Descriptive Essay: The Luscious Bermuda Green Football Field

In Rick Bragg’s article, “Down Here,” he portrays the importance of football in the South through his use of the rhetoric triangle. He establishes ethos through his stories of growing up in the South and giving various examples of Southerners that held football in such a bright light. He gives a logical reason for why the South is so dominant in the sport, establishing logos. Finally, Bragg uses the hardships of the South to create an overwhelming sense of pathos. Bragg is able to combine all three of these elements, ethos, logos, and pathos, to create a story that draws in the readers attention and has them hanging on to every word.

Football is America’s go to entertainment sport. The NFL hit its peak in 2015, with an average of 114.1 million television viewers throughout the year (“Statista,” 2017). This sport is loved by all, the players, parents, coaches, and fans. But, is football merely entertainment? Is it just a simple game, teaching young boys the value of teamwork, dedication, and discipline? Are parents spending their Friday nights to support their boys, or is there something bigger happening? In H.G Bissinger’s novel, Friday Night Lights, one can see the true effects of this toxic drug through the mindset of the players and the actions of the coaches. While society sees football as entertainment, it actually functions more like a drug.

The heat bears down on me, as I feel my skin burning in the hot summer sun. Dust and dirt floats around the air and a thin layer of grime covers my entire body. Sweat drips around my goggles while adrenaline fills my body and my heart races. In the middle of nowhere in Virginia, I feel at home, I feel the turf under my cleats and the cool metal of the stick in my hands. As the timer ticks down, the buzzer rings, and the game begins. I look to my left and see my dad sitting on the sideline, ready to cheer as loud as possible. To my right I find my teammates, the most loyal group of friends I have, ecstatic about the potential of winning.

Football remains the most popular sport in America and the ninth most popular sport in the world for a reason. Since its creation in 1869, football has played a fundamental part of American society. Every Sunday, my family along with millions of other Americans turn the television to CBS, NBC or FOX to watch their favorite football team go to battle. My family and I bleed burgundy and gold and root for the home team the Washington Redskins. Americans including myself display great intensity and passion for the game of football and the result of the game often changes my attitude for the better or worse. Watching the game on television may come as exhilarating and entertaining, but playing the game creates the best times. Overall football has made a severe impact on many people’s lives. Football teaches unique lessons in a hands on manner which helps athletes like myself sustain a much more adventurous life. Football has made an immeasurably positive influence upon my life, but the sport has its dangers. Football changes lives.

Within sports, pressure is always there; you have to learn to deal with it. H. G. Bissinger’s book, Friday Night Lights, hones in on the football team the Permian Panthers of Odessa. Through this focus on the team, one can see how football is an integral part of the town thriving, maintaining its hopes and dreams. Despite the racial and social divide within the community, those Friday night games become a place where dreams may be made possible. In this way, sports, specifically football, not only have an impact on the players but the community as well.

To the majority of America, Auburn University Football is just a sport. To the thousands of Auburn Tigers fans worldwide, it is so much more than that. Tim Stanfield describes it as “…more than a game…it’s a passion” (Stanfield et al. 61). The culture surrounding Auburn Tigers football is a family and tight-knit community. As Pat Dye, past coach of the Auburn Tigers puts it, “We are close here, and that is part of what it means to be a Tiger” (Glier xii). There are generations of Tigers fans, “family” traditions, and the support and encouragement of a family behind every Tiger out there playing. To be a

H.G. Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights occurs in Odessa, Texas where Permian football remains the diversion through which the locals are able to live vicariously through, leading to the local’s attitudes and personal lives relying largely on the success of the team. This is evident when looking at Jim Lewallen, L.V. Miles, and Charlie Billingsley.

