Friday Night Lights

1836 Words4 Pages

The sun beating down on my neck, I stand in the end zone looking at the perfectly manicured field, the drops of dew on the freshly watered grass that glimmer like crystals, and the orange flags on top of the neon yellow goal posts flap in the wind. Soaking it all in, I look at the empty seats that will soon be filled with people expecting to see me do everything I can to help this team win. Twenty-point predicted underdogs; I think about the task at hand. It’s gonna be easy. I can envision it; I’m gonna be on SportsCenter tomorrow: “High school quarterback has NFL-type game.” Who am I fooling? I’m an undersized seventeen year old quarterback, playing on a mediocre Lake Brantley High School team, trying to play Henderson High. The Henderson High. Six time consecutive state champs Henderson High. We’ve lost the past three years in a row to them; not just lost, we’ve been massacred. It wasn’t even close. It’s never been close; why should this year be any different? I can’t think this way. I’ve gotta have faith. We’re gonna win... I hope. We were defeated. The game hadn’t even begun but I could see the look of defeat in my teammate’s eyes. Noticing it as well, Coach Johnson huddled us up. “Guys, we can do this,” he said. “What’s the one thing we have that they don’t?” Looking around at each other, we were dumbfounded. The Henderson High Eagles had everything. They had the most experienced coaches, the biggest and fastest players, and the most passionate fans, what were they missing? “Heart,” said coach. With that, Coach Johnson pushed us out to the coin toss to start the game. What coach just said was pointless in my mind. I mean, he’s been here for eight years and has never had a winning season. He’s just an old guy with a passion ... ... middle of paper ... ...he locker room just sitting. We realized that the score isn’t what mattered. What mattered was the lesson we had just learned from this game. Nothing is impossible. We were supposed to lose and we knew we were going to lose before the game even started. But after a series of fortunate, maybe even lucky events, we knew the obstacle at hand wasn’t insurmountable. We found a way to win and we learned a life lesson doing that. Opening my eyes, I rolled out of bed and headed for work. A fifty-three year old executive for Microsoft, I filed for divorce twenty-one years ago. I lost my house to foreclosure and my wife shortly there after. I have look at my life lesson that occurred on the football field thirty-six years ago as the event that changed me. I have dreams about the event at least twice a week, not willing to forget the events and obstacles who shaped my life.

