Friday Night Lights Book Report

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In the novel “Friday Night Lights” by H.G. Bissinger, the small town of Odessa, Texas, is obsessed with the pursuit of a state title by the town’s football team. To the community, Permian High School football is more than just a game; it’s a way of life. From the story's start, the author emphasizes how important football is to the town of Odessa. The town year after year performs incredibly, often taking state. This pattern of excellence, however, created lofty expectations that the team was held to. The feat of taking state requires players and coaches to make many sacrifices. In the chase for the title, players and community members often prioritized the success of the football team over their morals, health, and relationships. The town’s …show more content…

The teacher, Will Bates, had 35 years of teaching experience and a doctorate, but that did not matter to the community; they just wanted to protect the football team's success. The expectation of the teachers was to allow football players to pass their classes even if they had not put in the work to do so. Failure to meet these expectations ended up costing a teacher his job and ruining his reputation. The school prioritizes football over someone’s career. Besides Will Bates, very few teachers went against the expectation of passing players even if they did not deserve it. An example of this is one player’s experience, “‘Sometimes we wouldn’t even take our exams, we’d just get a grade’. Four or five times during his senior year he didn’t take the exam but just sat back and waited for the honor grade” (Bissinger, 319). This example shows misplaced priorities because instead of being held accountable for his education, he was given a free pass because he was a football player. The sport and its players were expected to be the priority of everyone at these schools, so no one put the kids' education

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