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“But the game had a funny hold on him. The elemental savagery of it…as if the whole world expected you to do one thing and one thing only and that was play football” (Bissinger 10).

This passage from the novel depicts the addicting nature of football. It seems odd that football behaves like a drug that has chemicals that will physiologically and psychologically make one dependent on it. However, the metaphorical ‘drug’ of football has no addicting chemicals except maybe that of adrenaline and the like that operate during intense periods of time known as the football game. Like a drug, there is ‘peer pressure’ involved as “the whole world expected you to…play football.” Football, however, is not a hobby for players to be ashamed of, as it builds self-esteem and is also good exercise.

“Twenty years earlier, Charlie Billingsley himself had worn the black and white of Permian…it seemed impossible not to look down on the field and see his own reflection” (Bissinger 79).

H. G. Bissinger gives us good insight into the mind of a father looking down onto his son being what he once was at his age. The memories of the excitement and the thrill ride come back to Charlie as he sees his son experiencing just that for himself at that moment. This is significant because it shows why parents often will want to see their children grow up to be just like them. It is because parents takes joy in witnessing their child experiencing the good times and bringing back the memories for them. This is exactly what happens to Billingsley Sr. as there is that special father-son moment when he is happy for Don out on the field.

“But that was the reality, and it seemed unlikely to change…it did not evoke any particular feelings of pride one way or another” (Bissinger 147).

As the author describes, the values of Odessa (and perhaps much of Texas) can be considered as backwards to many. Odessians place an unusually high value on their high school football. Likewise, their emphasis on academics in high school is lacking compared to in most American schools. The Odessians, after suffering the wrath of an oil bust, are in need of focusing all their energy not into the competition for fortunes, but into football pride and victories. What the population of Odessa fails to realize is that there is no sustainable way to create money or happiness by concentrating vast amounts of their efforts into a tiny teenage football elite.

“And then it had ended. Just like that. Not with a warning, not in a way so that those who got caught had only themselves to blame. One day the lights were on; the next day they were off” (Bissinger 222).

Odessa is not only volatile in its football morale, but also in its pursuit of oil riches. It rides from boom to bust in its oil-based economy in much the same way as a team of football players will ride from high spirits to low spirits in the football season. The high-to-low, boom-to-bust mentality of the people of Odessa (and even Texas) is a culture for them. They are ones to ride from high to low on what would be the simplest of occurrences for most Americans. It is perhaps why the people of this region have evolved so differently in culture and in thinking than much the rest of America.

“A crisis was developing, not because Gary Edwards was having desperate trouble in algebra II…he would no longer be eligible for football once he received his grade for the six-week period” (Bissinger 298).

This passage, once again, is Bissinger showing us how backwards some of the priorities are in Texas, this time in Dallas. This primarily black high school in Dallas is also overly concerned with its football team, and the effects of such a priority are the same here as in Odessa–lack of concern for academics. It is weird how, rather than punishing the student for failing to meet a certain standard, they decide to focus all their controversy on the ‘inept teacher.’ Since it is the very policy of the state of Texas for athletes to adhere to this academic standard, that is why there is such a conflict of interests. This goes to show the reader how the mentality of Texas at this time is ever so strange.

On the Style of Bissinger’s Writing:

While both Truth and Beauty and Friday Night Lights are true stories, Bissinger’s style is very different from Patchett’s. In Friday Night Lights, Bissinger writes as if it was a story in a newspaper, a more journalistic kind of documentation. He makes sure that Permian’s football season is chronicled with precision and accuracy. Facts are thrown at the reader on almost every page. When Bissinger writes about the games, I feel like I’m listening to a sports broadcast over the radio. This differs from Patchett’s style because Ann wrote more of a recollection of memories. The book was accompanied, however, by real-life letters from Lucy that validate some of Ann’s points. I think the main difference between the two books is that Bissinger stuck to the facts, while Patchett stuck to what she remembered and let her imagination fill in the rest.

“None of the varsity coaches made a move to stop him: it was clear that Boobie had become expendable property. If he wanted to quit, let him go and good riddance.” (Bissinger 17)

I chose this quote because it illustrates how much American athletes are treated like property. This is because sports have a huge impact on American society. For example our athletes are valued so highly that the average pro football player makes more money a year than the average doctor. Athletic ability plays a huge role in university acceptance as well as scholarship distribution. In many cases a skilled athlete is accepted into a school that his or her grades don’t qualify for. Many high school students build their lives around the sport they play. In a country, like America, where sports have such a large role in society there is a lot of pressure on athletes. Athletes feel they have to be the best because when their number one they are rewarded with scholarships, opportunities, and overall praise. However sports can lead to injuries and it is when a player is injured, much like Boobie Miles, that they see their hopes and dreams vanish before their eyes. Whether the athlete is pro or high school junior varsity they are treated like “expendable property” once they are injured. Coaches, scouts, and spectators easily forget about the player. I find it sad that at one moment an athlete will be celebrated and praised for his or her wins and at the next moment completely disregarded.

These common practices of using athletes while their healthy and then completely forgetting about them when their injured is not good for the athletes’ mental health. The feeling that you are expendable can lead to an array of emotions. Some athletes, battling long-term injuries, become extremely depressed. This depression is because the athlete feels everything they have worked for is gone. A crowed no longer is cheering them on and they are no longer receiving letters from colleges. In Boobie Mile’s case he is so upset over his injury that he wants to give up on the sport all together because he has lost all his support (except for the one coach who works to convince him not to quit the team).

The way injured athletes are treated in this country is very similar to the way child stars are treated. Child actors can go for years being cast in major films and going from magazine cover to magazine cover. However, as soon as that child grows up and loses his or her cute baby face they lose their place in American cinema. Many of these child stars then go on to lead troubled adult lives. This has been seen in child actors such as Danny Bonaduce, who became a drug addict, and Dustin Diamond, who after losing his childhood fame made an adult film. Child actors and injured athletes are similar in the fact that they both have their moment in the sun and are then disregarded by society.

I feel Boobie Miles situation is very similar to that of my cousins’. My cousin dreamed of serving his country in the army. He grew up with a plan to stay focused in school and stay in shape so that upon turning 18 he could join the army. So that’s what he did. However because of an injury to his knee he was discharged from the army during basic training. In that moment he lost both his dream and his GI bill. He felt alone and as though he had failed. Much like Boobie, my cousin, in that moment, just wanted to give up.

A Look on Some of the Themes to Friday Night Lights

While I am only on the 30th or so page, I feel like I already know (or at least a good guess) to what some of the central themes of the book are. This is merely an observation from reading the first few pages.

Racism and bigotry will play a major role in this book due to Odessa’s political and social views. As Bissinger puts it, “There were those who found [Odessa] insufferably racist and those who didn’t find it racist at all, but used the word nigger as effortlessly as one would sprinkle salt on a slab of rib eye” (Bissinger 14). The author also adds that “Most citizens…considered Lyndon Johnson an egocentric buffoon responsible for the boondoggle of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and saw the federal government’s effort to integrate schools…not as social progress but as outrageous harassment” (13). From what I’ve read so far, I can gather that Odessa is a town dominated by conservative white males.

Another theme in the novel is the amount of stress high school athletes go through, and the pressure to do well on the field. Being on a star football team, the players are soaked in limelight. A cheerleader, or Pepette, as they are called at Permian High, is responsible for making posters for their assigned player. Bissinger tells the readers, “One Pepette during the season broke down in tears because she had had to stay up until the wee hours of the morning trying to keep up with the other Pepettes and make a fancy hall sign that her player never even thanked her for” (27).

Just a couple themes that I stumbled upon. More to come later.
-Kaitlen

“The big time college recruiters… had come on to him as shamelessly as a street whore supporting a drug habit, telling him in letter after letter what a fine looking thing he was with that six-foot, two-hundred-pound frame of his and that 4.6 speed in the forty and how sweet he would look in a uniform in Norman or College Station or Fayetteville and how he should just stick with me, sugar, I’ll take good care of you. They would all be there pleading for him” (xix).

I chose this passage because I really liked this simile. I thought it was clever how Bissinger compared prostitutes to college scouts. As juniors, I think we all can relate to this. We are currently at the stage of our high school careers when colleges are desperately trying to recruit us. Even in summer, I still get letters from colleges telling me to choose the right university, their university.

“’ These are candy-ass suicide attempts. She may wind up homeless. She may alienate everyone she knows, but she isn’t going to die…life had been conspiring to kill Lucy since was ten years old and life had failed” (Patchett 247)

At the end of the book, we see a different side of the relationship that Patchett had with Grealy. To Ann, Lucy always seemed to be strong and she could overcome any obstacle. Lucy may have wanted to commit suicide or may even have hated what was happening in her life, but she was always able to pull through. For most of the book we see Lucy’s struggle through Ann’s eyes but we never fully appreciate the duality of their friendship where Lucy could always rely on Ann and Ann saw Lucy as a miracle. Lucy had stood up against cancer and against the pressures of society yet when heroin finally took her down, Ann couldn’t believe it. There were so many chances for her to die and yet Ann eventually felt that Lucy could survive all of them. It’s interesting to note that Ann has such strong faith in Lucy despite her troubles with one of the most dangerous of all narcotic drugs. From this quote you can see that Ann depended on Lucy just as much as Lucy depended on Ann and through this awkward synthesis, the reader can understand the complex relationship.

“‘There is nothing to replace it. It’s an integral part of what made the community strong. You take it away and it’s almost like you strip the identity of the people’” (Bissinger 43).

Football is the only thing people live for in Odessa, and without it, they have nothing that distinguishes them from other people in other towns. The town has its priorities messed up and thinks football is the only thing in the world that has value. Education is valued only a little bit, and is thus at a very poor level. The town sees football as its life, and as its way of uniting the people. The people in Odessa are looked on as a whole, or a community, and individuality is not important. The football team represents the community, and by winning, the people of the town feel they have something that others’ do not. This philosophy is common is Texas, but it does not justify why Odessa has to be an extremely narrow minded town. The town judges people based on their athletic ability, and not by their actual value. The people think other towns see them as great just because their football team is great, but this is obviously not the case. Bissinger is informing us of the nature of Odessa, and as a way of portraying it, he signifies the importance of football in the community.

In response to Caitlyn M:

I completely agree with you. Boobie’s life revolved around football. We saw how angry he became when it was his time to shine and he couldn’t. He lived and breathed football. When someone puts everything they have into one thing, they have no safety net. I understand a lot of life is about taking risks and hoping you don’t get hurt, but life requires a little commen sense as well. You have to think that something as physical as football has its ups and its down and the potential for injury. You have to allow room for error in any situation. And for that matter, if you do end up falling and getting hurt, you need to be able to pull yourself up off your knees and move on with your life.

Thirty-two pages into Friday Night Lights , I already see a manifest theme. It is obvious that the entire town operates based on the games, and the level of concentration of the players on gamedays is insane. They live and breathe football, and they ignore all other aspects of their lives. In fact, the very spirit of the town oscillates depending on the result of the game, and the Permians are servile to the already idolised team. The mentality of a Permian and the mentality of an outsider are so drastically different; contrary to what Bissinger claims in his preface, Odessa is definitely NOT representative of an American town. Obviously, the game is more than just a game; it completely mutates the town.

However, a certain passage on page 8 drew my attention; when Mike Winchell gets dropped off at school, he admits to refusing to answer any questions about the game itself. Is it not ironic that such a pivotal person in Odessa ignores anything pertinent to the game itself? Entertaining an audience of fifteen thousand, one would think the quarterback would bask in the attention he receives. Curious.

RK:

Your description of The Garden of Last Days makes the book seem too intriguing to pass up; I got the book today, and I look forward to starting it soon.

“’We fit as athletes, but we really don’t fit as a part of society,’ said Nate Hearne, the only black coach at Permian in 1988” (Bissinger 107).

Blacks were simply needed to just win football games and nothing else. They possessed no social value in the minds of the whites, and were only used to be athletes. This shows how racist and segregated, still, the town of Odessa was, and how it has not overcome the prejudice behaviors towards blacks. Beyond the football field, blacks were not equal with whites, and were often mistreated. Odessa seems to be lacking in all ways of life compared to other towns in the U.S. at this point. Sports are considered more important than academics (completely idiotic), schools are somewhat segregated, and blacks are looked on as tools to play and win a game. However, it also issues a starting point towards black equality. As whites become more and more associated with blacks, they will eventually feel obligated to treat them with the respect they deserve. With blacks involved in at least one way of life, the town has some hope for future equality.

In my next session of reading, two specific sections caught my eye. Going in chronological order:

On Page 48, we are told that “it seemed weird how much they [the audience at the Watermelon Feed] knew about him [Shawn Crow] when he knew absolutely nothing about them.” This quote can be found almost verbatim in Truth and Beauty . Lucy is identified by complete strangers with whom she has never come in contact with; when she boards a bus, eyes follow her face trying to place a name with the infamous scar, and when she walks past a store, greetings from random people entertain her. When one has a story, he or she becomes celebrated, as is proven by both Shawn and Lucy.

Whilst we are so quick to criticise the much-too-prominent role of football in Odessa, I think it is unfair to do so without looking at the history of the players. For example, on page 63, we learn of the connection Boobie has with his uncle and the role football played in it. Boobie and LV did not have a close relationship initially; what finally brought intimacy between them was the Pop Warner team. Boobie’s entire childhood experiences with his uncle were based on football, and it was the one mutual connection that they shared. Therefore, he cannot see himself living a life without football; he literally is under par in everything he does save in playing football. It is clear that everything he has ever done in his life has revolved around football, and I don’t think we can accuse him freely of putting too much weight on the game.

I agree with Butch on his first analysis in the preceding post. In certain realms, especially a sport such as football, people tend to be judgmental.

To add my own opinion to the second part of Butch’s post, it may be reasonable why certain individuals within the Odessian community are passionate with regards to football, but my criticism is not of the individuals themselves, but the collective mentality of those in Odessa regarding their precious High School Football.

Now football may have been a more popular sport in the 1980s than it is now, but Odessa as a community was still rather extreme even for those times. The reason I give individuals the shield from my own criticism but not the collective community is because I understand that a lot of the excessive football passion has to do with everyone being concerned with what everyone else will think of them if they do not share the football glory, added to what Butch pointed out regarding football being a part of their lives beginning in the youngest of their years of life.

To make a general statement concerning the topic, football back then was a key part of high social class and popularity in those days, being a reason for the unusual behavior of Odessian teens, and football nowadays is not nearly as significant in high school as it was back then.

“One town, one school, and most attractive of all, one football team” (Bissinger 169).

The quote indirectly states that one football team can bring unity to Odessa. The paragraphs before and after it describe a setting where Odessa High School (Hispanic majority) merges with Permian High (white majority) and there exists only one football team. However, the two high schools will never combine, and Bissinger informs us of this to relay a message that racial tensions are still present. Everyone knows that racial tensions exist, but most will not admit it and use the excuse that football is the dividing line between the two high schools. We can see how narrow minded the people of Odessa are, and how they find football the only way to escape the horrible economy. The whites are still not acceptant of the Hispanic and Black races, and will only be kind to them if they are talented on the football field. Bissinger gives us the look of a town with one team, where in a perfect world there would be no tensions, and there be unity of the people regardless of race. However, Odessa is a different town, and the view of minorities to whites is very racist. The whites believe the minorities have come and taken over their town and football team. Thus, if one football team were to be formed, this quote would not live up to its meaning, and the town would inevitably split.

“‘What would Boobie be without football?’ echoed a Permian coach when asked the question one day. The answer was obvious, as clear as night and day, black and white in Odessa, Texas, and he responded without the slightest hesitation.
‘A big ol’ dumb nigger’” (67).

I was shocked by the way valuable players were disposed of so easily and also by how racist Odessans were. Then again, I haven’t been on a sports team where winning was so important (Track in 8th grade doesn’t count), and I’ve only lived in Michigan and Canada, where I haven’t encountered racism too deep. This book helped me see from a different perspective, a perspective where football is life and racism is strong.

Bissinger portrays Boobie as someone who has fallen from great heights. He plays up the parts about his injury stopping him from playing, his despair when he can’t play like before. As a journalist, he must tell the facts, but as a writer, he gets to choose and emphasize certain facts in order to support an argument.

“…There were actually two races of blacks. There were the hardworking ones who were easy to get along with [and] melded in quite nicely. They deserved the title black. They deserved the respect of fellow whites. And there were the loud ones, the lazy ones… claimed they were the helpless victims of white racism. They didn’t deserve to be called black, because they weren’t” (Bissinger 90).

I really enjoyed the “Black and White” chapter because it discusses the relationship between the two in Odessa pretty fairly. Though Bissinger portrays blacks more or less as victims, he also provides reasonable arguments from both sides of the spectrum about how they believe they fit (or should fit) in society and why. It is interesting that in Odessa it is perfectly acceptable to view an entire race of people as inferior, who must behave and believe a certain way in order to gain the superior’s respect. The book presents no evidence showing blacks to be any worse or better than whites. That citizens of Odessa would separate and categorize a people to satisfy their own thinking is deplorable, and only serves to reflect their ignorance. I read that quote and I all I could do was shake my head. Who are you that I would even want your respect, let alone change the way I live in order to keep you from looking down on me (which you will undoubtedly do anyway)? That superior attitude is not at all uncommon even today, and being a black female whose family is from the South the situation doesn’t surprise me. What does surprise me are the different ways throughout the book many white people justify their views about minorities and how they treat them. Even when their actions are blatantly racist, they refuse to be labelled with that dirty word, and claims of racism are enough to deem one unworthy of their respect. It is almost unbelievable, but in Odessa, whose case is in no way special, that’s just the way things are.

I am essentially disappointed with Bissinger so far. I am bored by his tedious redundancy in stating the obvious fact that Odessa is obsessed with football. I got that message one hundred and thirty pages ago. Now, I see him try to flavour his rather-pointless stories with historical retrospectives. To add to this, he uses phrases such as “but here in Memorial Stadium in Midland… none of that seemed to matter” which seem to beg for questions asking what the point of the preceding two paragraphs was. Furthermore, two hundred pages in, I see him biasing his readers with the selective information he provides. Like Cathy said, there is a difference between the roles of a journalist and the roles of an author. Bissinger utilises his liberties as an author to show an unfair point of view. There is no doubt this book is a caricature. Even though I agree that football fanaticism and Extreme Southern Conservatism are both wrong, I still think it’s unfair to write a pseudo-documentary with bias. Thus far, I find the bias of the book as well as the empty plot circles distracting.

Even though he wrote a dull book on a very dull subject, I think it would be unfair for me to say that Bissinger is a bad writer. In fact, despite the fact that the book induces sleep, Bissinger’s ability to embed retrospective side-stories into his main narration is unique. For example, while I was reading Chapter 9 — Friday Night Politics , Bissinger transitions from a description of the players to a description of the fans in the ‘bleachers’ (even though they are clearly more than that) to a phrase taken from a famous politician. His transition is transparent, but it is so smooth that I barely noticed its lack of creativity. Even though it was as straightforward as Bissinger always is, he held my attention with the phrase “he managed to become the president of the United States.” I’ve never seen such blatant integration of different plots, but it works because Bissinger makes it work using interesting closers such as the one above. For this, I applaud him as an author.

NOTE: Both quotes referenced were from page 182.

“Out where she worked as a secretary for a petrochemical plant, many of the blue-collar workers used the word [nigger] all the time. She didn’t know how to get them to stop so she hit them back where it hurt, saying ‘Goddam Jesus Christ!’ with the same bitter snap in the voice. It bothered them, and they frankly didn’t know how a decent person could say a thing such as that, show such utter disrespect for the Lord” (92).

I really had to smile when I read this quote because it showed how ignorant and hypocritical racist people are. They are astonished when people show disrespect for the Lord, but showing disrespect to fellow humans is A-ok. Like Danielle, I enjoyed reading the chapter “Black and White,” not because I like reading about stupid racist conservatives, but because it illustrated the relationship between blacks and whites.

I also think Bissinger wrote about the racism in Odessa in order to emphasize how much football meant to the town. Odessans let go of their prejudices for the sake of football. Blacks are treated almost as total equals on the football field. As long as they play well, they are accepted. And in a town where tradition and racism runs deep, this shows just how very important football is to them.

“’You live in a fairy tale for that one year of your life. You’re worshiped, and that year is over and you’re like anyone else’” (Bissinger 284).

This quote describes Odessa football players, and it also describes the town itself. The players are only respected because of their football talent. They are treated like gods, and hold the highest role in the Odessa society. However, when their role in society is not to win football games, but to make something of their lives, fans do not care about them anymore. An example of this is Boobie Miles. When he was healthy and brought success to the Permian football team, everyone loved him. When he got injured and stopped playing, people didn’t value him, and even started hating him. The same scenario occurs with the town of Odessa, in that outside of football, it is just an ordinary town. The town is seen as extraordinary during the fall, when there is extreme hype for football. When there isn’t football, the town is infamously known for high crime rates and horrible educational standards.

The main cause of these situations is clearly evident with the lack educational priorities. The schools do not emphasize the importance of having an education because they do not understand that in order for someone to be successful, an education is mandatory. They refuse to think about anything beyond the senior year of football because it will mean no more football, and when the players step out of high school, they are helpless. The players turn into losers (with the exception of Chavez) and cannot have any high class roles in society. If each player had educational plans, and Odessa valued education, each player would have something more than football to live for. After high school, they would go to college, get a good job, and would stand out in society. A person with a great education and career would certainly stand out in Odessa.

“I have to have something to look forward to, or life is just a blah…That football is just something that keeps me goin’.” (Bissinger 22).

It is not just the players, but the whole town that concentrates on each and every football game. To the people of Odessa, football is like a drug. They are addicted to it and without it they would not be able to function properly. When they are not watching the game, they are anticipating the next one. The lives of all the people in Odessa are wrapped around football. This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the Permian players to step their game up every week. They know that if they lose, it will be a bad week in Odessa because the result of the game influences the mood of the town.

I agree with Jeremy on what he has to say regarding the way that football is the key for sustaining the passion and the hype in Odessa. I do not, however, believe that this phenomenon is rare. I believe that it is present in other things in life as well. People who have a tendency to shop always look forward to the next new thing that will be in stores ready to be bought. Kids in school look forward to the next main event in school. For some drug addicts, all they look forward to in their lives is getting that next bit of [the drug] to get their high off of (and this specific example is certainly way worse than obsessing over football in Odessa). All I am trying to say with regards to hype over football in Odessa is that hype over anything in this manner is not unusual or uncommon.

“He [Shawn Crow] was diagnosed with a herniated disc, and the TCU coaches told him not to come to school until January, after he had had a chance to rehabilitate. There was no point in coming to school just to go to class” (Bissinger 48-49).

This illustrates how truly these athletes rely on being good at football. Without football many would not get any chance at college. To the coaches of the college schools, all these boys are merely football players, nothing more. Without the football, Crow is not even enough to the school for TCU to let him come to college to get an education while he was rehabilitating. Many players like Crow would be set back with their football career because they hurt themselves while attempting to get into college football. Boys would use football to become a star, but by doing this they give up other things, like their education. Once injured, they have absolutely nothing, not even football.

“That sure as hell wasn’t why he [Don Billingsley] had given up so much to come to Permian, to have a black kid come in and steal away his chance at glory. It was something his father had never had to contend with. There wasn’t one black around when Charlie played. Back then they all went to high school on the Southside, had their own stadium, and as long as they stayed put there was no problem. But things were different now” (Bissinger 88).

It amazes me how Don (and most likely many other people) cared more about glory than actually knowing he was the best. If I got all the glory, but I knew another person was better than I, I would not feel worthy of the glory. I would not be glad I had so much glory because it would be almost meaningless to me because it was not deserved. These people in the book are generally so narrow minded. How would Don have felt if a white boy had been better than he? The prejudice shown by this quote shows how ignorant much of the people are in Friday Night Lights. Comer, who would be taking the glory away from Bissinger, was also merely being exploited for his talent so that Permian would win. If all the white boys got to play what they wanted, then they probably wouldn’t win quite so much, but they would deserve it.

“It also led a spirited campaign to prevent Ozzy Osbourne from playing a concert in Odessa in 1983 because of the British rock star’s outlandish behavior, which had included biting the head off a bat as well as performing songs that allegedly encouraged Satan worship, but a federal judge ruled that Osbourne had a contractual right to play here” (191).

This quote made me laugh at the stupidity of the people in Odessa. (Actually, I was laughing the whole chapter, but after reading this quote, I let out a derisive snort.) The Odessans are narrow-minded idiots, who think anything non-traditional is evil. I think what bothered me the most about the chapter “Friday Night Politics” was how much people can hate other people. These Odessans seem like one of the biggest bunch of haters I’ve heard of. They hate liberals, Michael Dukakis, homosexuals, non-christians, non-whites, abortion, pornography, Ozzy Osbourne and other rock stars like him, and murderers (enough to support killing them). What hurt the most was when Joe Seay supported a judge who gave a murderer a lighter sentence because the murderer had killed homosexuals.

Bissinger states the facts the whole way, and as a journalist, he has to. As a writer, he included a chapter about politics in a book about football for a reason. Why?

“The right femur snapped… He had been on crutches for about a year, and sometimes he cried because he wasn’t able to play football. Given the chance, he would eagerly suit up again” (Bissinger 247).

Wow. This passage is just breathtaking. It undoubtedly held the most significance of any passage in the entire book because I have seen this happen to a classmate very close to me (for appropriate etiquette, I will refer to him as S).

If I had read this passage two months ago, I would have assumed it to be just another example of the lunacy in the lives of Odessa. I thought it unimaginable that rehabilitation would play such a huge role in one’s life. However, when I knew of S’s problems, I was shocked. He was born with loose joints, so it was only natural that a problem happened to him eventually. Around the end of June, S developed chronic subluxations in his arm that would prevent him from playing tennis, basketball, bowling, or any activity that involved stress on his shoulder for the rest of his life. S’s entire life was turned around because of his injury. As a result of this connection, I re-evaluated many aspects of this book; I thought it would be stupid to cry over such a trivial part of one’s life until I came across the feeling in reality. Empathy is crucial to understanding, and while we might think that some things are ridiculous, they may mean more than we think of them.

“But here in Memorial Stadium in Midland, where a near-sellout crowd had gathered to watch a high school football game, none of it [the economic issues] seemed to matter” (Bissinger 182).

I believe people in Odessa, and other Texan towns as well, use football as a way to ignore reality. With the economy terrible in the area, what is there for people to fall back on? The answer is football. Football is always there, even when many people aren’t doing so well economically. When people get in the atmosphere of the Friday night lights, they can forget all that and just focus on the football. These people dwell too much on football, and let it impact the rest of their existence too much, but without the oil boom there isn’t much else to focus on.

“’I don’t think they realize these are coaches. They are men, they are not gods. They don’t realize it’s a game and they look at them like they’re professional football players. They are kids, high school kids, the sons of somebody, and they expect them to be perfect” (Bissinger 237).

The people of Odessa go way over the top with their football. It puts enormous pressure on the athletes and the coach, and not just for the sake of winning because that’s what everyone wants, but because if they don’t win then the coach could lose his job. Seeing as the people of Odessa love football so much, you’d think they would not be so harsh on the kids and also the coach. These players are only high school kids and are not going to be perfect. The expectations are too high and instead of football bringing the town together like it seemed to do when I first started reading Friday Night Lights, in some cases it actually tears the town and its people apart.

“She [Lanita Akins] knew the place was as immutable to the changes of time as an iceberg… But she also knew that Odessa’s values were old-fashioned as well when it came to race” (Bissinger 74).

“People said it in casual conversation. They also said it publicly, as just another descriptive adjective” (Bissinger 72).

When I look at the town of Odessa, I see a small community of people who have been left behind while the rest of the world has progressed both economically and socially. This little town in the heart of Texas is so isolated that the ideas of racism and prejudice that America now scorns are a part of everyday living. Anyone who tries to tell them otherwise is looked upon as an outsider and ignored, partly because of the stubbornness that comes as a part of being a close knit town, and partly because the people are scared to see things from a different perspective. Bissinger writes about how most people in Odessa accept racism one way or another. Blacks hate it, but many feel unable to change anything. Whites don’t mind that they’re oppressing fellow human beings because of the color of their skin. Thus it has been since the founding of the town, and no one has known any different.

It occurred to me that these people aren’t being stubborn knowing that their beliefs are wrong; they refuse mainstream opinions of race because all they have ever known is prejudice. When it comes down to it, what is right and what is wrong is just an issue of perception. The people of Odessa have been taught through the generations that racism is acceptable, so in their minds, nothing is wrong with segregation or discrimination. I’m not defending racism by any means; I am just trying to look at this town form a different perspective. Not one from the rest of America, where such racist behavior is scorned, nor from one of the townspeople, where prejudice is socially acceptable. I am trying to view this from the outside, as if the world was behind a glass case in an exhibit and I happened to look in and observe as a neutral third party. What I would see is a community resisting change not only because racism has been so deeply ingrained in the culture of this town, but because this is all they have ever known, and to change their value system would be to completely change the way of life that they have been barely eking out since the foundation of their town.

“But there were too many people around, Boobie, looking at his knee as if it were a priceless vase with a suddenly discovered crack that had just made it worthless.” (Bissinger 57)

I chose the above passage because I really like the simile Bissinger uses. By comparing Boobie’s Knee to a pricelss vase Bissinger helps the reader understand how devestating this injury is. Even if a person has not had a devistating sports injury, they certainly can understand what its like to break expensive property. When it comes to any priceless object damage makes it worthless.
Boobie Miles proir to the injury is considered priceless property of the football team but after the injury he, much like the vase, is viewed as worthless. His coaches, his peers, and even himself make him feel this way.
I think the fact that our injured athletes are made to feel useless says alot about our society.

“Permian football had become too much a part of the town and too much a part of their own lives, as intrinsic and sacred a value as religion, as politics, as making money, as raising children” (237).

Ha, I guess I just answered the question from my last blog post with this quote. This quote shows how much of an impact football has on the town. Football is as sacred as anything else important in their lives. I believe Bissinger’s argument is that football affects the town greatly. He includes a chapter about politics, a chapter about the economy, a chapter about school life, and a chapter on racism in this book. He writes it so that we know, without a doubt, that football is the most significant part of Odessans’ lives.

“There was unrestrained laughter and the three enjoyed the analogy of comparing Boobie to an animal” (Bissinger 262).

This quote seemed so terrible to me. Boobie was totally taken advantage of, and even though I didn’t exactly like his character throughout reading the book, because he seemed very self-centered, it is still cruel and terrible to talk of someone in this manner. The people of Odessa weren’t in love with the players. They also weren’t in love with the football. They were in love with winning and the glory that came to them. The glory came to the players in rather higher amounts than it came to the citizens of Odessa, but just knowing they had a winning team and they felt they were a part of it because they lived in the town was enough for the people of Odessa. If they were in love with the players they would not speak so terribly of Boobie, and if they were in love with the football, they wouldn’t have such a huge problem when Mojo lost.

“And suddenly he wasn’t a high school football player at all, but a high school kid with absolutely no idea of what he was going to do with his life” (Bissinger 336).

It seems that the players used football as a means to ignore the reality that after high school their lives had to move on. During football season they still had a chance to use football to get into college, so why try hard in school to get good grades? When the season ended, I’m sure it was a hard reminder of reality, that everything wasn’t perfect, and that their lives had to move on past high school football. Everyone tried to do well during the football season to get into college with scholarships for their football excellence (and of course for the glory too), but not everyone could go pro. Once the football season was over, the athletes were no longer high school football players. They didn’t have football to fall back on unless they were lucky enough to get a scholarship. For years and years they had practiced, but then suddenly for many of the boys, it was the end. They were blinded by football because it was their way of life, but it could not go on forever, and by the time they realized it, it was too late.

“They don’t seem to care about their grades. They don’t seem to care about each other. They seem to care about having a good time, but don’t know how to define good. I don’t know what young kids are about. I can’t get in their minds. I used to…” (Bissinger 118).

The town has one goal- football. The students at Permian High care almost nothing about their grades. All they think about is football. It’s almost as though they think football is the only thing they will ever be good at it. Even the girls are somehow involved in football. It is crazy how no one cares about a decent education. They have nothing to fall back on if they are injured in the game. Football is how they have a good time and it is basically all they know. They don’t experience anything else in life. Even the teachers have begun to give up on them. They used to enjoy their jobs and now they don’t anymore. Teaching isn’t about instilling things into their minds, it is about getting through the day and seeing if anything sticks at all. Permian High is not the same anymore. Odessa is not the same anymore.

“In the silence that filled that locker room it was hard not to admire these boys as well as fear for them, hard not to get caught up in the intoxicating crazyness of it, hard not to [be dumbfounded] at how important the game had become… to a town whose spirits crested and fell with each win and each loss”

I agree with Butch that this is not your typical american town. It is much too unified and devoted to one thing for that statement by Mr. Bissinger to be true. Most places in america are not devoted to a single, “higher” ideal like Odessa is. I know for sure that Auburn Hills isn’t, and am pretty positive that none of the other communities in our school district are, either. Of course, this could be because our communities are so much larger than Odessa, but I think that even small towns, in most of the U.S., are not like it. This is why I chose this quote; what would the U.S.A. look like if “Everytown, USA”, looked like Odessa? (By which I mean, was devoted to one purpose). Why is Odessa the way it is?
The reason most places aren’t like Odessa is that there are too many differences of opinion, too many ‘rugged individualists’ too many people who don’t care enough about the same things to do anything together, and too many people (in large cities). This isn’t a bad thing, because differences are what make us strong, but I’m not sure it’s a good thing. Certainly being devoted to football is not a reasonable devotion, but what if everybody in a town was devoted to, for example, Christianity’s God. That would be a very powerfull thing; drastic changes could take place in the world. There would be a lot more Christians; the town would send missionaries everywhere. There would be a lot more compassion for people, and the poor would get cared for. Jesus would be glorified, and the town would be at peace with itself because everybody believed the same thing. I don’t remember who said this, but there is a quote that says something along the lines of ” the actions of a small group of concerned citizens is the only thing that has ever caused change.” What if we all cared about the same thing? (In our own, unique way, of course.) What if we all fed the hungry? We would feed the world. Odessa is important because it teaches us the power of devotion, for good or ill.

“I went to school with them, and home with them, and rattlesnake hunting with them, and to church with them, because I was interested in portraying them as more than just football players, and also because I liked them.” (Bissinger xiii-preface)

Rattlesnake hunting? This guy is serious about his mission. He is doing everything possible to truly get deep into these guys minds and home life. He wants to find out how they live their lives, on and off the field. It’s not just the game time that he cares about. He likes the players on the Odessa Permian Panthers’ football team not only as players, but as people as well. Following these guys hunting, and going to church, and at home shows real comittment. He is very comitted to achieve his goal of seeing what it’s like to live the life of a Permian Panther football player.

Today, I noticed something unusual. It seems there’s a typo on page 116. Elodia Hilliard, an English teacher at Permian is being interviewed. In the first sentence of the third paragraph, it references her as Hilliard, yet in the next sentence, she is called Milliard.

Just something I stumbled upon,
Kaitlen

“It was enshrined in the county library, where the 235-page history that had been written about Permian football was more detailed than any of the histories about the town itself.” (Bissinger 24)

A county having a book on the history of a high school football team that is more detailed than any histories on the county or town itself just goes to show how big of a part football plays in the town of Odessa. On any given Friday night, the darkness is lightened up by the nights of the stadium at Permian High School. Also, on any given Friday night, there may be anywhere from fifteen thousand to twenty thousand fans in the stands of the stadium that took $5.6 million to build. Football isn’t just a season in this town; it’s a way of life. A way of life for every player on the field and every citizen in Odessa. Friday night isn’t just an event for the town of Odessa to attend; it’s a purpose for living.

“His father, who lived in Houston, had been in the stands that night. They had been separated for some time, and it was the first time that James senior had ever seen his son play football at Permian…” (Bissinger 54)

I don’t know Boobie’s situation with his father, but it seems to me that James senior isn’t in his life much. It really bothers me that he hasn’t been in his life for all this time, but as soon as he hears of Boobie’s accomplishments as a football player at Permian High, he wants to be a part of it again. Like I said, I don’t know their situation. Boobie’s father could’ve simply been transfered for work from Odessa to Houston. Or he had to move for some other reason and Boobie wanted to stay behind to play football. There’s all these possibilities, but the one that seems to stick in my mind is the one about James senior fleeing away from Boobie for some stupid reason, leaving him with Boobie’s uncle, L.V. Miles. Boobie seems like an extraordinary individual. He deserves all the love and care possible in his life. Maybe his father couldn’t do that, but saw that L.V. could provide that to Boobie. L.V. is very blessed to be the guardian of Boobie. He seems to be a very brave, caring, and funny individual. Brave because… that’s what he had to be when he injured his leg in the pre-season scrimage. He didn’t know what was going to happen to him and his future as a football player. He just had to put his faith into the higher power and trust that everything would be alright. Caring when when he plays and jokes around with one of the coach’s 9-year-old son. Kids like that look up to high schoolers like Boobie, so he needs to be a positive role model to people like the coach’s son. And he has a funny sense of humor. I found it quite funny when he said that the score of Permian games are so lopsided because they only have one boobie. That is very true.

