H.G Bissinger, in the introduction to Friday Night Lights, self-proclaims himself as a long-time sports buff. Growing up in metropolitan Pittsburg, he wanted to see the rest of the United States. He was particularly interested if there was a community in the United States that was devoted to high school sports, I mean REALLY devoted. He also wanted a town free from the pull of the metropolitan areas where he grew up, “a place that people had to pull out an atlas to find and had seen better times, a real America” he remarked, rather then a place where the homes, schools and buildings all looked the same.

All signs pointed him to a small, dusty town in the oil plains of Western Texas. Rumors had it that, in Odessa- a town barely visible in most atlas- crowds of up to 20,000 people gathered on Friday nights in the fall at Ratcliffe Stadium to watch the Permian High School Panthers play football

“Twenty Thousand....” Bissinger stated, “I knew I had to go there”. Well, he went there in early 1988, and stayed for an entire year. He not only soaked in, but became a part of the town. He followed around and befriended members of the Permian High football team, as well as a number of the other town folk. Every practice, every meeting and, of course, every game, he was there, jotting down notes about the games, about players reactions and feelings and getting pictures. He wanted to see what the result would be of the town’s devotion, even fanaticism, towards this team and would he could get out of it for a future writing.

He got more than he bargained for.

The end result, Friday Night Lights, is widely hailed as one of the greatest books ever written about the pull, the magic, the spirit, the power, the unity, the dangers and the overall mystique that surrounds high school sports, as well as how devotion to such events can bring together, and also pull apart, a community.

Odessa, Texas doesn’t offer much. Founded in the 1880’s as basically a desert retreat, it got a boom during the 1940’s when it became a huge oil repository (Future President George Bush Sr. was among the people whom got rich off the land, and he made a campaign appearance in the town during the research for this book). However, when the oil boom went to bust, so did the town. People struggled to maintain livings. Divorce and single parent families were not uncommon. Racism was a problem, too: Blacks, Mexicans and other minorities were designated to the south side of town, and although desegregation officially took place in 1980 (Twenty-six years after Brown vs. Board of Education), little had changed; white people in Odessa freely said “N*gger” whenever they felt like (Although they felt that there was a difference between “Negroes” and “N*ggers”). Odessa, in the words of someone in the book, was a hell hole.

But when Friday nights came around in the fall, the town took on a different life.

Permian High School, predominantly white, had built something extraordinary. Opened in 1959, their Panthers football team had amassed a phenomenal win record. They had four state championships by 1988 and had gone to the finals, semifinals and quarter finals numerous other times. Permian’s program got in enormous revenue and funding (They chartered jets for $70,000 during the 1988 season for away games). The head coach at Permian made $48,000 a year and had a free Taurus, and all he had to do was coach. Even more incredible was the near fanatical devotion that the town felt for the team. They paraded around the school’s colors- black and white- proudly during and away from games. They decorated rooms and even cars with Permian colors, while merchandise for the team was a big business. The whole town, it seemed, always rallied around the spirit of “Mojo” (The nickname for the Panthers, said to be invented when drunken alumni shouted it at a game in the 1960’s). Mojo was a source of pride for Permian: It gave their town a claim to fame and their only positive identity (Besides the lousy one they otherwise had).

Mojo pride has its definite pros and its definite cons, as shown in the Panthers 1988 season. The book begins a little bit later in the season, when the Panthers lose a close game to bitter rivals, the Midland-Lee Rebels. Then it goes back to the start of the season, showing the scrimmage and practices of the team and their first triumphant win, and their first close loss. We learn a lot about some of the players and even about the town itself (What there is to know about it). Locked in a three-way tie for first place, the Panthers make it to the playoffs as the result of a coin toss. They go all the way to the state semifinals, held at the University of Texas’ Memorial Stadium, facing the Carter Cowboys: A racist team that was engulfed in a huge controversy over players being academically ineligible, and which has as much pride in football as Permian.

Well, that’s it for the review. Put comments in the box. Refreshments are at the far table over there and… (Neal whispers into the announcer’s ear) Oh, wait, there’s more!

Yeah, I could simply stop the review now and let you be on your merry way, which you would probably prefer. However, I’m not nice like that. A dry run through the book doesn’t do it justice. I apologize in advance if this review wanders around frequently, but the amount of depth and the themes that can be found in this story is incredible to say the least.

Permian football had an enormous reputation. Heck, it was pretty much the only thing in Odessa that had any sort of legacy to it (While histories of Odessa were hard to come by, the town library had a huge book thoroughly telling the history of the football program, while a “Hall of Fame” was maintained by the school). Permian kids were known to be tough: The book talks about how one player years before got a bone fractured during a game, but played on in tremendous pain and was taken away by ambulance at half time (He would have made Jack Youngblood proud). Another player pulled his groin but played a few games with it; it became so bad he had to have a testicle taken out, but he refused to allow his mother to press charges for the fear that he would get disrespected. Permian even played into politics: When “Gerrymandering” of school districts was done, it was done so Permian would get the best African American talent. Ross Perot was hated by the town’s folk, not for his political ideology (For the majority of Odessa, along with Texas in general, is staunchly Republican), but for criticizing what he saw as the ignorance and wastefulness of the Permian obsession. Permian players were also treated like royalty: They got invited to the hottest parties, were looked upon as great idols and each of them got a cheerleader (Called “Pepettes”) assigned to them, whom- in competition with one another- would make signs, write notes, and even go so far as to bake cookies and make clothing for their players.

