They thought it would be nice if they could announce the new person on the air. “So, you see, Mr. Wilson,” Jesse was finishing, “I still own the place, and kind of oversee things, but I need someone to handle day to day stuff, like the last fellow did after Michelle’s accident.”

“And, it doesn’t have to be music,” Joey pointed out.

“Yes it does.”

“Jess, come on, what’s wrong with a little comedy?”

“What’s wrong? Joey, we do enough funny stuff on the radio, thanks to you. The Smash Club is my one respite from a world that seems to have forgotten what good, wholesome music is all about. I mean, it seems like nowadays nobody likes good lyrics anymore. I’m sure you’ve found the same thing, right, Mr. Wilson?”

“Oh, certainly, that’s why I think more of an emphasis on family entertainment is vital.”

“He means comedy,” Joey whispered.

“Well, that is part of it,” Mr. Wilson added.

Jesse was in shock. “Tell me you didn’t just say that.”

“Well, Mr. Katsopolis, lyrics are getting more vulgar and risqué – I’m sure your general manager told you that when it came to getting new bands.”

“Yeah, but that’s the sort of thing we’re hiring someone for, so they can still find the right bands for young people without all that hippety hop stuff, or whatever you call it.”

Joey serenaded him, “Come on, Jess, music changes, but comedy is the constant that keeps us all happy.” He sang with the voice of Sam from “Casablanca,” “You must remember this. A face is still a face. A pie is still a pie. On this you can rely. As time goes by.” Jesse held his head in his hands. “And when the people meet a really silly treat. They laugh until they cry. They don’t need all those other things. As time goes by.”

“Snap out it,” Jesse responded angrily, slapping him lightly on the head like the Three Stooges. “It’s bad enough I have to miss the little munchkin winning the anchor’s job on that kids’ news show.”

Becky had brought Nicky and Alex with her while picking Michelle up from school and bringing her down to the station. Michelle was anxiously looking forward to saying she’d earned a spot, partly to impress her pen pal, partly to be like her dad. And, even partly to be like D.J., who always wanted to be the best.

However, Nicky and Alex got in front of the camera, before the auditions were to start, and they were hilariously cute. Even Michelle had to laugh. The producer eventually came out, and said that while they would still have kids who would be reporters and things, they had found what they wanted to open the segment – just Nicky and Alex, acting silly, reading fake “news stories’ upside down, and so on.

“I’m sorry, honey,” Becky said honestly. “They didn’t mean to do it.”

“I know. I’m a little disappointed, but…not too much.” She ran and hugged Nicky and Alex. “Great job, guys,” she said happily. “Everyone’s going to laugh so hard.”

“What did we do?” Nicky asked.

“Well, your were yourselves, that’s what important. And, if Michelle’s pen pal is as nice as she seems via e-mail, I think she’ll accept Michelle really well, even without having her own show.”

D.J. had arrived home from the library by the time Becky brought the others home. “Hey, how’s my favorite anchor,” Danny asked as he hugged her tenderly.

“Fine, Dad. But, I didn’t get the job. Nicky and Alex did.”

D.J. raised her eyebrows, remembering how badly she’d reacted when Stephanie won a spot in a commercial over her. “How do you feel?” she wanted to know.

“Fine. I know they weren’t trying to do it. I’m happy for them.”

“Well, we’re really proud of you. Especially for how you’re taking it,” Danny agreed with Becky.

Michelle could tell D.J. was stunned. “Didn’t you think they could do it?”

“It’s not that. I have to be honest with you; when I was a year older than you are now, and Steph did that to me in that Oat Boats ad, I was furious with her. Remember that, Steph?” She asked as Stephanie and Gia came downstairs.

Stephanie recalled. “She chased me around the table like crazy, and wouldn’t even talk to me for a little while.”

Becky could tell Michelle thought that was odd. “Remember, Michelle, D.J. had had her room taken over by Stephanie, she’d just lost your mom less than a year earlier; a lot of things were changing for her.”

“I’d still be happy for Nicky and Alex, though.”

“I think you’ll understand better when you have your own kids, Michelle,” Danny sadi. “Sometimes the older one feels a little more entitlement to everything. And, sometimes it’s just different personalities. Like with sports; you know, Steph, just because I pushed volleyball doesn’t mean you have to watch that, the basketball season’s still got a few games left. And, your school’s baseball season will start soon.”

“Dad, why are you doing this?”

“Doing what? I just want you girls to enjoy different things, that’s all. You’re only young once.” He admitted that maybe he was pushing it a bit much. “I just don’t want to see you spending your whole time looking at boys. I know, now that you and Caleb are together, you don’t do that, but Gia needs something else to do.”