The Big Field by Mike Lupica
723 Words | 2 Pages
Students should read this book in a high school English classroom because it demonstrates how relationships can be difficult, but teamwork can help to solve many issues. Hutch realized that it would not help his team to continue fighting with Darryl and by being mad at his father. He was able to take those difficult relationships and form them into positive outcomes and achieve his goal. After winning the championship game, “Hutch made his way through his teammates, and up through the stands and did something he had not done in a very long time: Hutch hugged his father. And his father hugged him back” (Lupica 243). This proves to students that if they continue to work hard and focus on a goal, they can achieve it by being a team player on and off the field.
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Hoosiers
1051 Words | 3 Pages
The first personal traits that Coach Dale was forced to exhibit were his toughness and his assertiveness. On his first night in Hickory he met the men of town in the barbershop who were all willing to provide their experience and insight on the team and how to coach. Coach Dale had enough self confidence to know that none of these “insights” were going to help the Hickory team win basketball games and let them know they weren’t welcome by turning his back and walking out. Additionally, he was forced to demonstrate his toughness twice more on the first day of practice by telling the temporary coach, “Secondly, your days of coaching are over,” and then by standing up to the group of men after he dismissed Buddy from the team. These actions made no friends of the men; however, th...
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The Marshall Rhetorical Analysis
459 Words | 1 Pages
We may be behind on the scoreboard at the end of the game but if you play like that, we cannot be defeated.” He used pathos to hit the player’s soul by explaining himself, explaining that he doesn’t want the team to be the champion by winning, he wanted the team to be the champion by showing their hard work and their passion on the field. And also the coach is using logos by bringing up the six Sons of Marshall, the six players, the six teammates who went away by a plane
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Friday Night Lights - Just Read It !
865 Words | 2 Pages
Meat head, dumb jock. These are just two of the many derogatory labels given to football players. Is it possible for me, a meat head, to hear the criticisms dealt to the sport of football? Is it possible for me, a dumb football jock, to understand and be objective about the issues raised in the book, Friday Night Lights? Yes, because I'm not the stereotypical football player like those described of Odessa, Texas.
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Bleachers By John Grisham Character Analysis
1156 Words | 3 Pages
In the locker room, the Spartans had just won a game, after the coaches walked out, Rake walked up to Neely and punched him in the face. Nobody knew what Rake did but they all knew something happened. It was never the same, Neely never planned to forgive Rake because he had caused him so much trouble and ruined his life and everyone knew it. So when Neely stepped up to the podium at Rake's funeral, the whole town of Messina, his fellow Spartans in their green jerseys and even Neely himself were aghast at the kind-hearted words he spoke in memory of his coach. This was a turning point for Neely Crenshaw. Long gone were the feelings hate and resentment only to be replaced with appreciation and acceptance for the man he formerly called Coach. Neely was a new person who through forgiveness found peace and renewed love for his sport that he thought he had
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Coach Eddie Rake
806 Words | 2 Pages
The town of Messina revolved their life around the football team, so they knew everything about anything that happened with the boys. Coach Eddie Rake was a thick headed individual who continuously pushed his players past their breaking point every day. Practices included the many players puking and the death of one after their daily bleacher run that the boys dreaded. Games included one breaking his hand, Rake becoming unconscious, and the team “just doing the impossible” of winning a State Championship with no coaches after being down 31-0 at halftime (Grisham 144). Like every person in Messina, Rake has two sides to him; the shrewd side and the compassionate side. Rake’s many personalities made each and every person in Messina have a different opinion of him. “The question is, ‘do I love Eddie Rake, or do I hate him (Grisham 223)?’” Coach Rake loved every one of his players, but he had a reputation to maintain which made people think differently about him.
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Coach Boone's Character Change Throughout The Movie
2271 Words | 5 Pages
When Boone was appointed to the position of football coach at T.C. Williams High School, he became the visionary of success to the program. His vision for the team from the beginning was to win a state championship. As a leader one must be a visionary and have an ultimate goal that needs to be accomplished. Difficult situations continuously present themselves and need to be handled effectively in order to accomplish the leader’s vision, which often occurred during Boone’s journey with his team. Throughout the film, no matter what circumstances Boone encountered, he was able to stay focused on the goal of winning a championship which consequently allowed the team to
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Cheer Camp Research Paper
1055 Words | 3 Pages
The first day we got there we had started off so wrong by arguing. We weren’t doing well and we argued most of the time. Us as a team, we honestly made ourselves look bad in front of the coordinators and other teams that were watching us. The coaches had given us a real big pep talking about sticking together as a team to make us better. Although we didn’t think we needed it, it actually
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Friday Night Lights
864 Words | 2 Pages
Is High School football a sport, or is it more than that to some people? Recent newspaper headlines include such items as coaches abusing student athletes; fathers of athletes murdering coaches, and mother’s disabilitating cheerleading candidates to assure their daughters make the cheerleading team. 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.
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Penn State Needs to End Paterno’s Time in Power
1418 Words | 3 Pages
Joe Paterno’s name is synonymous with Penn State football. The program has accomplished a lot since the 1960s. How many football programs have clinched two national championships? In fact, how many coaches can claim the same? Since 1995, no team has been able to win successive national championships. Penn State can’t claim a single title since 1986, and hasn’t been in contention for one since their 1994 season. Now seventy-six years old, “Coach Joe Pa” has long forgotten his way of building a strong football program. His years of...
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High School Friday Night Lights
857 Words | 2 Pages
High school athletics leave a major impact on everybody that is involved with them. It also can even leave a mark on people who aren’t associated with them. There are many conflicting opinions on whether high school sports are a positive or negative influence on a student’s life. Athletics in high school can have an effect on the community as a whole. In H.G. Bisssinger’s highly regarded Friday Night Lights, high school football is accurately portrayed as the most important thing in Texas; it receives much more attention than academics. Football players are often treated like celebrities; yielding confidence, and at the same time creating pressure.
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American Football History
932 Words | 2 Pages
The roaring of the crowd on November 17 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC finally fell silent late in the fourth quarter after star linebacker Luke Kuechly was slow to get off the field after a huge hit to the head. American’s live to be entertained, and the football field is one of the main sources of enjoyment for many. Immediately after Kuechly’s hit, it was quiet in the stadium for the first time that day. The fans watched in fear, waiting to see if their star player could finish the game and bring out the win. However, they all became disappointed as Kuechly shed tears while being carted off the field, not because they were worried about the player and his head but because they feared about losing the game. Americans want excitement,
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Celiac Disease Essay
661 Words | 2 Pages
A person does not experience many events that shape their life in a large way, whether it be for better or worse. I have had just one major situation that has sculpted me into the person that I am today. In February of 2008, I was diagnosed with a life changing disease; it would relieve me of the agony I had been experiencing for as long as I could remember, but also restrict my diet for the rest of my life.
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The Football Game
489 Words | 1 Pages
One one thousand. The stands are filled with men, women, and children waving their hands and homemade signs. The cheers coming from the crowd make it hard for me to hear. I smell the hot dogs, popcorn, and pizza being sold at the concession stand. The marching band has just left the field with the tuba player’s last note still ringing in my ear. In the fourth quarter with us in the lead by five the scoreboard shows six seconds. The coach yells, “It’s time to go”! I strap on my helmet with great enthusiasm and head towards the field to take my position.
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An Event Which Changed My Life
1937 Words | 4 Pages
An Event which changed my life, well when, I think back on my life there’s
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Friday Night Lights

The Big Field by Mike Lupica

Hoosiers

The Marshall Rhetorical Analysis