Football In Friday Night Lights By Buzz Bissinger

The individuals in Odessa have “shared values or generally accepted standards of desirability” (Wallace and Wolf 18) regarding their feelings of high school football and the meaning of coming together as a town in support for the team. Hence the values that are placed on football, solidarity, and winning the theory of functionalism can be seen and applied in Friday Night Lights.

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.

     Is High School football a sport, or is it more than that to some people? Recent newspaper headlines include such items as coaches abusing student athletes; fathers of athletes murdering coaches, and mother’s disabilitating cheerleading candidates to assure their daughters make the cheerleading team. In Odessa, Texas high school football is a major contributor to the society of a small town in Texas society. Every Friday night, 50,000 people fill the stadium to see high school students put their lives on the line to win a football game. H. G. Bissinger writes a novel called Friday Night Lights, about a year in 1988 where High School players prepare and play on the High School team, and what an impact they have

In Hank Hill's short essay What in the Name of High School Football? He implies that some High schools focus too much on each of their athletic accomplishments and not enough on the visual and performing arts. Hill supports this claim with his word choice and diction. Hills purpose is to point out the unfair and lopsided views of society when it comes to extracurricular activities. Hill takes on an almost upset tone in order to expose the major problem that continues to affect society today. Based on Hills tone word choice and topic this piece seems to be directed at the school administrators and high school students.

The show Friday Night Lights gives viewers an inside look into the lives of high school football players of a small town in Texas. The show is astonishing on many levels, from it's unique camera styles to the complex characters. Many people usually dismiss athletes as dull characters and some think of sports as something pointless or shallow. The show disproves these thoughts by giving viewers a perspective into the lives of the players, coaches, and fans of the Dillon Panthers football team. This show ultimately builds empathy for the lives of the football players in the show, which helps in understanding real life athletes and their coaches.

“‘Athletics last for such a short period of time. It ends for people. But while it lasts, it creates this make-believe world where normal rules don’t apply. We build this false atmosphere. When it’s over and the harsh reality sets in, that’s the real joke we play on people’” (Bissinger xiv). “Friday Night Lights” shows the darker side of high school football. Players are taught to play games to win, and thats all that matters. Football players are put under a tremendous amount of pressure, almost enough to be considered unfair. Even though football is a “team sport”, pressure on individual players is unnecessary. Some players have the burden of the team, the city, their family, and their future, resting on their shoulders. These players

High school football over the years has become a huge spectacle lets just talk about the DWF area or we can even get smaller to make a point if you made a 25 mile radius these local high school teams play at the Star (seats 12,000), Allen stadium (seats 18,000 cost 60 million), and McKinney’s new stadium (seats 12,000 costs 69.9 million). This is just high school football these young kids playing under tremendous pressure from the start. The pressure to play high school football is immense, there are so many media outlets for these kids, and they get coverage from what it seems like all the time during the season, yet this is all just considered a recreational activity I think it has become more than that now. The pressure for coaches is high as well dealing with parents, board members, keeping up with classes as a teacher, and oh you also have to win since football is a performance-based business (forewarning this will be said a lot). For example I will refer to Boobie Miles from Friday Night Lights for one final point. Boobie knew if he did not make it in football there was nothing special for him. That is why when he got hurt he still wanted to play, because he knew that’s all he had. That is a lot of pressure for a 16-18 year to handle, and if they are not up for it they crack.

In H.G. Bissinger’s novel Friday Night Lights he goes in-depth describing the world surrounding high school football in Texas. There is nothing like high school football in Texas, it is the best thing to happen to many of the people that live there. Winning a high school state championship in Texas can make someone a hero for the rest of their lives. This being said, it causes a lot of difficulties once this peak in their life is over at such a young age. Many of these people do not know how to live with themselves after their days of football are over. They grow up and live through their kids. Sports and academics are two of the areas of life where parents attempt to live their dreams and ambitions through their children.

Is High School football a sport, or is it more than that to some people? I’ve learned that the book is more sociological, which means that it focused on our human society of racial issues and also emphasizes the economy and the divide between the wealthy residents of one city versus the more working-class denizens of another are all subjects that are given an in-depth examination. This is more of the main or focal point of the whole book and in not so much in the movie. Although Bissinger's story is a true-life recounting of the 1988 football season of the Permian High School team, it reads like fiction and even though I believe his book is superior, the theatrical adaptation still stands apart as one of the great

Jimmy Cross, a college student, is carrying a great burden being the lieutenant of his group of soldiers. A chapter from The Things They Carried titled “In the Field” states, “Jimmy Cross did not want the responsibility of leading these men. He had never wanted it … he had signed up for the Reserve Officer Training Corps … because it seemed preferable to letting the draft take him” (160). The use of the word “never” to describe Cross’s want for being a lieutenant displays that at no point in his life had he ever desired to lead a band of men in the war. Even though Cross in no way wanted to direct this group of men, it seemed like a better option than being drafted in the war. To him, being drafted in the war sounded even less desirable than

Sustaining the ambitions of not only themselves but the alumni and town of Odessa, Texas is a lot to ask from a young adult. That’s exactly what Permian football provides to the people of Odessa, where the post economic boom of the oil business has left the town in a racially tense, economic crisis. The lights on Permian High School’s football field are the only sanctuary for the west Texas town. Socially and racially divided, Odessa’s mass dependence on high school football constructs glorified expectations for the football team to temporarily disguise the disappointments that come with living in a town tagged as the “murder capital” of

The first point being,is that out of every one hundred kids,and or adults only three of them only three make it to the NFL.First,There are many that fit into this category of being one of the best football players but not the best student athlete getting in trouble for smoking weed or something like that the NFL will take someone with less talent and better as an athlete.Another scenario is when you are going for one position,and your coaches told you that you need to know how to play more than one position,and all the teams have fulfilled that position already with someone better with experience,or a better rookie.A final scenario is when you in college and high school you ran similar offenses and then when you get ready to gopro and you can’t learn the plays right,or the formations to line up,and the quarterback is the leader on the field.This is just one factor to the life of a NFL player to a guy who just played college this makes any difference.

Analysis of Friday Night Lights Friday Night Lights is a good view of how football envelops the live of everyone in the Texas town of Odessa. While it does use football as a main theme, I don't believe it is a book mainly about sports. The story is mostly about the people in a town that has nothing to look forward to except football. The story chronicles the lives of a few players and their parents. The author describes their background, characteristics, and reactions to football and life

Dating back to 1892, a new threshold in American sports history was achieved. The Allegheny Athletic Association had defeated the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. More importantly, William Heffelfinger was paid $500 to participate on the AAA team, thus birthing Professional Football. As the years passed, American Football has seen an exponential progression, including the introduction of children’s football associations. While there is a numerous group of parents who have no problem with their child being involved in football, recent revelations would begin to grow concern in some. It is because of this we must ask, should parents disallow their children from participating in football, or should they focus on the more positive benefits that the organized sport could have?

Since the introduction of organized team sports into American culture, numerous sports have stepped into the limelight for certain periods of time but none have stuck around as long as football has. Just as with everything else in life, football has had it’s fair share of drawbacks since its invention in the mid-19th century. Despite the drawbacks and criticism football has faced, its role and influence on American culture between the 1890’s and 1930’s far outweigh the negative aspects of its past.