“’They treat Reagan like a saint…he never went to church. They look at him like a family man. His family hates him. They think he’s a war hero. The only place he was a war hero was in the movies’”. (Bissinger 180)
Tony Chavez was part of the growing minority and Bissinger shows some hostility against the conservative and somewhat backward town of Permian. He came from hard roots and eventually became a very successful lawyer and a productive member of his society. Tony seems to convey the belief that just because a man says a lot of things that makes him look like a good guy doesn’t necessarily mean that he was a great man. Tony Chavez may not have even had to have been not a Republican (which would be near taboo in Texas); he simply did not want an amoral man in office. Tony knows what an immoral life can do to a person as he has dealt with it both as a cop and as a lawyer. However, in Permian criminality only affects the black or Hispanic population, not the white population. Bissinger shows how just because everyone was a gung-ho conservative in Permian, it doesn’t mean that everyone is conservative. Mr. Chavez displays the point that just because you believe in hard work and morals, doesn’t mean you have to agree with the man who “claims” to represent all those things.

“Dutifully, she waited in the hallway, whereupon Don and some others loaded her down with books so she could trudge off to class with them with a slightly chagrined smile on her face, as if she knew that what she was doing was the proce you paid for trying to gain the acceptance of the football players when you had blemishes on your face and didn’t look like Farrah Fawcett” (Bissinger 125).

This young lady was not “as pretty” as the other girls at school. Therefore, she was looked down upon and had to carry the football players books. She wasn’t a cheerleader or a Pepette and she was smart. Because of all of that, she wasn’t good enough. That is absolutely horrible. People are not judged on their character, morals, or personality at Permian high school. They are judged on how pretty you are, how smart you are or aren’tt, and if you have a boyfriend or not. No one can be free to be who they truly want to be. This high school really does focus way to much on the football players and their success.

“I’m gonna get criticism and you’re gonna get criticism. It don’t mean a hill of beans, because the only people that matter are in this room. It doesn’t make a difference, except for the people here” (Bissinger 37).

From the very beginning Gaines knew his job or the team’s job wasn’t going to be easy. He knew people were going to criticize both him and his team if they didn’t perform the way the town expected. However, Gaines faced this challenge head on. He knew that the only thing that really mattered was how the team felt about themselves. If they weren’t satisfied with the way they performed, they would just have to work that much harder at practice to fix their mistakes. In Odessa football meant everything. Everyone would be disappointed if they didn’t win states, or even didn’t win one game. But the only thing that really matters at the end of the day is if a player can look in a mirror and be proud of the way he played. If he can do that, that means he gave his all and there is nothing to be ashamed of. Gaines knows this and wants to make sure the players aren’t going to let the town influence the way they feel.

“They weren’t interested in him because he was big and looked imposing in a football uniform. There were a thousand kids in Texas who fit that description. It was something else, more than just strength or speed, a kind of invincible fore that burned within him, an unquenchable feeling that no one on that field was as good as he was” (Bissinger 54).

I liked this quote because it can be true for any sport. What separates the good players from the great players is the amount of heart and passion they play with. Anyone can be a good player just because they are big and tough. It is much rarer to find a player who thinks they are the best and plays like it. When a player has that inner desire to want to win, he/she plays with so much more passion and everyone watching can tell. When playing a sport, an athlete can’t question whether or not he/she is good enough to beat a team; he/she has to know they can! An athlete has to have confidence in themselves before anyone else can.

“The pressure to conform was so intense, said Gardner, that she knew girls who privately were quite intelligent and articulate, but were afraid to show it publicly because of the effect it would have on their social lives” (Bissinger 138).

In Odessa, football was such a huge deal that girls felt the need to love it and become a cheerleader or pepette. Football players were at the top of the social ladder and they all wanted to be liked by the football players. According to football players it wasn’t cool to be smart. Because of this, girls felt the need to act like they were stupid even when they really were smart just to fit in. It was socially degrading to be smart. So as a result of this, the majority of girls either were stupid or acted as if they weren’t intelligent.

This is not unique to Odessa. Even today some girls think it is more attractive if they act as if they aren’t smart and they purposely do stupid things. Most people will do whatever it takes just to fit in. In high school, most people don’t want to be different; they want to be just like everyone else. Because of this, many students act like someone they’re not.

Zach: Apologies for the delay in my response to your post on August 4th. I’ve been meaning to respond, but never bothered to do so. Anyway, I think you’re completely right. I couldn’t come to the same conclusions as you because I tried to justify their actions by crafting intricate explanations for their behaviour. However, your simple explanation of their primitivism is perfect to explain all their “irregular” activity. I’m glad to see that I’m not alone in trying to unbiasedly look at the situation. We are no different from the Odessans; while the Odessans resist change regarding racism and intellect, we try to resist changes in human rights, including gay marriage and the use of marijuana. Every time a politician opens his mouth, we are transfixed by the beauty of his words and as a result ignore the shallowness of his thoughts. When a society has a manifested belief, it is reluctant to change it. Every society has a certain paradigm about it, and each is equally reluctant to change it. Also, people try to assimilate to the values of this paradigm, and as a consequence, they succumb to the immoral and even illogical decisions their respective societies impose upon them, a perfect example of this being provided by Regina.

As an afterthought, I completely agree with Odessa when it says “nigger” is not as condescending as it appears to be; it is simply a term used to describe a certain group of people. While it is not a modest word to use, and while I do not think it is a particularly kind term to use, I refuse to taboo the word. We see more black people use it than other people, so “nigger” has become a word used to identify a group of people. I think if somebody, intentionally or otherwise, refers to himself by a demeaning name, it is unfair to ban the use of the word, and also that if the word is used simply to refer to people in an unoffensive way, it should be taken lightly. William Shakespeare seems to agree with me; in King John, King Philip II is not referred to as such, but rather as The Bastard . When Shakespeare does that, he uses the somewhat-offensive term to identify a man. The Bastard is in fact conveyed by Shakespeare to be the most honourable and respectable man in the entire play, so I can only assume that he is exemplifying what I am explaining. I hope that I did not offend anybody, as that is not my intention in so blatantly expressing such a strong opinion. I just feel that such a harmless word is undeserving of the attention it gets when someone who is not black says it.

“It was hogwash, he said, that this case had anything to do with preserving local control of school districts. It had to do with one thing and one thing only: keeping the Carter Cowboys in the hunt for the state championship” (310).

It is completely absurd that so much time and money is used for the case regarding Gary Edwards’s math grade. This obsession with football seems, at least to me, unhealthy. People waste resources on football instead of on things that are more important. It also puts a lot of pressure on the players and the coaches. Even though Bissinger continues to stress that football is important to these people, I still fail to understand why. Why does a whole town’s mood depend on a game? Why football? It creates a negative atmosphere when the team loses. Am I wrong to think that their way of life is out of whack?

“Should he let Boobie play-even if it meant the risk of further injury-because it was the only way he could still contend for a major-college scholarship? Or should he put the dream in jeopardy and elect to have the surgery done on Boobie now, before it was too late, before there was more physical and psychological damage”(Bissinger 200)?

This is a huge decision for Boobie’s uncle. It is a life changing decision and neither option is really good. If he lets Boobie play and he hurts it even more, there will be no chance Boobie will be able to play in college and it will all be for nothing. Also, if he plays on a hurt injury, he won’t be playing as good as he used to and colleges may not want him anymore anyway. However if he makes Boobie get the surgery now, he won’t be able to play high school football so there will be no way for colleges to come recruit him. Either way Boobie isn’t going to be satisfied with what will happen. He is used to being the star and center of attention, but that most likely will not be the case anymore.

This happens to a lot of athletes. When a serious athlete gets hurt it changes their life. For some, it means they won’t be able to play anymore and for others it is just a step backward in their career. It is very hard to recover from a serious injury, one which involves surgery, and a lot of times the athlete is never quite as good as they were before.

“I got a different opinion of Coach Gaines… I think he blew that game. I just can’t look at him because it still makes me mad…” (Bissenger 240).

This is just one example of the reaction of one of the players after they lost a very important game. He, like many others, immediately put the blame on the coach. They lost because of the coach, not because they didn’t play well. The whole town of Odessa blamed the loss on Coach Gaines. People put for sale signs in his front yard and wanted him to quit coaching. Never once did they stop to think that maybe they lost because the other team was better or the players didn’t give it their all.

I think this is absolutely ridiculous and it happens way too much in society today. People are so quick to put the blame on other people. The coach of a team can only do so much. He is not out there playing on the field with you, so ultimately the fate of the game depends on the players. The coach does his job by training the player’s everyday and preparing them for the game. But once the game arrives, the coach loses all control and it is all up to the players. So many people blame everyone else for the loss of a game, just because it is easier. It’s never their fault for the loss of the game, its everyone’s else’s mistakes that cost them the game.

This doesn’t only happen in sports either. Kids and adults do this all the time. Students blame their bad grades on teachers all the time. They say the teacher didn’t like them so they gave them a bad grade, or the teacher was really mean and didn’t give out any good grades. If a student works hard enough he/she will earn they grade he/she deserves. It takes a big person to actually put the blame on themselves and take responsibility for his/her actions.

“He too received an answer sheet for certain tests, and he knew in general that the taking of exams was irrelevant, because the teacher was going to give him whatever grade he or she deemed appropriate regardless of his performance”(Bissinger 295).

Football was so big in Odessa that the players really didn’t even have to go to class or take tests. They just automatically got passing grades so they could play in the games on Friday nights. In the long run this is really going to hurt them. The truth is, most kids who play sports in high school don’t go on to play in college. Since the football players don’t have an education, if/when they don’t play football in college they are going to have nothing to fall back on. They will have no skills except for football. Even if they do play in college, they will have to pass their classes and professors aren’t going to automatically give them passing grades just because they are on the football team. So the players may enjoy the preferential treatment they receive now, but later its going to catch up on them that they have no educational knowledge.

Cathy:

We seem to have run across the same thoughts when we read the passage. However, I interpreted those thoughts in a whole different way than you. To start with, I would say that though their way of life is ‘out of whack,’ it is not their fault that they care so much about such a trivial case. I would say the rule in itself is idiotic. While it is supposed to encourage academia to balance athletics, all the law does is force patriotic teachers to pass otherwise-failing football players. Instead of giving them the grades they deserve, the teachers must observe some excuse for these players’ poor performances, so they pass the Panthers without further regard. Therefore, the no-pass, no-play rule infers corruption to its very core.

I see a similar problem with Charles Barkley’s new proposal to require two years of mandatory college education of potential players. I don’t want to see potentials such as Lebron James and Kobe Bryant struggling to pass their college courses as they will never use the skills they learn in those classes. Furthermore, if the NBA were to encourage the passage of such a law, as the Board of Education of Odessa did, it would just promote these players to take the bare minimum requirement they possibly can; we would simply see more potential draftees signing up for Algebra 001. We are not told that in order to excel academically, we must play sports at a varsity level for two years; in fact, the very thought of that sounds ridiculous. I don’t see what connection exists between academia and sports, be it professional, collegiate, or even high school.

You also asked why the whole town’s mood depends on a game. It is unfair to call football as “a game” in Odessa. It may look weird for somebody who does not have the experiences of living in such a town, but I think there are many things that could be taken as absurd about our very hometown by strangers. While they exists nothing in R. Hillz that is as radical as the occurrences at Odessa, there are things we would find perfectly normal that outsiders would find completely strange.

I do agree with you that it is ludicrous not to have a higher purpose in a town’s existence than high school football. The town meandered into this lifestyle progressively and unintentionally. As a result, several players and fans had no safety net after a failed season. This point was exemplified clearly in the Epilogue and the Afterword. I had only connected with the book during the last chapter, and I liked his further explanation of what had become of the players. I liked those two portions because of the significance of the entire book; it was evident that following disaster, the Odessans “just [didn't] know” what to do.

“’I don’t think they realize these are coaches. They are men, they are not gods. They don’t realize it’s a game they look at them like they’re professionally’” (Bissinger 237)

There are countless times when you can comment on the obsession that Permian and Odessa have for football. However, in this section the reader has the opportunity to meet a sensible character: Mrs. Gaines. She lives with her husband, the coach, who is battered continuously by the town and other players for anything that doesn’t go in their favor. To Odessa, they see their coach as almost a general who has to lead his troops into battle. Any mistake is counted against him; the only problem is that this isn’t Normandy and it should only be a game. Coach Gaines is just one man but when he loses he feels like he’s let down the entire world. He has the Odessan spirit of feeling that life and football can always be breathed in the same sentence. In a sense, Odessans have nothing else but football to depend on and their “salvation” is through the game that they obsess around. Instead of building up their education or progressing, they simply stay in one place and live for the short thrill of the game. However, this one voice out of so many shows the insanity of the situation where Coach Gaines would get physical side-effects from losing (226) and Nicole would skip school (227). It was sad that such a thing could happen but in this world where football is more important than the town itself, it’s very encouraging as a reader to see one person who doesn’t see the world as just football and football and more football.

The Tenderness in Friday Night Lights:

When one thinks of Friday Night Lights, it is usually about football and bloodshed masculinity, not tenderness. So am I crazy when I call Bissinger a romantic? There are minute moments in the book when Bissinger turns away from all the macho aggressiveness, and shows a different side to the story, something I find quite impressive. I hardly know anything about football and the dry statistics and percentages endlessly listed in every chapter bore me to death. However, I find comfort in Bissinger’s use of sweet similes and fluent imagery. It’s one of the only things that keeps me turning pages.

When Bissinger describes Ratliff stadium filled with roaring fans, each side hoping for the young men to hit, block, and physically hurt the other team, the author takes a moment to look up and notice that “by game time… A full moon, luscious and plump, sweetened the languid desert night and turned the sky an incandescent blue” (139). I fell in love with this passage instantly. I don’t know how he pulled it off, but he successfully laced tenderness and brutality together so poetically, that the elements seem to compliment each other.

Another passage I loved when the author was describing one of the captain’s love/hate affair with football. As Bissinger puts it, “It may be that Ivory Christian hates football. It may be that he is burned out on it. It may be that he considers it pointless, an eight-year journey to nowhere. But it also may be that under the right circumstances, the demon wins the heart of the most steadfast soul, and the nemesis always becomes a lover” (104). This passage is beautiful. Perhaps I am just a romantic, but this actually made me stop reading and bask in what this passage meant to me. Of course, Bissinger is talking about how football always seems to capture Ivory’s heart, but reading the last sentence on its own, it doesn’t even have to be about that. It could be about anything.

There is a few more that I underlined in my copy of the book, but in an effort to keep this short and simple, I’ll include just one more. When the Permian Panthers lost to the Rebels, the author depicts the somber scene. Bissinger writes that “Eventually, the sobs came to end, so did the embraces that under the gray glow of the moonlight seemed as lingering as a slow dance with someone you suddenly knew you no longer loved” (219).

Bissinger is an exquisite writer and I love these rare moments of tender imagery he carefully sews into the novel. To be honest, I wish he included more of his writing and less statistics.

More to come later,
Kaitlen

“…he said he couldn’t ever, ever imagine a life without football because it would be “a big zero, ’cause, I don’t know, it’s just the way I feel. If I had a good job and stuff, I still wouldn’t be happy. I want to go pro. That’s my dream…”(37).

The excerpt indicates a seemingly common opinion of the players of the Permian team; the idea that life without football would be no life at all. That idea could be taken in at least two ways. One is that it’s disheartening (I can’t use the word “sad” because I want to be sure that I don’t sound sarcastic) that these Permian Players feel that there is nothing else to life except football. However, the other way to view this is that for some of those kids, football IS the only way.
Each student has a different reason to play football, whether it’s to prove their self worth, their race’s worth, or even just to feel accomplished. While it is too easy for one (including myself) to say that these kids could (or maybe should) find another hobby to pursue in, it’s harder to understand that football seems to be all they have for themselves.
That seems to be one of Bissinger’s points in this book: that these guys choose to have a common interest despite their different reasoning for doing so. Otherwise, in my opinion, this book would simply be another cliche sports story. Race isn’t a new idea; neither is self-worth or a haunting past. But put it all together and it’s Friday Night Lights.

I apologize for the writing; I admit that this topic I presented isn’t really different.

(Fri. 8/14)
“‘They’re popular… Everything they do is right. And they just can’t find that again… Find the substitute for it. The only consequence of it is a mentally crippling disease for the rest of your life’” (Bissinger 284).

Maybe it is because of all the frenzy of football season that no one really thinks about how the players will be affected after all the nonsense is over. When the last season has ended and the boys have graduated, sure, if they’ve done well they’ll always be remembered as heroes in Odessa. But what about the men they’re supposed to become? They have to enter a life of adulthood, where no one cares how many touchdowns they’ve made, and no one rewards them with cookies or special signs, and no one cares who they are. It is assumed that once the football players graduate they will move on and make something of themselves, but how can they? They’ve lived as kings and now they must adjust to being, dare I say it, normal people.

I was reading an article in TIME magazine a few weeks ago about astronauts who had landed on the moon, and many of them dealt with the same thing. These men had done amazing things, but upon returning back to Earth they had a hard time adjusting and finding a fulfilling purpose. They had to answer the question, ‘What am I supposed to do now that I’ve done it all?’. They had to do something with the rest of their lives, but nothing would ever measure up to the thrill of being on the moon and seeing that Big Blue Marble from miles and miles away. For former Panthers, nothing can ever compare to their experiences as rock stars, so they spend the rest of their lives searching for something to fill the void. Is that the just consequence of being glorified for nothing other than being able to run fast and throw a ball well? Is that fair?

“At times Odessa had the feel of lingering sadness that many isolated places have, a sense of the world orbiting around it at a dizzying speed while it stood stuck in time—
350 miles from Dallas to the east, 300 miles from El Paso to the west, 300 miles from the rest of the world” (Bissinnger 13).

The town of Odessa may think that by being isolated and not letting the rest of the country/world have any effect over the town whatsoever, they are doing themselves a favor; this, however, is not true. The children in Odessa are sheltered from the rest of the world and therefore moving anywhere but Odessa after high school will be a harsh eye opening experience. Students have no real world experience and won’t be able to comprehend the fact that, outside of Odessa, no one cares what football team you played for or how good you are (except for the select few that are able to prolong their football careers to college and/or professional level’s). The people of Odessa don’t have their priorities straight and from the very beginning of the book, one can tell the apparent theme of false worship and isolationism. I agree with nearly everyone on this thread by saying that by not preparing the students for the real world, Odessa is destroying their lives. Nothing lasts forever and Odessa really needs to get a grip on what really matters.

Kevin,
While I agree that Odessa may not have the best set of priorities, saying that the people of this small town are destroying their students’ potential lives by putting so much focus on football is a statement that I find quite harsh. If anything, the value that the town places on football is helping the kids, in the sense that it gives them something to work for, something to believe in.

Without this worship of football, what else would the students of Permain have to aspire to? The quote you picked illustrates my point, “…350 miles from Dallas to the east, 300 miles from El Paso to the west, 300 miles from the rest of the world” (Bissinnger 13). The people of Odessa live essentially in their own world. Aside from the occasional boom in the oil industry, there isn’t much to get excited about or to look forward to. When your only source of entertainment, your only break from the mundane hours of the work week, is watching the local high school football team play, of course you are going to make it a point to let these young men know that you appreciate what they do.

Also, to say that the ideals of a good education for a brighter future are lost on these kids is also incorrect. The entire town puts the team on a pedestal not out of some misplaced idea that says sports are the most important thing in life. On the contrary, even players on the team had plans for a better future, “[Brian Chavez] had set his sights differently, zeroing in on a target that seemed incomprehensible to his family, his friends, just about everyone. He wanted to go to Harvard” (Bissinger xxx). These kids are literally stuck in the middle of nowhere. There is nothing else in their town that could earn them the respect and recognition that football does. The fact that Permain has won the state championship multiple times also gives them a sense of pride and recognition. Sure, they’re in the middle of the desert, but their football team is the best in the state. Odessa needs their football team. The relief it brings to those who watch, and the pride it gives the those who participate, are what give the town its life.

“But his feet were moving too fast for him and he slipped, adding to the rumbles that Charlie Billingsley’s boy sure as hell wasn’t going to follow in his father’s footsteps, at least not on the football field.” (Bissinger 69).

This quote relates to a theme that happens too often in sports. Don Billingsley has the pressure of living up to his dad’s fame in football. Don knows that if he doesn’t play as good as his dad did, he will let down not just his dad but the whole town of Odessa too. In sports today, some athletes are trying to live up to the expectations of people before them. These athletes don’t enjoy the game, they think it is like a test which they will either pass or fail it. It is great to try to be the best, but not if you are pressured. Like most things in the world, sports have its limits and Odessa is an example of how the limit can be reached.

“The Marshall game was only the second of the season, and since it wasn’t a league contest it had no effect on whether Permian made the playoffs. But the stakes seemed as great as in a state championship, and the air swirled with the edgy sensation that the two teams on the field wanted nothing more than to bludgeon the bloody bejesus out of one another” (Bissinger 102).

Zach,

This quote helps me clear up my point a little more. I realize that my last posting was a little on the extremist side without much room for exceptions. I understand what your saying about how there is students who care about things other than just the football team. This quote helps show my point because Permian is playing an insignificant game that doesn’t help or hurt playoff chances whether they walk away with a win or a loss. Even though this game has little importance in the big picture, a loss could still tear the town apart. This is a glimpse into the almost unhealthy dependency on football. I understand that the football team is all that holds this town together, but Odessa’s priorities need to be straightened out. I’m not saying that Odessa needs to completely shift its focus, it would be disappointing to throw away a tradition as rich as Permian, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt to spread some dependency on other things, such as education. Odessa needs to stop putting all their “eggs in one basket.”

“You could search high and low for a black city councilman in 1988, or a black county commissioner, or a black school board member in Odessa. You wouldn’t find one. You could search high and low for a black at the Rotary Club breakfasts over at the Holiday Inn…But on Friday nights in Odessa, you could gaze down at the football field and see several black players tearing up the field for Permian” (Bissinger 89).

This passage, along with many others, shows how white people view black people as expendable pawns that are only used to better their own lives. The whites in Odessa know that blacks are good at football and so they gladly stack their team with the best of the best. This also makes me wonder though. The most important thing in Odessa is the football team, and the most important people are the football players, residence of Odessa could care less about the positions mentioned in the above quote. If Odessa lets black students play on the football team, why won’t they let blacks onto other positions that they view not important, such as a board member or commissioner?

“I have to have something to look forward to, or life is just a blah…That football is just something that keeps me goin’ ” (Bissinger 22)

In a small town like Odessa the people don’t have much to look forward to besides their work. That’s what the permian high school football team does for all of them. They treat the Panthers like an NFL team and they flock to the games like it to. When the team is doing good or the start of a new season is coming, everyone is in a good mood and loving life. At times, i believe the people of Odessa and the players on the team take it to serious. Many get into the mindset of thinking that there is nothing more in Odessa than a good football team. Even in a small town, there is more to a happy life than a good football team.

“There’s nineteen thousand fans in the stands and they can’t do what you’re doing, and they’re all cheering for one thing, they’re cheering for you. Man, that’s a high no drug or booze or woman can give you” (Bissinger xxiv).
Have you ever had that feeling? That feeling of nineteen or twenty thousand people cheering for you? -That feeling that if you mess up, twenty thousand people will know you did and hate you for it? I haven’t. The most people I have ever played a sport in front of are a couple hundred. There is so much pressure on you to do your job, even when there are only a couple hundred people. I cannot even begin to comprehend the amount of pressure on you when there are twenty thousand people counting on you. I personally think that this is too much pressure on these teenagers. The pressure of whether or not your whole town is in a good mood or not for a week is not fair for a teenager.

“…the fact that Permian, at a cost of $20,000 to the school district, had chartered a 737 jet to get to Marshall” (Bissinger 101).
As an athlete, I know how important it is to be on time for your game. Athletes need to get to the facility early in order to prepare or warm up. However, it does seem a little over the top to use a private jet to fly your team to their destination. They couldn’t find some other way to use that $20,000? They didn’t need new textbooks, computers or library books? What a difference from what I have experienced. I remember in ninth grade during the baseball season, we were late getting to almost every game because the bus driver had to take the girls to their softball game first and then sometimes would get lost taking us to our game. I can’t imagine this ever happening at Permian.

“In lofty bureaucratic doublespeak the policy was called the School Improvement Plan. But to many educators, a more honest title would have been the School Futility Plan, a concession to the notion that simply showing up for class was all students had to do to pass a course at Carter High School” (Bissinger 296)

Bissinger makes an important allusion to 1984 by George Orwell, when he mentions the word “doublespeak”. He shows how corrupt the education system is by resolving to allow their students to get away with not getting an education. It also shows how the towns morals and principles are basically defined by football.
Education is usually one of the things people pride themselves on. They can say they went to high school and were able to make a decent living or they went on to get further degrees. However, the Dallas school board feels that it must do everything in their power to prevent their star students from failing that they use grade inflation and simple lying to cheat the system. The unfortunate thing is that these class board trustees are only cheating their students of an education that they are entitled to. I personally felt a connection when Bissinger talks “showing up for class was all students had to do to pass a course”. We all have had teachers that simply give you a grade for showing up to class and there are some who just don’t care whether you are there or not. However, the teachers who actually grade people on what they do and look for more than attendance are usually the people we remember the most. It is sad to read passages like these and see how these students will never get that chance to know the life outside of West Texas and seeing potential (however small it may have been) become waste is just sad.

“When Boobie Miles returned to the football field, no one called out his name with those bellowing chants that had rocked the Watermelon Feed in a moment that seemed like a millennium before. There were no bursts of applause, no coach’s speech comparing him to the great Permian runners of the past, no take-your-sweet-time walk down the aisle of the crowded high school cafeteria. In the space of five weeks he had become an afterthought whose past performance earned no special privilege and seemed largely forgotten,” (Bissinger 179).

When Boobie Miles comes back from his recovery break for his knee, he’s treated like a nobody. No one talks about all the great things he did before. When Boobie gets out onto the field, he’s definitely not the same player that he was before. The year before Boobie had 232 yards on 8 carries and now he was lucky if he could get past 8 yards on one carry. While Boobie was gone he was easily replaced with Chris Comer, who according to the coaches was a better player than Boobie ever was and will be. Boobie believed that the team needed him, when in reality it was Boobie that needed his team.

“They don’t realize it’s a game and they look at them like they’re professional football players. They are kids, high school kids, the sons of somebody, and they expect them to be perfect,” (223).

Permian Football is everything to Odessa; the people know that without it, they’re nothing. If the team lost it was Midland Lee’s, the Permian football coach, fault. Nicole, Lee’s daughter, was too embarrassed to go to school when the team lost in the 1986 season. Lee’s life depends on the outcome of every game. If the team loses there is always that fear of losing his job. It’s ridiculous how much this town depends on the coaches and players. A coach shouldn’t be publicly humiliated because the team lost. There are millions of reasons as to why the team messed up; it’s not always the coach’s fault. It is one thing to be proud of your school’s football team, but it’s another thing to be obsessed.

“They liked George Bush in the same way they absolutely worshipped Ronald Reagan, not because of the type of American that Reagan actually created for them but because of the type of America he so vividly imagined.” (Bissinger 186)

I chose this passage because I beleive it says a lot about the importance of illusion. Merrian-Webster defines illusion as “Perception of something objectively existing in such a way as to cause misinterpretation of its actual nature”. The illusion that America in the 1980s could once again be like it was in the 1950s, was key to Ronald Reagan’s political career. Ronald Reagon was able to paint the picture for Americans of the American dream, the suburban white picket fence, two car garage, and the well tended lawn. Reagan owes alot of his popularity to this perfect suburban family image he created beacause in all actuality this was not reality. Under president Reagan deficit spending skyrocketed (he was the first president to run such a high deficit during peace time), he slashed funding for programs that benifited the homeless and mentally ill, and because his administration felt AIDS was solely a homosexual issue he limited the amount of official resources toward it. Despite all of these things Reagan is still highly regarded by many, just as he is in Odessa, because he created the illusion of a perfect America. These same parrallels can be drawn from the George Bush administration, which is not shocking being that Bush was Reagan’s vice president. According to John Judis, journalist and author of “Grand Illusions: Critics and Champions of the American Century”, Reagan and Bush repudiated America was on a decline. Judis calls this a “grand illlusion- that some might say delsuion”.

“But sometimes he was paraded before school beard meetings to be torn apart by the public in a scene like something out of the Salem witch trails, or had several thousands of dollars’ worth of damage done to his car by rocks thrown by irate fans, or responded to a knock on the door to find someone with a shotgun who wasn’t there to fire him but to complain about his son’s lack of playing time.” (Bissinger 238)

This passage stood out to me because it shows how far citizens of Odessa are willing to go in the name of Permian High football. I find it horrific the way the coaches at Permian are treated. The Permian fans put the severely blame the coaches for Permian losses and almost then react violently toward them. Just because a team is not having a good season does not give anyone the right to terrorize the coach. I understand that we live in a society where coaches are easily replaced during bad seasons but I do not understand why people think they have the right to damage a coaches property just because of a bad game. Maybe it is because football in Michigan is hardly the same as football in Texas but I just cannot understand how this criminal behavior is allowed to go on. I’m confused about something, if damaging someone else’s property is a crime why is no one in Odessa punished for it; are the police Permian fans? As far as the parent showing up to a coaches house with a shotgun because his kid is not getting enough play time, this is just disgusting. Guns are very serious and I think it is sick that someone would carry one around, as if it were a prop, in order to scare a coach into giving his son more play time. The book also discusses the effect of a losing game on a coaches family. It talks about how coach Gaines wife has to hide the For Sale signs, that angry fans put in her yard, from her children. It also mentioned that one of the coaches daughters would avoid going to school after a losing game because she could not deal with the comments other students would make.

I also chose this passage because I like the allusion to the Salem witch trails. I feel that by comparing Permian football coaches after a losing game to the accused in the Salem witch trials it really illustrates how rejected the coaches are. If you think about it there are some parallels that can be drawn between the town of Salem and the town of Odessa. Both were so fixated on something that is drove them to do horrific things, Salem was focused on witchcraft and Odessa was focused on football. Both of these towns were also driven by fear. This was a fear of losing control. Lastly, both had victims. These victims were the accused in the Salem witch trials and the coaches at Permian.

“Black versus white. City versus suburban. Local control versus state control. The right of blacks to determine the best educational course for their children without whites telling them what to do. All these issues spilled out into the open as a result of something that seemed shockingly inconsequential: Gary Edwards grade in Algebra II.” (Bissinger 297)

I find the whole Gary Edwards court case to be quite interesting because it was able to raise thought provoking questions in society. It is interesting to see something like an Algebra II grade turn into an issues that affects a huge group of people. Gary Edwards grade would not have been padded if he was not a football player, he would have failed the class and the only people it would have affected were Gary and his parents. However, since Odessa had a social hierarchy that was topped by football players Gary Edwards simply could not fail Algebra II. So, this turns into a huge court case and the most interesting thing of all is that the court case in many ways is not even about Gary Edwards. Like it says in the passage this case became an issue of race, where a person lives, government control, and more. Gary Edwards was simply a catalyst for a whole mess of issues. In some ways the Gary Edwards case can be compared to the Roe vs. Wade court case. They can be compared in regards to the fact that both had many issues raised because of one event. In Roe vs. Wade the case started with one woman, Norma L. McCorvey, fighting for her right to have an abortion in the state of Texas. However, this case turned into much more than that. Roe vs. Wade became an issue of religion and moral in politics, to what extent abortion should be legal, and how the Supreme Court should go about constitutional adjudication. I am not saying that Norma L. McCorvey’s and Gary Edward’s cases are comparable in content but they definitely both raised complex questions in people’s minds.

Throughout the book, H.G. Bissinger (the author) constantly emphasizes how much pressure these 18-year-old football boys encounter. One example is after Boobie hurts his knee:

“…It meant not flinching an inch when the knee was hit full speed by a helmat, not sucumbing to the perpetual fear of pain, not running with the slightest tentiveness, which was the edge between a great player and a mediocre one. And it meant doing all of these things at the age of eighteen” (Bissinger, 69).

I read this passage and realized how much pressure athletes really face when it comes to succeeding in their sport. (I’m not saying theatre or marching band doesn’t face a lot of pressure, I just feel there’s a different pressure put on athletes than those involved in fine arts). Sports can be very rough and people tend to get hurt. I play three different sports and there are countless of times when I come home with cuts and bruises or I’m sore and just hurt! But as an athlete, your coach expects you to overcome these injuries. You can’t dwell on them; you’re expected to pick up and overcome it. And, as many athletes know, it’s very hard to come back 100 percent after being hit really hard or getting hit by a pitch or anything like that. Because, as humans, we don’t want to experience pain, especially not twice or more. You second guess yourself; you’re not as quick or daring. And as an athlete, you have to overcome it for your team, coach, and yourself. That’s a lot of pressure! I never realized how much pressure highschoolers faced just from sports alone! This quote really made me relate to Boobie Miles; not all the way, but I’m sure almost any athlete can relate to him in some ways.

“There had been the serious faces staring intently at Gaines as he tried to inspire them with Herculean stories of Civil War heroes and Olympic swimmers” (Bissinger 336)

This is the culmination of all their work in high school. They had made it so far and now they had nothing else to fall back on. Football had been their lives for as long as they could remember and now that high-school football was gone out of their life they had nothing else to hold on to. They told the old southern stories about Civil War heroes (Confederates I would assume) who tried to avoid their fates but lost like martyrs. What Bissinger shows is not only showing how far the Permians have now fallen due to their loss, it serves as a symbol of obsession. It mirrors how when someone believes so strongly in a goal and does not find that that only bitter fruits could be reaped, then that person would lose everything. Bissinger shows how when they realized that they could not achieve the goal that they wanted, they simply surrendered because they were so obsessed with football that they had no education to fall back on, there weren’t even other sports they could play because they had only had football training since they were twelve. I read this quote and I thought about Willy from “Death of a Salesman” and how his obsession with being a salesman in Boston made him delusional and caused him enough misery that he would sacrifice himself so that his sons may get some insurance money. Sure, none of these football players commit suicide, but there are obvious ways in which these boys collapse. Bissinger does a good job in the epilogue to described how each of the individuals either let success get to their head or how they had a hard time moving on. At least their stories would be remembered by Bissinger; who has dedicated so much time to make these ignorant characters have very human qualities that people can relate to.

“I work not only for the gathering and assimilation of knowledge, but also to teach the fact that one can be brilliant without being arrogant, that great intellectual capacity brings greater responsibility, that the quest for knowledge should never supplant the joy of learning, that one with great capacities must learn to be tolerant and appreciate those with lesser or different absolutes, and that these students can compete with any student at any university anyplace in the world” ( Friday 129).

This quote is a wonderful description of the true meaning of being well-educated; what the purpose and attainment of knowledge is, is wisdom. I like how this statement so excellently reveals that knowledge is not the ultimate accomplishment in itself, but rather the use of that knowledge, and the heart that goes with it, which determine how high it will take one. I agree with Mrs. Moore that great intellectual capacity comes with responsibility, because the more one has, the more one is responsible for. For instance, the more chores I have, the more responsibilities I have; or the greater position one has in a company, which usually comes through intelligence, the more people one has to care for. This is also true elsewhere; the more of anything one has the more they are responsible. Intelligence unfortunately often comes with arrogance, as those with “bigger” brains sometimes think they are better, but what they don’t realize is that brain capacity is a gift; we can develop it, but we can’t create it- only God can. There is one part of this statement I do not agree with, however, and that is “that one with great capacities must learn to be tolerant and appreciate those with lesser or different absolutes”. I believe that there must be tolerance of others, but that it must be guided by, for lack of a more exact word, love. By love, I mean kindness and compassion for another human being; and tolerance must be limited to that or else it becomes slavery and oppression. If one of high capacity mental or otherwise is forced to “tolerate” the demands of another of lower ideals, it will inevitably result in the suppression of the individual of higher capacity, and some of the good he might have done.

