Friday Night Lights Essay Example
Friday Night Lights
I can’t even begin to describe football life that exists in Odessa, Texas, home of the Permian Panthers. This town devotes so much time into the team and places so many expectations season after season. If the Permian Panthers do not win a State Championship, then it is considered a disappointing season. The book covers players lives on the field as well as off, the history of Odessa, and how a town comes together because of football. H.G Bissinger follows Permian in the 1988 season on their run to a State Championship in Texas. The book starts out with Permian facing its arch rival, Midland Lee. Boobie Miles was the superstar at the beginning of the season, being heavily sought out by major colleges such as Texas A&M, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. He suffers a knee injury in the beginning of the season and could never recover. He quit the team two days later. Permian loses the game 22-21 and is in danger of not making the playoffs, something unheard of in Odessa. Head Coach Gary Gaines is questioning his job security. In order to be a successful football team, you must have one player who is the general on the field, the quarterback. Mike Winchell was very smart and got offers from schools such as Brown University. He seemed to break down when he was under enormous pressure during big games. Don Billingsley is also followed briefly, he is the teams starting tailback and is the son of Charlie Billingsley, who had in 1965 helped Permian reach the State Title. Don tried to follow his father’s footsteps, but found difficulties on occasions by fumbling the football. Ivory Christian
and Brian Chavez are also big names on the team. Ivory has enormous talent but hates football with a passion, but it changes when he is recruited by TCU. Chavez is the number one student in his class, something unheard of by a Permian football player and is attempting to go to Harvard. In Odessa, racism was a huge factor as well. The school did not become
I can’t even begin to describe football life that exists in Odessa, Texas, home of the Permian Panthers. This town devotes so much time into the team and places so many expectations season after season. If the Permian Panthers do not win a State Championship, then it is considered a disappointing season. The book covers players lives on the field as well as off, the history of Odessa, and how a town comes together because of football. H.G Bissinger follows Permian in the 1988 season on their run to a State Championship in Texas. The book starts out with Permian facing its arch rival, Midland Lee. Boobie Miles was the superstar at the beginning of the season, being heavily sought out by major colleges such as Texas A&M, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. He suffers a knee injury in the beginning of the season and could never recover. He quit the team two days later. Permian loses the game 22-21 and is in danger of not making the playoffs, something unheard of in Odessa. Head Coach Gary Gaines is questioning his job security. In order to be a successful football team, you must have one player who is the general on the field, the quarterback. Mike Winchell was very smart and got offers from schools such as Brown University. He seemed to break down when he was under enormous pressure during big games. Don Billingsley is also followed briefly, he is the teams starting tailback and is the son of Charlie Billingsley, who had in 1965 helped Permian reach the State Title. Don tried to follow his father’s footsteps, but found difficulties on occasions by fumbling the football. Ivory Christian
and Brian Chavez are also big names on the team. Ivory has enormous talent but hates football with a passion, but it changes when he is recruited by TCU. Chavez is the number one student in his class, something unheard of by a Permian football player and is attempting to go to Harvard. In Odessa, racism was a huge factor as well. The school did not become