Sports are a large part of America’s culture as well as Odessa’s. In Friday Night Lights, the players spend their entire lives training to be successful because sports are all they have to look forward to. During the final game of the season to make it to state, Ronnie Beavers told his team, “This is the last minute of your life” (326). Beavers quote shows the importance of the moment. If Permian does not win the game, they have nothing to look forward to in their future. This semi-final game is “much more than a game” for Permian. What Beaver is saying is ridiculous, the Permian players act like Football will determine their future. By following the players and the town, Bissinger is able to show readers how important sports are in Odessa. Bissinger notes how it was “obvious” that the students of Permian hold the town on their shoulders (XIV). By following the story of the American small town, including many personal anecdotes, Bissinger shows the effect that sports have in Odessa. Friday Night Lights supports Lapham’s claim that games represent much more than a game. It is not merely a game but a way of life. Permian players eat, breathe, and live football. Their lives are centralized around one thing: Football. Bissinger describes the town when he states, “If you went to their homes, you might find black toilet seats, or black seat cushions, or black phone book covers, or black paper plates, or black clocks, or black felt on their pool tables” (39). Bissinger throughout the book displays how the town revolves around sports. Everything that Odessa does is centered around the football team. The players train everyday to work to improving their record and that is all that matters to

Often, players will resort to things such as narcotics, getting shot up at halftime with painkillers, or stay in pain the rest of the season. These attitudes are what Culverhouse explores in her novel with the use of ethos provoking stories and statistics that have you questioning if the sport should be

Football is one of America’s greatest sports, but on December 1, 2016 Joe McKnight was at an intersection when one man shot him and killed him. Witness say that the shooter said “I told you not to f*** with me.” This was shooting that made people very unhappy. Fans were devastated. Teams and teammates were on social media talking about this tragic event.

It was a brisk fall evening, and my seventh grade youth football team and I had traveled to Aberdeen to play the undefeated Chiefs. We had worked harder and longer than we ever had that week to show that we were a threat in the league and ascend from our third place ranking. We knew it was not going to be easy; the Chiefs’ team had the fastest running back in our division, and they had scored more total points per game than any other team in the Southeast Idaho Youth Football League. The field was neater and greener than we had expected in this town. It was a great day for football, and I was with all of my best friends. I knew going in that it was going to be a learning experience whether we won or lost that night because the Chiefs were

In Steve Almond’s essay, “You Knock My Brains Out This Sunday and I Knock Your Brains Out the Next Time We Meet,” he starts off by describing a haunting memory from his childhood. He explains how when he watched Jack Tatum collide with Darryl Stingley, he enjoyed the thrill of the violence, yet felt ashamed about the way he felt because Stingley was now a quadriplegic. He goes on to explain why he felt that way, and also why he still kept watching the game, He talks about his childhood and about how his family seemed perfect on the outside, however behind closed doors they were a troubled family with little boys running around with forks and knives and stabbing each other. He goes on to talk about aggression and how soothing it was. He then moves on to talk about the life expectancy of football players and how they live shorter lives, and that Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is common among football players. Almond focuses on how football players suffer long-term brain damage due to the sport. He gives an example of former players saying how they have memory loss and how they see stars frequently. Almond addresses the issue of how the NFL tried to hide the actual facts about what was really going on, and manipulate the players as well. And that even when the truth came out people put

The clock struck 3:30pm as I walked into my apartment on Thursday the 3rd after my MIS class. I proceeded to unlock my bedroom, put my bag down and get into my UA Wildcat gear in preparation for the first game. My fraternity brothers and I were all meeting over at our house shortly so we could all walk to the stadium together. I then proceeded down the elevator, out to Park Avenue, and started my walk to the house. The minute I stepped outside I overheard a group of girls talking about the football game. “I’m so excited to finally get back to the Zoo,” one said. “Football season is my favorite time of the year,” another one said. I continued to walk down Park Avenue where I observed various groups of students all getting excited for the first game of the year. As I passed University Boulevard the madness continued with the bumper-to-bumper traffic, mass amounts

In the middle of June I’ll find myself on the football field drenched in sweat, hoping to make a “2-Peat”. I’ll be embraced by all the coaches and fellow players, we’ll all be like one big happy family. On game days the stands will be packed full of screaming fans, all confident that Monroe will win the game. After the win, the opposing team will leave with their heads held high, because we’re only good athletes, we don’t compare to the well rounded student-athletes at their school.

Freezing in the morning, the grassy fields at the Uihlein soccer complex were let off a cracking every step. The excitement of playing in my first ever varsity lacrosse game kept me hyped up on the day of its arrival. Grinning widely, wearing sapphire blue, I strutted to the bench for our team, Brookfield Lacrosse. As the tournament was preparing to start, the sound of Eminem’s music played through the speakers and parents chattered in the stands before the first game between Arrowhead and my team. All that was running through my mind at the time was, “Don’t underperform. Make a statement to the coaches.”