“But Mike was in the place of his childhood dreams, and he was at a time in his life when dreams still did come true, when David whipped Goliath, when unexpected pleasures fell from the clouds, when surprises rained down daily, when every feeling seemed like the most important on earth. He was still in High School” (Bissinger 305).

Truer words were never written. This quote embodies the mindset of almost every High School student, whether they will admit it or not. The truth of the statement comes from basic reality; outside of school, there isn’t much else for students to do. It is their full-time job, so to speak, and therefore it is the focal point of many teenagers’ lives. At this age, students are looking for someplace to put forth their drive and effort, and the multifaceted atmosphere of high school gives them that outlet. I am not necessarily talking about the academic aspect of high school. Rather, the whole package -academics, sports, music, art, theatre, etc.- are what high school students have to dedicate themselves to, and they do so to their fullest capability. All of their spare time and energy go into at least one of these extracurricular options, which brings us back to the above quoted statement. To the average teenager, high school IS the place where dreams come true, and where they can achieve their greatest potential through one of the many options it offers. It is where gods are forged and heroes are born, and where they themselves can join those ranks.

“In 1980, twenty-six years after the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, sixteen years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and ten years after a federal suit had been filed against the school district, Odessa’s schools weren’t remotely close to being integrated” (Bissinger 79).

A big subject in this book is the different races that live in and around Odessa. If you live on this certain side of the railroad tracks you getting treated differently. Even with the government pushing Odessa to desegregate schools, Odessa still wouldn’t. Earlier in this Novel Dwaine Cox, who graduated from Permian1962 with an all white class, thought it would be the same way for his son. Slowly but surely throughout the years both Permian High School and Odessa High School began to have more and more minorities start to attend. Even then, we see that by 1980 the schools were still not even close. I believe this also relates to the one love of Permian, football. There is a clash between the “special” black players who have raw talent, and the white players who have to work to be at their best. The quote embodies part of the whole struggle behind the closed doors in Odessa. Behind the amazing Friday night lights, there are many things not being taken care of, and wrongly treating minorities is one of them.

“‘We fit as athletes but we don’t really fit as a part of society’”(Bissinger, 107).

This quote was said by the only black Permian coach in 1988. I can’t believe how racist people were in Texas back in the late 80’s, less than 25 years ago. I think it’s ridiculous that people were ok with the different races in sports if the kids were exceptional, but when it came to the real world, different races were not given a chance. It was kind of like “ok, we’ll use you for your ability to hit a player or catch a pass, but once you’re off the field, you’re no good to us.” African Americans and Hispanics were used because of their ability to play, but when it came to the classroom, no one cared if they performed well or not. This quote really opened my eyes to how racist people still were less than 25 years ago, and it made me quite sad to come to that realization.

“Permian reduced the game that night to a science—every part in perfect sync with all the other parts, no part greater than the other parts, no part…ever not fulfilling its role in the great, grand scheme whatever the differences in intellect, background, style, and skill. Every ounce of individuality had been stripped to produce… a machine…”(149).

This quote was used to describe how the Permian players had transformed themselves from individual people with different backgrounds, intellect, etc. into a collective machine. Throughout the chapter, even, the author describes the Permian team as “the machine.”
However, the players seem to quickly step in and out of this “machine” and it’s difficult to notion that every player decided to stay being apart of this machine. Each player has an individual problem that seems to not matter once they’re out on the field, but everywhere else, it haunts them. One example of someone who simply stays apart from the machine is Boobie, who felt like he was thrown away before his time. Boobie wanted to be the best and center of attention. He did have his reasons for wanting that attention (it would most likely be the only way he’d get accepted at a college), but he didn’t want to be apart of this machine. He wanted to stand out from it.
Or the players who were simply “subs” or support (the ones who wore white shirts)? They stayed in the sidelines because they weren’t good enough to be playing, for fear that they would mess up. Were they really part of the machine? No, they were there “just in case” and would be quickly taken out the moment they made a mistake.
Somehow the Permian team were able to work well enough together as a machine to accomplish their goal. But it seems like it was only a select few who were able to work as a “machine”; the rest were left in the dust and either chose not to work with the machine, or they didn’t know how to.

“I have to have something to look forward to, or life is just a blah” (H.G. Bissinger 41).

Little town Odessa saw football as more than just a game. It was the heart and soul of the town. Football gave people something to rally around and believe in. This quote represents believing that great things can come from something as simple as a game of football. Football gave the whole town something to be involved in. The fans got into the game just as much or even more than the players. Football gave people something to look forward to and enjoy. Looking forward to something is what keeps people going, and for the town of Odessa that was football.

“There’s twelve hundred boys in Permain High School. You divde that by three and there’s four hundred in every class. You guys are a very special breed… Football is not for everybody. But you guys are special.” (bissinger 4)

High school has got enough problems as it is. For the football players in Odessa, the game is too. These players and coaches have huge expectations to fill in this small town. In Odessa, football had to be their life.

“‘There is nothing to replace it. It’s an integral part of what made the community strong. You take it away and it’s almost like you strip the identity of the people’” (Bissinger 24).

This passage shows how football is really the most important thing in Odessa, without it Odessa would be just like any other town in west Texas. Although Odessa has a market with the oil industry, football is what truly matters according to the town. If a student has athletic talent, their grades don’t matter, they are treated like a celebrity and even though everyone in the town knows they’re getting preferential treatment they go along with it. Football unites Odessa; it brings everyone together on Friday nights, and gives people something to talk about in the mean time! When the team loses the whole community suffers, but when they win it makes the town feel superior to others; like Odessa has something better then other towns, they stand out.

Zach- I agree with the statements you make about how the life of the teenager is solely based on his school-life; however, it is important to grasp that there is a life outside of high school. After all the extra-curriculars and grades, there is a life out there called the real world (not the television show, sorry). Usually most students use their experience to help them move onto a secondary education (i.e. college) which is made to help people find their place in society. I don’t disagree that high school is a very important part of life and it can change the way that the you think about and see the world, but high school ends…for the most part, after a couple of years. It is in this year that we will be making some decisions about where to go to college and starting to plan our futures and it is coming very quickly. So long as there is high school, we have some freedom before we make the big decisions in our lives but the sad thing is that these Odessans are left out in the rain when it came to these decisions. They are not prepared for the world outside of West Texas and moving on is a very hard thing as the epilogue shows. However, this is just my opinion and yours is not necessarily wrong; it is just incomplete.

“The metamorphosis began to take hold of Chavez. When the game began and he took the field, his today would be vibrating and his heart would be beating fast and every muscle in his body would become taut” (Bissinger 12-13).

The word, “metamorphosis” really stuck out to me in this quote. Not only does it describe Chavez’s relationship with football, and his teams’ ,but the whole town as well. When it’s finally Friday night, the lights are on, and the players are on the field, Odessans are overcome by Mojo and the football game in front of them becomes their sole focus as dedicated fans. They pour their emotions and spirit into the game. Friday nights transform Odessa, as the town of oil workers, cowboys, ranchers, blacks, whites, etc. all fuse together into one group, 20,000 strong, devoted to the Periman Panthers. Bissinger uses this word throughout the novel to emphasize each players unique relationship towards the game, and how it all comes down to the metamorphosis they feel on game day that bonds the team together.

“Odessa is the setting for this book, but it could be any place in this vast land where, on a Friday night, a set of spindly stadium lights rises to the heavens so powerfully, and so briefly, ignite the darkness,”(Bissinger xvi).

Bissinger puts so much description on the town of Odessa to make you realize that Odessa is like any other town in America. Our school, other schools and even the whole U.S. puts sports on such a high level in our lives. Instead of having the reader just read about a town and its players, by adding that line it allows the reader to connect. The majority of our schools money goes into sports, just like at Permian, by spending money on a track, fields, a pool and other equipment. By showing the players as well you can depict and connect people from your school who may have similar stories and dreams like the ones in the novel. Many parents pressure students into playing sports for scholarships, and others may feel pressured by peers around them like they have to constantly perform well. Sure Permian may be more intense than Avondale by having 20,000 fans at a game, but Bissinger had to display the most extreme situation to have the reader realize that we all focus too much on sports in school, and in America.

“What was wrong with the use of that word? Wasn’t that what they were? Wasn’t that what they always had been? Let a judge shove school desegregation down their throats. Let the federal government have all the free hand-out programs it wanted. It wasn’t going to change the way they felt,” (74).

This passage gives insight on racism and shows that it plays a major role in the town of Odessa. Odessa is a southern town which is not as modernized as the rest of the country. People living there still have old-fashioned beliefs and values. The passage shows that no matter how much the government tries to end segregation, it isn’t going to change the way people think. The N-word has no effect on the citizens of Odessa because it is thrown around so casually and is not considered derogatory in any way. It is sad that such judgment is still present in the United States even though many changes regarding racism has been made throughout the decades.

“She was right. The cost for boys’ medical supplies at Permian was $6,750. The cost for teaching materials for the English department was $5,040, which Moore said included supplies, maintenance of the copying machine, and any extra books…” (Bissinger 130).

To me, this is another ridiculous statistic pointing to the conclusion of Permian High School has put everything on the back burner compared to their football program. As much as I hate to say this, a High Schools first priority should be education. The main part of a High Schools budget should be set to serve educations needs, then try your best to serve the sports with the remaining. Earlier in this chapter Bissinger tells us that Permians SAT scores are way below the national average. I believe some of this has to do with the lack of money going to the educational departments. What would happen if PHS spent as much as they did on football, but on educational purposes?

“Don knew they had talent. It was just the way some of them kind of swaggered around that bothered him, how some of them seemed to do whatever they wanted in practice and the coaches let them get away with it…’In practice, the niggers, they do what they want to do, and they still start Friday night,’ he said. ‘There are different rules for black and white at Permian,’” (Bissinger 71).

In my previous blog, I talked about racism towards African Americans in the town of Odessa. In this passage, it shows the reverse discrimination that occurs at Permian High School. African Americans are treated with much higher status than White football players because coaches think they have more athletic ability. This is very ironic because in the real world of Odessa, African Americans aren’t valued for anything; they are under appreciated and treated without respect. However, the passage shows that even when a White football player works harder than a Black football player during practice, the Black player will still get to start the game. This is hugely unfair and bias because Whites and Blacks aren’t getting equal opportunities; Part of the this is caused by stereotypes which say that African Americans have more athletic ability.

It is interesting how a mere game of football can change the beliefs and values of people so drastically. White coaches are willing to put aside whatever racist attitudes they may have by choosing a Black player (who may not even be working that hard) to start a game. They are willing to accept people who are normally outcasts in the real world of Odessa for one reason; football. This shows the tremendous impact that football has on the town of Odessa. It is the one thing in Odessa that gives African Americans a chance to prove themselves and achieve their dreams.

“What [Gary Gaines] said proves he is incompetent. Quote: ‘It doesn’t matter if you win or lose if two good teams are playing.’ Never in the history of sports has anything been more ludicrously said”(227).
“But [Wilkins] never believed the role of a coach was to build character or lasting relationships. The role of a coach was to win…”(229).

These quotes are used to describe the true values that Odessa pushes for. Like Andrea Z said, Bissinger records Odessa’s obsession with football almost as a sort of warning for other counties. His whole writing style really reeks of sarcasm. Bissinger at first narrates the high schoolers lives as if football is the only important thing left on earth, but then goes to show the reader the effects of such thinking.
Most football stories tell about teams that overcome impossible odds to win a game. They’re usually stories that tell about how each team member grows in character and learn to work together no matter what. Even though it’s just a football game, the team members grow so much that it makes one believe that it was football, in this case, that made a difference in their lives.

But this story is different. Football seems to be ruining lives. Many are focused so much on winning that the students aren’t receiving the benefits and values that football teaches. It’s difficult to believe why this story is inspirational—or is it supposed to be? Bissinger seems to be taking a very sarcastic view on everything, while the TV series and movie paint a totally different picture. Usually, these stories are about “breaking barriers”; but the seemingly most important barrier in this story doesn’t seem to have been broken. This barrier is the “roles” that students play in this Odessa town. The idea that real boys play football, and girls must always be supportive. Coaches must make winners, not characters; everyone else must support football no matter what. Football is very important to Odessa, yet it seems to be breaking it apart. Football doesn’t seem to be any more help to the town than the debts from the oil industry.

“If you get hurt, that’s fine, you’re hurt. But if you get a lick, and you’re gonna lay there and whine about it, you don’t belong on the field anyway” (H.G. Bissinger 78).

As assistant coach Tam Hollingshead gave a prep-talk to his team for the big season opener he tried to give them some advice that would cool down their jitters. The coach told his team that if they give it their all and get hurt that’s fine, there is nothing they can do about it. If someone gets hurt and whines and complains and lets it get the best of them they don’t deserve to be out there playing anyway. The coach wants his team to stay focus and collected so they can bring home a win. This is good advice because it is best to deal with the pain and not complain about it. The best revenge is a win, which they can achieve by staying focused on the game.

“I guarantee you, men, it will be a sick, sick feeling if we go over there and play poorly,” he told them. “We’re not that talented. If we go over there and play poorly and loose, it’s somethin’ you’ll remember for a long, long time” (H.G. Bissinger 174).

Weather it is a football game or life it is important to give your all. Have no regrets and do your best. If you gave it your all it won’t matter if you lose or win. This quote is much like the quote “Hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard. But Talent that works hard will always win.” I believe that the reason the people in the book love football so much is because it is talent that works hard and that is something fans are proud of and want to be a part of.

“In the fall of 1988, there were 147 blacks – 6 percent of the student body – attending Permian. There were none among the forty-seven students taking honors physics 1…” (Bissinger 107)

These many statistics on page 107 show the significance of blacks in the Odessa community. The stats about the academics show the whites taking over. But when the stats get to the athletic programs, the blacks dominate. Here’s an example – “On the Permian team, six of the fifty-five players were black. In the basketball program, fifteen of the thirty-nine players were black.” The basketball team is about the only program at Permian that had a significant number of blacks making it up. But this isn’t about basketball. It’s about football. Despite the fact that the Permian Panther football program only consisted of six players, they had an enormous impact on it. Of the six black players at the beginning of August, five were starters (Boobie, the sixth one, was hurt). The only players on the whole team to start on both the offensive and defensive side were blacks. On offense, black players started at flanker, split end, and fullback. On defense, they started at middle linebacker, defensive end, safety, and rover. That’s seven positions right there; two more than there were blacks on the team. That’s proof that the blacks had such a significant impact on the football program.

“His life seemed the embodiment of the American Dream, living proof that anything could happen if a person had enough drive andwillingness to take risks.” (Bissinger 179)

Tony Chavez, a hispanic man and father of Brian Chavez, had quite the journey in life. He started out a trouble child in high school, cutting class to cross the border and have a drink. He went from high school to joining the military, from the military to becoming a cop. After he was a cop, he became motivated to go to law school. Before he knew it, Tony had everything… money, a big house, nice cars… everything! The moral of this story is that if you really put your mind into something that you really want in life, it’s quite possible that a dream could become a reality. Like it says in the book, Tony was living proof that anything can happen if a person has enough drive and a willingness to take risks…

“Many teachers felt that no matter how creative they were in the classroom, it wouldn’t make a difference any way… It was hard for teachers not to feel depressed by the lack of rudimentary knowledge, “(Bissinger 115).

Permian’s SAT scores are 85 points lower than they were in the 70’s and the only have one National Merit semi-finalist compared to the seven they had before. If Permian spent as much time on education as they do on football they wouldn’t be having statistics like this. They should focus less on football players like Don Billingsley who barely does anything in school, and more on people like Brian Chavez who have a willingness to learn. Also, they should have fewer girls who believe that to achieve their goal of being rich is they need to marry someone. The Pepette’s and cheerleaders are there to boost morale, not to be a football player’s personal servant. Permian needs to start focusing on excelling in something else besides football because they’re not always going to have that winning streak.

“There was no doubt that Winchell had exceeded all expectations. As a senior he had come into his own.”

I do not believe Friday Night Lights is a caricature. I do think that Bissinger was trying to get a message across, and thus used “writer’s license” to emphasize certain points, but I don’t think he was biased in his representation overall. In a caricature, the maker of the caricature tries to skew others’ perspectives of something to his own by showing a biased picture of the object he is caricaturing. in Friday Night Lights, Odessa is the only thing that Bissinger may show biased; I think the purpose of his book is to show the different impacts that high school football can have on different people. Thus he had to find a town where high school football was a big enough influence that its effect on everybody, not just the players, would be great enough to be measured by him; Odessa obviously fits, even though it is atypical of an American town. The reason that I believe Bissinger is not making a caricature of football is because he shows so many different points of view of football through the various players and so many different effects on them. Boobie, for example, is ruined by his accident, which came about because of football, but Mike Winchell goes and has a great season and feels great about football. If Bissinger was being biased he would say that football ruins everybody, or makes everybody great. But we can see, even though for most of the players their lives aren’t made better permanently by the game, there are good and bad parts to football.

Sorry, that quote is from page 304.

“Many had their kids with them, for it was clear they thought it was important for children to see this spectacle at a young age so they could begin to understand what it all meant” (Bissinger 20).

In Friday Night Lights, football plays a large role in society. Even at a young age, children are influenced by the sport. As children watch from the stands, their parents are probably advising them to play football in high school. Parents shouldn’t force their children into playing football. Students only attend high school for a few years, and they should be able to make their own decisions about extra-curricular activities. If students are forced into playing football, the football players won’t be playing for the love of the sport, but for the sake of pleasing their parents. The glory of playing during the Friday football games is exhilarating to every single player, but many of them only play the game because of the pressure that is forced upon them. Despite the major influence football has over the community, players should play with their passion and love for the sport.

“Gomez said the line was drawn that way not for the cause of desegregation, nor to satisfy any academic purpose, nor even to meet any racial quota, but to ensure Permian a greater number of black running backs down the road than its rival…We spent more time talking about the athletic program than the curriculum.” (Bissinger 89).

This quote shows how everyone in the town including the school board puts football as a number one priority. Education is weakened by strengthening the football team. The goal of the school district is not to graduate students, but to generate wins for the football team. Football in Odessa and most of Texas is the reason why education is failing. The school board is using these students to their advantage by making a great football team. The students are being taught that four years is more important than the rest of their whole life. Most students will not be prepared to face the world and make a living for themselves. It is sad to see students being guided the wrong way by adults who should be role models. The problem is that the parents and teachers are too caught up by the football games so they forget some of their own mistakes.

Kevin-

I agree with you about how blacks are treated in the Permian football program when you said “white people view black people as expendable pawns that are only used to better their own lives.” They use the black people for football and it seems as if the only place blacks fit in at Permian is on the football field. Everywhere else they are treated with less respect than a white man. White people use black people to their advantage in Odessa. It shows how little progression has been made for blacks in the south.

“The First National Bank, which dished out loans as freely as a doctor gives out lollipops, was in grave trouble. In July and August 1982 alone, deposits had dropped $150 million.” (Bissinger 207).

I chose this quote because of the historical aspects, and how it connects with the economy right now in present time. The big business in Odessa is oil, and when the town went through a recession the oil business was hit hard. The historical connection would be the great depression, people took out to many loans and then couldn’t pay the bank bank, this novel tells us that is what happened in Odessa as well. Also, this relates to present times because this is happening right now, the banks gave out to many loans to people who couldn’t pay them back. For Odessa, which is a smaller town, its hard to get back on their feet because the main money maker for Odessa is oil.

” ‘ Before, it was take the blacks and put’ em in the cotton field. Let ‘ em do farm work. Let ‘ em do share crops. In the twentieth century, because of football, the real smart people use these blacks just like they would on a farm. And when it’s over they don’t care about them. Some people say in their mind, that’s all they were good for anyway’ ” (Bissinger 93).

I like this passage because I pick up a lot of perspective from reading it. In this passage, H. G. Bissinger not only shows the attitude that some blacks share on not being valued in society, but also the historic grounds on how they came to this conclusion. This passage is history being told and witnessed by a man, Laurence Hurd, who has been victimized by discrimination, segregation, and racial profiling. He tells a progressive story of how blacks slowly get their freedom. First, out of slavery to poverty then through the present century, in the 1980s, where blacks are free from involuntary bondage and Jim Crow laws. But, one thing remains, the devalued approach from most white people toward blacks. Though Jim crow laws are banned, at this time, most whites feel that whites and blacks should still be separate. Only black people who are viewed as valuable commodities are accepted. For this football frenzied town, black football players are the most widely accepted because they make large contributions to the football team. But once injured, they are forgotten or ridiculed by their once beloved white coaches and fans. This passage high-lights the perspective that many blacks had of the white and black relationships in their time and society.

This quote is said by LaRue Moore, one of the teachers at Permian High school:

“‘I don’t mind that it’s [football] emphasized…I just wish we would emphasize other things.’” (Bissinger, 147).

I completely agree with this teacher’s point of view. She views education way different than many of the teachers, parents, students, etc at Permain High School. She doesn’t mind that football has such a high ranking in the school because she knows football is very important to Permian, she just wishes that other things (especially education) could be just as important. Almost all of the football players don’t try hard in their classes because to them, it doesn’t matter how well they do in school, as long as they do well on the football field, everything’s fine. And the sad part is, no one even cares if the players don’t perform in the classroom. No one does anything to encourage them to have to do well in the classroom in order to play football (like an academic misconduct, for example) because that could hurt the football team. Moore pretty much thinks football should be important, just like any other sport, but it shouldn’t be as important as academics.

“Don, of course, was a football player, which gave him special status among his peers regardless of how he performed in class. In the hierarchy of the school, where girls and parting and clothes and fancy cars were as important as academics, being a football player opened doors that other students could only dream of. All other achievements seemed to pale in the face of it,” (Bissinger 119).

This passage brings insight to the way Permian Football players are treated in High School as well as in the town of Odessa. They are put on a pedestal and are worshipped because they can play a sport. Should playing football for Permian evoke this kind of glorification? Although I disagree, the citizens of Odessa do not. They fail to realize the more important aspects of life. They put so much focus on football that naturally, everything else seems much less worthy. Teachers don’t care if football players don’t do their work; as long as they win the game on Friday night, nothing else matters. Families dream that one day, their son can have a spot on the Permian Football Team. I am not saying that this is a worthless dream to have. However, people should realize the many other wonderful opportunities outside of football and should not be so single-minded about success.

While reading early on, I found two quotes that when put together, foreshadowed the end.
1). “’Splendid cities will spring up all along the railroads that traverse the plains, and immense fortunes will be made there in a few years, in land business ventures, you will see the most remarkable emigration to that section that has occurred since the days when the discovery of gold sent wealth-seekers by thousands into Colorado’…” (Bissinger 6).
2). “’And there was the description in Larry McMurtry’s Texasville, which simply called Odessa the “worst town on earth’” (Bissinger 12).
I find these two quotes important by how they relate to the football team of Permian High School. At the beginning of the 1988 season, Permian High had the slogan “State in Eighty-eight!” chant. Everyone had high expectations of the team, especially because the highly talented prospect in Boobie Miles was returning. As the Permian faithful had high hopes for their football team, so did Odessa citizens of their town early on in which they believed would turn into a utopia. Just as Odessa had became a failed Utopia based on the bad economic bust years and the highest murder rate, the football team had failed as well by not winning the State Championship. Also, prospect Boobie Miles whom everyone was looking forwards to watching suffered an injury that doomed his career in an early scrimmage. I believe that author H.G. Bissinger used the city of Odessa as a way to foreshadow the outcome of Permian High’s 1988 season.

“Moore’s salary, with twenty years’ experience and a master’s degree, was $32,000. By comparison, she noticed, the salary of Gary Gaines, who served as both football coach and athletic director for Permian but did not teach any classes, was $48,000. In addition, he got the free use of a new Taurus sedan each year, ” (Bissinger 131).

I chose this passage because it supports my argument that football has too much of an impact on Odessa. Teachers who work hard to educate their students are making far less money than a football coach . In another part of this book, it said that during the 1988 season, over $70,000 was used for chartered jets. This statistic shines light on a very important question: How is Odessa’s economy doing so poorly when a high school can afford $70,000 to rent jets? Instead of using the money to better the lives of people living in Odessa by fixing the economy, the money is used for completely unnecessary reasons. This just shows the extreme beliefs that people in Odessa have toward football. Even though they know about the lavish spending and squandering towards football, they don’t care that the money is not going toward fixing the economy. Even though they know about the corrupt educational system, they don’t seem to mind as long as Permian is winning on Friday nights. It is unfortunate to see a town so absorbed in something that would normally be considered largely less significant in other parts of the country. Odessa is trying to hold on to the last thing they have pride in and they won’t let go of it even if it means losing everything else.

“It may be that Ivory Christian hates football. It may be that he is burned out on it. It may be that he considers it pointless, an eight-year journey to nowhere. But it also may be under the right circumstances, the demon wins the heart of the most steadfast soul, and the nemesis always becomes a lover.”
I like this quote because it relates to me. As each baseball season of mine nears an end, I start getting a little tired of it and I say, “If I’m not given the opportunity to play college baseball then, then why after twelve years am I still playing?” But after the season is over and I see the pros continue their season as they push for the playoffs in October and I see the Little Leaguers play their heart out trying to get into the Little League World Series, something that I cannot control takes over and gives me the mindset to work in the offseason and to get excited for the upcoming season. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the demon in my case is baseball and the steadfast soul in which it is trying to take over is my mind that is saying give baseball a break. After it is all said and done, my mind (the nemesis) once again becomes a lover of the great game of baseball.

Sorry, I forgot to site my quote on my last blog.

“It may be that Ivory Christian hates football. It may be that he is burned out on it. It may be that he considers it pointless, an eight-year journey to nowhere. But it also may be under the right circumstances, the demon wins the heart of the most steadfast soul, and the nemesis always becomes a lover” (Bissinger 104).

I like this quote because it relates to me. As each baseball season of mine nears an end, I start getting a little tired of it and I say, “If I’m not given the opportunity to play college baseball then, then why after twelve years am I still playing?” But after the season is over and I see the pros continue their season as they push for the playoffs in October and I see the Little Leaguers play their heart out trying to get into the Little League World Series, something that I cannot control takes over and gives me the mindset to work in the offseason and to get excited for the upcoming season. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the demon in my case is baseball and the steadfast soul in which it is trying to take over is my mind that is saying give baseball a break. After it is all said and done, my mind (the nemesis) once again becomes a lover of the great game of baseball.

“As at the Abilene High game there were times one could see tiny flashes of the old brilliance, but there were more moments of watching him try to cut up field into freedom, only to fall helplessly to the ground,” (Bissinger 187).

Dreams play a major role in this novel. Little boys in Odessa have the dream of one day playing for Permian; the Permian football players have the dream of going pro. Unfortunately, for Boobie Miles, his dream gets destroyed. Boobie was one of the best players on his team until his knee injury. This forces him to take a break from football and rethink about what he wants to do in life. This shows that no matter how much hard work and effort goes into achieving a goal, anything can happen at any time and a dream can be snatched away in an instant. Sadly, this is what happens to Boobie. Boobie shows tremendous courage and perseverance when he decides to get back on the field despite his knee injury. He knows that it is never going to be the same for him again, yet he’s willing to take a chance and put himself out there. This quality is very admirable because he shows such a great passion for the sport that he won’t let anything get in his way. He is at a point where he isn’t playing football because of the potential fame and money; he’s playing because he loves it.

“Inside the locker room of the Marshall Mavericks, where a sign in thick red letters on the Coke machine read THERE’S NOTHING THAT COMES EASY THAT’S WORTH A DIME. AS A MATTER OF FACT, I NEVER SAW A FOOTBALL PLAYER MAKE A TACKLE WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE, Ivory went through his physical upheaval, as far removed from the cocoon of the Rose of Sharon pulpit as he could ever be” (Bissinger 102).

I chose this passage because I really liked the message on the Coke machine. Even though the sign was on a machine, it reiterates the amount of hard work and determination that goes into football. Although many Permian High School football players play for the popularity and perks, they must devote a great deal of their time towards football. Football, like any other sport, requires a lot of energy and dedication. With the many practices and games, players can’t have a lazy attitude or take shortcuts in football. To some fans sitting in the stands during a Friday night game, football may seem like an easy sport. But before the glorious games, the team practices many different plays which could be used during an upcoming game. The Permian High School football team, along with many other football teams, hopes to play in the State championship. Without hard work and dedication, a football team’s chances of making it to a State championship are very slim. Strength, perseverance, commitment, and dedication are qualities that are necessary for a football team to be successful.

“I don’t think they realize these are sixteen, seventeen, eighteen-year-old kids,” she once said. “I don’t think they realize these are coaches. They are men not gods. They don’t realize it’s a game and they look at them like they’re professional football players. They are kids, high school kids, the sons of somebody, and they expect them to be perfect” (H.G. Bissinger 237).

Football was a part of people’s lives at Permian. Football had become too important to the people and this put too much pressure on the coaches and high school football players. It is great to be proud of a team and cheer them on, but when it becomes too serious it can get ridiculous because it is just a high school football game. There are more important things that the people tend to forget about when they were so concentrated on a game. It is great that the fans want their team to do well but it is not ok that it had to do with how people feel about themselves. The players also have other things to think about besides football. A game should not run a person’s life.

5. “He came from a religious home and he believed in the lessons of the lord. “Everything was goin’ so good and he took it away from me just like that,” said Boobie. There must have been a reason for it, and explanation” (H.G. Bissinger 262).
Things can change in a heartbeat. It was going to be Boobie’s year he was going to be a senior and the star player. Boobie was invincible, until his knee ended his football career. His knee became torn to shreds and he couldn’t stand being injured on the bench anymore. Boobie was being taunted for his injury. Some people just considered him a quitter. It was something he couldn’t control and did not wish upon himself. Thing were going so great for Boobie until the best thing that ever happened to him turned in to the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Boobie didn’t understand the reason for it but since he believed in the lord he knew that what had happened must have been for a reason.

1. “I knew at that moment I’d given everything I had to give, total commitment. Not holding back anything. Like being truly clean and truly free as far as maximum effort. It’s an emotional feeling, an emotional high that is basically unparalleled” (H.G. Bissinger 319).
Football meant the world to Permian. Everyone believed they would win. All the players had this invincible feeling and were ready to give it their all. Playing football gave them a rush that was beyond compare. It was kind of sad that high school football could create the greatest feeling for someone. It is great to give it your all when on the field but to revolve everything around it is too obsessive. Other activities in the school, coaches families and school work was neglected because of football. It is great to be a part of a team or a fan for a team but it is important not to forget other aspects of life.

“Football may have a slightly different place in the psyche of Odessa than it had a decade ago, but it still holds an iron grip” (Bissinger 357)

I like this passage because it shows there is hope for Odessa, as far as the education of kids. This came about partly because of Friday Night Lights; the people of Odessa saw themselves differently and wanted to change. Even though they call Bissinger a traitor and a sensationalist, the school improves its academics, with SAT scores improving and more money spent on technology. This is a good thing, because it means that now young people in Odessa can have a better life after high school, instead of nothing to look forward to but football. Odessa was improved, even though it seems that football is worse off because of the shift in attention from it to academics (although it is still very important). Because of this, I think that Friday Night Lights had a point, and thus was worth the effort it took to write.

“All this wasn’t accomplished with kids who weighed 250 pounds and were automatic major-college prospects, but with kids who often weighed 160 or 170 or even less. They no special athletic prowess. They weren’t especially strong. But they were fearless and relentlessly coached and from the time they were able to walk they had only one certain goal in their lives in Odessa, Texas. Whatever it took, they would play for Permian” (Halberstam 44).

The Odessa community puts an enormous pressure on their young men. These boys grow up with the idea that playing for Permian is the only way to become sucessful in Odessa. However, these teenage boys are anything but ordinary. Their drive and motivation to become a part of the famous Permian football team is extraordinary. No where else in the world will you see highschool athletes that are more dedicated to a sport.

I can relate myself to the young boys who live in Odessa. Like their drive to become a Permian Panther, I want to be a 2nd lieutenant in the Marines. I have dreamed of becoming this since I was little, just like the Odessa young men strive to be football players. I have kept focused on my dream and will continue to take the necessary steps to acheiving it.

“He just felt a little envious. No matter how many books he read, no matter how exquisite his arguments in government class about gun control or the Sandinistas or the death penalty, he never got the latest scoop on who was having the weekend parties. Only the football players were privy to that sacred knowledge” (Bissinger 120).

I like this passage because I believe that everyone has their own Eddie Driscoll moment of envy when they are not informed about the latest social event. The way it is these days are if you are not what others consider “cool” and “popular,” you aren’t going to get the inside scoop on where the latest parties and get together are. Whether someone is as good as could be in a subject such as math, if he or she is not a jock, one who gets the girls, or the one that everybody loves to hang out with, then he or she will never obtain that “popular status.” At Permian High for example, if you are not a football player, cheerleader, or a Pepette, then chances are you will not be informed the latest gossip. I believe that this passage is Bissinger’s way of informing the reader to think about others while planning something so they don’t feel left out and how status’s such as the “jock” should not be given out because it labels people for something different than who they really are.

“He doesn’t want to play. Fuckheads can just play. He wants to be number one. He wants to be the one with his name in the paper. He wants to be the leading rusher in District Four Five-A. He wants to be the one they’re talking about” (Bissinger 186).

I like this passage because it just shows how hard the work ethic is on the Permian High football team. I think that it is important for everyone to have a mindset such as this because if one doesn’t, then they will never reach their full potential. The thing that sets a good athlete apart from a great athlete is the lack of dedication, motivation, and work ethic. As we read, the Permian High 1988 football team was not one that was blessed with size and strength but the reason why Permian succeeded in winning as many games as they did was because of the extra effort they put in. With that extra effort to be number one, they outlast their opponents as the game went on. Even within their own team the players wanted to have the starting spot where glory was shined upon. Everybody can be a football player and get that big old varsity jacket and have the opportunity to walk around campus with a little swagger in his step, but not everyone can be number one. I believe everyone should strive to be number one because the path to become number one motivates a player to work that much harder than their opponent which is what determines a winner from an everyday person. The drive to be number one is what gives Permian a successful football team, and that drive is what can give anyone a chance to be successful as well.

“What [Gary Gaines] said proves he is incompetent. Quote: ‘It doesn’t matter if you win or lose if two good teams are playing.’ Never in the history of sports has anything been more ludicrously said”(227).
“But [Wilkins] never believed the role of a coach was to build character or lasting relationships. The role of a coach was to win…”(229).

After reading Sarah’s response earlier in the blog I would have to agree with her on her opinions except for one part; “But this story is different. Football seems to be ruining lives. Many are focused so much on winning that the students aren’t receiving the benefits and values that football teaches.” In my opinion, I believe that football is actually helping these kids’ lives. From learning to play through the pain and playing the game not for the hell of it but to become number one is in my opinion, teaching the players how to become men. Being a man is when you are faced with difficult tasks and being able to get them done. Being a man is living up to high expectations. Being a man is being able to take negative feedback from others and instead of looking at it as criticism, look at it as a learning experience. Despite the lack of education the majority of the players are getting in the Permian school system, I feel that that is partly their own fault. It doesn’t matter how good a teacher is, if a kid doesn’t want to learn then he or she won’t learn. If the kid wants to learn, then he or she will take the information laid out in front of him or her and learn. When it’s all said and done, I believe that football is helping these kids’ become men, therefore it is helping their lives.

“‘Think about your jobs. Where do you want to be in five years?’ asked Fowler of a female student.
‘Rich,’ the student replied.
‘How are you going to achieve that?’
‘Marry someone’” (Bissinger 121-122).

This passage enlightens readers about the poor life decisions Permian High School students make. Instead of planning to work hard in school, get a job, and work towards her own success, she, the female in the passage, would rather get married. At Permian High School, many of the students pay more attention towards sports than education. Students should focus more on their education and preparing for college rather than having sports, specifically football, as their focal point in high school. With below average grades, which many students on the football team have, students will have a harder time earning admission to a high-ranking college. In the passage, the female plans to marry a well-off person so she can receive some wealth. Marrying a rich spouse may be an alternative, but if she earns her own success and salary, she’ll feel much better about herself. Plus, marrying a person for their wealth isn’t the greatest motive; she should marry for love, not money. If students at Permian High School took their education more seriously and planned for the future, they would live a more successful, prosperous lifestyle.

“He loved it and he hated it and he hated it and he loved it” (Bissinger 11).

