After falling in love with Friday Night Lights the TV show, I found it near impossible to resist picking up the book and reading about the inspiration for the TV series. Author H.G. Bissinger takes a leave from his job as a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer to dive headfirst into the crazy world of Texas high school football.
After establishing residence in the middle of the West Texas basin, specifically Odessa, Texas, Bissinger takes up the task of following the highly scrutinized, highly praised Permian High School football team. Bissinger captures the essence of life in Texas by examining the way the team works as well as community issues that influence the team. Football is life. It not only dominates the lives of the players, who are forced to carry an enormous burden at a very young age, but dictates the attitude of the community. When one gentleman was asked what Permian football means to him, he simply responded, "'I have something to look forward to, or life is just a blah'" (Bissinger 41).
I was amazed at the amount of politics that influences not only the dynamics of the team, but the actual makeup of the team (who plays, who doesn't, who gets fired, etc…). These politics were specifically prevalent during the years of segregation, and Permian was an all-white school. A main reason for desegregation in Permian was to give (athletically gifted) black students an opportunity to play for the football team. This speaks volumes to the sheer power that football holds in a town like Odessa, that its citizens will desegregate a high school not because it is morally right, but to improve their football team.
In addition, Bissinger specifically targeted the players: their situations at home, their academics, and their lives after playing football for the Permian Panthers. What he found was that the majority of players coasted through high school, bathed in the glory of wearing a Panthers uniform on Friday nights, and ended up scraping buy in a piss poor job with nothing but memories of the good ol' days. However, he also illuminates the positive effects that being part of such a powerful team can have on a young man. Brian Chavez, in particular, rose from the poverty-stricken streets of El Paso to a starting spot on the Panthers, but more importantly a scholarship to Harvard University. Chavez explained that he wouldn't be where he is today (a lawyer in) if it weren't for the brotherhood and camaradery surrounding the Permian Panthers.
The entire town of Odessa, Texas lives and dies by the football team. Good times are not dictated by economic prosperity but by state championships won by the Panthers. However, Bissinger refuses to fall into this trap, he instead analyzes the unsung factors that go into creating an atmosphere such as the one in Odessa. It is nothing less than captivating
I am curious what you are thinking about the differences between high school culture in Odessa and Evanston? Also, do you think Chavez (where is he a lawyer) is the exception or a common circumstance? Is it ok to let athletes coast through school if they are good at a sport? So, what will you research?
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