The cast of character is as memorable as those ever written up in the finest works of John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway. There is just one major difference: They’re all real!

- There’s head coach Gary Gaines, considered to be a nice, thoughful guy whom is also very intelligent and dramatic when he needs to be (Telling his team, for instance, about Steve Genter, whom won a silver medal in the 200m freestyle swim meet at the 1972 Olympics with a collapsed lung). However, outside the team, he is often criticized because he can’t win the big one (He was 7-2 in 1986- which was considered dreadful- and led Permian to the state semifinals in 1987 in a season considered “not great, but pretty good”). Gaines gets various personal attacks launched against him (Letters in the newspaper ripping him apart and “For Sale” signs planted in his yard), but he’s more upset when abuse is aimed at other players and even at his family.
- There’s Mike Winchell, the talented, introverted, cautious quarterback of the team, whom has a great senior year, with the usual ups and downs, and is an overall good, hard working guy, yet isn’t desired by any college recruiters.
- James “Boobie” Miles is the star running back, ranked one of the top ten in Texas before the start of the season and with various colleges just begging to get him. He gets injured, however, before the season even starts and, despite his best efforts, is not the same talent he once was; he eventually chooses to seclude himself from the team, and also damages his close bond with his uncle.
- Linebacker Brian Chavez, contrary to what one would assume by merely glancing at him, completely breaks the “Dumb jock” stereotype: He’s a tremendous athlete (He loves to tackle people), but he’s also the top ranked student at Permian; acing his advanced classes, he gets accepted to Harvard.
- Don Billingsley, whose father won state while at Permian, initially has troubles with fumbling the football during scrimmage and the opening game of the season, but turns into a great running back.
- Ivory Christian, a linebacker, actually hates the game, knowing that it is overall pointless in the end, but even he always gets caught in the aura of Friday nights.
- Jerrod McDougal, another defensive player, whom gives the most memorable description of the game-time feeling: “It’s like the gladiators…there’s nineteen thousand fans in the stands and they can’t do what you’re doing, and they’re all cheering for one thing, they’re cheering for you. Man, that’s a high no drug or booze or woman can give you”.
- Tim “Trapper” O’Connell, the athletic trainer whom also knows the pointlessness of the game and believes that it can be detrimental to kids. However, he is not immune to the aura of the festival, coining the phrase ‘Friday Night Addiction’.
- Even I found a character that I could relate almost exactly to, at least initially: Eddie Driscoll, the second ranked student at Permian and tremendously accomplished in many areas. Yet, although friends with a number of the guys on the team, he wishes that he’d been able to feel the excitement of being part of this brotherhood (“The football identity is so glorious…I always wondered what it would have been like if I had been a football player. I think it would be great to be in the limelight and be part of the team…”)

Indeed, life is pretty sweet for a player on the Permian team, and for a coach as well. However, it can also be a nightmare. As pointed above, Coach Gaines gets verbal abuse thrown at him when he loses a couple of games (One character in the book, in Gaines’ defense, says that it’s because the towns folk are “spoiled” with too many wins, and need a few losing seasons to get back down to reality). Even worse is the expectations put on players. The players are idolized and looked up to by the towns’ people (Few people in town know the name of their mayor, or police chief or fire chief, but everybody knows who the coach and quarterback at Permian is). When they lose, they unfairly also come under attack. People watching the games expect these kids to do superhuman feats, and feel let down and angered at them when they don’t perform. But they aren’t collegiate or professional athletes: They are just kids, being raised in a man’s world. At some points in the book, all the reader can feel is sickened, asking themselves “How much is too much for some?”

Friday Night Lights, of course, goes deep into the economic and racial problems surrounding the region as well. It examines the educational problems present at Permian, which can be considered problems that many other high schools also face (From my own personal experience, I feel that kids aren’t being motivated as much as they possibly should, which does lead to seem educational problems down the road), but seems to be more amplified at Permian. The first thing that gets fingered instantly is the football program, which is felt to draw too much attention and funds away. To paraphrase what a teacher said in the book, “If were put as much time and money into education as we do into athletics, who knows what could be accomplished.

However, even detractors of the Permian football program- an English department head whom wishes there was more money for academics, or a city councilwoman whom thinks it interferes too much in politics- understand the power, the prestige and the allure of “Mojo”. While murder rates continued to rise, residents of Odessa took comfort in the lights of Radcliffe Stadium. While Midland continued to suffer in the drought of the oil bust, the town’s people had Permian vs. Midland-Lee to look forward to. The games were a hobby for some, religion for others, and an escape from reality for all.