This passage shows how Ivory Christian felt about Permian Football. He didn’t realize how much it meant to him at the time, but this is how he felt. This is how a lot of people probably feel about the sport they’re playing. I hate serving but the more I work on it the better I get and it’s for tennis which I love to play. My friend loves wrestling so he’s doing cross country to get in shape even though he hates running. I could go on and on, but I chose this passage because I feel that it relates to a lot of people. The way Bissinger repeated himself also makes the feeling he is writing about seem more realistic and relevant to the reader.

“When he learned that Permian had the game safely in hand, he then took his medicine” (Bissinger 41).

I chose this passage because it shows how dedicated the fans of Permian really are. This quote is about a man in a hospital who wouldn’t take his pain medication until he knew Permian would win. You would have to be really dedicated to want to lay in pain while listening to your team play. This isn’t the only example in the book of how devoted the Permian fans are but it stuck out to me the most because he was in physical pain. Bissinger wrote this in a way that isn’t too exaggerated like “When he learned that his team, Permian, had the game safely in hand, he then took his medicine so his writhing pain would go away”. If he had written it like that it would have been overkill, but he wrote it simply like here is what happened. That’s another reason this quote stuck out to me.

“This moment, and not January first, was New Year’s day” (Bissinger 78).

This passage is from when Permian played its first game of the season. I chose this quote because it shows how much the town is really in to Permian football. It also shows how the players felt about the first game; super pumped. Bissinger’s comparison of a football game to New Year’s Day really portrays how big the first game of the season is in Odessa. This passage connects all the fans and the players to readers by doing so.

“”When Permian football goes in Odessa,” he said with a laugh late one night, “then everything will go.”” (Bissinger 180).

I chose this passage because it gives a firsthand account of how people felt about Permian football. They used it as faith to get through the bad times of the busts, and as entertainment during the good times of the booms. Odessa isn’t that great of a town with just football and oil, but the people there really believed in what they had. Bissinger’s use of this passage was great because it fit in perfect with what was being said in the paragraph before and the paragraph after. His writing style helps to give the book a smooth and easy read.

“He went slowly to look for his nickel, as if he really wasn’t sure that he wanted to see what it was. His hair was matted with sweat and he walked on the tips of his toes” (Bissinger 258).

I chose this quote because it shows a different side of the story. Yes there was the glory and the fans cheering and the feeling of being unstoppable. But there was also the stress and agony of playing poorly and leaving the season to chance. The way Bissinger wrote this quote really gets the point across of how much the town was depending on that coin toss, and how Gaines didn’t want to be blamed for a loss. Writing about how he felt mentally and how he looked physically gives the reader an even better vision of how it would look and feel to be Gaines.

“His heaves echoed in the locker room as if he was choking, the sounds more horrible and violent than usual, but by now they had become reassuring, an encouraging vital sign” (Bissinger 320).

This passage shows how everything everyone does can affect the team. Ivory’s retching was a comforting thing and it was a big part of the team getting ready to play. Bissinger gets this to the reader by using words like vital and reassuring. The way he described the sounds also helps the reader to imagine what it was like. I chose this quote because I like that something so simple and routine can be so important and consoling.

“It was something else, more than just strength or speed, a kind of invincible fire that burned within him, an unquenchable feeling that no one on that field, no one, was a good as he was” (Bissinger 54)

Bissinger does a good job of showing the mentality of the football players and in general how people think. When people feel are doing what they love and they are good at it, they feel power and control. These west Texans didn’t have much except for football; their lives were solely based on the very small amount of years that these boys spent on playing football. However, the reader is able to understand a little more of their psyche and just how they feel by writing that Boobie felt like he had an “invincible fire”. This metaphor, which displays the conquering quality present in all time – from Alexander the Great to the modern era – allows the reader to empathize with Boobie’s troubles and to feel sorry. It allows the reader to understand because every person has felt failure and that great fire being taken from him or her. The invincible fire in all of us burns.

I am going to start off by saying this was a way more enticing book for me to read. Not only do I play sports, but I have also found myself in the mix of championship stress. This book really had me turning pages to find out what happened next. I had me reading like a little kid again, just focusing on the storyline. But I of course took a look back into the story to find out themes and morals. I found that this book teaches you to not put too much stressful on yourself, you can only do the best you can and that’s all anyone can ask of you. It also teaches you that no matter what race you are, where you come from, or what your family background is, so can still give your best effort.

“They huddled around him on one knew, their faces so earnest, so filled with nervousness and hope, and they truly did seem like a family, the bunch of brothers that Gaines had talked about so long ago before the Odessa High game. It seemed corny then, the kind of sentiment coaches always tried to invoke. But it didn’t now,” (Bissinger 310).

It is amazing to see that football keeps everyone in Odessa so connected to each other. As this passage states, everyone on the team is practically family because they stick together during the tough times and the happy times. Football is the only reason why people in Odessa have reason to live there. It acts as a common thread between all the citizens of Odessa. It eliminates the problems of race, economy, and social class; on the field, everyone is equal and there are no barriers. It is absolutely mind-blowing to see that a community can become so close-knit because of a common goal or passion. Football is clearly more than a sport to Odessa. The way Bissinger showcases the emotions of people and brings out the passion is a key aspect of the novel. Without the background information on each player, it is impossible to get a full idea of the character. Bissinger takes time to develop each character fully in order for the reader to understand him/her better. Also, Bissinger puts extra emphasis (and may even be exaggerating) when he describes how much people care about football in Odessa. He points out that when Permian loses a game, people put “for sale” signs on Coach Gaines’ front yard. Although I have no proof that he is misrepresenting Odessa, I do feel that this is a bit extreme. However, the way he describes the passion brings a much deeper understanding to the novel . It is clearly seen that football is something that Odessa will always have pride in.

“No one thought [the injury] was serious, particularly since he had a reputation for whimpering… ” ‘ I can’t run, man,’ ” he told Tim O’ Connell, the Permian trainer… ” ‘ Trapper’ ” and was the trainer ( for the north) during the all star game. Crow’s voice high-pitched and laced with pain, made him sound almost scared. ” ‘ Why don’t you just try” said Trapper, who examined him and could find no discernible injury. Crow continued to play in the game… After the game it turned out that Crow had not been whimpering. He was diagnosed with a herniated disc” (Bissinger 30).

This passage describes the injury of a star athlete, who was wrongly accused of being a, “softy’, after complaining about his injury. I like this passage, because it gives me insight of the towns expectation of its football players. Bissinger uses this single character in this passage, to show the importance of football to the town, and the resulting effect on its athletes. From this passage, it is clear that Crow faces a lot of pressure to perform well and be strong, however he pays the cost of getting a major injury. Though a lot of players have special treatment, Bissinger is also explaining the negative side to having “all the fame and glory”. In other words he is showing what some of the players have to face with the “cost of being the boss”. Though Bissinger describes the significance of football to the town, and the allowance of arrogant attitudes for star athletes, he also shows the enormous amount of stress put on the athletes.

Ch.1 “When he spoke to the players that very first time, he told them to ignore the outside pressure that would inevitably swirl around them during the thick of the season. ‘I’m gonna get criticism and you’re gonna get criticism,’ he said. ‘It don’t mean a hill of beans, because the only people that matter are in this room. It doesn’t make a difference, except for the people here.’”

I chose this quote because it is where the players all start out, in the locker room with their coach giving an inspiring speech. Here it shows you where the obsession of this game starts. The coach speaks as if the players in that room are the only important people in the world and as if the human race would die if it they did not play. All of these people think of the games as their lives and without them, they would be nothing. To me, it is only a game, but I do realize that others think of as more than a game. However, I would not agree that these games are life. Life is so much bigger and more complex than playing a season of football games. I feel that if this community realized this then they might think more of the children and see that there are more career choices than sports.

Ch.5 “Out where she worked as a secretary for a petrochemical plant, many of the blue-collar workers used the word all the time. She didn’t know how to get them to stop so she hit them back where it hurt, saying, ‘Goddamn Jesus Christ!’ with the same bitter snap in the voice. It bothered them, and they frankly didn’t know how a decent person could say a thing such as that, show such utter disrespect for the Lord. But nigger? What was wrong with the use of that word?”

This quote really caught my attention. It is so strange to me that these people would use such a word to define someone. To me a person should not be based on what color they are or where they are from, but based on what kind of person they are to other people. I would certainly not use that word to describe an African American person. And I really do not approve when people say it to each other in a friendly matter. It was used to discriminate against others and should not be used in the opposite matter.

Ch.7 “‘It still amazes me when I give a test in grammar and the kids can do it,’ said English teacher Elodia Hilliard with more than a touch of sadness in her voice. ‘It used to be the other way around. I used to be surprised whenever they didn’t know it. Now I’m amazed when they do know it.’ When Hilliard looked around the classroom she saw students with no direction, and she wondered if they saw any point at all in being well read and intelligent. She listened to parents who, rather than promising to try to motivate their children, made excuses for them- the homework was too hard, or the book they had been assigned had too many cuss words in it.”

This quote stuck out to me in the way that this community became so obsessed with football that they would put it before valuable study time. The students would spend more time talking about last night’s big game than trying to better their intelligence. These teachers get paid to get students to branch out in different subjects and help them with the problems they may have with a subject. However, if these students are not paying attention or actually getting taught, then what are the teachers there for? It is a waste of time for them to be taught anything if they are not being encouraged to learn a life beside football.

I agree with Chitra R. when she talks about how the students focus more on sports than education. These students, especially the football players, are not preparing themselves for the inevitable truth that awaits them the year after high school. If a player on the team gets injured, that player will have no alternative job choice except working at a grocery store receiving little pay. However, if these students focuse on education as much as sports, they would not need to worry about an injury effecting their future as much.

Response to posts

In many peoples post they are “dogging” or putting down Odessa as a town because of there dependence on football. Why is this? If this is the way the town has been for so many years, why fix it if it works? Some of you questioned the towns priorities, if the town has done so well doesn’t that show that they have there priorities straight?

“If the east side of town hadn’t embraced Vickie Gomez, it was hard to envision a scenario in which it would embrace a school merger with its west-side brethren.” (Bissinger 156).

Vickie Gomez is the first minority ever elected to the school board. When she tried for re-election at the east side of town, she lost because whites saw her as a threat. Whites are afraid of Mexicans “taking over” and controlling the majority of the power. This is a common theme today with Mexicans coming to the United States illegally and becoming employed. Some whites are afraid of Mexicans taking their jobs away and want to keep Mexicans from entering United States. This racism plays a part in the book Friday Night Lights and in the world today.

Also, another reason why Vickie Gomez was not re-elected is because the voting on the east side of town is very conservative. Most of Texas is conservative too, “…”The Republicans have done nothing to help the Texas oilman for the last eight years,” says Clayton Williams, a Midland oilman. “But when it comes down to voting for a liberal versus a conservative, most oilmen are conservative…” (Bissinger 173). The people in Odessa, and most of Texas, stick to their traditions and do not want anything interfering with them. They do not like change which is why a minority candidate for class board seems like a threat.

In response to Taylor M. and Chitra R.

I disagree that there is a problem with the students focusing more on athletics than education. Although reality is that none or most of them will not have a future in football, why not at least let them try? Human nature is for people to do what they enjoy and want and to avoid what they don’t like. These kids were raised as athletic students not student athletes. Sports have been taught to be their priority not education. If you were to take football away from these boys and frankly the town, they wouldn’t have much of a reason to live, and people that have nothing to live for are dangerous. I think if you made athletics any less important all you would be doing is making things worse.

“The people in the stands lost all sight of who they were and what they were supposed to be like, all dignity and restraint thrown aside because of these high school boys in front of them, their boys, their heroes, upon whom they rested all their vicarious thrills, all their dreams” (Bissinger 14-15).

As many people have said, the town of Odessa revolved almost everything around football. No matter what age, it seemed like every person who lived in this little town of Texas knew who Permian was playing on Friday night. I play sports myself and I can never imagine the people in A-Hills getting so excited over any particular sport with at least 20,000 fans coming to every game. We are pretty lucky if we get over 50 fans, not including parents, at a soccer game. It seems like in this little town of Odessa all that really mattered was oil and football; that’s the way it had always been and was always going to be. Young boys had dreamed of playing Permian football since they were little kids and parents cared just as much if not more than the players did, coming to all the practices and never missing a game. I can see the foreshadowing that putting so much effort and dedication into football may become a problem for the town of Odessa.

“Those who were failures, near death, didn’t like working, bad with money, or cheap politicians were specifically not welcome, the same pamphlet said.”(6)

This quote helps depict the attitude of Odessa. It shows that Odessa wants beneficial and productive people. They expect perfection, this idea is also transferred over to the towns football, they expect perfection and expect everybody to help out with football. This also explains how the town is an old fashion town that is stuck in it’s ways which might help explain some of the racial things that happen later on in the book.

“Don knew they had talent. It was just the way some of them kind of swaggered around that bothered him, how some of them seemed to do whatever they wanted in practice and the coaches let them get away with it. It seemed obvious to him that the Permian system was prejudiced against him—it had rules for blacks and then rules for everybody else” (Bissinger 88).

I think Keeta talked about this quote earlier in the blog but I would like to touch on it also. This quote really caught my eye because of the reverse discrimination against whites. I figured there was going to be some discrimination in this story since the setting is in the deep south of Texas and it is around the time when it was finally enforced for schools to be desegregated, but I found it surprising that white coaches actually favored some of the African American athletes over the white athletes. I especially found it surprising because the previous chapters mentioned how whites were very prejudiced against African Americans in general around the community not being respected or treated fairly. It took until the 1980’s until a black family actually moved into the northern side of Odessa past the railroad tracks because no whites wanted to sell their house to a black family and still they were mostly confined to the south side. When it came to high school football, however, the coaches seemed to think that the black athletes had better athletic ability and were more capable of helping Permian win the game. Therefore, they didn’t really care what they did in school yet alone in practice because it was their job to win and nothing less was acceptable. As Keeta said, it’s ironic that coaches were willing to forget what they thought of blacks outside of Permian football and do whatever they could to win. It shows how Permian football was valued in Odessa and it was one of the things both blacks and whites shared in common and I think may have actually helped bring them together. They were all cheering for the same team and had a common bond because of it so they couldn’t wish one another bad.
Back to the thought of the quote, I can empathize how Don felt in this situation. Not necessarily with a certain group can I familiarize with, but it really bothers me when a player knows that no matter what they do they will play and the coach won’t even hesitate. For example, a player will go out of their way to do something they know they shouldn’t just because they know they can get away with it. So I understand how he felt when someone else who didn’t try in practice and thinks they are hot stuff get puts into a game before you. The fact that the players that did this on the Permian team were black could’ve just been a coincidence or Don just realizing it happening with them more often because it usually doesn’t matter who it is, just the kind of person doing it.

I am going to have to stay that I did not enjoy certain aspects of this book very much. I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to football and it was kind of hard for me to follow and understand. I wasn’t able to really relate to the characters on that level. However, the novel is about more than just football. Friday Night Lights teaches to always put forth your best. You have to be able to do that much and not be afraid to try. In an earlier post, Andy said something similar and I have to agree with him. No matter what race you are you can still do well and succeed in life. No one should be able to bring you down because you aren’t exactly like them in every way, shape, or form. Individuality is very important.

“None of the varsity coaches made a move to stop him; it was clear that Boobie had become an expendable property” (Bissinger 17).

I chose this quote because I felt like injuries played a key roles in the lives of Permian players. It seemed to mold them for better or for worse, and in Boobie’s case, for worse. That’s something that frustrates me though. Why wouldn’t a coach support an injured player. Regardless of the fact that he won’t recover, he still helped them come thus far. If football coaches treat players like property, then how is that any different from slavery. I know that view is going to the extremes, but people need to be respected regardless of their condition. I hope all coaches elsewhere don’t do that. This quote just brought bit of flair out of me. I wanted to scream, “My god, he is injured. At least give the guy some encouragement” . Therefore, I view this quote as one that defines how some of us treat those that are weaker in our societies.

“He we taken to San Angelo and put on trial, but the judge freed him on the grounds that there were no laws on the books making it illegal to kill a Chinaman” (Bissinger 27).

I am still amazed at America historically. How it was able to kill the innocent with no tears, or lynch with no punishment? In my mind, a murder is a murder. Who cares if it is a Chinaman? This quote shows how racism was still strong during the late 1800’s.

I am willing to bet that murder plays a key role in the racial divide in Odessa. If one race is willing to kill another race over a small issue like food service, imagine what will happen during bigger issues. Therefore, the divide may exist as a safety measure as well. Perhaps a racial divide was a good temporary solution to extreme violence. I know that theory sounds way out there, but if a white man and a black man were living side by side more conflicts would have risen for sure. I am in no way saying that segregation is good, but I have always believed that gradual desegregation is the best policy. Rushing into things will cause stress and panic. This quote made me look at things at a different angle.

I liked this quote, it made me think!

“‘I don’t think they realize these are sixteen, seventeen, eighteen-year-old kids…They don’t realize it’s a game and they look at them like they’re professional football players. They are high school kids, the sons of somebody, and they expect them to be perfect’” (Bissinger, 237).

I believe I’ve written about a quote like this before, but I just can not get over how much pressure is put on these high school boys. I completely agree with Gary Gaines’ wife (she said this quote); no one in the town of Odessa realizes how old these boys really are. They don’t treat them like regular high school kids; in fact, these kids aren’t like regular high school kids. I don’t think many athletes can relate to the football players at Permian because no school is crazy about one sport like Permian. Two years ago, I thought our school was crazy when the soccer team made it to districts, but when I compare that to Permian, I realize we come no where close to being as crazy!

I agree with Gary Gaines’ wife when she says the town treats these boys like professionals and how they don’t realize that these kids are in fact highschoolers.

“Permian had a program every bit as remarkable, one that tradition and mystique had made an irresistible symbol everyone coveted, one whose demands were ceaseless, one in which the instructors cajoled and badgered and tormented and loved. It was all a matter of values, of priorities” (Bissinger 149).

I chose this quote because it made me realize that Permian really did have the heart and mind to be successful, but they just focused on the wrong thing. Instead of trying to give the kids at Permian High School the best education they could receive, they put all their efforts into football. I thought it was really weird that no one questioned the school district when a new stadium was built, new equipment was bought, and the coaches got paid over double what the teachers were making. Maybe football was what Permian was all about, but couldn’t they have put some effort in trying to educate their kids and saving some money to buy books and supplies? After high school, the kids that slid by because they were on the football team and could do whatever they wanted were going to have nothing to do with the rest of their life. They probably weren’t going to go college and if they did, it most likely wouldn’t be a very good one that landed them their ideal job. I think that if Permian High put half as much effort into educating their kids as they did trying to win football games, there would be much more success stories. They had all the wrong priorities while the high school that really focused on pushing their kids in school started their kids off on the right foot and prepared them for life in the real world.

“Not surprisingly, most of these grisly killings occurred during the height of the boom, when money and madness overran much of the town”(Bissinger, 31).

I believe that this quote is an example of how our countrys’ economy works, and shows why we are currently a economic crisis. Like in Odessa, when the economy was good people assumed it would only continue to rise. People bought houses they couldn’t afford, believing that they would be able to sell them for more than they bought them and make money. Nobody thought that if the economy took a small downturn that they would be stuck in a house that they couldn’t sell or pay off. People became blind with greed, only concerned with making money and not the consequences of their actions.

“you were a whole lot more expendable in college, a hero one day and a broken-down nobody the next”(81).

I think that this quote shows that getting an education is more important for students in high school than excelling in sports. There are a lot of kids who try to make it to college solely on their athletic abilities. What a lot of kids don’t realize is that they are more expendable in college than they are in high school: if they get an injury they run the risk of losing their college scholarship. That is why I believe that when kids focus all their talent into sports and not into getting an education they run the risk of missing out on getting a college education and decent paying job.

“not to mention the $20,000 it cost to charter the jet for the Marshall game. During the 1988 season, roughly $70,000 was spent for chartered jets.” (146).

It’s no secret that Permian is crazy about football. In fact, it seems to be more important to them than teaching the students, which is supposed to be the main purpose of a high school. I believe that this is a foolish thing to be pre-occupied with, and that Permian does not have it’s priorities where they should be. Football can only get someone so far in life: yes, it can help a student get into college, but what about after that? Very few high school football players are good enough to get a full scholarship on football, and even fewer yet are able to play professionally. I believe that Permian would be doing a greater service to it’s students if they focused more on education than on football, they would not only have more students attend college, but also more students who are successful as adults.

“They treat Reagan like he’s a saint. He never went to church. They look at him like a family man. His family hates him. They think he’s a war hero. The only place he was a war hero was in the movies”(180).

I picked this quote because it shows how different people look at politicians different ways. I always found it interesting how one person could be absolutely in love with a politician and another could hate them with all of their heart. I believe that Reagan is a perfect example of this. If you talked to someone who liked Reagan, they would speak of him as though he were the greatest thing to happen to this country, and if you spoke to someone who disliked him they would talk about him as if he were the devil himself. Many other politicians also great examples of this as well such as, LBJ, FDR, and even Obama. I know it doesn’t really relate to the book, but I just thought that I would share that.

“‘He’s got the physical ability to play pro football. Everybody in the world knows that. But he’s got to have the mental attitude’”(264).

There is more than just a physical side to football, there is also a mental aspect to it as well. Both are required in order to be a great player. The book states that though Boobie has the body of an eighteen year old, he has the mind of an eight year old. This is partially due to the fact that he is learning impaired, but also because he is babied in school. Due to the fact that the football players at Permian need to make certain grades in order to stay on the team, Boobie is usually just given a passing grade without having to do anything so he can play football. I believe that this “special treatment” latter comes back to haunt Boobie when he quits the football team and is no longer given special treatment in class. He begins to fail classes, and has no shot at college because he no longer plays football. This shows just how risky trying to build ones future only on athletic talent can be: you could be injured and have all your dreams taken away from you like Boobie.

“The time [Gary Gaines] spent coaching seemed unimaginable. Like a soldier of fortune, he kissed his wife and children goodbye in August and almost literally did not see them again for the next four months, until the conquest of a state championship ended in victory or defeat. And now it all seemed worthless” (Bissinger 221).

This passage shows the amount of passion the coach puts into football. I don’t think many of the Permian High School football players, parents, or fans appreciate the dedication and effort Gary Gaines puts into coaching. He constantly advises and supports the players with pep talks during football practices and in the locker rooms. After the Permian football team loses an important game, the coach receives multiple “FOR SALE” signs planted in his front lawn. People in the town of Odessa take football too seriously; it is just a game. Coming home to those signs in his front yard must have lowered his self-esteem. Coach Gaines probably felt like he let the entire team down, but in my opinion, it wasn’t his fault. The coach isn’t capable of playing on the field, scoring a touchdown, or replacing a football player. Gaines puts a lot of effort into coaching the Permian football players, but it’s up to the players to score. The football team may lose a few games, but the coach doesn’t stop guiding the team towards their next victory. Although many people aren’t very appreciative towards Gary Gaines, he is committed to lead the football team towards success.

“There was nothing exceptional about that in Odessa, where kids drank freely, often with the tacit blessing of their parents, who saw it as a part of the macho mentality of the place” (Bissinger 83).

Ch.9 “There were almost no blacks or Hispanics in the audience. There were no signs of poverty, no signs of homelessness, no tearing apart America’s urban centers to the east and west. The country was perfect and unblemished on this day.”

This quote stuck out to me as how it defines perfect. Here I feel Bissinger is saying that without all of the colored people in the area that the night was perfect because everyone was the same. And to have any sort of struggle in life is not good and imperfect. However, I feel that perfection is not defined as everything going right. What fun is it to have things exactly as planned? There are bound to be mistakes made, but doesn’t mean the outcome has to be different as well. I am not saying that having homelessness and poverty is a good thing. I am only saying that to say that the day was perfect because all right people were there is not right. All people can be good and should not be looked down on because they have different life styles or have different colored skin.

Ch.13 “He told Gary that if he couldn’t be any tougher, he might as well not play. Suddenly he ordered his son into a stance and told him to fire off into his father, who was much stronger than he was. Over and over. Then he tackled his father, and then his father tackled him. Over and over, with tears streaming down his face, scared that his father was going to hurt him, which he never would have, his mother listening to the painful commotion but not daring to interfere, because this clearly was a rite of passage between father and son.”

I found this paragraph in the book disturbing by how the father made his son tackle him over and over until he did it right and didn’t let the fact that that was his son make him feel any different about tackling him to the ground even though he is twice his son’s size. This is just one way that shows the extremes people would go through to make sure their sons would be suitable for the Permian football team. They take it more serious than the players own health conditions. They risk their children’s health for a game. And how the mothers just stand there thinking that this is the only way things could be dealt with. I say they should find a more human way to deal with little issues like these.

Ch.16 “There wasn’t a player in that locker room who didn’t innately understand exactly what Don Meredith was talking about. They had felt that feeling before, and they knew in their hearts they would feel it today in the gray drizzle of Memorial Stadium. As they huddled around Gaines, there wasn’t one who didn’t think that Permian, somehow, some way, would win.”

This passage stuck out in the way the players were all so confident that Permian would win. Were they always this sure of themselves? I feel if they build up this much excitement that it may be harder to deal with what will happen if they don’t win. I am not saying they can not win, but only that they should be careful of what they assume. However, this passage also made me think of how they all knew what Don was saying when he gave his speech to them, as if they had all talked of about it before. This shows that they are well rounded as a team and can go out and fight together. I also believe that if they use the team skills they have in other things besides football that they will be more successful when it comes to their futures.

I will never understand why people take alcohol. It ruins your body and kills family members, and yet it is encouraged in Odessa. I always hear parents complain about their kids behavior. This is common in every time period, but when a parent encourage a negative behavior how can they expect a positive behavior out of their child. Not to mention, the parties the kids threw after victories. Somehow, alcohol equals victory in a society. Alcohol makes people look stupid and drunk. I don’t understand how that equates to victory. I have never had a drink before so I really don’t have a personal experience with it. I guess I will never understand alcohol’s allure to the public.

“ ‘ There are so few other things we can look at with pride,’ said Allen. ‘ We don’t have a large university that has thirty or forty thousand students in it. We don’t have the art museum that some communities have and are world-renowned. When somebody talks about West Texas, they talk about football.
There is nothing to replace it. It’s an integral part of what made the community strong. You take it away and it’s almost like you strip the identity of people.’ ” (43)

I found this paragraph interesting because it gives the reader some insight into how the town feels about their football obsession. Well, most outsiders see it as an obsession, but this paragraph reveals that those on the inside see as an identity. They see football as who they are and what they are about, which is unique considering its only a highschool football team. I think it’s kind of cool in a way that they have something that unites them, some common cause that they can all stand behind and work towards year in and year out. Also, though, I think it’s unhealthy to put as much pressure as they do on high school aged boys. The people of Odessa allow their lives to revolve around football which reciprocates to the players. Too often the players don’t realize that there’s more to high school than football until it’s too late.

“Comer would get all the touchdowns, all the attention, all the glory, and Billingsley would get all the aches and pains of being a blocking back.” (88)

I liked this passage because I think it can relate to almost any sport or any team.

In Odessa, all the football players and fans have a passion for the game, but also, what keeps many of the players going is the attention they get. Not just a congratulations or a high five after the game, but they are thought of as a higher power. At Permian High the football team is the highest on the social ladder and they are given advantages in more areas than one. However, there are a select few that are considered true heroes by their peers. These are the boys that score the winning touchdown, or make the tackle that saves the game. They get an insane amount of attention for being the “reason” for the win.

The way I think this relates to other sports teams is because it is always the person who scores the winning point (etc.) that gets the praise and attention. The thing about this is, that person didn’t do it alone. Team sports are just that, a TEAM’S effort to work towards a TEAM’S goal. Yet people always seem to find a hero or someone to give all the attention to, forgetting the others who worked towards the same goal, and took just as big a part in creating success.

“ ‘ I hate football players, especially at Permian,’ said senior Shauna Moody. ‘They’re the most egotistical… they think they’re God’s gift.’ But for a girl at Permian, the only thing worse than being a Pepette was not being one. Or as Moody explained her own reasoning for having joined, ‘Well everybody’s a Pepette.’ ” (139)

I think this passage is interesting and funny. It’s also very realistic and an accurate description of what much of high school can be like. What’s ironic is how Shauna is so open about how she dislikes the whole idea of the football players and the ego that goes along with them. But then, she is a member of the Pepettes, the group that is solely responsible for being the ego boosters and supporters of the football team.
The way I think this relates to high school is because of her reasoning for being a Pepette, because everyone does it. That’s the attitude that is stereotypical of high school students, but is also pretty accurate. There are many things that become trends in high school and become increasingly popular because kids follow one another. Once certain people do something, there are many others that will just follow along. Shauna willingly admits here that she doesn’t like what she does, but she is basically too scared to stand out and be herself. It’s sad, but also a very common issue in high school.

“There is nothing to replace it. It’s an integral part of what made the community strong. You take it away and it’s almost like you strip the identity of the people” (Bissinger 43).

This quote illustrates just how much football means to the citizens of Odessa. Although the oil economy could be unstable, there is always one thing that everyone could count on, and that is football. Throughout the book, Bissinger reveals how many of the people of Odessa feel about football and almost all of them say the same thing, football is tradition. If football was for some reason taken away from this community they wouldn’t have anything to look forward to, nothing to believe in during the middle of a bust. No other sport, no other event could match what it means to go to a football game on a Friday night. The game of football helps unite this community together and make it strong.

“Some who knew L.V. thought that he had pushed Boobie too much, wasn’t living for him as much as he was living through him” (42).
Many people believe that it looks wrong when parents are pushing their kids in certain areas. Although many parents push their kids in order to fulfill their own dreams, many people forget that sometimes the actual kid has the desire to work that hard. When a child feels the motivation to go out and practice hard on his own, then it is good for a parent to help his child along and prepare his child. In Boobie’s case, I feel that he has the desire to become an amazing football player on his own. He always talks about wanting to be the best football player, making the pros, being rookie of the year. As long as the kid is dedicated to what he is doing, then it is good to have parent support.

“‘We fit as athletes, but we really don’t fit as a part of society,’ said Nate Hearne, the only black coach at Permian in 1988. ‘We know that we’re separate, until we get on the field. We know that we’re equal as athletes. But once we get off the field we’re not equal. When it comes time to play the game, we are a part of it. But after the game, we are not a part of it.’” (Bissinger 107).

I picked this quote because it reinforces that racism did exist in some towns such as Odessa just 20 years ago. I also like this quote because it shows how for some athletes, the field or gym is the only place they feel they can fit in. The football coach in this quote knows that the only place he won’t be judged based on the color of his skin is the football field. On the other hand, I think it is ridiculous how the football program basically uses colored athletes. They don’t care about the players they just care about the game. They only care what they did on the football field, not about their academics or what was going on in their lives. The football field is the place in the town of Odessa where everyone is treated the same.

“Instead, as several in Odessa explained it, there were actually two races of blacks. There were the hardworking ones who were easy to get along with and didn’t try to cut corners and melded in quite nicely. They deserved the title black. They deserved the respect of fellow whites.
And then there were the loud ones, the lazy ones, the ones who stole or lived off welfare or spent their whole lives trying to get by without a lick of work, who every time they were challenged to do something claimed they were helpless victims of white racism” (73).
I guess I understand this statement, but at the same time, it’s still racist. All races have their hard workers and their slackers. So why are only the black slackers called niggers? I feel that when a person calls someone a nigger, he is saying, “You are a slacker,and you are black”. Using this word still separates the blacks from the whites. The black slackers should be called the same name the white slackers are called.

“Relegated to the position of guard, he had played football out of a dutiful sense of obligation, because it made his father proud and also because it somehow seemed his destiny to so, regardless of what he thought about it” (Bissinger 113).

This quote points out that none of the reasons Ivory plays football has to do with his desire and love for the game. Football turned the town into a bunch of obsessive fans hungry for wins and success, especially the adults. They push football on their kids for their own fame and glory, instead of respecting their child’s interests. Some boys on the team are simply props of the parents trying to live through their children. Even though Ivory’s dad stood by his son’s decisions, it was interesting how Bissinger mentioned that Ivory’s dad “took great pride in his son’s accomplishments”.
It was surprising how having a son on the football team was a dream and the greatest achievement for most parents in Odessa. Especially since the majority of graduated players end up without scholarships or good enough test scores to be accepted to good schools. Football has a long term affect on them that prevented them from studying harder, transitioning out of high school life along with the Mojo glory and into the real world.

“‘If that sort of confidence and attitude [in football] could be transferred into the academic arena, that would be wonderful. I don’t see that transfer’” (133).
I agree with the idea of this statement. Permian students don’t feel very motivated when it comes to academics. I feel this might be because no one seems to make a big deal over succeeding in academics. The reputation of football says that if you make it through football and come out as the best, you are a god. If a student comes out at the top in academics, not too many people are there to congratulate that student at the end. The Permian teachers need to make their student feel that passing their classes is a big accomplishment. Students would be more motivated if they felt that succeeding in their studies was a remarkable task.

“Initially, he had been surprised by the dedication with which Boobie worked toward rehabilitation. But like most everyone else associated with the program, he had little real faith in him. When the reality of the injury set in, when it became apparent to Boobie that there was no magic wand, the grueling regimen of rehabilitation became more frustration and futile” (Bissinger 197).

For many people, they have to feel like they’re working towards something. They have to be able to look ahead and see something worth working for, otherwise what is the point of working hard. Once Boobie’s hope of playing like he once could is diminished he doesn’t have anything left to work for, football was his life. He has to go to therapy knowing he won’t ever play the some way he once did. This theme is seen numerous times throughout the book. For many people in Odessa, such as Jim Lewallen, a retired grocery supervisor, football was what kept them going, ‘ I have to have something to look forward to, or life is just blah’(41). The town could look forward to the tradition of every Friday night.

Renee:

I agree with your opinion about the academics at Permian High School. If acing a test was as extraordinary as winning a football game, the grades at Permian High School would rise. However, people take football more seriously than education. Receiving good grades in high school can lead students onto the path of success. Playing football in high school, on the other hand, doesn’t automatically help you get scholarships or into a high-ranking college. If students got incentives for good grades, or even got acknowledged for their outstanding academic achievements, they would feel more inspired to keep their grades up. Permian High School shouldn’t pay so much attention to football; it should stay focused on academics.

“I think he can come back. It’s a mental block. He has blinded himself. His attitude is, ‘If I can’t be the center of attention, I don’t want to be anything at all.’ He’s not just letting himself down. He’s letting the team down, he’s letting [Gaines] down, he’s letting his uncle down.’
‘ It takes a special kind of kid to overcome and injury like that,’ said Belew. ‘I don’t think he’ll ever do what it takes to be one hundred percent.’ ” (201)

I liked this passage because it shows who Boobie really is. Football is all he has, but he really isn’t working for the team, he’s working for himself. I understand how frustrating it is to not be able to play because of an injury, it’s definitely not an easy feeling to deal with. However, if he really cared about the team he would pull himself through it and not be upset about not playing when he is hurt. The fact that he only wants to play if he can be the center of attention reflects his attitude about the team and where his priorities are. I agree that it takes a special kind of player to come back from an injury. I think it takes passion for the game, heart for the team and a whole lot of patience. I don’t think Boobie had those qualities.

On the quote Ishan wrote about that says : “We fit as athletes, but we really don’t fit as a part of society,’ said Nate Hearne, the only black coach at Permian in 1988” (Bissinger 107).

I agree with you Ishan. Since black kids are starting to be allowed to play sports with white kids, it is a start to equality in the future. However, it still isn’t fair that they only fit in because of a football team. A football team is supposed to be a family and work together and that’s what a society is supposed to do as well. A football team can only progress and make themselves better if they all get along and show each other respect because it leads to a better outcome. Then why can’t the society do the same as the football players? It takes time to go against the beliefs of ones own self, which in this case is segregation, but if a football team, that keeps the town of Odessa practically alive can learn how to get along, then I think the town can show some respect to each other as well.

” We would like for you to know that not only can we be good sprinters, but we too have minds to become doctors, lawyers, and city officials. Please don’t be afraid of us. We are very much like you.” (Bissinger 86)

After reading this quote, I automatically highlighted it. Reason being because it truly shows the way this African American woman stood up for herself to show, that she, just like everyone else could succeed in life, not only in sports but in big business jobs as well. Everyone has the right to be what they want, and race or color should not determine that. It is very stereotypical to think that black people are only good at sports when they are jut as smart or even smarter than a lot of white people. It made me very happy to see this woman fight for what she believes is right, and in this case is very true. It must be exhausting trying to fight for a place in society, and it’s sad because of how much talent everyone withholds. It’s terrible that the only place African Americans were excepted into were some sports, which even then didn’t always make it. Fighting hard for what a person believes is the way they make their dream successful.

