Symbolism In Friday Night Lights

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.

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.

“From the twenties through the eighties, whatever else there hadn’t been in Odessa, there had always been high school football” (Bissinger 35) epitomizes the book in one succinct sentence. However, the book doesn’t blatantly state superficial information about football; it follows the Permian Panthers through an entire season and reveals the emotions of a handful of football players. Throughout various parts of the book, Bissinger beautifully utilizes symbols in order to create a better perception for the readers on the lives of the souls in Odessa. The symbols, include, but are not limited to; the railroad tracks, the Gary Edwards case, and the school spending reveal the various facets of life in Odessa.

This novel develops characters that engage in sex, to teachers cheating so their high school football players can continue to participate on the football field. Many people have a major affect on football and society in this novel. One of the major characters was Boobie Myles. Boobie was supposed to be the star athlete on the Permian football team. In the beginning, Boobie was arrogant to his teammates and wasn’t a good team leader. All Boobie cared about was winning and getting to the next level of football to satisfy his athletic needs. When Boobie is injured, he realizes he took football for granted and would do anything to play again. The team needs Boobie and Boobie needs the team. Coach Gaines realizes Boobie was seriously hurt and gives an inspiring pep talk to the team about how the players need to put their heart in the game and how lucky they are to be playing for Odessa.

“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

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.

Bissinger shows how football is a large part of Don’s life and affects the expectations of his father, Charlie Billingsley. Watching his son play for his old high school team made him fill up with “ parental pride”.Charlie expects Don to make better choices in his life than he did when he was in high school. The narrator states, “ his sense of right and wrong had been mounted on a hair trigger.” Charlie got into many fights when he was in high school and it affected the way people looked at him as a person, even though he was a star athlete on the football team. In addition, the narrator states, “ he had the numbers, the kind of numbers that everyone in Odessa understood and admired.” Charlie was well known around Odessa for his amazing football skills and expects Don to do the same. The text states, “ not as some two-bit supporter but as a star, a legend.” Charlie doesn't want Don to just be on the team, he expects him to give it his all and become a star and a legend like he is, based on his football playing abilities, and not just the fact that he is a Permian Panther. Although the players on the Permian Panthers were automatically legends because football was such a large part of the lives of the people who live in Odessa.The narrator states, “ At the very sight of the team at the edge of the stadium, hundreds of elementary school kids started squealing in delight……. They began yelling the war cry of ‘MO-JO! MO-JO! MO-JO!’

In Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger uses powerful examples of the harms, dangers, and unethical behavior in football in order to evoke an emotional response from his readers and change their opinions about high school sports, specifically football. Bissinger explores the obsession of the Texas town of Odessa with football, showing the side effects of this culture. In America, the benefits of high school sports are heavily touted, but the dangers are often not discussed. Bissinger offers a counter argument in this often one sided debate in order to challenge the domination of sports in high school environments. By appealing to the emotions of his readers, Bissinger is able to make an effective argument against the influence and excessive love of high school sports in America.

Brian's Song is a movie that starred James Caan, as Brian Piccolo, and Billy D. Williams, as Gale Sayers. The movie was primarily about how the two players interacted each other as running backs for the Chicago Bears and how their friendship matured through the difficulties of Brian's cancer diagnosis and eventual death. The movie explores many themes such as friendship, courage and compassion, but it leaves one particular subject somewhat alone. Gale Sayers is black and Brian Piccolo was white and they were roommates on team trips at a time when relationships between these two races could be very volatile. The movie had very little to say about how black and white professional players interacted, but there is some evidence in the movie of the tension that existed and the segregation that still existed. This paper explores this theme of race relations in sports seen through Brian's Song and as it is today.

The novel begins with preseason football in the heat of a Texas summer. The players and coaches practice over 4 hours a day in 100-degree weather. The media is affecting every player pushing for a state championship and college scouts at every practice. The boys who gave completely of themselves for their sport are unique personalities. From dedicated quarterback Mike Winchell to Harvard-bound Brian Chavez to the inscrutable Ivory Christian, the team was full of young men who were singular human beings, each one bringing something special and indefinable to their group. And that's just scratching the very surface.The book recounts the tragic story of Boobie Miles, team’s star running back who had been highly recruited by all of the major programs. He is expected to attend and earn a scholarship to a large state college. The community

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 book that i read was Friday Night Lights a town, a team, and a dream by Buzz Bissinger. The movie was the 2004 film. Now the book is way better than the movie. It gives a closer look at some of players and it goes more in depth on how football is everything for the town odessa. In that way the book version helps the story being told.n contrast, Ivory is ruled by his nonchalant attitude toward football. Ivory loves the sport, but hates the pressure that comes along with it. Deeply religious, he considers being a preacher until he is contacted by a recruiter. After graduation, Ivory is the only player awarded a football scholarship. This character seems to reinforce the idea that, no matter how hard they try, the blacks of this community

Sports are a significant part of society and spectators enjoy particular events regardless of the type. However, there are many players who develop special working and social relationships with whom they are participating regardless of the type of sport. The relationship and how people interact with one another can be the determination of how successful a team can be. The particular film based on a true story that I chose is titled When the Game Stands Tall. This film consists of a high performing football team of De La Salle High School in the state of California. Jim Caviezel portrays the head coach (Bob Ladouceur) as a man with such vision and passion that goes beyond the fundamental principles of coaching the game of football. The football team had won 151 games without being defeated which is the highest winning record a team has had in the game of football. The film shows the internal struggles of the players in their lives as people, and how they perform on the field. It also shows the external tragic difficulties that they face while they attend and play for De Le Salle High School. In the movie, the head coach helps the students/players by not only coaching them but also showing them how to live a flourishing life by committing to endure difficult life situations and the way to overcome them. He helps teach the principles of brotherhood and companionship with the team that they build. In the movie, the head coach and the staff had taught the players

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.