There is a major difference in the definitions of love and hate. Some say that one can only have a single feeling for a person, and that it will never change. In order to love someone, one will have to be able to deal with things that one hates about them. Nobody is perfect, therefore there is not only one feeling for a person. In John Grisham’s Bleachers, there is a lot of controversy on Coach Eddie Rake. Rake was the head coach of the Messina Spartan Football Team and was highly valued to the people of the town. Some hated him for his harshness in practice, but later in life realized that “He was a great coach who built a great program and a great tradition and gave us all something great, something we will always cherish” (Grisham…show more content…
One player in particular gave Rake a place to read and drink his daily coffee, and Nat Sawyer’s Coffee/Book Shop was perfect for that. Rake was the first customer that Nat had, and it caused the rest of the town to follow. Soon Nat’s shop was booming and full of commotion. Nat was a former Spartan Football Punter, but was not very good on the field. He was the only homosexual football player that had ever played in Spartan history. Many people did not know what to think about it, but since Coach Rake was able to overcome it, they decided to accept him for who he was. Everyday Rake and Nat would sit and talk about detective mystery books and forget about football. These moments together gave Nat the strength to overcome anyone that did not respect his life choice, and changed his depiction of Coach Eddie Rake forever. When Nat’s father died, he mourned, but “this is hard to say, he had less influence on me than Eddie Rake” (Grisham 93). He “got to know him as something other than a legend, when I wasn’t worried about getting screamed at for screwing up, I grew to adore the old fart” (Grisham 93), and considered him not as a sweet man, but as a human. Nat and the others then decided to go to the bleachers to wait until Rake died. They knew that “when Rake dies,…show more content…
Coach Eddie Rake was a vigorous man and had a lot of determination to win any game he could. He went on to be their coach for thirty four years, with “418 wins, 62 losses, 13 state titles, and from 1964 to 1970 an undefeated streak that ended at 84” (Grisham 11). There was still one question, “Do I love Eddie Rake, or do I hate him?” (Grisham 223). A lot of the players answered differently, saying that “Coach Rake was not easy to love, and while you’re playing here you really don’t like him. But after you leave, after you’ve been kicked around a few times, you soon realize how important Coach Rake is and was” (Grisham 223-224). Rake was there for Nat when he needed him most, and it took too long for the others to realize how good of a coach he actually was. “And when the name of Eddie Rake was mentioned, he would smile and maybe laugh and tell a story of his own. One with a happy ending” (Grisham
One player in particular gave Rake a place to read and drink his daily coffee, and Nat Sawyer’s Coffee/Book Shop was perfect for that. Rake was the first customer that Nat had, and it caused the rest of the town to follow. Soon Nat’s shop was booming and full of commotion. Nat was a former Spartan Football Punter, but was not very good on the field. He was the only homosexual football player that had ever played in Spartan history. Many people did not know what to think about it, but since Coach Rake was able to overcome it, they decided to accept him for who he was. Everyday Rake and Nat would sit and talk about detective mystery books and forget about football. These moments together gave Nat the strength to overcome anyone that did not respect his life choice, and changed his depiction of Coach Eddie Rake forever. When Nat’s father died, he mourned, but “this is hard to say, he had less influence on me than Eddie Rake” (Grisham 93). He “got to know him as something other than a legend, when I wasn’t worried about getting screamed at for screwing up, I grew to adore the old fart” (Grisham 93), and considered him not as a sweet man, but as a human. Nat and the others then decided to go to the bleachers to wait until Rake died. They knew that “when Rake dies,…show more content…
Coach Eddie Rake was a vigorous man and had a lot of determination to win any game he could. He went on to be their coach for thirty four years, with “418 wins, 62 losses, 13 state titles, and from 1964 to 1970 an undefeated streak that ended at 84” (Grisham 11). There was still one question, “Do I love Eddie Rake, or do I hate him?” (Grisham 223). A lot of the players answered differently, saying that “Coach Rake was not easy to love, and while you’re playing here you really don’t like him. But after you leave, after you’ve been kicked around a few times, you soon realize how important Coach Rake is and was” (Grisham 223-224). Rake was there for Nat when he needed him most, and it took too long for the others to realize how good of a coach he actually was. “And when the name of Eddie Rake was mentioned, he would smile and maybe laugh and tell a story of his own. One with a happy ending” (Grisham
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