“The pressure to conform was so intense, said Gardner, that she knew girls who privately were quite intelligent and articulate, but were afraid to show it publicly because of the effect it would have on their social lives” (Bissinger 138).

I read this off Regina’s , and what you said to it is completely true. I find it so degrading to women if I see a girl act ditsy and unintelligent in front of a boy. First of all, if a guy doesn’t like a girl for who she is then there is no point wasting time on him. Second, the fact that women fight so hard for their rights in life it just ruins it for other females which makes me really upset. I understand when people say they just want to be able to fit in, but why not fit in by being who they truly are. Eventually that person will find people that like them for being themselves. In Odessa the football team doesn’t care about school because it is such a privilege to be able to play for the team that they can’t waste time on studying and doing well in school so that after they get out of high school they can succeed in life. High school is a temporary thing and it is also here to help prepare kids for the real world, but what happens is, if they don’t take advantage of this opportunity they withhold then what is going to happen? Girls, stand up for yourselves because we have fought so many years to be listened to and let into jobs that were only for men before. Don’t waste it.

“By the time he got out of the hospital the town had come alive again, like the miraculous reblooming of a withered desert flower that all but a handful had given up for dead. There was no more talk of Gaines’s getting fired, no more FOR SALE signs on his lawn, no more pumpkins smashed into his car, no more petitions passed around. The crowd that hung around the practice field was up and smiling again.” (261)

This passage is interesting to me because it shows how the towns feelings towards the coach and the Permian football program change with things that sometimes can’t be controlled. When the team loses, although it is mainly the players that control this, they want the coach to be fired. When the team wins, the players and coaches are heroes. The hard part about this, especially for the coaches, is sometimes things can’t be controlled. The people of Odessa are only happy and have no complaints when things go their way, but as soon as something goes wrong they are fast to point fingers and find someone to blame. In this instance, the coach didn’t do anything special, right or wrong. It was a coin toss, a 50/50 chance. The town was happy it went their way, but if it wouldn’t have it would’ve been a nightmare. I think it’s interesting how the town approaches the football team with such ignorance and is so fast to blame others when things go wrong. It proves how they see their players through rose tinted glasses, and find it hard to find fault in them.

“ ‘We’re one game away form playing a state football championship game. We deserve it, because we’ve worked our ass off in off-season, worked hard in August, had two-a-days, came up to practice in the morning. You got to have it in your heart that you want it worse than Carter does. It is a team sport, football is a team sport, the team that wants it the worst is gonna win this is football game.’ ” (319)
I loved this passage and it definitely stuck out to me as an athlete. The Carter Cowboys had many advantages over the Permian team. They had more size, more strength and more talented players. On paper, the game could’ve, and probably should’ve been a blowout. The cool thing about sports, though, is that what’s on paper doesn’t always matter. What makes a big difference is the heart of the team. Who really wants it more, who’s willing to fight harder and sacrifice more, that’s what will make the game interesting. Although they were obssesed with football, I give every player on the Permian team credit for the work they put in. They deserved to be in that game with the Cowboys. They lost in an unfortunate way but the fact that it was a close game shows just how much their heart and work ethic made a difference. This passage describes my favorite thing about sports, that’s why it stuck out to me.

“In seasons past, playing for Permian had meant routinely vomiting during the grueling off-season workouts inside the hot and sweaty weight room. It had meant playing with a broken ankle that wasn’t x-rayed because, if it had been known that it was broken, the player would have had to sit out the next game. It had meant playing with broken hands. It had meant a shot of Novocaine during halftime to mask the pain of a deep ankle sprain or a hip pointer. It had meant popping painkillers and getting shots of Valium.” (25)

In this passage, it is shown how much dedication the players have towards this team. Their dedication was a lot more than just showing up for practice everyday, it was about doing what they had to do to be the best, even if it meant hurting their bodies. Before this passage, Bissinger talks about a boy giving up his testicle to avoid interference with his football career at Permian, and by getting it removed he later made All-State. He had to go through a lot of pain in order to achieve his all state award, something that a lot of these players go through as well. And the lesson of no pain, no gain applies to many of them.
This passage really helps to show me as a reader how much the players go through in order to do what they love best. I don’t think I have ever wanted anything as bad as the boys in this novel do and I can’t say that I would be willing to play a sport with a broken ankle just to avoid sitting out or looking weak. In my opinion, it really shows how much heart they have and how much they are willing to go through in order to achieve their football dream, which makes it truly inspiring.

“After all, if you were a strong, fast black kid in Odessa, what else were you encouraged to do? What other outlet did you possibly have? When you looked around, where else did you see a single black role model, except in church?” (97)

As I was reading, this quote really stood out to me. Throughout the last chapter, I have noticed that Bissinger has made many references regarding blacks being only good for football. What else did they really have besides sports? They sure didn’t have much. After reading this, I found myself thinking that blacks at the time gained most of their respect through football. People around them didn’t respect them and they didn’t expect any of them to go anywhere in life because they didn’t have any positive role models other than athletes. However, when the black boys were on the field, it didn’t really matter that they were black; all that mattered was that they were making the Permian Panthers more successful. When I think about this, I realize how important Panther football is to this town. It really is a huge part of their lives and to them, it doesn’t matter who’s playing on the team, all that matters is that they’re the best. Those Friday night games are when the people all come together, whether they be black or white, during those games, everybody is equal.

“In the team meeting Gaines had told the players to ignore the pressure, to put out of their minds how much was at stake and how much the game meant to the people of Odessa. But as Brian stared at Gaines for those few seconds, he didn’t see someone who had blocked out those enormous pressures at all” (Bissinger 232).

As an athlete it is important to be able to believe in not only yourself but your coach. If Gaines doesn’t believe his own words how does he expect his players to? As a player of the Permian football team, Brian along with the other players had to feel enormous pressure from their families and the town; the community lived off of them. Sports are partially a mind game, some more than others, but if the coach shows that he/she doesn’t have faith in the team the athletes will also lose faith in themselves. Brian had felt confident about the game until he saw his coach. The person who was supposed to be there to push him and coach him was putting doubt in his head.

” ‘There is nothing to replace it. It’s an integral part of what made the community strong. You take it away and it’s almost like you strip the identity of the people’ ” (43).

Here, BIssinger talks about the value of football to the people of Odessa. Football to these people, is not just a sport, but a way of life. The people of Odessa are so involved with Permian football, that one could say they worshipped the team. They get so involved with it, that Odessa becomes known for its football. It represents the people, and without it, they would have nothing to fall on during the hard times of the bust. The feelings toward it are so strong, that it becomes something that many in the community can rally around, uniting each other. Regardless of the horrible living conditions in Odessa, many chose to stay due to their devotion to Permian. It helps bring the people together, but it also has negative effects on the people. Many in the town have a change in values, such as athletics over education. One such example is when the school had put 5.6 million dollars into the high school football stadium rather than into education. Bissinger later go on to talk about teachers struggling just to get school supplies to teach the kids. Another example is how the players are graded in school. If a football player was failing a class, many would work hard to allow him to play, regardless of the no-pass, no-play rule. If a regular student was failing, no one would care, showing the change in values of the people trying to protect Permian football.

“There had been no reason for its original existence. It owed its beginnings to a fine blend of Yankee ingenuity and Hucksterism, its selling the first primordial example of the Home Shopping Network.” (Bissinger, 25)

While reading Friday Night Lights I have found it hard to tell exactly what Bissinger thinks about Odessa, and also why he wrote a book about Texas football. Bissinger seems to separate himself from the people he writes about, except for the team itself, and subtly demeans them. Usually an author does not describe an actual city like Bissinger does Odessa; such cynical descriptions are often reserved for fictional or infamous places. These descriptions show his talent at describing, but his limited empathy for those he disagrees with is also apparent. He writes a very good troubling story, but I do not think that is what the book is supposed to be about, H.G. Bissinger writes a story about dreams while frowning on those dreaming.

“But with Ector’s closing, members of the white community suddenly began to see enormous value in some of its black students. It had nothing to do with academic potential. It had everything to do with athletic potential” (105).

Here Bissinger talks about the closing of the “minority school.” He talks about how the the people of Odessa once used it to send blacks and mexicans to in order to “preserve Mojo’s whiteness.” When the school was to be closed, the other two schools in Odessa had to figure out who would go where. When the people saw the value of the blacks athletic wise, they all wanted the blacks to go to their school, showing the value they held for them. These were people, growing boys trying to get somewhere in the world, when they were pulled into the world of football. As a result, many turned to football as a way to go somewhere. But at Permian, many soon discovered that they could go where they were going with little to no effort, just as long as they worked their hardest on the field. This only helped to add to the stereotype of blacks as lazy and uncaring. These blacks kids became tools helping Permian win games, being treated very badly on as well as off the field. When one was injured and became unable to play, no one would care, and the next person was ready to step up, showing how expendable the black players were.

” ‘It was very important to have a boyfriend and look a certain way. You couldn’t be too smart. You had to act silly or they put you in a category right away. It was the end of your social life if you were an intelligent girl’ “. The pressure to conform was so intense, said Gardner, that she knew girls who privately were quite intelligent and articulate, but were afraid to show it publicly because of the effect it would have on their social lives”(Bissinger 122).
This passage describes a girl at Permian High School, that has a conflict between fitting in and suppressing her own ability. I like this passage because it shows the viewpoint many Permian girls shared about how they presumed others felt about them. Bissinger uses this single character in this passage to show how traditional ongoing thoughts and actions can lead to conformity and shatter individuality. Though it is really up to the individual to choose how he/ she will define his/ her self, their environment also plays a major role in self identity. Bissinger shows how Permian High school girls are influence by their peers, teachers, and parents to act and respond in a reliant manner. Many girls at Permian are not encouraged to be independent or strong minded, instead they are encouraged to do things that would pitch them as brainless followers, in order to make them favorable to the taste of many high school boys.

“School was just there for Don, a couple of classes to fill up time that offered virtually no challenge whatever, and he was the first to admit that if he was learning anything his senior year it was a miracle” (129).

Here Bissinger talks about what it is like to be a Permian football player during school days. He talks about the little effort the players make in class, and how the teachers make even less to teach. High school is supposed to serve as a place to learn, but to the players, it is just one more thing to do before to Friday games. The people at Permian probably put more effort into the Friday pep rallies, than they did in schoolwork. Because everything was controlled by Permian football, many players suffered grade wise, and therefore had a difficult time going anywhere. Because of the influence of football on Permian, even the accelerated courses were a joke. The idea of students doing their very best in school was lost, along with the teachers demanding it.

“But he did get upset when he heard that several for sale signs had also been punched into Chavez’s lawn. Brian was just a player, a senior in high school, but that didn’t seem to matter” (Bissinger 239).

In the town of Odessa it was common for Gary Gaines to go home the night of a loss and see for sale signs placed in his yard by the community. Gary didn’t have a problem with this, but when he got word that this had also happened to one of his players, Brian Chavez, he got upset. This is when I think the fans of Permian take it too far. They don’t realize that these players are only teenagers in high school. The town expects them to be perfect but they’re not professional football players. It’s okay to have football be your world but it is important to remember that it’s just a game. It’s okay to be passionate about something but putting for sale signs in an athlete’s yard is taking it too far.

“He told Gary that if he couldn’t be any tougher, he might as well not play….Over and over, Gary fired off into his father, who was much stronger than he was. Over and over. Then he tackled his father, and then his father tackled him. Over and over, with tears streaming down his face. Scared that his father was going to hurt him, which he never would have, his mother listening to the painful commotion but not daring to interfere, because this clearly was a right of passage between father and son” (Bissinger 255).

The theme of the relationship between father and son is seen many times throughout the book. Football is a way that many fathers connect with their sons. Gary Gaines recalled this moment with a smile on his face wondering if his father remembered it. It was a moment that Gary connected with his father as he struggled to tackle him; his father only wanting to make him better. Gary’s mother wanted to help him but knew it wasn’t her place. This was between a father and his son and no one else. This theme can also be seen with Charlie Billingsley and his son Don. Throughout Charlie’s drinking problems, football is what brought them together. Charlie lived to see his son on the field in the same jersey that he once wore.

“Permian still exerted a hold on his life. During the annual football banquet to commemorate the 1988 season, a video of highlights of the season had been shown….When one of Brian’s roommates at Harvard played it one day, chills shot down Brian’s spine and he could almost feel tears welling in his eyes. It all came roaring back, the wins and losses, the glories and pains shared with his teammates (Bissinger 344).

This quote shows that Permian football will forever be a part of every player on that team. During the season they shared something that no one else did, they created a bond. It was every little boys dream in the town of Odessa to play football and Brian along with the rest of the seniors that year had done it. Even though all of them moved on with their lives after the season and school year was over, they still couldn’t let the memories go. Brian and his teammates shared the wins and the times of defeat. Permian football will forever be in the hearts of each one of the players.

“Her husband still knew the hardest part of the criticism wasn’t what it did to him but what it did to his family…’their ability to fight back at things you don’t have any control over…I’m big enough to handle it. Certainly my tides a little bigger than theirs is’” (Bissinger, 242).

I give Gary Gaines and his family so much respect for dealing with the things the Permian fans do to them. If one thing goes wrong, they might put his house up for sale or write nasty letters about him, just because they’re angry. One day, they might love Gaines and say he’s the best coach they’ve ever seen, but the next, they might say they hate him and want him fired. I don’t know how Gaines doesn’t let the fans get to him because I know if I was in his situation, I couldn’t handle it. I don’t think I could just shake it off and not care; I wish I possessed the same quality he did! Therefore, I truly do give Gaines and his family my utmost respect for being able to deal with these crazy Permian fans who react if one thing doesn’t go their way.

” People liked hearing Texas was back, that they were tough and could take it and were up on their feet again. Fact and fiction merged.. They liked George Bush in the same way they absolutely worshiped Ronald Reagan, not because of the type of America that Reagan actually created for them but because of the type of America he so vividly imagined. As Tony Chavez pointed out, it was an amazing illusion, as contradictory as Reagan himself becoming the great promoter of the family despite his own life as a divorce and a father whose children hated him…There were more cheers more frantic wavings of the tiny flags”(Bissinger 170).

This passage describes the towns affirmative response toward political candidates that only talk about the positives of America, and relate to the average people. I like this passage because Bissinger shows the townspeople shared illusion of how they relate to these politicians, and the common illusion of how things are not as bad as they appear. Though these illusions seem real to the townspeople, the contradicting reality is that these illusions are false. The truth is that the many political candidates that campaign in Odessa only want to win their support, they do not share the social, financial, or educational burdens that many of Odessa’s people face daily. Though some townspeople may realize that most politicians do not share such burdens as they, they are blinded by the common ground that many of politicians claim they share, like the same hometown or same love for football. Bissinger shows how politicians typically take advantage of people, by relating themselves to people’s beliefs and way of life, but detouring away from economic, social and diplomatic issues.

“He was damaged goods, like a crate of Florida oranges that had gone rotten in delivery, and the big boys were not going to deal with him unless they had positive proof some sweet juice could still be squeezed out of him, not some mess of pulp and seeds” (Bissinger 200).

I chose this quote because I really liked the way Bissinger used this simile to describe Booby Miles. Bissinger used the same technique to describe a number of things throughout the novel, but this was my favorite one. The quote makes you think about the situation from a totally different perspective and you understand the point Bissinger is trying to make. After Booby was hurt and was cleared to start playing again, the coaches were really hesitant to play him in the games. First of all, they didn’t want him to get hurt even worse because it was too soon after his serious injury. On the other hand, they also figured if they did put him in, he would never have the same ability as he did before the injury and so they could use keeping him from injury as the excuse for not playing him. They had also found Comer to fill his place who was scoring the points Permian needed. They had seem some good plays, but more hesitations from Boobie since he had come back which just wasn’t consistent enough to have him in the starting lineup again. The coaches knew that Permian needed to win and Boobie was not what was essential to achieve that anymore. All in all, that is what this quote is trying to say.

“The faces of the parents and boosters would be etched with the same stunning kind of pride you might see in a hospital delivery room, eyes shining and brimming and filled with love at the joy of their creation. The cheerleaders and the Pepettes would be coy and co

“The faces of the parents and boosters would be etched with the same stunning kind of pride you might see in a hospital delivery room, eyes shining and brimming and filled with love at the joy of their creation. The cheerleaders and the Pepettes would be coy and coquettish and adoring, their blond hair falling down in wonderful piles as high and soft as down pillows, dressed in letter jackets from their boyfriends that fell to the knees and had white patches on the back as bountiful as uncontrolled clusters of daisies.”
(Bissinger 234)

This passage shows how much of an affect the Permian High Panthers have on their family, friends, and fans. Every single one of them get so into the spirit and pride. This particular passage is from immediately after their big loss to the Midland Lee Rebels. Despite the fact that the Permian High football team lost one of the biggest games of the season by one point, the supporters of the team in Odessa are still radiating with joy. And despite the fact that they just lost one of the biggest games of the season, the parents of the players still love their children as if nothing happened. The family and friends and fans of the team still love them and support them, no matter what.

“In the endless deliberations over desegregation, the board spent more time worrying about how the high school athletic programs might be affected than how the curriculum might be affected” (Bissinger 105).

I find this statement typical and yet important. It shows the reader that Odessa absolutely loved sports, just like the rest of America. America has become a beacon for sports. Athletes make twice as much as our most brilliant minds. It’s come to the point where the presidents salary is just laughed at. I’m not against sports, but I am against them being over funded. Odessa seems like a place that will never get it’s priorities straight. I’m sorry all you athletes, but athletes don’t take us to the moon, or invent a new cure. You deserve to be paid for the entertainment value. Not a penny more. That’s just my opinion. I will never understand why athletes get paid millions. Are they really that entertaining? Are there actions four times as important as a presidents actions? I really don’t think so, but that is open to opinion as well.
Just a thought-Aditya

“Don, of course, was a football player, which gave him special status among his peers regardless of how he performed in class. In the hierarchy of the school, where girls and parting and clothes and fancy cars were as important as academics, being a football player opened doors that other students could only dream of. All other achievements seemed to pale in the face of it,” (Bissinger 119).

This passage describes the special treatment that a character receives because of his position as a football player. Bissinger uses this character to show the contrasting social advantages that football players have, that other students do not. This passage was posted by Keeta as well. And I agree with her about how these students are embellished too much for playing football, and how it actually hurts them, because other possible opportunities for success are not encouraged as much. For example, education is not emphasized at Permian high. Many football players are below the state test average. Because many football players are not encouraged to study, and suffer no consequences regarding football, as a result of bad grades, they rarely strive for excellence in education. Because most football players are not motivated to do well in education, those who are not picked in professional foot ball drafts and are not offered scholarships for college, often are not successful in areas like their jobs, houses, and overall financial settings.

“‘It still amazes me when I give a test in grammar and the kids can do it, it used to be the other way around’ ” (Bissinger 132)

The value of a good education is something that I was raised with from a very young education. The only future that has ever occurred to me is going to college and then getting a job and little else. Therefore, when I read passages like these, it’s very discouraging to see how teachers have to treat these kids as if they are mentally handicapped when they are perfectly capable to achieving more. What is even worse is that the parents stand up for these kids and make ludicrous excuses for their children’s inability to finish their homework. When I read this passage, I just felt like these people were absolute lunatics and I wanted to scream at the characters in the book; which, though utterly stupid, shows the skill of the author in this work. Bissinger makes sure to give us an image of both the flashy, football sides and the “real” life off the field. He appeals to the pathos of the reader and makes the reader empathize with either the students or the teachers. Bissinger’s discussion of very complicated issues such as politics, economic depression and education heavily contrasts the society of everyday America with that of western Texas. This quote is just one of many points where he makes us think about our own values and beliefs as to whether or not we agree with his point.

” When Gaines himself went home that Friday night at about two in the morning he found seven For Sale signs planted in his lawn. The next night, someone had also smashed a pumpkin into his car, causing a dent. It didn’t bother him. He was the coach. He got paid for what he did and he was tough enough to take it. But he did get upset when he heard that several For Sale signs had also been punched into Chavez’s lawn. Brian was just a player, a senior in high school, but that didn’t seem to matter. ” ‘That’s sick to me”, said Gaines ” I just can’t understand it”( Bissinger 225).

This passage describes some of the townspeople negative and radical actions toward coach Gaines and Chavez after losing a football game. I like this passage because it gives me insight on where Odessa places it’s blame when a high school team losses. In this passage Bissinger shows the burden that coach Gaines accepts from the townspeople, but forbids the mounting pressure on his athletes. Though coach Gaines is not bothered by the towns constant mockery, he is bothered when the town similarly terrorizes his athlete, Chavaz. Though coach Gaines has a lot of expectations for his football athletes, he doesn’t place the blame on them, when Permian loses a game. He rather places the blame on himself. He knows the townspeople’s love for football, and he recognizes the deeply rooted hatred and pain that the townspeople sense, when they lose a football game. He has experienced the heavy pressure of the townspeople and does not want his high school athletes to feel any of the mental baggage.

“The very day of the game, oil prices, the bread and butter benchmark of everyone who lived here, had skidded to $13.25 a barrel, their lowest level since August 1986 and far from that of the halcyon days of 198 when $35 a barrel had made this part of the country a combination of Plato’s retreat and the Barnum and Bailey Circus” (Bissinger 181)

This quote has more of an economic significance. I like the economy so I chose this quote. What amazes me about Odessa is that they didn’t diversify. They put all their cookies in one jar. And when that jar broke….The city crumbled. Another aspect which I don’t understand is the choice of oil. Oil is controlled by OPEC. A set of countries that do their best to control oil prices. That business is never safe. OPEC can go crazy and set prices low or high. This quote is more of a lesson to the cities of our world. Always diversify and keep many different options to make profits. “Black Gold” won’t last forever anyway. I’m willing to bet that oil wont be around for more than 100 to 200 years.

“There were no questions. Everyone understood perfectly because [football] was something everyone had practiced and studied religiously” (Bissinger 258).

Since football is so cherished at Permian High School, students tend to think that football is the only important aspect of their entire high school career. Some students only play football because they feel pressured by their parents or peers. If students feel as if it isn’t the sport for them, then they should form their own soccer team, or baseball team. Students should join activities that actually interest and entertain themselves. Even though football seems alluring in Odessa, there are probably a handful of people who don’t love the sport as much as others. Once students take the initiative to form other clubs or sport teams, other sports and hobbies could become just as glorious and dazzling as football.

“Mcdougal’s eyes were red when he left the field house: he had sobbed in the stadium dressing room immediately after the game; he had sobbed on the way to the bus when he and his mother, who was also sobbing, had clutched fingers through tiny holes of the fence separating them; he had sobbed in the locker room of the field house when he sank his head into the arms of a male cheerleader” (Bissinger 234).

I chose this quote to show how serious Odessa took football. It was their only lives besides oil. If a man is willing to cry over losing a game by one, that man must of felt a lot of pressure. I believe it’s the environment though that lead him to cry. I’m not writing this to call Mcdougal a baby. Odessa put so much faith and money into football. It was the sporting event that everyone knew about and cherished. If you didn’t play and you were male, you were weird. Mcdougal was the only man who took all this stress in and released it as emotion. Notice how I call him a man. I don’t view crying as a big deal…Unlike most of society. If so much devotion is put into a single thing, losing it is unbearable. This quote proved to me the love Odessa has for football.

“He too received an answer sheet for certain tests, and he knew in general that the taking of exams was irrelevant, because the teacher was going to give whatever grade he or she deemed appropriate regardless of his performance” (Bissinger 295).

This just ticks me off. Students getting answers for a test so that they can play sports. That world was unbelievably corrupt. It’s not fair at all to have system that encourages sports to the point where the system itself manipulates results to keep athletes. If I lived during this era I would of complained to as many newspapers as I could. Let the public know about the injustice. Sports aren’t that great. I’m not saying that I’m against sports, but their value is way overrated. Cities need to look at their priorities. Do you want longer, healthier, cleaner people, or a bunch of jocks who get injured a lot and produce very little most of the time. Finding the right balance of both is important in my opinion, and few societies do that even today.

“He can fly and dunk all special ways. I can run and fake all special ways,” (pg 51)
I think that, like Boobie says at the end of the book, his head got too big for his helmet. Boobie was a great football player, but he just went too far. In my mind when you know you’re the best, you can’t take it light but you don’t put yourself in a position to get injured. Although it gave Permian a chance to work as a team, and give Comer a big chance to prove himself, I believe the Panthers could have used Boobie to beat Carter. In my mind the pressure for Boobie to provide for the Panthers was too great for an 18 year old boy. The injured leg was a sign to me that the fans needed to cool their jets on hounding the kids. I think they did after the new team effort.

“Most who met Boobie agreed that he was one of those kids for whom the game of football had become as important as indispensable as part of their bodies. Taking it away would be like amputating a leg. Some in town, most of them black, worried about what might happen to him if it somehow didn’t work out, what the incredible effect of that absence might be. They saw something potentially dangerous in it all. And some in town, all of them white, gleefully suggested that Boobie Miles, without the ability to carry a football in his hand, might as well get a broom and start preparing for his other destiny in life― learning how to sweep the corners of storerooms.
On other occasions, some whites offered another suggestion for Boobie’s life if he no longer had football: just do to him what a trainer did to a horse that had pulled up lame at the track, just take out a gun and shoot him to put him out of the misery of a life that no longer had any value.”

In this passage the author really illustrates how much football means to Boobie and that it is basically the only thing he had in life. That is my problem with Boobie and a lot of the other football players at Permian. The issue is that a lot of the players focus all of their time and energy on football so when it comes to more important things like academics they just don’t care or even try to succeed. This attitude and lifestyle leaves them with no other options so if for some reason they cant play football they have nothing to fall back on. I understand that it is important to be passionate about something in life but the thing is, is that these boys know how slim the chances are that they will make it to the pros and yet they still refuse to think about what would happen if something happened and they weren’t able to play football. Boobie doesn’t even understand this until he gets hurt and discovers that his football career might be over. I think that it would be wise for his teammates to learn from this but a lot of them just keep playing and living the same way.

“In the summer twilight, against the backdrop of the enormous sky where braids of orange and purple and red and blue as delicately hued as a butterfly wing stretched into eternity, young girls with ponytails and freckles were up and down neighborhood streets on their roller skates….On other nights, parents gently roused their children from bed near the stroke of midnight so they could sit together by the garage to watch a thunderstorm roll in from Big Spring, gliding across the sky with its shimmering madness, those angular fingers of light cutting through the night…” (Bissinger 13-14).

This passage is a good example of one the main reasons I enjoyed Friday Night Lights: Bissinger’s writing style. His approach to writing is very journalistic, with his penchant for dates and facts. It is not only crisp and neat, but detailed, as well. And as much as I enjoyed reading this kind of straightforward narrative, I liked it even more when Bissinger shifted from ordinary commentary to beautiful descriptions like the above passage. The language is incredibly poetic, with beautiful word choice and use of metaphors, similes. They are completely ordinary scenes, but the way Bissinger depicts them turn everyday occurrences into mysterious, almost magical happenings. While reading passages like these, I could picture the scenes perfectly in my mind. It’s amazing how easily Bissinger could transition from matter-of-fact commentary to poetry-like descriptions, and vice-versa.

“There is nothing to replace it. It’s an integral part of what made the community strong. You take it away and it’s almost like you strip the identity of the people.” (Bissinger 22)

Being an avid football follower and having a younger brother who plays football, I can compare the feelings of a crazed Panther’s fan to my own. Although I don’t see football as a way of life, I know the intoxicating sensation of watching the game and how people can easily become passionate for it.

Anyways, Odessa has many different opinions on what their town needs, and what they think is the best rules and restrictions. Some think that there should be segregation, while others do not. Various groups of people want the African Americans and Mexicans living separately from the Caucasians, while others want to live together without hostility. I can say that one thing that Odessa can agree on is that Permian Panther football is what they live for. All the residence know that the Permian Panther tradition is what keeps some harmony within the quarters of Odessa. Without football to keep them occupied, I can only imagine what sort of brutal and racist encounters there would be between Odessa’s citizens. All in all, Odessa has buried their old nickname as one of the most horrific towns in the United States, but has started a new nickname as one of the must successful high school football teams in the country.

‘“Today, instead of the cotton field, it’s the sports arena.”’ (Bissinger 93)

When I first read this passage, I was somewhat flabbergasted by the powerfulness of this statement made by Laurence Hurd. I find it arrogant that he would even acknowledge the fact that in his opinion, sports use blacks for their physical strength, just like slavery used blacks for their work efforts. I feel as though they have nothing in common. Slaves worked for the mere fact that it kept them alive. They were forced into hard labor, and didn’t have much of a alternative other than to risk fleeing, or die trying. In the sports arena, the blacks have a choice on whether or not they want to be apart of a team. If you look at it, really the player is the one that has the force on himself. He is the one that decides how much energy he is going to put into a game or practice. They want to be apart of a team. Whether they are pressured by their parents or not, they ultimately have the choice to be on that field or not. I believe that the sport’s arena gives African Americans a good reputation for their physical potency. Consequently, the world of sports is not here to use blacks, as Laurence Hurd alleged. It’s more blacks are here to utilize the world of sports to show off the talents they were gifted with.

“The players knelt before him as willing, eager supplicants, echoing his phrases with their own uncontrolled snatches in the brightly lit room, which was decorated in the Bulldog color of passion purple.” (Bissinger 159)

After reading this passage, I found it easy to compare it to Christians looking up to Jesus. These players live for football and Gaines being the coach, they look up to him for guidance in their football careers. Just like Christians, or any religion, people look up to whom they believe is the most powerful. Reading this book, I deem that whatever Coach Gaines says, his football players will obey. At this point in the book, I sense that nothing is as important as football is. Not the health of the players, or the mental stability that they hold. Especially not the feelings of either the coaching staff or the players. People in Odessa seem very quick to bad-mouth the team when the game goes wrong on those Friday nights. I find it arrogant. If these people are so nippy about the way that the game is ran, then they can do something about it. They aren’t the ones putting relentless hours of hard work. Yes, perhaps they love the game so much, that they want to see them do well, but could they really make the team better by slandering their work? We have to look at the big picture, and see all the success that has come from Permian Football.

‘“I don’t think they realize these are coaches. They are men, they are not gods. They don’t realize it’s a game and they look at them like they’re professional football players. They are kids, high school kids. The sons of somebody, and they expect them to be perfect.”’ (Bissinger 223)

This passage could not be anymore true. These Odessa citizens look at these players like they have already made the big leagues and that they are being paid to play. These players haven’t even received a high school diploma, let alone an offer from the NFL or a secure spot on a top-notch university football team. There is so much pressure these days for kids to be perfect. To have the right clothes, look perfect everyday, and to achieve every goal that is set in front of them. I honestly believe that no one is perfect, and that you can’t have a perfect life. There are no guidelines as to how you can obtain perfection. Therefore, I think that the Odessa citizens are being too insensitive when it comes to a player or a staff member making a mistake. The populace on the team can only give their best, and if their best isn’t good enough for the town, then there is nothing that can be done other than to for the town to be realistic about how successful the team can be.

“And suddenly he wasn’t a high school football player at all, but a high school kid with absolutely no idea of what he was going to do with his life” (Bissinger 336).

This is the actuality of these football player’s lives. Once the season has finished, what is their new reputation in life? I wonder if they will still be known as a football player as time progresses through the year. These players now must go back to school, and deal with their academics without any excuse about football. Some may not be pleased with how they have gone about accomplishing their grades in school. Now that the season is finally over, what are the boys going to put their efforts towards now? They must come to the realization that they should focus on school now, and that in order to get into a college, the must have adequate grades. The team had been sucked into a made up veracity that football is the most important thing. Now that it’s over, they are only living on memories of how that season went.

“If Gary Edwards and his friends felt like missing class and going to the lunchroom, they went to the lunchroom. If they were bored and felt like missing class early before the bell they… walked out before the bell. If they felt like walking around the halls without the required pass, they walked around the halls without the required pass. If the felt like leaving school… they left school” (Bissinger 280-81).

This passage describes student football players, Gary and other students, who attend David W. Carter High school, and have the power to break some of the school rules. Bissinger uses different characters, in a different town, to show that Permian was not the only town, in U.S.A, that is football crazy, and worships their high school foot ball players. Like Permian, football is extremely important to Carter High, and their players are greatly valued. But, in this school football player students not only receive favoritism from the teachers, but also take further steps to break the rules. I find this damaging to the morality of both the players and the school authorities. By letting the players break the rules, the teachers are basically giving up the power that they posses over their students. And though the players are benefiting from breaking the rules now, in the future, they will not be used to the obedience it takes to work under people, who will be less enthusiastic and passive of them breaking the rules.

“Most everyone thought that Billy Winchell had given up on himself by the time he died. But they also knew that if there was anything making him hold on, it was Mike.
Billy and Mike.
‘He would have liked to have lived for Mike’s sake,” said Julia Winchell. ‘He sure would have been proud on him’” (Bissinger 59).

I know this quote seems small and insignificant but after I read it I really thought about it for awhile. Billy Winchell had been struggling with pain for a big part of his life and like the passage says many people thought he had given up on himself. Billy would have done anything to make it all end. However he would have been willing to hold on for Mike and deal with the suffering for a little longer if it meant he could be with his son. This quote really shows that Billy loved mike so very much and he really wanted to support him. He cared for him so much that everyone knew that he would stay alive if it meant that he and Mike could be together for a little longer. Although this is a small passage and could easily be overlooked, it still has an important meaning and it really touched my heart.

“It was not uncommon for teachers at Permian to teach for only a quarter or a third of the period and then basically let students do whatever they wanted as long as they did it quietly. It was also unusual to find teachers who demanded from students their very best, who refused to succumb to notion that here was no reason to challenge them because they simply didn’t care.” (114)

As I read this passage, I found myself to be kind of surprised. I love when I get free time at school but I feel like only getting taught for a quarter of the period would just irritate me. The point of attending school is to learn, and at Permian there isn’t too much of that going on. Before reading this passage, I took note of a passage that I read earlier about Permian spending more money on the football program than the English program. In my opinion, that’s wrong. I know that that town thrives on football, and that it’s what they’re all about, but I just find it to be wrong that they care more about having a successful football team, than having students succeed in academics. I guess I don’t really understand because I don’t play football and I don’t really know how important it is to have a football team that good, I just feel that it would be more important to be learning something because if some of the players get hurt or their football career dies out, what will they have to fall back on? They won’t have anything because they took the simple classes just to stay eligible, and they didn’t care that they weren’t top of their class or that they were stereotyped as the “dumb jock”. I also find it to be wrong that the teachers don’t push for their students to do better. In a way, they just gave up because they find no point in pushing for a change in their students and I find that to be kind of sad.

“In the hierarchy of the school, where girls and partying and clothes and fancy cars were as important as academics, being a football player opened doors that other students could only dream of. All other achievements seemed to pale in the of it” (Bissinger 135).

When this is mentioned by Bissinger, it really makes me feel bad for all of the other Permian students that achieve in subjects other than football. Their accomplishments are probably washed away and forgotten, overpowered by football. It seems like it would be very easy to get discouraged at Permian. Students who don’t contribute to the football team have little importance. In addition to Permian’s already failing test scores, not recognizing other students academic efforts and achievements probably didn’t help much to help raise them either. It must have been very hard to be motivated to learn and study harder when at the end, unless it helped getting the Panthers to states, all of your efforts didn’t matter.

“But he did get upset when he heard that several FOR SALE signs had also been punched into Chavez’s lawn. Brian was just a player, a senior in high school, but that didn’t seem to matter. ‘That’s sick to me,’ said Gaines. ‘I just can’t understand it’” (225).
I thought the behavior of the community after a lost football game was ridiculous. To think that the community expected a flawless team every year is absurd. It’s easy for them to make a fuss when they are just spectators. They don’t coach, run, catch, block, get water, or do anything for the team. It is idiotic for a person to complain about a team when that person isn’t even contributing to it. Help the team out, make a difference, and if the team still isn’t good, then a person has the right to criticize.