Gia pointed out that, “The baseball team will have a lot of nice boys on it.” Stephanie admitted that was true.

“Well, I didn’t mean to go there for the boys.”

D.J. told him, ‘Face it, Dad. They’re teenagers. Relationships are a big part of their lives. Just like having fun is a big part of Michelle’s.” She hugged her. “And, I’m so glad you’re such a good sport with Nicky and Alex. We must have done something right.”

“You got it.”

Jesse and Joey were done with their radio show a short time later. Caleb’s dad had been helping with it, as they discussed, on the air, different trends in entertainment. “All right, my man, great job,” Jesse said. He thought for a second. “Did you really mean what you said, about comedy being the key to drawing people? ‘Cause, I don't' want the Smash Club to be a comedy club. I know Joey played there, and they had a small share of comedy, but, it’s there for music.”

“It’s not just comedy; it’s variety I think is needed. Too many people want something that will tickle their fancy; Caleb says Stephanie’s tastes in music have gotten more conservative again the last few months. I’m sure if you ask her, she’ll say there’s something that just isn’t right about some stuff. Entertainment should be for the whole family; it’s why you wanted to remove the requirement of being over 18, right,” Mr. Wilson inquired.

Jesse was forced to agree. “I guess part of me just longs for the way it was when I was growin’ up.”

“We all do that, Jess,” Joey said.

“Yeah, except you haven’t grown up yet,” Jesse cracked. He paused a moment, and added regretfully, “It is gonna be harder and harder to find good quality new bands like the Beach Boys. Even the harder rock from the ‘70s, which I never cared for as much, is looking tame compared to some of this stuff,” Jesse said. He hated to admit it, but he added that, “We have been struggling, though I don’t like to tell people this. It seems like fewer people want to come to just hear music, anyway, but especially if it’s not gonna have the stuff some people put out. So…I guess what I’m tryin’ to say is, Mr. Wilson, if you’d like to come on as the manager, you got the job.”

Comically, it was Joey who pumped his fist and shouted, “Yes, more comedy!”

“Thank you, Mr. Katsopolis; I accept.”

“Well, it’s not just comedy…”

As Jesse was trying to explain, Nicky and Alex ran down. “We got the job,” they declared. Michelle and Becky came down with them, and explained as the boys sat in Jesse’s lap.

“Hey, I’m proud of you, boys. I’m proud of you, too, for being such a good loser,” Jesse said. Michelle thanked him.

“We make people laugh,” Nicky said.

Alex added, “Laughing is good.”

“Yeah, laughing is good. Any, good, wholesome entertainment is good.” Joey sang, “The world will always welcome humor. As time goes by.”

Stephanie and Gia arrived home from school a few days later, to see Danny and Joey in the living room. “Hey, how did the newspaper story go,” he asked as Stephanie handed him a copy of the school paper. He looked at it as she spoke.

“Great, Dad; thanks for the idea. Everyone was talking about that little alternate universe. We made it seven titles in eight years, and just had them win that close NFC title game in 1983 to make it an even 10 Super Bowls – you’ll see they don't' make the mistakes the Redskins did, so it’s 7-3 Raiders at the half, then they come out and score, miss the extra point, but their All-Pro secondary intercepts Jim Plunkett twice, which happened to him sometimes, and they pull out a 22-20 win.” Stephanie finished by adding, “Since the team’s colors are red and gold, ‘Going for the Gold’ seemed like a good title.”

Gia pointed out that, “For some reason, Mr. Tanner, Stephanie didn’t like my title. I learned how the Steelers talked about winning ‘one for the thumb’ after they got four; so, with ten rings giving them one for every finger and thumb, I wanted to refer to what they were going for next year. I wanted to call it ‘One for the Navel.’” Seeing Danny’s and Stephanie’s looks, Gia said, “What? I wouldn’t now, but some kids get them there.”

Danny tried to forget about the thought of a Super Bowl ring there, then as the girls started to go up to Stephanie and Michelle’s room, he stopped Stephanie and whispered, “I ‘m so glad you talked her out of that title. You’re doing a great job with her.” They hugged, and she followed Gia upstairs.

Jesse and Caleb’s dad came in a second later. “Hey, Joey, ready to go do the radio show? We just got done goin’ over possible acts for the Smash Club. I never knew there were so many talents people would want to come and see,” he added.

“Hey, why not; Nicky and Alex sure have a knack for being silly,” Joey responded.

Jesse culdn’t help but grin proudly, despite how he disliked being silly all the time. “Yeah, I gotta admit, I’m proud of ‘em. Hey, the show should be about on,” he said. Michelle came in, too, from the kitchen, where she’d been having some milk and cookies. They watched the boys throwing paper around and other funny stuff; Michelle laughed the hardest. “What an itro, huh? You gonna try to do some reporting on anything?” he asked Michelle.

