H.G. Bissinger tells the story of the obsessive town of Odessa, Texas in his book, Friday Night Lights. This town has a toxic obsession with high school football and wastes away life until Friday nights. The expectations held for the athletes of Odessa are suicidal and the preparation for life outside of high school is almost non existent. The town of Mount Vernon, Iowa also lives for Friday nights, however they have a healthy balance between these exciting events and ordinary life. Mount Vernon athletes are held to reasonable standards and are thoroughly being prepared for a successful future. The town of Odessa is an insane town with twisted ideas that only focus on winning football games, rather than preparing its young for a successful …show more content…
These boys are taught the all too known, “no pain, no gain” philosophy, but to a new extreme. Bissinger tells the story of a boy who broke his arm during a game and set his arm by himself, rather than sit out. “By the time the arm had swelled up considerably, to the point that the forearm pads he wore had to be cut off, and unwillingly he went to the hospital” (Bissinger 43). Players are bred with the obsession of completing the task, no matter what is thrown at them. Even if that meant playing with a serious injury because sitting on the bench meant that you weren’t helping your team to the obessed upon, victory. Bissinger reveals the mindset of Permian players when he states, “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” (Bissinger …show more content…
The football field is always filled on Friday nights however, unlike Odessa any other day could be just as exciting. Almost every month, one can visit small festivals or events. These events bring the community together and keeps the town lively unlike the dead town of Odessa on any other day. The people of Mount Vernon express themselves in various things such as, art and antique festivals, weekly band concerts in the summer, and an annual town festival. Mount Vernon also has a lot to be proud about such as, all of the state championships from every sport, the historic buildings, and a strong sense of community spirit. Everybody know everybody and tends to lend a helping hand when needed. If football was taken away from them, they would be perfectly fine because they have a balance between football and other aspects of
A wise person,Tommy Hilfiger once stated, “the road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it’s possible to achieve the American Dream”. This quote means that through willpower and passion, anyone can become successful. In the world we live in now, achieving the American dream can be challenging than before, on the contrary, with the right mindset, and inspiration the American dream is still possible.That being said, yes the American dream is still possible to accomplish, getting a good location, a future, and lastly a monumental historic moment that can be never unremembered.
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.
Multiple chapters in the book discussed in depth about characters Boobie Miles, Mike Winchell, and Ivory Christian. Each of these players had varying backgrounds, and motivations about why they played football. These chapters also discuss the lives of players off of the field, and how the academics at Permian were backseat to their powerhouse football team.
In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” Jessica Statsky argues that younger children should not be involved in overly competitive sports. Statsky wrote that organized competitive sports were to the disadvantage of children both physically and psychologically. In youth athletics, some parents and coaches put their own dreams in front of their children 's’ well-being by stressing winning. Statsky concludes “all organized sports activities” to be remade as a more enjoyable game regardless of each athlete’s ability and athleticism. The author states many issues that kids have when they are forced to play a sport just to win or that they don’t enjoy. Some kids just don 't enjoy sports, but their parents force it on them. Certain organized sports programs promote winning over physical skills and self-esteem. Statsky brings up valid points that early childhood shouldn’t involve intense physical competition, which is associated with the risk of injury to the body and mind.
With each throw to home plate he felt a little bit more pain. Instead of resting him Mark Hyman sent his son out to pitch the very next game. Stories like these are not uncommon with anyone who child has played on any team. Over the last few years, adults have taken over kid’s sports. Many children under the age fifteen required medical treatment for sports injuries and nearly half of them are only the result of simple overuse. The quest to turn children into superstar’s are taken a toll on their
“Football became my ticket to a college scholarship which, in western Pennsylvania during the early ‘sixties, meant a career instead of getting stuck in the steel-mills” (4). Football is the number one
Bissinger’s descriptions of classroom activity reveal that the role of education was not important compared to football in Odessa. My school is not like that but I can imagine some of the bigger schools are. I agree with Bissinger’s statement because Odessa was just the same as a lot of other high schools in America. This didn’t make it a bad school, just a typical one.
Being a professional athlete is one of the most commonly heard dreams of a young boy or girl who currently elementary school. Whether it is realistic or not, these kids will be participating in the sport that they wish to thrive in. But, time after time we hear adults complain about their child’s insane soccer schedule, or how they have to spend their whole weekend traveling for games. The parents complaints shouldn’t be the topic of discussion, in fact the only opinions that matter are the children. The question shouldn’t be asking whether or not youth sports are too intense, it should be asking if it is worth it. If a child loves what they’re doing then they have every reason to continue playing their sport, but if they are not all in, he or she has to question whether or not all the craziness is worth it.
“‘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
Jessica Statsky, in her essay, “Children need to Play, Not Compete” attempts to refute the common belief that organized sports are good for children. She sees organized sports not as healthy pass-times for children, but as onerous tasks that children do not truly enjoy. She also notes that not only are organized sports not enjoyable for children, they may cause irreparable harm to the children, both emotionally and physically. In her thesis statement, Statsky states, “When overzealous parents and coaches impose adult standards on children's sports, the result can be activities that are neither satisfying nor beneficial to children” (627). While this statement is strong, her defense of it is weak.
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 on a small city in Texas.
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
“Why Parents Should Let Their Kids Play Dangerous Sports” is a persuasive essay written by Jeb Golinkin expressing the risks and injuries that occur in many sports. However, Golinkin also expresses the necessity of sports and how they help teach teamwork, sportsmanship, toughness, and competiveness only learned from collective team sports. “…Powerful athletic enterprises has very real costs for the participants who deliver the thrills” (Paragraph 2, Line 7-8) is part of a statement from Golinkin where he is establishing that injuries are a fact when participating in sports. He states a couple of particular events in the history of sports where injuries have caused permanent injuries and even death. The cases of serious injuries were expressed and had heartfelt concern behind them in his report, however, he defends these dangerous sports by further stating benefits that are gained from participation. There is a quote from Barack Obama where he expresses his a strong opinion on football by saying, “If I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football.” (Paragraph 6, Line 2-3) Golinkin finalizes his opinion in his conclusion by explaining that he believes one’s child should be able to make their own decision to play sports.
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
In light of Jessica Statsky’s book ‘Children need to play, not compete’, she argued that, with the vivid increase of sporting competition lately in the United States, children have been exposed to the adults hard and rigorous training by devoted parents and coaches at their tender age making a game that is supposed to be fun and joy look hectic and strenuous to them due to the standard of training they are made to go through and also the belief that they must always win thereby making them lose the spirit of sportsmanship, and neither gaining satisfaction nor benefiting from them. In as much as sports are good for physical, mental and emotional growth, it should be organized in a manner that the youths will enjoy the game at the end of it rather than the fear of being hurt or defeated by the other competitors.