“‘I don’t think they realize these are sixteen, seventeen, eighteen-year-old kids,’ she once said. ‘I don’t think they realize these are coaches. They are men, they are not gods. They don’t realize it’s a game and they look at them like they’re professional football players. They are kids, high school kids, the sons of somebody, and they expect them to be perfect.’” (223)

I really like what Taylor Nault had to say about this passage, and I couldn’t agree more. The people of Odessa really do put a ton of pressure on these boys to be perfect and I think they forget that they aren’t professionals, that they are only high school kids. In my opinion, the boys on this football team don’t deserve all the pressure that is put on them. They already have so many things to worry about, things other than football and when they have all that pressure to be perfect, to be flawless, it would just be unbearable. Everybody makes mistakes, and I think it’s unfair that the citizens of Odessa are pointing fingers at the players and coaches when they do something wrong. Of course it’s easy for the fans to say something isn’t good enough when they aren’t the ones on the field busting their butts to be the best and please everyone around them. When the team is giving their best and they happen to make a mistake, it is not fair in any way for the citizens to pass judgments because like it says in the passage above, “they are men, they are not gods” and in no way at all is anybody perfect.

“After their careers were over they hated how he barely even said hello to them anymore, as if they no longer had value, as if all they had ever been were slabs of steak for the voracious beast of Permian football” (Bissinger 244).

This quote once again reinforces how crazy Permian High School is about football. Boys that had graduated and played on Permian’s football team would come back to games and the coaches wouldn’t give them the light of day. Individual boys that made up the team in previous years did not really mean anything on their own after their time was over to the coaches. The coaches focused on how they were going to win in the present and future; the past was just records they had to live up to. It is kind of upsetting when you think about the boys just being used to be a part of a winning team for the coaches who don’t really care about the players individually. During the time of the season, the star players do get special attention and the coaches are desperate to keep them in perfect condition to play. After the season is over, however, most of the players are seen as a bunch of “has-beens” and the coaches and town are now caring about the new star players. It’s true that the players choose and want to play to win too most of the time, so they are not necessarily being used. On the other hand, it is unfortunate that that’s how the coaches see players as, just a group of boys who they need to teach how to use their talent to work together and win games.

Just my personal opinion…
I thought using a coin toss to decide who made the playoffs wasn’t the best way to decide. I honestly don’t care for when people win by a random chance happening. Flipping a coin doesn’t prove that one team is truly better than the other one. There was probably a logical way to look at the past scores and decide from that who actually played the better season. If not, the teams could have done a small playoff amongst themselves. I think the fans would have had more fun watching that than a coin toss. The way the book described how the coin bounced off exactly at a 45 degree angle also made me laugh. That was necessary…
Those were just my personal thoughts

“He could have flunked. Just about the only question that wasn’t asked during the hearing was whether Gary had actually learned any algebra or not”(309).

This passage is just another example of how some schools and communities regard sports as more important than education. The people in the hearing were only interested in one thing: making sure Gary was able to qualify to play football. They could care less if he actually learned anything in class, as long as he managed to scrape by in school and make the bare minimum grade requirements to participate in sports. I think that this kind of treatment that they give athletes like Gary in the book will eventually come back to haunt them. Sure, they may qualify to play college football and get scholarships, but what about after college? Or what if they suddenly get an injury and can’t play anymore?

I am going to add to what Chitra R. wrote on August 31st, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I liked Chitra’s idea and I agree with it. I wouldn’t be surprised if a decent amount of people really weren’t “in love” with football either. Many Odessa residents may be peer pressured into loving football. A person cannot be forced to like something. It just happens naturally. The best way to go is to follow what you love. And i also agree that if people start to get involved in other activities, others will follow. All the town needs are a few people to be bold enough to try something new. After that, others won’t be afraid to follow what they really want to do along with those first few people.
Thanks for you ideas Chitra!

“Football stood at the very core of what the town was about, not on the outskirts, not on the periphery. I thad nothing to do with entertainment and everything to do with how people felt about themselves” (Bissinger 237)

This brings out a very strong point in the book that the Odessans love for football is derived for how it makes them feel about themselves. The people centered their lives around football and treated the team’s successes as their own personal successes. Their dedication to the team was mostly based on greed, not the players or the sport, but how the outcome would make them feel the inferiority of their team above the rest.

“The first I seen him carry that ball, he busted that line for eighty yards. Do you know how you feel when you see your son doin’ good, doin’ something special? It kind of put a lump in your throat. Man, that boy ran that ball all night!”(35)

This quote just helps describe how the parents of Odessa are so proud of their children for football. It seems like “Boobies” dad is more proud of Boobie if he makes a good play then if he were to get an A on a test or pass a class. It also somewhat explains how things can change. Boobie gets hurt, but his dad doesn’t punish him for it, he changes. He doesn’t expect his son to be a football star anymore he changes because he knows there is no chance for that. This is why I think that Odessa’s focus on football is not bad because it could always change if something went completely wrong.

“If the nickel came up tails, Permian was out of the playoffs and the chorus of complaints and criticism against him would only intensify to the point that it might become unbearable for his family to remain in town” (Bissinger 258)

I agree with Renee’s opinion about the tradition of using a coin toss in the event of a tie. It seems unfair that it is irrelevant to the teams performances (which going to state is all about) and is simply “luck of the draw”.
This quote also emphasizes the pressure and scrutiny always held on Coach Gaines. He makes a point of always trying to do the best for the team, but that it clearly not good enough for the town; they constantly find reasons to criticize him.
It is also unfortunate that not only Mr. Gaines is targeted, but it carries over to his family’s life, especially Mrs. Gaines. The Gaines family should not be in a position where they fear staying in Odessa over whether or not the coin toss is won.

“It was a phenomenon that Trapper had seen dozens of times before, a kid so caught up in it all that there was no room for anything else, another kid for whom nothing in life would ever be so glorious, so fulfilling as playing high school football.” (Bissinger 272).

Football to the kids of Permian high school is the highlight of their life. When they graduate, everything seems to go downhill. Those football players have a life still to complete and nothing in their future feels as if it would compare to playing at Permian. They spend four years of their life in the limelight and the rest is reflecting upon it. Most of the players even wish to go back in time to be back on the team. It is good that the football players have pride in what they have done, but they should not let it control their entire life. When they graduate, they need to worry about the future and create opportunities for moments like they had on the football team. I see Permian football as being misleading for all the players that are on the team. It creates an atmosphere that a celebrity would have except that it is short lived for most players. They get a touch of being invincible, being on top of the world. It does not teach them the full aspects of what the real world can be like. Permian football also shows the true character in some of the players. It shows whether they can deal with the pressure and how they cope with it. Permian football may have some pros, but in the long run it hurts the students more than it helps them.

“That was their great cutting edge. That’s what made them different. And they would not give it up, not against the Carter Cowboys with their 4.4 flyboys and their All-American hotshots and the wild-eyed fervor of their fans fueled by all those Kafkaesque court battles to stay in the playoffs, not against anyone.”

I really like this passage because I feel like it really captures how much the Panthers really want this win. I know how it feels to really want something and when it gets to the point where you can actually achieve it, nothing feels better. In a sense I can kind of understand the way these boys feel about this game. Some people may find it foolish because it’s only football, but it’s what they’ve worked so hard for and now that they’re in the moment, nothing can break them down and nothing can make them give up. They have destroyed their bodies and put themselves through so much for so long that giving up when they have come this far would just be foolish. Bissinger really showed how much they really wanted and really deserved the win. He also showed the amount of heart that the boys have for this game. If you don’t have heart, it doesn’t matter if you’re good at what you do or not. If they Panther’s didn’t want to make it this far, they wouldn’t have. Yeah they’re a good team but when it comes down to it, heart and ambition and want is what really makes a team, and I think that this passage really captures that.

“With the close scrutiny that football players’ grades received because of the no-pass, no-play rule, [Boobie] had always passed his courses. Now that he wasn’t playing anymore, he found himself flunking three classes at the end of the second six-week grading period” (Bissinger 321).

This passage implies that football players receive special treatment just because of the sport they play. Teachers at Permian High School shouldn’t act impartial towards football players because of the no-pass, no-play law. Students should earn the right to play football by maintaining good grades. If football players can manage to raise their grade easily because of the no-pass, no-play law, it’s completely unfair to the rest of the students at Permian High School. Some students put a lot of effort into projects, studying for tests, and completing every homework assignment. On the other hand, some football players receive an answer sheet during the test. How is that fair to a student who studies all night, maybe all week, for the same test? Football players should realize that they’re not professional football players; they’re teenage students. With the high expectations from the coach, parents, and fans, it must be hard for every player to balance sports and academics. If the players manage to keep up with a high GPA while playing on the football team, they have a higher chance of earning scholarships, acceptance to top-notch colleges, and a brighter future. If the football players strive to obtain good grades, manage their time wisely, and play football with dedication, then they will end up living the best of both worlds.

“‘How much better would it be if they concentrated that into school?’ he asked. ‘How much better would it be if they concentrated it into a job?’” (Bissinger 285)

This passage from the novel depicts the willingness and the drive of the athletes on the Permian Panther football team to play the game of football. These are the words of Trapper, the team athletic trainer. There are kids who are willing to play on the field who have broken feet and broken ankles and broken wrists. He compares that to people’s willingness to work and earn an education… which is poor. But just imagine. What if people had the same amount of motivation and inspiration to earn an education… and work? Wouldn’t that make our world a better place? Wouldn’t the people of our world be more intelligent? That’s what Trapper is fantasizing about in this passage of the novel.

“They were together, white and black and Hispanic, rich and poor, and they would stay that way for as long as they were a team, as long as they had another game to play”(320).

This passage shows how football brings the students of Permian together. Throughout the book, there is no doubt racism, and tensions between races and ethnicities. We see throughout the novel that whites don’t like blacks, and blacks don’t like whites, but it still doesn’t stop them from working together as a team. In this case, football shows how though we all come from different backgrounds and cultures, it is the little things that connect us and make us one. That is why I picked this passage.

“Once the plan was announced, a hotly debated aspect of it wasn’t curriculum, or how many minorities would fare in schools that had always been predominantly white. Instead tgere was remarkable focus on which school, Permian or Odessa High, would ultimately get the greater number if black students, and thereby the greater number of black football players… Gomez said the line was drawn that way not for the cause of desegregation, not to satisfy any academic purpose, nor even to meet any racial quota, but to ensure Permian a greater number of black running backs down the road than its rival” (Bissinger 105).

I was amazed at this quote because this book was written only 20 years ago, but the way blacks were looked at is completely different than today. I think it’s kind of pathetic that the issue between the division is about football, not discrimination. The town put their focus on the wrong issue. The poor blacks in Odessa got equality way long after blacks in other areas, thanks to football’s distraction. Football prevented desegregation from happening even way after Brown vs. Board of Education. The Permian supporters only cared about how good their team was and nothing else. Black’s would have the white’s respect while they were on the football field, but no where else.

“Yet he knew the Carter Cowboys were about to join the list of teams who should have beaten Permian, but like every other team, would succumb to the magic he and ten thousand others had created” (Bissinger 330).

This is just an example overconfidence from Ken Scates. He is the radio man covering the game between Carter and Permian. What surprises me is the invincible mentality that Odessa has. Once they are on a winning streak they believe they can never lose. They completely break down if they do too. There will always be someone better than you. That’s a point that Permian can’t seem to accept. No football team in history has ever won every state championship. Ken, and Odessa need to come back to reality. Though, I do feel for their loss. After coming so far they lose to a team that cheats to keep their players playing. Regardless, it’s just my belief that they need to keep their head in check. A lesson anyone can use in their lives.

“If you took a poll, few people in town could tell you who the mayor was, or the police chief, or the city manager…. Those were jobs nobody cared about in Odessa unless a house burned down or a sewer line backed up. But just about everybody could tell you who the coach of Permian High School was, and that rubbed off on her” (236).

Here Bissinger talks about the Midland Lee game, talking about the life as a coach during the best and worst times of football. He talks about how well Coach Gaines is known around Odessa, compared to others in the town. Through this quote, he is able to portray the popularity Coach Gaines receives, and how it effects others around him, such as his family. He also, on the other hand, talks about how overwhelming it is on both Coach Gaines and his family. He describes the treatment and threats Coach Gaines received from the fans during the 1986 season, helping to show that football is not just a sport to the people of Odessa, but a way of life.

“Will Bates was drummed out of Carter and reassigned to teach industrial arts in a middle school. He was given an unsatisfactory evaluation rating, placed on probation for a year, and had his salary frozen. And of course, he was forbidden to teach math to prevent further threats to the sanctity of football” (311).

Here Bissinger talks about Will Bates, a math teacher at Carter, who flunked a Carter football player. Will Bates, who taught at the school for 25 years, was taken to court because he did what he was supposed to do; grade students fairly. Because he didn’t let Gary Edwards pass the class, the team became ineligible to play in the playoffs, and therefore, would not make it to state. This was a chance for an all-black team to go somewhere; to make it big. Just because it was football, everyone worked hard to protect Gary and allow him to play. As a result, a hard working teacher was punished, just so a high school team could continue to play football, showing the influence and impact football had on many high schools in the state of Texas.

“LIfe had not been economically easy for Boobie. I often wonder how different his fate would have been if his cleat had not gotten caught in the artificial turf of Jones Stadium that terrible August night. The moment took a fraction of a second, and yet its impact on him was forever, a brutal reminder of the very fragility of sport” (361).

Here Bissinger talks about Boobie’s afterword. Boobie could have made it big somewhere, if he was never injured. This helps to show the risks and effects Permian football could have on a person. It not only scarred him physically for the rest of his life, but it also stopped him from moving on to college. It also changed him internally, because he realized that it was something he could never prevent. It effected him because he would never get to be in the spotlight of Permian and the college recruiters. He lost so much, but as a result was changed for the better. He was able to move on, and raise a family, showing the effects Permian football had on him.

“But before long the delicious anticipation of another season would come again. A new set of kids, a new set of faces, a new set of hopes, a new set of heroes would be paraded atop the shoulders of the town as gloriously as the Greeks honored their gods” (Bissinger 285).

I find it strange that after the town praised Permian when they did well and put “For Sale” signs on players and coaches lawns after a bad game, they move on so fast to the next season. They cared so much about the team when the season was going on, but once it was over they were predicting who the new starting players were going to be for next year.

Also in this quote, there is imagery, personification, a simile, and an allusion. I like the way Bissinger uses all these literary devices to really make this book interesting. It would not have the same effect on you if you read, “After the Permian football season was over, the town didn’t care about the team that had lost; they just cared about the new team for next season.” Obviously, that was pretty boring. It takes a lot of talent to make a story, event, or fact more interesting than it really is. As you can see after reading this quote, Bissinger does an excellent job of explaining how the town felt about Permian football and the players.

“Not all the classes were like this, but even in accelerated courses the classroom at Permian was hardly a hotbed of intellectual give-and-take. It was not uncommon for teachers at Permian to teach for only a quarter or a third of the period and then basically let students do whatever they wanted as long as they did it quietly. It was also unusual to find teachers who demanded from students their very best, who refused to succumb to the notion that there was no reason to challenge them because they simply didn’t care,”
(Bissinger 114).

In this novel it is easy to see how at Permian football is more important than getting an education. Some people may blame this bad attitude on the students but I believe that the teachers are just as responsible. This passage shows that the teachers don’t try very hard to make the kids want to learn. Even the students in higher level classes are not being challenged. How can someone learn from a person who has no faith in him/her? I believe that if the teachers had a more positive attitude and didn’t act like they had given up on the students then the kids would be more willing to learn and would worker harder. If a teacher acts as if they don’t care then his/her students will feel and act the same way.

“Tickets for the showdown at Midland High didn’t go on sale until Tuesday afternoon, which explained why the first handful of Permian fans started camping outside the fate of Ratliff Stadium Sunday night,” (Bissinger 157).

In this passage H.G. Bissinger really shows how crazy Permian football fans are. I don’t know very many people that would camp out for three days just to buy tickets to a high school football game. At Avondale people enjoy going to the games but there aren’t really any people who are obsessed with the team. However, Avondale’s team isn’t as great as Permian’s. I think it is one thing to show school spirit but I think it is a little over the top to wait in line for so long just for tickets to a game. I may think this way because this concept is a little foreign to me but I do think that Odessa is a little crazy. People in Odessa crave the “Friday Night Lights” so much because there isn’t anything else in the town to be passionate about.

“But he knew it was too powerful, too intoxicating to ever get away from, for those who played and also for those who sat in the stands cheering week after week, month after month, year after year. ‘It’s the Friday night addiction,’ said Trapper” (Bissinger 274).

I picked this for my last quote because it talks about the “Friday night addiction.” Throughout the whole book the thing that keeps everyone coming back every Friday night, whether Permian won or lost the last Friday, was the Friday night addiction. People from Odessa found themselves drawn to it because Odessa was small and not much to do on a Friday night besides watch football, but also the excitement and joy fans felt when watching Permian play football. Even though in the end of the Season Permian loses before making it to States, the very next year everyone is lining up to get tickets, wearing all black, and excited as ever for the new seasons Friday night lights.

“‘They don’t have any idea about the coaches and the time they put in and the dedication,’ she said. ‘They don’t have any idea, and they don’t care. They don’t have any idea of what the families give up.’” (Bissinger 223).

In this passage it is shown that the comments that are said to and about Gary Gaines really affect his family. I can see why Sharon Gaines is so upset. Her husband sacrifices so much for the team and people in Odessa don’t realize that. The Permian fans are so quick to criticize him even though they don’t know how much time and effort he puts in for the kids. I believe that the fans are so hard on the coaches because they think blaming someone will make the disappointment go away. The fans just want to take out their frustration and anger on someone and it is probably easier to take it out on the coaches than on the teenage boys. I think that they don’t need to take out there anger at all because it just makes the coaches and kids feel even worse about themselves and they really don’t deserve that.

“It would have been wrong to say that Gary Edwards abused the rules, because by his own account and those of others there were no rules for football players. It would have been wrong to say that the players’ behavior posed a constant challenge to authorities, because by their accounts authorities made no effort to stop them and in many cases protected them” (Bissinger, 293).

This is another quote that really stuck out to me. As I was reading, I hated how the football players at Carter could get away with anything just because they were football players. They didn’t have to take tests, or if they did, they were given the answer sheet, didn’t have to show up to class, they pretty much didn’t have to do anything. They were protected all throughout school just so they could play football, and I just don’t think that’s right. I think those teachers are ridiculous for allowing that to happen. How could those kids expect to live in the real world if they didn’t have to work hard at anything? Or if everything was provided for them? They probably had a huge wake up call when they got out of highschool, and I’m sure it was extremely hard for them to adjust to.

“He used the most powerful pull there was for a thirteen-year-old boy living in Odessa, really the only one that gave a kid something to dream about- the power of Permian football.” (Bissinger, 74)

One of Friday Night Lights major themes is dreams, those of the team and the town. This quote pertains to the dreams of every little boy living in Odessa –to become part of a football team as good and legendary as Permian, and be as cool as those guys on the team. Throughout the entire book Bissinger writes about the dreams of the townspeople, and the things they do for them. Citizens of Odessa invest their hopes and dreams in their team, and children are raised under the influence of Mojo madness. It is interesting that football can influence a town so much, and Bissinger spends a lot of time describing football’s effects, almost as much time as he spends on the football players. When a town goes through the turmoil of boom and bust, like Odessa, it leaves the citizens looking for something constant, and they found it in Permian football.

“He had pushed Boobie in football and prodded him and refused to let him quit…he also did it because he saw in his nephew the hopes, the possibilities that he never had in his own life when he had been a boy growing up in West Texas”,(39).

Some dreams are denied, being made, shattered or accomplished in the novel and are all revolved around the game of football. I agree with Joe when saying how at an early age Permian is exposed to football and everyone wants to be a part of it. The player’s parents and uncles have played in the past, and want their children to experience the same dream. Every player dreams of becoming rich and famous but only few of them actually get that chance. The town of Odessa has high expectations for the players of Permian no matter how realistic they may be. But I believe the game of football is a way for the players, and the town to forget about what is going on in life, and just focus on the game. Boobie has gone through racial problems, Dan has problems with his father, and mike with his dad’s death. Odessa is the 5th worst city in the world, and they fans as well use the game to escape. They get so involved with the game by putting pressure on the players and knowing everything about the team. Players, fans and parents use the game of football to forget reality and their problems and when the game is over and football no longer in their life, reality is back.

“Its real important. It’s all I ever wanted to do. I want to make it to the pros…” (Bissinger 38)

I know exactly where Boobie is coming from. I know what its like to be injured and have to sit out a game/season. I’m sure many other atheletes know as well. A sport can become your life and when its taken away from you, there is not much you can do. For Boobie, his injury took away his hopes and dreams.

“There was the jarring pop of helmet against helmet, and then the trajectory of the underclassman as he went skittering across the gleaming gym floor like a billiard ball hopping over a pool table after a wild cue shot.” (Bissinger, 111)

This quote is a prime example of Bissinger’s great ability to communicate images and describe things. In one sentence he conveys the darker, less glorious side of football, that of the person being beaten. The metaphor of a person as a billiard ball is haunting, and provides a great picture as to what is happening. This sentence also has more descriptive words than any I have read in a while, and none of them are wasted. Bissinger’s talent in writing shows best when describing.

I agree with Katie T’s comment about how different blacks are seen today than they were only 20 years ago. It might seem like a long time, but some of our older siblings were born right around the time this book took place. I know there was more racism because it was in the Deep South, but it’s amazing that blacks were supposed to be seen as equal over 30 years earlier and yet the schools were just making changes to desegregate. I don’t think it’s fair that whites only gave respect to blacks on the football field and when they were anywhere else they went out of their way to be prejudiced towards them. On the other hand, I do think that football in Odessa actually helped blacks get more equality in the town, not distract it. No matter what, it was going to take time for whites to get used to blacks being equal. With football, I think that the blacks and whites being forced to be together helped them come together for a common bond fighting for the same thing.

“Tickets for the showdown at Midland High didn’t go on sale until Tuesday afternoon, which explained why the first handful of Permian fans started camping outside the gate of Ratliff Stadium Sunday night.” (Bissinger, 173)

With the people of Odessa banking all their dreams on Permian football, due in no small part to the failure of the normal bank, Mojo madness strikes the townspeople. The extent of their fixation on football is recognizable by how much time they spend waiting for tickets. They spend more time waiting for tickets than video game addicts for the release of the latest gaming system, and almost as much time as geeks before the release of a Star Wars movie. This is part of Bissinger’s message about dreams and what happens when they are crushed. The people of Odessa like football so much because everything else about their lives is undependable.

“And suddenly he wasn’t a high school football player at all, but a high school kid with absolutely no idea of what he was going to do with his life” (Bissinger 336).

I chose this last quote because it shows what happens when a school doesn’t keep their kids’ futures in mind. Permian’s priority was football and football only. They didn’t spend time pushing the players to do well in school, but rather letting them slide by so that they could have the grades to play in the games. Therefore, the kids don’t learn a good work ethic and don’t really care about school or going to college. Once football season is over, however, these players have nothing but their memories of when they had the good life. Unfortunately, the real world is no where near similar of their experience in high school. The players were taught from a young age that football was everything in Permian and they believed it to be so. In a sense, it really wasn’t their fault that they didn’t realize they weren’t going to go very far in life if they focused their life on football. Brian Chavez, as we see, did very well in school and ended up being successful in life while Don Billingsley and Booby Miles did the opposite. In conclusion, I would blame Permian High School in part for letting players get away with what they did and not pushing them to do well in school. The players also could’ve pushed themselves on their own and not have relied on football to guide their life.

“The stadium was something the community took a lot of pride in and he went on television and said you’re all a bunch of idiots for building it. Most of the money for the stadium had come from a voter-approved bond issue’ (Bissinger 42).

I chose this quote because it shows that people that weren’t in the community, thought it was crazy to spend that much money on football. Whoever thinks the stadium was a waste of money obviously knows nothing about Permian and the community. Thousands of people show up for the games and the whole school revolves around the varsity football team. The entire community shuts down because everyone is at the game and the community takes pride in the team and the stadium. I think the community spent their money wisely because they spent it on something they truly love and are proud of.

“Don knew they had talent. It was just the way some of them swaggered around that bothered him, how some of them seemed to do whatever they wanted in practice and the coaches let them get away with it” (Bissinger 88).

I chose this quote because this seems to happen a lot, football players get special treatment because they are good. The football players get special treatment in class because they use football as an excuse for not doing work. This is really why Boobie felt so lost once he got hurt. Before, he was a big star with special treatment. Then after he got hurt, he was just another guy that wasn’t very smart or skilled at anything. I think this is why many of the boys aren’t successful out of high school, because they focused on football so much they did not learn how to do anything else.

LATE TRUTH AND BEAUTY
“I do not remember our love unfolding, that we got to know one another and in time became friends. I only remember that she came through the door and it was there, huge and permanent and first” (Patchett 7).

I chose this passage because it shows that Lucy and Ann had a really special bond. Most times friendship happens the way Ann describes it; over time. But for them to be friends right off the bat is extremely rare. This passage tells the reader that they are going to be really great friends throughout the book and even later on there are some times where Lucy will ask Ann if she loves her best and Ann always does. The way Ann wrote this also adds to the impact of the passage because she used a comparison to the way it usually goes to the way it actually went. She also used the word permanent which is a strong word to use because as we all know permanent things are there to stay.

“She never gave up believing that there would be a final moment, a last surgery, a point at which her “real life” would being.” (Patchett 57).

This passage stood out to me because I cannot imagine living life just waiting for a better life to begin. Lucy put all of her problems to her face. She wasn’t loved because of her face, she wasn’t beautiful because of her face, and she wasn’t good enough because of her face. In reality Lucy was loved very much and she had such a beautiful personality that she was too good for many of the people she wanted to love. She just didn’t believe this because she was hung up on that final surgery where she would start her real life. Ann captured the way Lucy felt though in this passage because she really was waiting for her face to be ‘fixed’ and the damage undone so she could have everything she wanted to have. Lucy linked her face being done to happiness and because of that she wasn’t really truly happy.

“It was a child’s version of death” (Patchett 96).

This passage really stood out to me because children aren’t supposed to think of death. What Lucy was talking about when she wrote the letter to Ann was a shack in a concentration camp where she found drawings some kids had made when they lived there. It’s sad to think that kids had to go through that at such a young age and the bluntness of this passage really burns it into your mind. There are no more words needed in this passage to get the point across. It is what it is and the simple wording is perfect.

“She was a serious writer, and she wanted her book to be judged for its literary merit and not its heartbreaking content” (Patchett 141).

I chose this passage because I felt bad for Lucy. She wrote a book and she worked as hard on it as any other writer does on theirs and everybody came to talk about the cancer. If I was Lucy I would have been very upset that people couldn’t see past what was in the book and focus on the writing itself. The way Ann put this was different than the way I would have put this. She stated the reason and then what Lucy wanted. I would have said what Lucy wanted and then the reason. The way Ann wrote it though makes her writing more versatile since she wouldn’t have ‘because of this’ and ‘because of that’ everywhere on the page.

“It was like having a bad dream in the night in which a parent comes and flips on the light in the bedroom to show you that there was never really anything under the bed that was planning to eat you alive” (Patchett 183).

I chose this passage because I like the connection that it makes. It’s about how even when you’re an adult there are still those fears that aren’t as bad as they seem but it takes another person to show you that. Ann chose a really good comparison for it because almost everybody had a fear of a monster under the bed or in the closet. She was like the parent turning on the light for Lucy. The monster was really just a bunch of repeated bills and it took help from a different person for Lucy to get back on track.

“With the body I could be tirelessly helpful, but with her psyche, her heart, I simply froze” (Patchett 228).
This passage is about how helpful Ann is with Lucy’s physical needs in the hospital but how she’s not always the best for her feelings. A lot of people are like this or they are better at helping hearts than bodies. Ann wrote this in a way that shows how much she helps Lucy in the ways that not every friend can like holding back her hair while she vomited or tracked down nurses for pain pills. It also shows how she has no clue what to do when it comes to Lucy’s emotional problems sometimes because later in the paragraph she wanted to go demand that someone love her friend so Lucy would feel better. And it is just as important to have a friend to physically help you as it is to have a friend to emotionally help you.

“There was a heartbeat in those stands that dotted the Friday nights of Texas and Oklahoma and Ohio and Pennsylvania and Florida and all of America like a galaxy of stars, a giant, lurking heartbeat” (Bissinger 178).

I believe that everyone and everything in the world is connected in some way. I don’t think we’re connected through football, but we’re connected, nonetheless. But for these people, their lives revolve around football. It’s no longer just a sport, just something to watch on Friday nights. It’s a part of their lifestyle. For them, football is about heart and soul and how hard everyone works to achieve the common goal of victory. It’s about making dreams come true and sharing one belief. Football is their identity, and even if they have different political or moral ideas, they are still connected through it.

“Coaches were fired all the time for poor records… sometimes he was paraded before school board meetings to be torn apart by the public in a scene like something out of the Salem witch trials, or had several thousands of dollars’ worth of damage done to his car by rocks thrown by irate fans, or responded to a knock on the door to find someone with a shotgun who wasn’t there to fire him but to complain about his son’s lack of playing time” (Bissinger 224).

This passage highlights exactly how seriously football is taken in places like Permian. Having the occupation of coach is just as dangerous as being a part of something like the Mafia. Being a coach requires nerves of steel. It requires being able to give people what they want—in this case, victory, or playing time for their sons. It’s in the coaches’ best interests to please everyone, no matter how impossible that is. Taking the position of coach is full of risks—if he does badly, not only does he suffer the consequences, but his family does, too, and his players, and everyone around them. But they still become coaches, because if things go well, then everything pays off and they are worshipped. That’s how serious football is in Permian.

“[L.V. and Boobie] stood together, talking softly, sometimes not talking at all, but drawing strength from one another in the absence of anyone else. In the fading afternoon light of Ranger, Texas, with that bitter wind blowing across the field, flanked by the malarial yellow of the dormitory where Boobie lived, they looked quite beautiful” (Bissinger 343).

Football is all that Boobie has. When he’s no longer good enough for it, he has L.V. and no one else. It’s them against the world, these two people who were brought together through football. But even though it might seem that the only thing they have in common is football, their relationship is deeper than that. L.V. is more than Boobie’s “uncle”; he’s his mentor, his guardian, his parental figure. L.V. is always there for Boobie; he only wants what’s best for him. Even when Boobie’s dreams are shattered, L.V. doesn’t abandon him. They have only each other to rely on.

“’We fit in as athletes, but we really don’t fit as part of society,” said Nate Hearne, the only football coach at Permian in 1988. “We know that’s we’re separate, until we get on the field. We know that we’re equal as athletes. But once we get off the field we’re not equal. When it comes time to play the game we are part of it. But after the game, we are not part of it”’ (Bissinger 107).
Society is still different in the south. It only seemed desegregated on the football field and when they were playing football. Even though the schools are desegregated they seem segregated. When the black football players play football on those Friday nights that’s the only time they feel equal, like their actually somebody.

“’We got two things in Odessa,’ Jerrod said once. ‘Oil and football. And oil’s gone. But we still got football…’” (Bissinger 247).
Even if the city is perishing into pieces, they know that there will always be football they can count on. Oil booms then fails, the jobs are not so good, banks have issues, etc. The only good thing that ever seems to happen is the Permian football team. The town expects that the football team will always win and pull through for them.

“’[Hix]miss it. Like I say, if I could, I’d go back and relive that moment. Nothing can compare it. I miss it’” (Bissinger 278).
Being part of the football team is something that they never wanted to leave. They were treated like stars, like royalty. Every little child looked up to them. The former football players see themselves playing football when the team at that time plays. It’s a glorious moment until it ends. No one wants it to end.

“It wouldn’t be a field of dreams at all, but one of nightmares” (Bissinger 315).
Not winning the game is like having a nightmare. They feel like a failure to the people of Odessa and to themselves. Only when they do win, do they feel like they accomplished something. When they win it feels like a dream they can have over and over. It‘s something you don’t want to wake up from.

“There is nothing to replace it. It’s an integral part of what made the community strong. You take it away and it’s almost like you strip the identity of the people.” (Bissinger 24)

This passage proves that football is held above everything else in Odessa. Without football, the town wouldn’t have anything to hold onto in the tough times. Every Friday night was an opportunity for the entire community to gain a release from everyday life. The people of Odessa got to watch their very own Permian Panthers play football, and it was very important to them. Without football, Odessa would just be another Texas small town, one among hundreds. But the Panthers gave Odessa an identity, and everyone in the town knew it.

“Mojo magic. Mojo pride. Mojo tradition. It couldn’t fail [Dale] now. She couldn’t imagine what she would do if the season was over now. She had built a life around it, a whole routine- the lasagna dinners, the booster club meetings, the practices in the dappled afternoon light with that sweet breeze blowing across, and of course, those wonderful games, so glorious so exiting, the power of a million stars shining down on Odessa on a Friday night. She knew it had to end sometime, but she wasn’t ready yet, not in this final minute, not for her, not for her son, not for her town” (Bissinger 326).
The town revolves around the Permian football team. They don’t want it to end. Their so attached to football that it seems they can’t live without it. If the mojo ends the town ends. The town has nothing better than watching, cheering, being part of it. If this town didn’t have football it wouldn’t even exist.

“’We fit as athletes, but we don’t fit as a part of society’, said Nate Hearne, the only black coach at Permian in 1988. ‘We know that we’re separate, until we get on the field. We know that we’re equal as athletes. But once we get off the field we’re not equal. When it comes time to play the game, we are a part of it. But after the game, we are not a part of it.’” (Bissinger 107)

This quote shows how race was still an issue in Texas just over 20 years ago. Black athletes were considered just that, athletes. When taken out of the game, they were held lower than white people. However, as athletes, everybody praised them for their talent. But as individuals, many people could care less about them. Black people were still fighting to gain equality, and playing football and being good at it was a way to gain equality in Odessa, even if it was only for four quarters.

“’I don’t mind that it’s emphasized,’ she said of football. ‘I just wish that our perspective was turned a little bit. I just wish we could emphasize other things.’” (Bissinger 147)

Football was held above even academics by nearly everyone in Odessa. The few people that were bothered by this were the teachers. The fact was, most of the Panthers did not have a future in football. Football was not going to pay their bills when they got older. The players needed to develop talents beyond football if they hoped to succeed in life beyond high school. Their high school days were numbered, but many didn’t slow down and think about their futures. They lived up the moment, but didn’t plan for the day it would end. All the teachers just wished that the same amount of emphasis would be placed on academics as football so these athletes would be able to succeed later in life.

“’I don’t think they realize these are sixteen, seventeen, eighteen-year-old kids,’ she once said. ‘I don’t think they realize these are coaches. They are men, they are not gods. They don’t realize it’s a game and they look at them like they’re professional football players. They are kids, high school kids, the sons of somebody, and they expect them to be perfect.’” (Bissinger 237)

The people of Odessa expected victory every Friday night. They expected to go home from the game every Friday night happy, celebrating victory. Even though the kids playing were only kids, the citizens of Odessa expected them to perform like professional athletes. And if they did not perform up to the expectations, they risked falling out of favor in the public eye. These expectations were unfair to the players, but they had no choice but to live up to them. The people expected the coaches to coach their team to perfection. If they did not, the coach risked losing his job.

“He too received an answer sheet for certain tests, and he knew in general that the taking of exams was irrelevant, because the teacher was going to give whatever grade he or she deemed appropriate regardless of his performance.” (Bissinger 295)

High school football stars in Texas were held above all other high school students. For some, even showing up to school was pointless because no matter what, they would pass. They did not have to do anything, and they would end up with better grades then some kids who never missed a homework assignment in their whole lives. In reality, however, this only hurt the football players because the majority did not have a future in football, but in something else. However, by automatically passing their classes, they were not prepared for life without football, and many would struggle succeeding due to lack of preparation in high school.

“There was no doubt that Winchell had exceeded all expectations. As a senior he had come into his own.” (Bissinger 304)

At the beginning of the season, people expected Winchell to be great. However, he exceeded those expectations in the playoffs when it really mattered. There is no other word to describe Winchell’s performance in the playoffs except magical. As a senior on the team, Mike is expected to be a leader and be one of the best. This is expected out of all seniors all over the country. As an athlete, your senior year is supposed to be your final triumph before the next level. Booby Miles’ senior season was the total opposite of Mike Winchell’s. Mike led the team to the State semis and lost in a phenomenal game against Carter, while Booby’s season was ruined before the first game. Booby’s knee injury not only ruined his senior season, but his college career too. However, for Mike his senior season saved his college career. An athlete’s senior year can make or break his career.

“She maintained that the school district budgeted more for medical supplies like athletic tape for athletic programs at Permian than it did for teaching materials for the English department” (Bissinger 145).