“Maybe a little. But, I don’t need to do it to please my pen pal. Actually, I got an e-mail from her at school today. She admitted she’d been making a lot of stuff up about what she did. So, I didn’t have to worry.”

Danny agreed that it was tempting to try to be popular. “The most important thing is that you learn to be yourself. Because, you’re a wonderful young lady, no matter what.”

“Yeah, and we’re really proud of how you encouraged your cousins,” Jesse said.

Michelle told them it made sense. “D.J. and Stephanie had always tried to help me. What D.J. needed back then was a good big sister to show her how to di it. I hope she got to see that at the library while she’s studying.” Danny was sure she had.

Stephanie and Gia came down then. “Oh, hey, Dad, I almost forgot. Can Gia and I stay late at school tomorrow; we want to watch the first baseball game.”

“Sure, I can pick you up. What changed your mind?”

“Well, Dad, I guess I just forgot how much fun it was. I mean, sure, I joined that tennis club with Mickey early this year, when the school had a push to get kids more involved with different clubs. We haven’t done much since in it, though.”

Gia said she was glad. “I didn’t even join it with you, and you still got me to play with Michelle, Nicky and Alex against you and that other girl so you could help improve her skills against Mickey and one of her friends.” She shook her head. “If I had joined, you’d have me as wild about athletics as Mickey is now.”

“True; once Mickey stopped smoking, she was able to enjoy sports like she did as a kid; now she’s on what, three different teams? One for each season.” Stephanie was amazed at how much Mickey devoted herself to sports. “She was always into them, but she picked up some bad habits from…” She realized that Gia was probably the one that had started Mickey smoking. “Well, other people.”

“She means you,” Michelle said, speaking to Gia, who tickled her lightly in response.

“Anyway, I don’t plan to ever be as dedicated as Mickey. She’s so busy she never has time to spend with us. But, looking over things to get ideas for that story really helped me remember how much I liked sports when I was younger. But, this time it shouldn’t be playing,” she promised gia.

Danny admitted that he was glad, as Jesse, Joey, and Mr. Wilson left. “I have to confess, part of why I pushed it was me wanting you to be the way you were when you were little. It’s rough seeing you kids grow up so fast.”

“I know change is rough for you, Mr. Tanner. But, I think even you would have hated to have the same team win 7 of 8 Super Bowls, and 10 of 15,” Gia said.

“I talked to a couple teachers who said they thought it would destroy the league; it’s not like the 1950s, when baseball had little competition and the Yankees won all the time,” Stephanie remarked. “Everyone liked the change of pace, delving into what-ifs like that. Thanks again for the idea.”

Being only nine, Michelle hadn’t really thought about the possibility of history being anything but set in stone before this. “Steph and I talked about it some the last few nights before bedtime. It seems kind of weird to think of history changing.”

“I’m sure it does. I guess it all happens for a reason; even if we can’t understand it,” Danny assured her. “You’re right, Gia; I think even I’d get a little bored seeing the same team win every Super Bowl. So, what’s your next challenge; getting the Cubs to win one World Series?”

“That would be tricky.”

That Friday night, the Tanner household, Steve, Caleb, Kimmy, and Gia were all at the Smash Club; one of Stephanie’s friends watched Nicky and Alex. They had just finished enjoying the acts; Michelle was a bit sleepy at the table with her sisters and Danny, as they prepared to go home.

“Hey, great job, Jess,” Danny complimented him as Jesse walked up to them. “People really seemed to love it.”

Becky agreed from the net table. “You’ll be packing them in soon.”

“Yeah, I bet you’re right. There’s still gonna be music here,” Jesse hastened to add. “That was the original intent; a place where teens could come to hear new bands play, with no alcohol served.”

“I’m sure there will be. I’m just glad you’re willing to change with the times,” D.J. noted. “It’s good to know there’s someplace to come where the times change, but the priorities of good, clean fun are still around. That’s what my friends and I want.”

Kimmy asked, “Does that include mud wrestling?”

“We’ll discuss that later,” D.J. told her, not sure where to begin with some of Kimmy’s odd queries.

“You’re right, Deej; in fact, Mr. Wilson was tellin’ me by not bein’ one of the crowd and promising performers with no cursing, raunchiness, and so on, I’ve got a chance to carve out a niche with this place and actually draw more people in the long run.”

“I think he’s right,” Danny said. “There’s always going to be a place for good, quality family entertainment.”

Joey finished his bit on stage by singing his comedy version of “As Time Goes By,” as the others left. “…The world will always welcome laughter. As time goes by.”