This quote shows just how much the school and community care about football and how little they care about academics. It is great that the community is unified by the football team and how dedicated everyone is to it, but that cant be the only thing. However, all the standards and demands of the football team, is dragging the rest of the school down academically. The school should cut the budget for athletic programs and just have the players pay a little more. The players work so hard to be on the team, i am sure they are willing to pay a little more to be on the team.

“ I don’t think they realize these are sixteen, seventeen, eighteen-year old kids, she said once. I don’t think they realize these are coaches. They are men, they are not gods. They don’t realize it’s a game and they look at them like they’re professional football players” (Bissinger 237).

I chose this quote because this is the feeling through the entire book. The entire community is so involved and watches everything that happens on the field; the entire town shuts down during a game because everyone is at the game. Just to play on the team has been a dream to all of the boys on the team since they were all young. The players and the coaches put in a ton of hours a week for practice, workouts and planning. It is astonishing how hard the players and coaches work for a game and what people in the community expect out of them is even bigger.

“ I miss it. Like I say, if I could, I’d go back and relieve that moment. Nothing can compare. I miss it. I guess that’s why I have season tickets and go to the games. I don’t want to be apart from it” (Bissinger 278).

This quote is an example of most of the other former football players on that team. They live in the past because they worked so hard at football, that became their only identity; football. The players focused on football and nothing else that is all they were. When they grew up, for most of them a former really great football player. This is fine, but if they had worked harder the players could have become something more too. Instead for most of the players they used to be great and live in the past wishing they could go back.

“There was a controversial policy in Texas called the no-pass no-play rule” (Bissinger 292).

I chose this because it becomes a real issue for some schools, especially the Carter Cowboys. This is a little harsh considering how much time the players give to football and how important certain players are. Since they have to put so much time into football, they have to out even less time into school. I think the rule should be if a player does not pass, he/she should be put on probation not being able to play until they take a test as a second chance to prove he/she can pass. Since there was such controversy over Gary Edwards grade and football is such a big deal, the players should be given a second chance.

“There was no better metaphor for the town, no better way to understand it-the rapidly changing demographics, the self-perpetuating notions of superiority that spread over one half and inferiority that spread over the other…….-between the nouveau riche east side of town and the older, more humble west, between white and Hispanic, between rich and poor, between the suburban-style mall and the decrepit, decaying downtown” (Bissinger 155).

This quote stood out to me because it shows us that football is the only thing the Permian players have in common. The players come from extremely different economic situations. Some players struggle with inferiority just because they live on the other side of the railroad tracks. Those players on the rich side of the tracks are surrounded with nice, new buildings, while the west side crumbles and falls apart. These players couldn’t be anymore opposite and it’s hard to believe they are on one common team.

I’m going to have to agree with Mandy on the quote, “They don’t seem to care about their grades. They don’t seem to care about each other. They seem to care about having a good time, but don’t know how to define good. I don’t know what young kids are about. I can’t get in their minds. I used to…” (Bissinger 118).

In this town the only thing people look forward to is football. No one has any goals in life besides football, and people will do anything for football. It’s become almost like a religion. It is to the point where people don’t care about others and they only think about the good times they have while football is being played. People have conformed to the way society believes in the fact that football is the only good thing in their lives and they can’t survive without it. They don’t realize how much more to life there is, and no one will be able to convince them otherwise.

For some reason when I read on page 155 about Vickie Gomez, I couldn’t help thinking of Rosa Parks, or Martin Luther King Jr. There was a specific quote but on page 155 it says, “In the Hispanic communityshe became an important, heroic voice.”

The way Vicki Gomez stands up for what her and her community believe in, which is equal rights in society, automatically related to Rosa Parks for me. She was heroic to the Hispanic community and tried to bring people together as one. Gomez never conformed to anything the other people on board would vote for and she defintely stood up to make sure her points were viewed. That’s what was needed in the little town of Odessa, because being in such a small town people are very conformed to certain ideas and it takes a lot for someone to try and break them. That’s why she reminds me of Rosa Parks, because she wasn’t afraid of standing for freedom and equality, and that is what it all comes down to.

“Football stood at the very core of what the town was about, not on the outskirts, not on the periphery. It had nothing to do with entertainment and everything to do with how people felt about themselves.” (Bissinger, 237)

At this point, twelve chapters after introducing the townsfolk of Odessa, the author tells why they are possessed by such a seemingly trivial thing as high school football, and also why he spoke so lowly of Odessa. The people who live there don’t like it, but something about it grows on them. They stay there because of their pride in what their heroes, the football players, pull off. With the successes and failures of the Panthers Odessa goes through mood swings, rejoicing and weeping with the players, and forever idolizing the best. It seems odd that a group of high school students could pull a community together like that, but in the barren oilfields of Texas, as some of the natives put it, anything’s possible.

After the loss of Permian everyone was very upset and people were very angry with the players and the coaches, especially Gaines. His wife Sharon was thinking and said:

“I don’t think they realize that these are sixteen, seventeen and eighteen year olds. I don’t think they realize these are coaches. They are men not gods.They don’t realize its a high school game they treat them like professional football players. They are kids, high schook kids, the sons of somebody and they expect them to be perfect.” (223)

This made me stop and think about how much people pressured these kids into being perfect. It made me think about how the players always wanted to be the stars on the football team and make it to be State Champs but never realized the downside of it all. They were very cocky and thought they were the best. That’s basically what football did to them, but not only them, the fans too. The fans put so much pressure on kids expecting them to be better than anyone. People don’t always succeed and in this case they didn’t. The community was very brutal and harsh with the coach and the players, but none of them are out there busting their butts and playing football like pros. If not they would have won, right? The team, including the coaches did the best they could and that’s what the community should be proud of.

“In lofty bureaucratic doublespeak the policy was called the School Improvement Plan. But to many educators, a more honest title would have been the School Futility Plan.” (Bissinger, 296)

This quote is elegant and pointed, well written and disconcerting. It gives the impression that this thing being discussed is both ridiculous and hypocritical, without distracting from other issues at hand, like Gary Edward’s grades. It sits like a little jewel in the hilt of a chapter devoted to poking holes in questionable practices of Texan schools. Words like “lofty” and “futility” catch attention and sound important, both good when trying to rivet a reader to a book. This quote is just a small part of a storyline that makes chapter fifteen second only to chapter sixteen.

“Permian football had become too much a part of the town and too much a part of their own lives, as intrinsic and sacred a value as religion, as politics, as making money, as raising children. That was the nature of sports in a town like this. Football stood at the very core of what the town was about, not on the outskirts, not on the periphery. It has nothing to do with entertainment and everything to do with how people felt about themselves” (Bissinger 237).

This quote showed me that to the people of Odessa, fooball is LIFE. Odessa’s citizens had nothing else to look forward to besides friday nights. These fans were born and bred to love the orange and black Panthers. The oil business was horrendous and they lived in a sandbox, but life was still wonderful if the Panthers were winning. Football is what kept everyone in the town going; football was the only ticket for young boys out of the middle of nowhere.

“L.V. felt pain. He felt anger. He felt rejection. But like everything else in life, he ultimately accepted it as another disappointment that would somehow settle in, just like the wall in Crane that fenced him and the other blacks in like cattle, just like not being able to play highschool football because he wasn’t allowed to go to the white school, just like not being able to find a job” (Bissinger 264).

This quote made me feel sorry for L.V. because the one thing that L.V. had going in his life was ruined. Nothing seems to go in L.V.’s favor. Since he is black, the wall, the railroad tracks and no blacks playing in highschool football all demenstrate the hardships he has had. L.V. put his heart and soul into training Boobie to become a pro-football player. His dream was so incredibly close to becoming a reality until the terrible knee accident. L.V. put everything he had into Boobie Miles, for Boobie to just walk out of his life.

Sam T-

I completely agree with your response about Wichell and Miles. I would like to add my own insight as well.

I don’t think Winchell was expected to be as big of a star as he was. During his junior year he constantly choked and couldn’t handle the ball when the pressure was on. His senior year started out just like his junior’s. For example, Mike was a big reason why Permian lost against Lee- his pass was far out of reach. Winchell’s hardwork eventually paid off and he lead his team to the state semi-finals. Winchell impressed Permian fans by “stepping up to the plate” and by making the big plays of th game.

Miles was expected to be the next Permian legend and big colleges were interested in him. Unfortuately after the knee injury, his year when he was supposed to be the superstar was over. Miles was supposed to go to a big football college, and after the injury no scouts wanted him anymore. The community turned their backs on Miles and forgot him. Miles went from college football prospect to wasted potential.

“…he said he couldn’t ever imagine a life without football because it would be “a big zero, ’cause, I don’t know, it’s just the way i feel” (Bissinger 56).

I can reflect this quote to my life. Boobie feels strongly passionate about football as i feel for soccer, and I also can’t imagine my life without. Boobie has grown up in a town that has had football as the most important thing around.

“The only thing that made her at all typical of Odessa was her passionate devotion to Permian football” (Bissinger 90).

People of Odessa saw Lanita Akins as an unusual person. Just because she was a democart, a Unitarian, a hippie, and a Dukakis supporter they thought she was different from everybody else. The only thing that made them see her as just another person from town is that she supports Permian football. Basically, as long as you lived in Odessa you had to love football. That’s the only thing the town was interested in.

“But she also knew that Odessa’s values were old-fashioned as well when it came to race, still rooted in the days when the line between white and black was bluntly defined by the American version of the Berlin Wall-the railroad tracks that inevitably ran through the heart of town” (Bissinger 91).

Throughout the book there was a lot of talk on black vs whites, who was better, who was smarter, etc. Black or white, we’re all the same. There’s some people that by just glancing at someone they judge them by the color of the skin. Skin color should confuse no one. Many people have grown up to think that blacks are not any better than whites. Blacks that have also grown up in this environment have become to think that this may be the truth, therefore they do not exceed who they are. They don’t try to become better because they see no point in trying. They’ll get the same judgements because there are some people that would not like to face the fact that blacks are just like whites. In the book Permian High didn’t want to accept having blacks in their school. But once they had a few, they realized they were a helping hand to the football team. Many people complained that although they helped the team, they were no good in school. They didn’t try to get good grades and they knew that wouldn’t affect their playing time.

“With his [Boobie's] size and his speed and his ability, he was worth the special status at whatever cost and whatever effect it had on the dynamics of the team or his own development. Like it or not he was the franchise, unless, for some reason, they did not need him anymore” (Bissinger 48).

I think that this quote proved the point that the Permian coaches and also fans don’t look at the players as people but instead as a form of entertainment and a way to keep them going that keeps their lives interesting. Football is the one thing that Odessans can count on and because of that, they are interested in winning at all costs. If they didn’t have a good football team, they would have nothing. As a result, they only care about the players, like Boobie in this case, for as long as they can help the team win.

This is why players like Boobie feel that they have nothing else after high school football to live for. They put all their energy and time into playing football because that’s what their parents and their community told them to do and praised them for. Then, when the season ends or they get injured, there is nothing left for them. They put everything into football and have no future. And when the town no longer has use for them, they aren’t happy anymore. They don’t feel invincible anymore and they feel as if their lives are over.

“Life really wouldn’t be worth livin’ if you didn’t have a high school football team to support.” (Bissinger 20)

This passage from the novel gives the reader a good idea about how important football is to the town of Odessa. If they team does well the town does well with it. On the other hand if the team plummets the town is very hard on its players and coaches. I think sometimes we are too serious about high school sports and people forget that its just teenagers playing the sport they love. When we start to make it seem like a pro organization it sucks the fun out of the purpose they started to play the sport in the first place. Its one thing to support and be proud of the high school team you play on, than it is to make it the central focus of your everyday life.

“‘There is nothing to replace it. It’s an integral part of what made the community strong. You take it away and it’s almost like you strip the identity of the people’” (Bissinger 43).

This is another example from my first blog about how high school football is taken way too seriously in Odessa. Putting football up high on their priority list makes other areas such as education, work ethic, and personal relationships suffer. The town forgets that they are not based of the success of their high school football team. Most southern cities have this same thought process that if the team does well they are better than its surrounding areas. This is the same for the students that play football, the students are judged solely on their athletic ability and not on what kind of student they are.

“We fit as athletes but we don’t really fit as a part of society” (Bissinger, 107).

This quote is said by Nate Hearne, the only black coach on the Permian football team. Unfortunately this was true about blacks and whites during this time period. Off the field whites treated blacks as if they were not important, like they couldn’t contribute to everyday society. On the field though they were equal, the blacks were good players and added success to the team’s record. The fact is though that the blacks were important off and on the field. There was no difference between black or white they are all in the same. At least, on Friday nights, they could all put on the same jersey. Play for the same team without any discrimination at all.

“I don’t think they realize these are sixteen, seventeen, eighteen-year-old kids,” she once said. “I don’t think they realize these are coaches. They are men not gods. They don’t realize it’s a game and they look at them like they’re professional football players. They are kids, high school kids, the sons of somebody, and they expect them to be perfect” (H.G. Bissinger 237).

The coaches in the novel truly did not realize that they were just kids. They did treat them as if they were a professional football team. The coaches invested much time and effort into these kids trying to make them the best football team out there. Football unknowingly had become the heart of Odessa. Tremendous pressure was put onto the shoulder pads of these high school students on Friday nights to win at all costs. If the team lost the town lost its faith in the team.

“How much better would it be if they concentrated that into school?’ he asked. ‘How much better would it be if they concentrated it into a job?’” (Bissinger 285)

Trapper the athletic trainer was the one who said this quote. He had seen what the kids have gone through to play football at Permian. They pour their whole lives into trying to be apart of this football team which was “the heart” of Odessa. Education was low at Permian, what if they actually put even half of the effort they did into studying as they did into football? People forget that only a few people from high school football make it into college football, and then half of them make it pro. These students need an education and work ethic, high school football only gets them so far. Balancing fun, work, and studying makes you a better overall better student.

“‘That would have destroyed the football program, and that’s why we didn’t do it’ said Bunton” (Bissinger 83).

In this quote, Bunton was explaining why Odessa did not integrate as fast as it should have and one of the reasons they didn’t was because it would have messed up the Permian football program. I just think it’s amazing how focused these people are on football. Even officials in the town are so concerned with football that they refuse to follow a federal law. Town officials know that if they force Odessa to integrate the results would be horrific and the town would be in uproar. It’s ridiculous how focused Odessa is on football that they put it as literally the top priority in their town.

“But that was the reality, and it seemed unlikely to change. The value of high school football was deeply entrenched. It was the way the community had chosen to express itself. The value of high school English was not entrenched. It did not pack the stands with twenty thousand people on a Friday night; it did not evoke any particular feelings of pride one way or another. No one dreamed of being able to write a superb critical analysis of Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake from the age of four on” (Bissinger 131).

This quote helps explain exactly why Permian football is so important to the town of Odessa and why they put their focus on having a good football team rather than focusing on academics. It’s Permian football that keeps the town alive and gives Odessans hope during hard economic times. Friday Nights are what make them happy and proud to be an Odessan. A school full of high academic achievers wouldn’t have the same effect. High ACT or SAT scores aren’t going to keep the town alive during hard times. Odessans aren’t going to brag about academics in their town. They love Odessa because, and only because, of Permian football. Nothing else, can make them proud of who they are in a town like Odessa.

“‘Their savagery was intimidating; we sissybritches Headquarters-City-of-the-Vast-Permian-Basin-Empire boys lost to Sintown by 20 to 7 and 48 to 0 in my time,’ wrote King in Texas Monthly. ‘Only by joining the Army before my senior season did I avoid the record 55-0 plastering of 1946. High school football was, I think, a legitimate cultural and psychological measuring stick of that time and that place: many of us concluded that Odessa was, indeed, the rawer and tougher community” (Bissinger 215).

Midland was the town that had it all, in terms of economic success. People from Midland were rich and had it all. The city was large, clean, and new as a result of the boom in oil. Odessa didn’t benefit the same way they did during the boom and remained a mostly poor, old, crime-ridden city. That’s why Odessa needed football and needed to beat Midland when they played each year. They needed to be better than Midland at something and have something to be proud of. Cranking out a football team that can pummel Midland each year was all Odessa was good for. They weren’t rich, they didn’t own huge oil companies but they could trounce Midland in football so they put everything into that. This explains why Odessans were so proud of their team; they had nothing else to be proud of.

“‘I don’t think they realize these are sixteen, seventeen, eighteen-year-old kids,’ she once said. `I don’t think they realize these are coaches. They are men, they are not gods. They don’t realize it’s a game and they look at them like they’re professional football players. They are kids, high school kids, the sons of somebody, and they expect them to be perfect” (Bissinger 223).

Everyone who enters the Permian football program has a huge amount of responsibility thrust upon them. Everyone knows who they are and where they come from and they are suddenly in the spotlight with a whole town watching their every move. They are put on a high pedestal and when they fail or don’t live up to expectations, the fans are cruel. It doesn’t matter that they are just men or just high schoolers to the fans. They are counting on Permian football to keep the town alive and when they aren’t successful they are angry.

This puts so much pressure on the coaches and players. Seventeen and eighteen year old boys shouldn’t have to carry the weight of the town on their shoulders but they do. A high school coach shouldn’t be ostracized for a 7-2 record but he is. That’s just Odessa.

“As the cool breeze of night set in, neighboring families pulled up in plastic lawn chairs to conduct ‘chair committee’ and casually meander over the day’s events without rancor or argument or constant one-upmanship” (Bissinger 33).

This gave a good idea on the feel of Odessa. They seem to have the kind of hometown where everybody knows everybody; if you went to the store you would stop to chat with everybody and know most of their life stories. They didn’t have to worry about competing with the other kids to see who has the best clothes or the latest technology, etc. This made me envy the people of Odessa. No, they didn’t have the luxuries other cities had, but they had that country feel. Personally, I would love to live in a town like that. It might be irritating for everyone and their brother to know what’s going on in your life, but I think the goods outweigh the bads in this situation.

“They weren’t especially fast or especially strong. But they were fearless and relentlessly coached and from the time they were able to walk they had only one certain goal in their lives in Odessa, Texas. Whatever it took, they would play for Permian” (Bissinger 45).

Later in the book, the players of Permian’s opposing teams were described. Most of them were tall and fast with huge muscles. This says a lot about the Permian players. If they can beat these other teams with the physical strength that they have, they must be dedicated. And the players obviously were very dedicated. With practice after and sometimes before school, always watching the film of their previous games to pick out their flaws even if it they won by 40 points, and even some throwing away their schoolwork, they were always trying to do better. This goes to show that can do things people wouldn’t expect of you if you put your mind to it. Against all odds, the Permian Panthers were seen as one of the best football teams in the state of Texas. These boys dreamt of wearing that black jersey their entire lives and they weren’t going to let anything stop them.

“But his feet were still moving too fast for him and he slipped, adding to the rumbles that charily Billingsley’s boy sure as hell wasn’t going to follow in his father’s footsteps, at least not on the football field” (Bissinger 86).

I found the family ties of the football players interesting. Several players’ parents are involved with their son’s football career for a reason other than they live in Odessa and football is a huge part of everyone’s life. Some, like Billingsley’s dad, wore the black Permian jersey before their son. They find joy in watching their son play because that used to be them down there on the field years ago. Others are living vicariously through their football player. Many of the parents didn’t get the opportunity that their sons got. They grew up across the railroad tracks and lived in a racist community growing up. These parents could only dream of being a high school football star. Now, several years later after desegregation of the schools, their sons are part of the biggest pride in the Odessa community: the Permian football team. It only makes sense that they would be extremely prideful of their son who is doing things they never got to do.

“It was not uncommon for teachers at Permian to teach for only a quarter or a third of the period and then basically let students do whatever they wanted as long as they did it quietly. It was also unusual to find teachers who demanded from students their very best, who refused to succumb to the notion that there was no reason to challenge them because they simply didn’t care” (Bissinger 130).

A few pages before this quote, the overall academic achievements of Permian were described. Not very many people excelled academically. This seems inevitable with teachers like that. If your teachers don’t care then why should you care? A teacher’s job is to care about their students and try their best, no matter what, to teach them. If your teachers are slacking, why should you slack off? Sure, it would be a lot of fun to go to class and listen to a lecture for 20 or so minutes then do what you want. However, that would make school pointless. The point of high school is to get you ready for college and the real world. If you aren’t doing your job as a teacher, the kids aren’t learning anything except that it’s okay to not do your best.

“There was a heartbeat in those stands that dotted the Friday nights of Texas and Oklahoma and Ohio and Pennsylvania and Florida and all of America like a galaxy of stars, a giant, lurking heartbeat” (Bissinger 193).

Although football was very important to Odessa, it wasn’t the only place. Addiction to high school football was found throughout the country. From Texas to Oklahoma to Ohio to Pennsylvania to Florida.

“. . . Kirby felt compelled to uphold the integrity of the no-pass, no play rule” (Bissinger 303).

The author is trying to make the readers see that the people of Texas didn’t care about a rule that was meant to help the educational level be higher, all they cared about was playing football. The coach’s and teacher’s should have enforced this rule and their team wouldn’t have been knocked out of the tournament.

“It’s not a party we’re goin’ to, it’s a business trip,’ Mike Belew told the running backs. ‘If you get hurt, that’s fine, you’re hurt. But if you get a lick, and you’re gonna lay there and whine about it, you don’t belong on the field anyway” (Bissinger 60)
This is a great example of how the game of football is played in Texas. It isn’t about getting all of the kids playing time. It’s about the business of winning. Some might believe that this is too harsh of an environment for young kids to be in. But, they knew what they were getting into before they signed up for the team at Permian. I don’t think it is bad for a coach to expect the very best from a player, because that leads to players giving it everything they have ever snap of the ball. What I don’t agree with is the coaches calling a kid a whiner, if they can’t continue to play because of a legitimate injury. In football you are going to hurt every play, but when a kid is injured the coach has to understand and let the trainer help.

“ In the space of five weeks he had become an afterthought whose past performance earned no special privilege and seemed largely forgotten.”( Bissinger 179)

This quote is about the once star running back at Permian. His future looked pretty bright with many colleges wanting him in their program. All Boobie ever knew and wanted to do was play football. It hurts every time I think about Boobie or any other athlete having their dreams crushed by an injury. An injury like that changes an athlete’s life, they start to question everything they have ever done in their lives, as Boobie did. We later learn

(continued from blog of page 179)
that Booby was to play football in a minor college after getting his knee surgically repaired. But he was never able to be the same electrifying runner he once was.

“But he knew it was too powerful, too intoxicating to ever get away from, for those who played and also for those who sat in the stands cheering week after week, month after month, year after year. ‘It’s the Friday night addiction,’ said Trapper” (Bissinger 274).
I saw this quote was used earlier but I wanted to build on it a little. We learn through out the book that the town of Odessa has seen many dark days. It was once a town with lots of money in the oil business. Once OPEC got involved that all changed. Many lost everything and miles of oil equipment covered many fields. Many turned to the one thing that would never leave Odessa and that was Permian football. The town was literally addicted to the game and always there Friday nights. People in the town used those games to escape reality, even if for a night.

“If we prepared our kids academically as we prepared them for winning the state championship, there is no telling where we would be now” (Bissinger134)

Through out the book we see many times how the school system is failing at Permian. The football players had special treatment from many teachers letting them skip class, not turn in work and even test. Because of this, the school’s scores as a whole are below average. I think this is totally wrong. Kids should be student athletes, because for many of them their athletic careers are over once they leave high school. Instead of these teachers getting these kids ready for life after school, they are setting them up for disaster. Because many of the football players didn’t focus on their studies their lives seemed to come to an end once football was over. We should all enjoy sports in high school but remember that we have to strive for new goals in out lives once they are over

“But in the aftermath of a loss the field house emptied quietly and quickly, as if the place was cursed and it was somehow shameful to be there at all.” (Bissinger 220)

The town is very supportive of the Permian team. Thousands of fans come to every game and bleed black and white for their panthers. Ever football player gets a sign in there lawn like a badge of honor to show the town that a Panther lives there. But once they loose a game all the support disappears. I think that this is a terrible thing. The town should be there for the boys even when they loose. As long as the kids gave it everything they had and walked off the field knowing that, no one should be shameful. Sure everyone wants to win all the time, there’s nothing wrong with that, but we should be able to learn from our loses.

“When Permian football goes in Odessa,” he said with a laugh late one night, “then everything will go.” (Bissinger 180)
This quote made me think about how much a sport can really mean to a town and the citizens of that town. It shows me that some of the pressure on the boys was put on because it was the only thing the people of Odessa could hope for. I know if I had a whole town wanting and needing a state championship I probably would crack under the pressure. I see now why the boys had put so much pressure on themselves to exceed what he needed to do. The Permian Panthers could have been paralleled to Ruby Bridges. In the way that Ruby was the soul, spirit, and hope of blacks to de-segregate schools. While the Panthers where the same spirit, soul, and hope for the town of Odessa.

“You could search high and low for a black city councilman in 1988,or ablack commisioner. You wouldnt find one …. But on Friday nights in Odessa, you could gaze down at the football field and see several black players tearing up the field for Permian.” (Bissinger 89)

This quote shows that even after the civil war and laws that were passed, segregation and discrimination still went on in the late 1980’s. Even today, it still happens. What I liked about this quote was that, the team did not let the color of someone elses skin effect their drive for the game. I liked that they put aside their differences and played as a team, not just for themselves.

“But here in Memorial Stadium in Midland, where a near-sellout crowd had gathered to watch a high school football game, none of that seemed to matter” (Bissinger 182).

This passage gives a little bit of an insight why football is so important to Odessa. Everyone has their own way to get away from the commotion of their lives. In Odessa, their escape is football. Because of the decline of oil prices and the failure of Midland’s bank, the economy is falling apart around them. The once prosperous town of Midland turned into a financial wreck. Every Friday night, the community gets together to get away from the chaos of their everyday lives to enjoy what the people in their town does best: play football. When they’re watching this game they get to escape into a world where nothing matters but the score on the score board.

Pages 242-244

These pages described the difference between Wilkins and Gaines as coaches. Wilkins, the coach before Gaines, was totally focused on winning. No matter the condition or emotions of the Permian players, he only cared about the score of the game. Gaines cared about the boys as well as the score. On one hand, winning in Odessa is very important. The whole town relies on the winning of this team and as the coach, everyone expects you to carry the team through to a win. However, when does obsession with winning become too much? Communication is an important factor in games such as these. If players and even fans are afraid of talking to the coach, can they work to the best of their ability? Shouldn’t your players feel as though you appreciate them? Shouldn’t the players, after a season or two of practices, games, etc. feel at least a little close to their coach? Although they may not have won as many games with Gaines as with Wilkins, I personally would rather have Gaines as a coach. He genuinely cared about the football players along with winning.

“‘You live in a fairy tale for that one year of your life,’ said his wife. ‘You’re worshiped, and that year is over and you’re like anyone else’” (Bissinger 284).

This passage explains why the Permian football players would not want their season to end. At least one or two years of their high school career, these players were loved by their entire community; they were seen as heroes. They are used to breaking the rules because they can. People want to be them. But when the season ends, the identity of these once well-known boys becomes lost. They’re no longer special; everybody is already looking forward to next year’s season. This also gives the players a false sense of what is to come in the future. They will not have this special treatment in college and their careers. They will be forced to follow the rules and live with not standing out in the crowd as idols. It will most likely be difficult for these players to conform to the normal person’s everyday life after living a year or two as a star.

I agree with katie shipley’s statement about teachers not caring. I have had teacher’s that did not care and let us do whatever we wanted in class. At first, it started out as a good thing. As the school year went on though, and exams rolled around, I was in a lot of trouble because I did not know the material. The next year was even worse because when a subject was brought up and I had homework, I did not know how to do it. That is why i feel teacher should care about giving students an eduaction because it gives a student and incentive to do better.

“Outside the oil business, the weather (which almost never changed), and high school football, there wasn’t a hell of a lot to talk about,” (10).
In a small town like Odessa, talk and gossip are expected to be heard and spoken by everyone. Having the oil industry as a huge support of work around Odessa, it has given a reserved spot in the daily conversations of the people. Though, when getting to the point of communication, high school football is the most exciting part of the people in Odessa. Surely the weather can change outcomes of either game time or work, but it isn’t the most interesting topic on mind.

“His life had been defined by a five-foot-high wall of rock and concrete,” (40).
It is impossible to cage a person in from what the world has to offer them. A spirit within someone is different than the body it lives in. Many lives are forever changed because of the emotional air surrounding the concrete wall running through the town, seperating two different types of people. The physical air of the wall is not what stops someone from venturing outside, it’s what emotions one will feel in that world they had longed to see.

“They don’t seem to care about their grades. They don’t seem to care about each other. They seem to care about having a good time, but don’t know how to define good,” (118).

Students in Odessa are unlike others. Football is having a good time, which is the goal they try to meet. This means getting through school as quickly and painlessly as possible. Sometimes going through life carelessly will bring up more negativity than expected. The student football players also take a simpler route, including not having to take a test’s and quizzes.

“In Odessa, it had been a matter of riding the boom to the hilt and just trying to keep up with it,” (204)

In this quote, the description of a boom is an economic boom. It is what gives Odessa it’s highs and lows. Holding onto those good times is the main goal hidden in the words. Getting stuck behind the times of the boom is anything but rewarding. Getting rich became a major priority for amateurs with a dream that could easily be gambled away. When the boom did come, the best you could do is not give up.

“It is a team sport, football is a team sport, the team that wants it the worst is gonna win this football game,” ( 309).

Teamwork is the base to any sport. Having trust and sacrifice between each and every player, will help a team go a long way. Teamwork is having individuals come together and cooperate to achieve a common purpose. To a football team, this means putting your team ahead of yourself. Hard work and discipline mixed with teamwork makes for a winning team.

“But she also knew Odessa’s values where old-fashioned as well when it came to race, still rooted in the days when the lone between white and black was bluntly defined by the American version of the Berlin Wall-the railroad tracks that inevitably ran through the heart of town”, (Bissinger 74).

In the U.S. during the 1800’s slavery and racism were strongly practiced. The South was mainly made up of poor white farmers who encouraged slavery. On the hierarchy of the U.S., these southern farmers were considered to be very low class citizens. Part of the reason the southerners encouraged racism was so that there would be someone would be at a lower class than them. It allowed southerners to have power over another group. Odessa being the fifth worst city in the country is similar to southerners of the 1800’s. The economy in Odessa is terrible, and the wealth of the town is based off of oil only. In the town of Odessa, and the school of Permian, you can see and notice the high racism that goes on. Like the southerners, the whites of Odessa do not want to be the lowest class and feel empowered and thrive if they have someone lower than them. Blacks and Latinos do not receive any respect from the whites. By using the n-word, and not being able to become political office, even with 12 years of experience like Mrs.Chavez, you can see the racism that happens daily in Odessa. This racism reflects the values the people of Odessa hold and influences the outcome of the novel.

“Not only was he one of the captains of the Permian team, not only was he number one in his class, but now he was thinking of applying to Harvard…Never in a million years could Tony Chavez have imagined it turning out this way.”, ( Bissinger 161).

In the novel, Bissinger acknowledges many of the players and how they were brought to the game of football, and where they are in the 1988 season. All of the players where brought up differently and it effects their personality. Majority of the player’s parents went to Permian and exposed to the “madness”. The parents then raised their children around the Permian football team and it had been a part of their lives early on. All the parents, and players knew was Permian, and nowhere else. Brian was different. His dad grew up in El Paso and worked hard to get out of the bad area he lived in, joined the army and eventually became a lawyer. By going to Permian, Brian had many more opportunities to become successful than his father had. By coming from a worse off place than Odessa, it taught Brian to appreciate what he had when others had grown up to believe football was the way out of the Odessa and the way to success. Other players had not done as well in school, when Brian on the other hand strived for excellence.

“They don’t have any idea about the coaches and the time they put in and the dedication,” she said. “They don’t have an idea, and they don’t care. They don’t have any idea of what the families give up.” (Bissinger 223)

No one really cared about what suffering the players, the coaches and even their families went through. They were clueless about how much of their time and effort they gave up to impress the fans. It just shows the lack of concern that the people in Odessa had for anyone but themselves. They were all very selfish. If the football team didn’t win a game, the fans personally targeted the coach and their families. They were mocked, criticized, and ridiculed for losing a high school football game. Definitely not life and death stuff. However, the second the coach did something right, the fans would once again treat him like a god. Before they judged them, they should have tried to consider what their own lives would have been like if they were constantly living under a microscope. My guess is that they would have fallen short of everyone’s expectations as well.

“You live in a fairy tale for that one year of your life. You’re worshiped, and that year is over and you’re like anyone else.” (Bissinger 284)

Most of the Permian players aren’t noticed on the team until their junior or senior year, when they become starters. And for some unfortunate players, they go unnoticed all of their years on the team. But for the lucky few who do make it , well they’re treated like gods throughout that year. Most of the boys have dreamed their entire lives about the day when they would play for the Permian Panthers and during that year, they were the town heroes. The town hero’s weren’t the policemen, or the firemen or the doctors and teachers. Instead, it was the high school football team. They were lavished with gifts, homemade meals, and all the praise and adoration that came with being a Permian Panther. But when the day came of the last football game of their senior years, all of their days in fame were coming to an end. Without football, what did they have left? They must all go live their lives as normal people do. Their glory days were over and a new group of high school boys would step into their shoes, living the dream, that for them also, would end soon.

“There was unrestrained laughter and the three enjoyed the analogy of comparing Boobie to an animal” (Bissinger 262).

Boobie was treated unfairly in my opinion. He was one of the star players, and had a very promising season ahead of him. All the fans knew who he was, and how important he was to the team. But when he got hurt everyone seemed to leave him in the dust. Some people would argue that they ignored him because he was black. Personally, I think the color of his skin had nothing to do with it. The Permian fans were so caught up in the actual game, that they didn’t seem to care much about the feelings of the players or the coaches. Throughout the book, both players and coaches were personally attacked for their actions if they didn’t produce enough for the team. Even when they have given all that they could physically give, it wasn’t enough for the fans. Coach Grains and his family were both harmed emotionally by the fans when the Permian team lost a game. His daughter was picked on at school for her father’s shortcomings, while their house was vandalized with “for sale” signs. Coach also had several degrading articles written about him and posted in the newspaper, calling for him to be fired, and expressing how he didn’t have enough experience to take the team all the way to states. The fans should have put themselves in the positions of the coach or players. They all worked so hard, and didn’t get nearly enough respect for it. They were just expected to produce a winning team at any cost. Obviously, the fans had unreasonable expectations.

“One town, one school, and most attractive of all, one football team” (Bissinger 169).

Most cities have something special about them. Rome with its exquisite attractions that dates back thousands of years. New York, where Lady Liberty is welcoming people from all walks of life. Madrid, where everything around you is ancient and beautiful. And then, there’s Odessa Texas, they have their high school football team. It seems like forever that the people living in Odessa have worshiped their Permian High football team. Thousands of fans show up for the games, while most high school football teams attract far less and that’s if it’s a good game and a good season. Not in Odessa. They live and breath the Permian Panthers. Team players all enjoy special treatment during their football years. Teachers purposely give them good grades so they wouldn’t get suspended during football season. Each player has a personal girl, who bakes delicious treats for them, throws together gifts that somehow resembled football and every game they make a sign decked out with their name on in and plant it in the players yard, to acknowledgment that he is playing that night. Most people spent their lives following the Permian Panthers. They lived for each Friday night game. God forbid something happened to the football team. What would these people have left?

“If you took a poll, few people in town could tell you who the mayor was, or the police chief, or the city manager. Hardly anybody could tell you the name of the city council man, or a county commissioner, or the head of the public works department, or the planning department, or the fire department. Those were jobs nobody cared about in Odessa unless a house burned down or a sewer line backed up. But just about everybody could tell you who the coach of Permian High School was, and that rubbed off on her.” ( Bissinger 222)
The residents of Odessa had no interest in knowing who the important people of the town were. But it you asked them who the Permian football coach was, just about everyone could answer that accurately. The town revolved around the Permian Panthers. They set their schedules according to when there was a football game. Some were even so involved that they came to the practices. Very few knew who the real hero’s of the town were. It seems blatantly clear that the people of Odessa had nothing more exciting going on in their lives.

“Earlier in the season, Boobie had cheered on Comer’s accomplishments with a proud smile. As the season progressed and comer became a star while Boobie languished, the cheers stopped.” (15).
One of the reasons i think the town of Odessa struggles throughout its history is because it does not develop its adolescents into functioning citizens. Boobie becomes helpless as soon as he is injured because football was all he had. As awesome as football is, a town cannot run on enthusiasm for football. Many minorities in the town only have football as a way to escape and if that fails then they are essentially stuck. This passage stuck out to me as i read the story and found how someones dreams can be crushed so easily.

“All this wasn’t accomplished with kids who weighed 250 pounds and were automatic major-college prospects, but with kids who often weighed 160 or 170 or even less. They had no special athletic prowess. They weren’t especially fast or especially strong. But they were fearless and relentlessly coached and from the time they were able to walk they had only one certain goal in their lives in Odessa, Texas. Whatever it took, they would play for Permian” (Bissinger 26).

While the Permian football team was very successful, it wasn’t because of enormous talent or strength. All of their success was achieved through hard work and dedication to winning. This shows how much of an emphasis was put on football in Odessa. It was every little boy’s dream to play for Permian and every father’s dream to watch his boy on field for Permian. Because of this, most boys were playing football with great dedication from a young age. This meant that many of the players that were selected for the team were not necessarily the biggest or the baddest, but they certainly had the heart to work hard and win it all. That was the secret to Permian’s success. The dedication to the team by both the players and the community continuously pushed the team to greatness year after year.

“He was well aware of the enormous allure of the black athlete and the doors that participation in sports supposedly opened, the barriers that it supposedly broke, the way whites suspended all racist judgments when they sat in the stands and gazed down at a football field or a basketball court or a baseball diamond” (Bissinger 92).

This passage is very interesting because it is showing how in such a racist time period and in a very racist society sometimes it is forgotten. In Odessa blacks and whites do not get along, the whole process of desegregation took a very long time, and even with the closing of Ector High most blacks still lived in the Southside of town. But in Permian football there is no Black, Hispanic, or White, there is just Mojo. Black’s are good athletes, and apparently have more natural ability then white high school boys, so when the schools were integrated it helped the football team. Also the guardians of the players, white or black they didn’t care they just cared about the team, winning and the future of their own child. Most blacks thought getting involved in sports was their only way to make a better life for themselves, and that drive to be better is what makes the Permian Panthers such a good team. No one cares about race because everyone has the same goal, to win. No matter which sport the best athletes even if they are black or Hispanic play, because everyone is competitive, everyone wants to win and if that means playing a black player over a white that’s exactly what they will do.

“‘We fit as athletes, but we really don’t fit as a part of society,’ said Nate Hearne, the only black coach at Permian in 1988. ‘We know that we’re separate, until we get on the field. We know that we’re equal as athletes. But once we get off the field we’re not equal. When it comes time to play the game, we are a part of it. But after the game, we are not a part of it’” (Bissinger 90-91).

Although Permian was a desegregated school, it was still rather segregated in 1988. Blacks were equal as athletes, but they really weren’t considered equals in any other way. Blacks really weren’t socially accepted unless they were on the field for Permian. This shows how racist a town could be, even twenty years after the civil rights movement. I found it a little surprising how far down blacks and Hispanics were in society in times as recent as the late 80’s. One would think with all the progress in the 1960’s regarding civil rights that racism would be much less common, but apparently that wasn’t the case in Odessa at the time. Odessa was still stuck in a time where whites were supreme and blacks had to put up with it.

“Even now it was still hard for Tony to get used to many of the popular values of the place-the love for Reagan, the rise of the religious right with what he felt to be its thinly disguised hatred for blacks and Hispanics and homosexuals, the hue and cry in favor of the death penalty, the way people had no tolerance for others who were less fortunate” (Bissinger 164).

This quote gives great insight into the way the majority of people were in Odessa in 1988. Odessa tended to be rather conservative. They were stuck in the past in many ways, such as their racism towards the Hispanic and black communities. They were also the type of people who supported the maximum penalty of death for criminals. They didn’t care much for the needy, and believed the government shouldn’t either. They tended to care more about their own interests than those of others. The exception to this was football. This was the one thing in Odessa that connected people. Football gave something for the people of Odessa to care about and work to improve.

“Sometimes it sounded as if they were talking about a pro player making a million dollars a year with a contractual obligation to play, not an eighteen-year-old kid playing for his high school team who, to be here at all, had overcome abandonment by his mother and foster homes and learning disabilities” (Bissinger 186).

The coaches and community were not at all supportive of Boobie after his injury. They treated him as if he were a professional who should stop his complaining and get back on the field to play. They didn’t understand the severity of his injury or the trials Boobie had overcome to even get here in his life. Boobie had already gone through so much in his life, including working with learning disabilities. It was a little upsetting reading about the way the community viewed him, without really taking any consideration of his background. This showed both the racism of Odessa and the way they viewed a Permian player should be. They thought that the player should completely sacrifice their bodies for the better of the team. They did not believe there was an injury serious enough to take a player out of the game.

“The pressure to conform was so intense, said Gardner, that she knew girls who privately were quite intelligent and articulate, but were afraid to show it publicly because of the effect it would have on their social lives” (Bissinger 122).

This passage makes me really think about high school, not just Permian High but all schools in general. Peer pressure, and conformity is everywhere, most people do not want to stand out and be different, most, girl’s in particular care what others think of them and try to fit in as best they can. It’s not always hiding intelligence, but dressing in certain brands, or trying to act a certain way to blend in and try to be popular. At Permian it is ideal to be a varsity football player, or a pepette; and if someone isn’t they probably try to be friends with someone who is. Football players apparently don’t like girls who are smarter then them, so in efforts to keep their social status girls dumb themselves down so boys will like them better. This is truly sad because this is affecting the girl’s future with what they can achieve, in college and in their future careers. They probably end up regretting not trying hard enough just to fit in, thinking later in life if it was worth it just so they could have a boyfriend for a few months.

I agree with Anna O’s blog on page 90-91, when thinking about the time period it really took Odessa a very long time to become integrated next to other cities around America. With the civil rights movement and everything happening throughout the US, Odessa clearly wasn’t affected until a good amount of time later. That’s why football helped the town out so much. It created a bond between blacks and whites, a common goal to win states. Although there was still a lot of racism, football helped a little with the acceptance of blacks into society, because if someone was a good athlete it didn’t matter their race; they could help Permian win states and that’s everything the town really wanted.

When I first started reading Friday Night Lights, all that went through my mind was “wow, just another book about football, big deal”. My view on the novel has changed. I have a btter understanding of not only team work, but hard work as well. I really got an understanding of what it’s like to try your hardest; and even though they didn’t win states, the lesson they got out of the game and working together become a great outcome.

“Following the circulation of the petition, a letter to the editor appeared in the Odessa American that said the following: ‘No Matter how talented the team, Gary Gaines will never take a mojo team to the state finals. What he says proves he is incompetent….’.”( Bissinger 227).
Bissinger is known as a journalist and is shown through the novel Friday Night Lights. The book is in chronological order, documenting letters and games as a journalist would normally do. By putting in dates and details it gives deeper meaning and respect knowing it came from a journalist. In journalism, you have to back up your ideas with research and evidence to support your argument. But just because you’re writing something that is truthful, doesn’t mean you include all of the information. In a fiction novel, the author can create obstacles to emphasize their idea or opinion. With Bissinger, since this is a biography on the football team of Permian High, Bissinger only had the truth to work with. I believe that all of his statements were true in the novel, but some are purposely there to be misinterpreted or guided to show Bissinger’s opinion. If you’ve ever seen any reality show, they don’t show the whole story, only bits and pieces that make it the most interesting. If you go on the Permian Football website today you can look back to the 1988 team, no different than described in the book. But by showing newspaper articles in the Odessa American, and letters to the coach they only show parts of the real story. In the novel it mentions how many players, fans and the football team are furious after the novel is released because of false comments that Bissinger states to be true. I believe that the novel is factual because Bissinger has a strong journalistic background but has left out parts to guide the reader to the overall purpose of the novel.

“I was seized with a profound loneiness and sense of desperation”(Patchett 14)
This quote stood out to me because it was the first impression of what Lucy feels. Lucy always feels alone, although she has mnay friends who all love her. It hurt me a bit to know what she’s been through. I can relate to feelings on certain levels, and while reading this part of Patchett’s memoir I had a deep conection to Lucy.

(I’m sorry about putting my blogs for truth and beauty with the Friday night Lights blogs. I read the books in a different order and I need to get my blogs in!)

“Lucy didn’t want to be a boy;she wanted to be a girl who would be seen as especially sexy in her boyishness”(Patchett 27)
At this point, Lucy is having self esteem issues. This is something that I feel every girl goes through at some point, and even some guys as well. Lucy wishes to look better, because to her, she’s ugly. She may look different, and people stare, some stare because she looks different, some, because they can see through the looks and notice her pure beauty. that in itself is a lesson to me, it helped me realize that I don’t need to impress people, improve looks or anything of the sort because people that see me for who I am are the people that I would like to be friends with.

“I was starting to wonder if I was ready to be a writer, not someone who won prizes, got published, and was given the time and space to write, but someone who wrote as a course of life. Maybe writting wouldn’t have any rewards”
This was Ann’s moment of doubt for her writting career. As someone who is dead set on becoming a writter, or at least writting a book of my own, what she had to say about wrtting really hit. It made me realize that following your dream is possible, but there are many obsticals to overcome along the way. I do feel that if you set your mind on something, focus and work hard o achieve your goal, it will happen. It happened for Patchett after years of dedication, and it gave me hope.

“People everywhere young and old were already dreaming of heroes”, (Bissinger 327).

This quote is the last quote of the novel and is pretty powerful. At a young age all children were exposed to Permian’s Football team, and had dreamed about being on the team someday. But once you consume your life into something for so long, when it’s over, it’s hard to go anywhere else. This quote shows once the Seniors have played their last game, they’re done and Odessa is already looking at next year’s stars. At the time, football seemed like such a high importance to every boy playing on the field. But once you are no longer recognized as the star on Permian’s football team, or highlighted for a game it’s all over. When Boobie had been injured and had no longer been able to play, they already had someone new in line for Permian to adore. The story then restarts right after it ends with a new season and new players. It wraps up the novel as a whole in once sentence. It reflects how the players spent their whole life on football, when it meant nothing and was only short-term or how the town of Odessa didn’t care about the players themselves, only winning the football game. Odessa was shown as a pretty depressed city with a poor economy and high murder rates. Like in the great depression people used to go to the movie theatres to forget about how bad they were doing economically, and I believe Odessa is doing the same with football. They build up football to become a part of their lives to get away from reality, when it doesn’t even influence them. If they’re dreaming of how next football season is going to be right after the last season ended you can see that football is too valued in their lives. Bissinger wanted to display values of Americans through the dreams that they had and how they went to achieve it.

“Lucy finally buckled down and blasted through the last hunfred pagesof her memoir”(Patchett 117)
This is a possitive moment in Lucy’s life. She’s finally finished her memoir, and now everyone can better understand her and her life, what she had to go through with chemo, sugreries, and the teasing and looks she got throughout her life. This is a good thing for Lucy, a possitive event is something she needed to life her self esteem a bit. Lucy is often unhappy and with success like this, and with things looking up for her, she has a chance at being happy.

“Maybe my family was upstairs, taking a shower, and I was walking into a party of lovely strangers”(Patchett 155)

Throughout all of Patchett’s memoir, this quote meant the most to me. What Patchett means by this quote is that Lucy is her best friend, and she loves her; her family, of course she loves them, but she’s been through so much more with Lucy. Also she can confide in Lucy much more than the rest of her family. This is exactly how I feel about my best friend, she’s more of a sister to me than anything. I don’t talk to many people in my family about anything, and to know that no matter what I do, or what happens, my best friend will be there for, and I’ll always be there for her. Lucy is Patchett’s rock and without Lucy, she’s lost. When Patchett needs to talk, she turns to Lucy first, not her family. Lucy is family to Patchett.

“The season had ended, but another one had begun. People everywhere, young and old, were already dreaming of heroes” (Bissinger 327).

This quote shows that Odessa moves on to the next football season as the last one ends. It makes the whole season seem less significant. While it lasts, it is important and special, but as it ends, the town simply switches focus to the next year. The team will go on and Odessa will root on next year’s team just as much as this year’s. Basically, this quote shows that while football is very much emphasized in Odessa, one team compared to another doesn’t matter much. This probably set in with the players, and they realized how insignificant one season was compared to the number of great seasons Permian had had. It probably made the ending of the season even more bitter.

“She told me that she often had a couple of drinks and a couple of percosets before getting in her car after midnight in Vermont and driving a hundred miles an hour over the icy back raods to New York”(Patchett 206)”

This is a time when Ann is truely worried about the well being of her best friend. She has seen Lucy go through depression, and she knows that Lucy often feels like she’s all alone; but now that Lucy has tried to kill herself, Ann feels like Lucy needs to be commited into a hospital. Ann loves Lucy and she wants what’s best for her. There are many people who are commited into hospitals for suicide attempts just like Lucy’s; and in this part of Patchett’s memoir, its shows other people in the same situation that they aren’t alone in what they’re going through.

“…“You look at how we treat them in high school, and how we treat them in college, and everyone asks why they act like children,” said Gandy. “How would you expect them to act any other way?”…” (Bissinger 333).

The students on the football team are treated like they are above everyone else. Other students and teachers step aside for the football players like they are kings. This puts a false vision in the football player’s minds that they can do whatever they want. After football, it carries on throughout their lives. This is why Derric and Gary committed crimes. They thought that they could get away with whatever they wanted to. Since the teachers made them think they were invincible, they thought they could get out of any situation, even involving the police. They were wrong and now they have to pay the consequence. I think that it is not fully their fault because the school influenced what they did. The school revolved around football, not their students. They didn’t care how the students turned out. If they were an engineer or a convict, it made no difference. The only thing that mattered was making the town happy by winning football games.

“Her death was ruled an accidental overdose” (Patchett 253)

By the time that Lucy dies I could really get a feel of what her life was like. I learned quite a few lessons from reading Patchetts memoir, such as to be yourself, work hard, and never let anything stop you from achieving your dream; no matter what it takes to get there. After all of the teasing and taunting Lucy went through when she was younger, I think it made her stronger. Although, when I read that she did heroin, i wasn’t all too suprised. Many people who have life long trauma or injuries, or with cancer, often need something to turn to other than a friend. Lucy only wanted to stop using when her friends told her they would leave her, including Ann. Lucy tried to quite, but as many people know, once you get addicted to something, it’s hard to quite right away. After all of the surgeries Lucy had been through, and the cancer..I never would have expected her to die from drug abuse. Throughout the whole memoir, everytime Lucy was schedualed for a surgery, I thought that something was going to go wrong, and Lucy wouldn’t make it. I am glad that I had a chance to read this book, and see cancer, and someone’s journey with cancer, through someone elses eyes.

“I’m gonna get crticism and you’re gonna get crticism – It don’t mean a hill of beans, because the only people that matter are in this room..” (Bissinger 37)

This is the first piece of encouragment that couch Gary Gaines gives to his new found football team in Odessa. He tells the boys not to care about the negative comments that anyone has; all they have to do is worry about one another. Teams are like family, especially football teams; they’re all like brothers and it’s best to get your criticism from people who care, and not just people in your town who you don’t know all too well.

“There is nothing to replace it. It’s an integral part of what made the community strong. You take it away and it’s almost like you strip the identity of the people”(Bissinger 43)

In a small town in Odessa, with limited things to be proud of, footnall is one thing that Odessa has.The people in Odessa all get really pumped up and excited when football season rolls around. They’re all hoping for the Permian Panthers of their town will go to states. I’m sure these boys feel a little preasured to do good for their town; but playing football is what these boys love, and hey want to make it states as badly as the rest of the town.

Quote- “They weren’t interested in him just because he was big and looked imposing in a football uniform…“Miles has the attitude’” (Bissinger 34-35).

I chose this quote because coaches are interested in how good a player is, but they are more interested in how good their attitude is. Good players can always be fast, strong, and the best on the team, but what makes them better is having a good attitude. They always are there to help their team and make them believe they can win. They make the team have confidence in each other, and make they play as a team. Any one with a positive attitude will be better than any one with a negative one.

Quote- “…a hero one day and a broken-down nobody the next, and if you didn’t like it no one really gave a crap because there was always a bunch ready to replace you in a second”(Bissinger 63).

Playing a sport in high school is different than playing a sport in college. In college, players just want to play, and play to be seen by scouts. They want to be able to play professional. In high school, most of the players just are playing for fun, not playing to go to college. They don’t care as much in high school then in college. College is more serious than high school sports.

Quote- “When Boobie Miles returned to the football field, no one called out his name with those bellowing chants that had rocked the Watermelon Feed in a moment that seemed like a millennium before”(Bissinger 179).

Bobbie Miles was an amazing player, but once he had the knee injury, he was not the best anymore. When he was healing, people forgot about him. Once he came back no one knew who Boobie was. He did not have all the cheering for himself anymore, there was only cheering for the team. He had to regain the spot he once had. He was not recognized as the amazing player any more.

Quote- “For several seconds there was silence as a dozen pairs of eyes frantically darted back and fourth trying to pick up the outlines of the three metal objects”(Bissinger 245).

I chose this quote because I know what it feels like just waiting to know what the future will be like. The teams’ future was making it to the playoffs or not making it to the playoffs. The time waiting seems like a life time. Just sitting waiting, and thinking about what could happen. It is the dream of the team to make it to the playoffs and waiting for a few excruciating seconds to find out the outcome is horrible.

Quote- “As a child, Mike Winchell had dreamed of it, right down to the shoelaces he wore. And now he was here in that mystical place, the huge oval Memorial Stadium at the University of Texas…” (Bissinger 303).

Mike had a dream to be in that stadium and be playing football. Now he is living that dream. He is with the Permian Panthers playing football and going to the playoffs. I know what it is like to have a dream and to be living it. It is a great feeling when you get a chance to live your dream, even if it is for a while. Mike finally had the chance to play football in that stadium and to play in the playoffs, even if they did not win. He had a chance to be able to live his dream.

“’We fit as athletes, but we really don’t fit as a part of society,’ said Nate Hearne, the only black coach at Permian in 1988 – we know we’re seperate until we get on the field” (Bissinger 107).

Although the setting takes place in 1988, blacks in Odessa were not treated with the respect that whites get. The point that Bissinger is trying to get across is that even though there may be differences between races, when you’re doing what you love (like playing football), with your team members; it doesn’t matter what color your skin is. In society people may judge them, call them names, or even deny any kind of service. When they’re with their team, playing football, the judgement by society just doesn’t matter anymore. Bringing blacks and whites together to play football is a possitive for Odessa. It shows that if these young high school students an work past their differences and look beyond race, then maybe the rest of the town could do so too.

“Those lights become an addiction if you live in a place like Odessa, the Friday Night fix.”(Bissinger xiv)

This quote really paints an image in my head when it comes to how the city of Odessa, Texas views football. They view it like a religion down there. In fact, the average attendance in the stadium for an average game is 20,000 people! In the Prologue when the book first starts, the story takes place in a key game to tie up a playoff spot for the panthers to make a run at the State Championship. Sadly Odessa loses the game shattering their dreams of wining a state championship. That night the community put up for sale signs in front of coach Gaines in anger to make a point. I couldn’t believe how involved the whole community was to there team its really a shock. Football equals life down there and it seems so far wining is the only thing thats excitable .

“The grand dukes of Permian, men in their fifties and sixties, who had become as dependent on the Panthers as they were their jobs and children and wives and treated the memory of each game as a crystal prism that looked more beautiful and intricate every time it was lifted to the light, were there in full force, of course.”(Bissinger 40)

H.G. Bissinger is trying to show how obsessed the city Odessa really is to Panthers High school football. The quote makes me feel that the city has a drug and that would be football. Everyone around town goes to the games . They shut down everything in town to go watch the games . What I want to know is why don’t people have anything other to do besides watch every play of every season for a high school team! If it were a professional team or college team I would understand it a little better but its not .

“Twenty years ago I was working my kids to death, and now I have to remind my seniors to use capital letters and put periods at the end of sentences”(Bissinger 133)

This stood out to me because I could relate a bit to this quote. I have had teachers say something similar, that our generation is lazy, or every generation just gets lazier. The teacher that said that quote is right, some kids are lazy.Not all kids slack off though; I don’t doubt that years ago people worked harder and were more focused, but laziness is not a factor in every high school students life. It is true that kids would much rather be out having fun or hang out with their friends, it’s also true that some people are so tied up with sports that they put school work second and sports first. Even though everyone would rather be having fun, some kids know that school work comes first, and once they get it out of the way, then they can go out and have a good time.The message that Bissinger is sending is to work hard, and don’t be so lazy.

“‘It brought you back to reality and made you realize that the boom was over and that it wasn’t going to turn around the next day. I remembering gasping for breath’” (Bissinger 209).

This passage shows how after the oil boom was over Odessa had to get back to reality and understand that the success everyone had was finished. During the “boom” Odessa and Midland were living life to the fullest without having to worry about money. They assumed that they were well off and nothing was ever going to change. But unfortunately that didn’t last and when everything started to slow down their money started to run out. The sad thing is that most people would have been better off if they saved some of their money instead of spending it all on things they didn’t need. And when they really realized that the oil was never coming back, at least not that much, they had to learn to live around it and put focus on other things like high school football!

“He knew what the jitters of the season opener could do,how the most talented kid could come unglued in the sea of all those lights and those thousands of fans”(77)

This passage makes me really think about the pressure it must be to become a Permian football player. Through the whole book, they talk of how it is the only escape, from the infinite hole that is Odessa. I feel that it is a gimmick, the coaches make you work like crazy and pressure you and bring you to a point of blackness, where all you think about is football.
This passage really shows how even the most, straight laced guy can come undone by knowing hes about to play Permian football. I don’t believe in the pressure nor the hype, though I’m not really a football person myself. I feel for these kids who go through the ringer and when met with a loss, a deep dark depression grabs at them like a angry football monster.

“Like household cleanser, the term had a dozen different uses in Odessa. People said it in casual conversation. They also said it publicly, as just another descriptive adjective. Some people looked tall,some looked short,and some nigger”(89)

I cant believe how many times the N word is used in FNL. It baffles me to the point where, if it comes across more than three times in a passage, I start skipping over it all together. I feel embarrassed reading it in my head. I also cant believe that it is 1988 and still so casually they say it as if it is really a descriptive word. Someone needs to teach them some serious manners or give them a good slap across the face.

“As Boobie’s season became a sad ans sour struggle, Mike Winchell’s only continued to rise”(Bissinger 206)

Football is boobie’s passion, it’s what he’s good at and he loves every moment that he’s playing the game. When he hurt his knee he convinced himself that he would be back in the game a week or two later, good and really to go. All he could think about was getting back in the game, he didn’t think seriously about taking it easy on his knee. Then as he continued to play, his knee progressivly got worse, and this season was becoming a struggle for him. At first I thought that Boobie was cocky and too fully of himself. But the more I read, the more I realized that Boobie needs football; it’s what he’s good at and without it he feels like he has nothing left.
As for Mike, this season is good for him. He’s quarterback and in having such a position he is relied on a bit, and he’s expected to do well. With Boobie not doing well on account of his knee, Mike is to step up his game and make sure his team makes it to states.

“The cost of getting rushed film prints of the Permian football games to the coaches $6,400, was higher as well, not to mention the $20,000 it cost to charter the jet for the Marshall game…Moore’s(English teacher) salary, with twenty years’ experience and a master’s degree, was $32,000…Gary Gaines…..$48,000″(146/147)

It mind boggled me to see how much went into Permian football games and how much the salary for the football coach was compared to the English teacher. It would seem to me that academics would cost more, since it is required to go a good school.But to these boys, I realized after reading the book, that football was like academics.It was a way out of Odessa, a ticket to a great college to play football. I still believe, since English is my favorite class…especially since, that more money should have funded the school as a whole, not the activities that went along with it. The football players could benefit more from a intellectual mind, than a massive body build.

“When Boobie Miles returned to the football field, no one called his name, with those bellowing chants that had rocked Watermelon Feed in a moment that seemed like a millennium before.There were no bursts of applause, no coach’s speech comparing gim to the great Permian runners of the past,no take-your-sweet-time walk down the aisle of the crowded high school cafeteria”(194)

I felt bad for Boobie after his leg injury, he seemed to be the underdog, ready to step in the place of greatness according to Odessa. The fact that he was black was a asset when he was working like a machine, tackling and running so fast, coaches couldn’t help but drop their mouth at him. This passage is quite sad to me, because no that he is not as good a player as he once was, there willing to drop him like a hot potato, a baggage on the football scene. It was very depressing though, cause in the beginning of FNL…you hear of how bad, how bad him and his uncle want this football scholarship, only to have both their dreams crushed by a simple leg injury.

“Except for Boobie.Football didn’t entice or thrill him anymore.It just taunted him.
Football…
He couldn’t stand the word now. Everything in his life reduced to a series of qualifying statements-could have done that, might have been this, should have been that”…(261)

This passage just underlines what I have felt in the last passage I discussed. Boobie wanted a football scholarship, hyped up, believing that he was only good for one thing…football. But having that leg injury really busted him and it just makes me think.How many out there lose a dream after pursuing it for so long, see the light at the end of the tunnel, but find it darkened again but a fault in the path. Boobie had colleges looking at him and it seems just when he is about to accept…he loses the chance to a leg injury. I feel bad and often wonder, if dreams are worth pursuing. Boobies story just underlines is all and empathizes it for me.

Some of the time I was really confused, but they use great quotes that really put things in real life suition. Learning about how each character thinks is my favorite part, it lets you into everyone’s personal life and lets you know their dreams.

“A crisis was developing, not because Gary Edwards was having desperate trouble in algebra II…he would no longer be eligible for football once he received his grade for the six-week period” (Bissinger 298).

This passage is showing how in many schools in Texas the focus is not on education at all, it is on football. Just like at Permian high, football is the main focus and goal, and as long as the players keep up to the bare minimum of standards everyone is good with that. No one is teaching these kids to reach their full potential, and pushing for them not only to be a good player but a good student as well. Many of the students barely try in school, whether it’s to blend in with their social crowd or to spend even more time to focus on their sport. These kids probably have more smarts then anyone gives them credit for but no one will ever figure that out because they are not challenged in any area besides athletics.

“And there was the description in Larry McMutry’s Texasville, which simply called Odessa the “worst town on earth,” ( 12).

The first appearance of Odessa could be described as barren, run- down, dried up, and open. This is not enough reason to say that Odessa is the worst town on earth, because it is the people of the town that make the town what it is. Possibly, the town is liked by the people just the way it is. Until further inspection, most people would just leave it at the words in the article, and refuse to believe anything different. That is why today’s magazines, newspapers, and the internet have put impressions that may not be entirely true.

“His life had been defined by a five-foot-high wall of rock and concrete,” (40).

Everyone’s life has been shaped by the environment. Anywhere from a physical landmark to a city can be classified as the environment that makes each person’s life different from the other. The character in the book whose life is altered from the environment has a bit more meaning behind the concrete wall. Not only does it make a special hole in his life, it separates and secludes people based on racism. Over the decades, more and more has changed in the environment to clean up America’s filthy past.

“Public schools reflect a community’s desires, feelings, dreams,” and nowhere did those dreams unfold more powerfully than they did on a football field,” (133).

At Permian High school, the desire of each individual was Friday night football. The feelings that Friday nights gave, kept everyone coming back for more football. But the dreams of Permian may have been only short of a miracle. Not everyone’s dreams can come true, especially those who dreamed of becoming a Permian panther in a football uniform playing under the bright lights. Others could dream of making it past football in high school and hopefully becoming a professional. There is nothing wrong with dreaming though. Living in the moment and feeling fearless while doing it is the ultimate outcome of the football team and the loving supporters. All the while, it all can only take place on a football field.

“My values are values like everyone here that I think of: faith, family, and freedom, love of country and hope for the future. Texas values. Some just call it plain common sense,” (171).

Faith, family, and freedom may sound familiar for most people in America. When combined, these values become a lifestyle that can never be forgotten. Freedom and love of country go hand in hand, or intertwine each other. For people in the town of Odessa, one time or another, everyone was introduced or raised by the Texas values. These could be of more importance to Odessa, because without them, Friday night football could not exist. Faith, family, and freedom are the base of it all; the freedom in the United States to even freely play a sport, the family to support the sport, and the faith in God to love the sport.

“Odessans didn’t seem bothered one bit by the often repeated slogan that people went to Midland to raise a family and to Odessa to raise hell. There was no dispute that Odessa had its share of one-word bars and prostitutes and sometimes the only way to win an argument was to shoot the guy, but it was free and fun-loving and a man was measured by who he was, not how well he concealed the size of his income,” (197).

Every city in America has some kind of violence or evil in it, and all of them have something good about them. As much as this quote makes Midland sound like the better city over Odessa, it really is not. The reason is that Odessa is not a bad city to start with. It all comes down to the severity of the circumstances. Odessa just takes things to the farthest level, which is winning and argument by shooting the guy. Midland might settle and argument by arm wrestling for a winner. With an extreme positive and negative side to Odessa, a well put statement is expected of everyone who lives there.

“These kids think they’re invincible. They put that P on their helmet and that black and white, they think nobody can kick their ass. It doesn’t matter what state you’re from, how many players you got on your team,” (273).

This quote symbolizes another feeling that can only be felt while playing a sport that is dearly loved and appreciated. Competition is the fuel for this fire, which is becoming invincible; a truly extraordinary reward for hard work, time, and sweat. This invincibility only lasts as long as the game does, it can’t be felt during practice or anywhere else for that matter. Wearing a uniform with the name of the team, school, last name and number adds on to that invincibility, because no one knows who you are and unless they make friends and find out, beating them down won’t make any difference.

“I get out to the football field, everything wipes clear in my mind,” (320).

The overwhelming feeling of a football athlete is like most any other sport. While football is on a field, baseball is on a diamond, tennis is on a court, swimming is in a pool, and many others, all share the same goal. Playing the sport they love to fulfill a feeling inside them that always wants to play longer and harder to make more memories that they can live off of when the days of their sport slowly yet quickly fade away. This quote is just a particular feeling for one of many sports. High school might have something to do with it too.

“The American version of the Berlin Wall – the railroad tracks that inevitably ran through the heart of town.” (Bissinger 91)

This quote shows the racism that still existed during the eighty’s in America. I like how Bissinger used a analogy to make a connection between the cold war happening in the USSR and the racial segregation in America. Also I feel up to this point Bissinger has been trying to show how football is one of the only passions that white and black people shared. Even though they still had a grudge toward each other they would always agree with each other when it came to football.

Danielle Lentz quoted: “When Boobie Miles returned to the football field, no one called out his name with those bellowing chants that had rocked the Watermelon Feed in a moment that seemed like a millennium before”(Bissinger 179).

While the story has many lessons one of the most prominent ones is how both the glory of football players and the productivity of the town is ephemeral. Boobie lost so much of his life by missing just a few games. The town parallels football because it booms and busts. Football in Odessa is not just a game, its a state of mind.

“It was not uncommon for teachers at Permian to teach for only a quarter or a third of the period and then basically let students do whatever they wanted as long as they did it quietly”(114)

I do not think that this quote applies to just Permian. There are many classes at Avondale that are that way. My point in saying this is to add to my idea that there is no problem in valuing football so much. I would also say that the students (mostly football players) have a better work ethic than the average student at Avondale. I also think that Permians lack of intellect is do to the parents and teachers bit because of football or the players.

“It was a phenomenon that Trapper had seen dozens of times before, a kid so caught up in it all that there was no room for anything else, another kid for whom nothing in life would ever be so glorious, so fulfilling as playing high school football. Trapper didn’t see the game as being a savior for these kids. He saw it as
‘the kiss of death.’ “ (Bissinger 284)

I like this quote for a number of reasons first, I like it because I can relate to it. I play AAA roller hockey and I go to nationals during the summer every year. For the first time my team had the number one ranking in Michigan (we never were ranked higher than 25th before) . We were so happy but at the same time very nervous because, when you are the top dog the teams that play against you bring their best game every night and wont quit without a fight. The pressure we felt every game was scary just knowing if we lose we get knocked off are ranking and lose are chance of wining a championship .

“There was hope now, and bit by bit, with each game, it had gotten brighter and brighter.” (202 Bissinger).

As a soccer player i know how ones mental state affects game play more than anything. Several players on the team become extremely stressed out because of the enormity of the situation. In particular, Mike has trouble with this. He always plays well while things are easier and tends to mess up when things get rough. Bissinger uses this as a metaphor for the town and its attitude as well.

David,
Most of the classes at Avondale give free time because the teacher has nothing more to teach at the moment. I agree that the parents are at fault, somewhat, but what excuse is there for a personal lack of motivation? You have a good point.

“It’s just a part of our lives. It’s just something that you’re involved in. It’s just like going to church or something like that. It’s just what you do” (Bissinger 22).

This passage shows the way that the people of Odessa look at football. This passage seemed to catch my eye. It is hard to believe that this is the way that (in general) the people of Odessa are described. This quote makes it sound like EVERY single person is involved in the game of football. So far in my reading it appears that Bissinger uses many exaggerations to make his points. The town that is illustrated is one where EVERYONE basically worships football. It is possible that football in Odessa is very popular and that many people have an interest in it however I am sure that everyone is not involved.

“The most amazing thing to me is the shock on people’s faces that I’m offended by the word nigger…” (Bissinger 75).

In Odessa, the term is one that is typically used in every day conversation. In general, people do not think twice about using the term and usually don’t think anything is wrong when they hear the term. Lanita Akins is different. Every time she hears the term she makes sure that everyone realizes that she is offended by it.

“She didn’t know how to get them to stop so she hit them back where it hurt, saying “Godd*** Jesus Christ!” with the same bitter snap in the voice. It bothered them, and they frankly didn’t know how a decent person could say a thing such as that, show such utter disrespect for the Lord” (Bissinger 75).

In Odessa, people did not understand the relation between what they were saying using the “N” term and what Lanita was saying about the Lord. In the words of Bissinger the both showed “such utter disrespect.”

I noticed that Cat Chow used the same passage and I agree with the statements that she said. It is interesting that people can think that showing disrespect for people is okay but disrespect for the Lord is just unacceptable.

“What was wrong with the use of that word? Wasn’t that what they were? Wasn’t that what they always had been? (Bissinger 75)

This part of the passage seems to show that this is only what the people of Odessa know. It is not that they are trying to disrespect people of color but they are just addressing people of color in a term that everyone else uses.

“Asked what the purpose of school was at Permian, Don had a simple answer. Socializing” (Bissinger 126).

Let me start this off by saying I would not want an education at Permian High School. Sure it may sound like fun and games but it is not a school where I could learn and reach my full potential. The lack of dedication to the academic program from both the staff and the students is just pathetic.

“As it is, I still learn a lot, I guess. In general, I don’t do a lot” (Bissinger 127).

At Permian, there are very smart students. Students with the potential to do so much and to become such a great person. However, due to the academic program available there is no room for students to grow and to succeed. Nearly all students at Permian High School are just “average” academically.

“If we prepared them half as hard academically, there is no telling where we would be” (Bissinger 134).

There are just a handful of teachers at Permian that really care about their teaching jobs. The entire school is revolved around athletics and more specifically their football. When Bissinger showed us an example of a dedicated teacher who saw the potential in students and wanted to truly make a difference, Permian High School basically shut her down because the main focus was on football. It would be sad to see a school revolve around the football field.

“The downfall of mighty Mojo is going to be called Gary Gaines” (227).

Every time that there is a loss in Permian Football. It is the coaches fault. At least this is what parents think. It is hard to believe some of the things that happened to coach Gary Gaines. He seemed to be a pretty good coach from the experiences presented in the novel. However since he did not walk away with a perfect season he was not good enough.

At Permian High School, High School Football is treated more as Professional Football. The fans expect a perfect season with no losses. The coaches expect games with zero flaws. The parents expect a family tradition to be carried out. These are just a few of the extremely high expectations that the community surrounding Permian High School are looking for. Perfection and excellence are the lowest that the Permian Football Team has achieved in decades and that is the way it will be.

“The role of a coach was to win, because this was high school football and this was Odessa” (Bissinger 229).

Overall, I disagree with this statement. Sure winning is always good. But winning is certainly not everything. There are bigger things that a high school coach can do and bigger things that a high school coach can teach that will have more outlasting effects than just winning. Even though this is “Odessa” I still feel like the attitudes should be shifted slightly. I feel as though they should still strive to win but look at other lessons that can be learned in the game of football, or even in athletics in general.

Dedication. Commitment. Confidence. Passion. These are just a few things that athletes could learn from high school sports, and from their coaches.

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