Change and looking ahead to the future is another theme present in this book. After the season ends, along with their moment in the spotlight, the boys of Permian have to learn to adjust to it, to their altered status, and do so with varying levels of success. This change is even more present in the coaches’ office: They take down the plans and game plays and the starting roster of the 1988 season, ready to begin anew. “The speeches were the same, and so were the looks on the faces” Bissinger writes of the 1989 season. The faces were different obviously, but the dream of ‘Going to State’ was still omnipresent. In 1989, Permian did indeed go to state, and made the dream a reality in late December when they were crowned state champions.

One of the strengths of a great writer is the ability to read one of their works and see characters, events, places and/or situations that you can relate to in some way. Bissinger does that with me. Still relatively fresh out of high school, I have vivid memories of my school’s football games, of the pep rallies (Unlike at Permian, which has rallies before every game, we only had one for Homecoming), of the excitement just before the kick off at games, the jubilation of victory and the sorrow of defeat. While reading this book, I remembered congratulating players after great wins over our arch rivals, or comforting them after their close loss at Homecoming or after getting whipped in the playoffs. Heck, even the Alma Mater in this book sounds very much like the one that was at my high school. Like in this book, many of the players on my school’s team weren’t jerk offs, but very cool, nice and surprisingly deep guys. Much like Eddie Driscoll, I wished that I had at least taken the opportunity to have been a part of the experience.

However, Friday Night Lights does not glorify high school football in any way, either. It presents the positive aspects that it has, yes (Various players talk later of the strong bonds they got with other teammates and of the pride they felt) but there is also the negative. Bissinger later says that he was shocked by the poor quality of education in Permian, by the racism in the town and by the poor economic conditions. His book became extremely controversial and, of course, hated in the area (He cancelled a planned book signing tour of the area when threats on his life were made, and Bissinger claims that the book is still a sensitive topic among people in Odessa). However, education has improved in the area since then according to his epilogue. Odessa residents have also realized that they were a bit over the top in their devotion, and fanaticism towards the team has also quieted. The Permian Panthers, conversely, have launched into being a losing program, winning a single league game in 1999 (Their head coach was fired afterwards). Still, the mystique about them will always live on.

Bissinger writes in a style that could probably be compared to Steinbeck (Or Hemingway? I need to read more for pleasure). He includes extensive quotes from people in Odessa. During some passages of the book, he’ll discuss about certain characters’ background, or about certain events (The settling of Odessa, the rise and fall of Midland, classes at Permian, etc.) which may sometimes confuse the reader as to where the story’s going, but it does allow them to better appreciate the context of the book and the events that are upcoming. During the chapter on the state semi-finals, he intersperses the final, tense seconds of the game with personal stories of people watching or listening to the game, from boosters to Mrs. Gaines to Boobie.

At many points while reading the book, the author and the reader are caught between conflicting feelings on the Permian experience. On one hand, it is giving meaning to both the town and to the players and gives the community pride in itself. On the other hand, the fanaticism makes people violent, causes educational standards to be sub par and leaves many players at season’s end with the empty feeling of they don’t know what they want anymore. Bissinger seems to have recognized that too, as he shows in his afterward and epilogue: The paradox is that playing ball for Permian both helped and hurt the athletes. Many of the athletes whom played for the team chose not to pursue it further afterward: Sometimes due to injury or ill feelings, but mostly because they did not find the college experience as fulfilling or memorable or close as their time as a Permian Panther. Jerrod McDougal, the only member of the team to sign with a Division I school (Texas Christian University) says that college is about seeing who can stand out the most in the pros. Many of them still fondly remember their good times at Permian (Ivory Christian even displays a fondness for it in the epilogue).

The subtitle of the book is “A Town, a Team and a Dream”. The town is Odessa and the Team is Permian, but what is the dream? Is it the team going on to win the state championship? Is it the dream the boys had growing up to play for the Permian Panthers? Is it the dream that being successful in football might lead to a ticket out of Odessa? Is it the whole concept of high school and league sports in general, which basically provides an atmosphere that’s an escape from reality and is oftentimes just a fantasy (A figure given in the book is that of 30 million kids playing league sports in any given year, only 200 will go on to be in the pros). Bissinger may be saying all or just one of the above. Like he should, however, he doesn’t give his interpretation, and it remains up to the reader’s point of view and what they gain from reading the book to determine that.

After finishing Friday Night Lights, I gained a new meaning on the attitude I previously had. Will I always regret not playing ball in high school? I will always wish that I had tried it, I’ll tell you that. I am certainly glad that I got to befriend guys on the team and come back and support them at games. However, I also realized I had been taking it on with a childish attitude. Football may be a major part of one’s life at some point, but as shown in the biographies of what happened to players after their last season of playing, it is not life. For a few magic months each year, though, it transports one into a different world, into a different atmosphere, and both brings and tears people apart. The magic can take hold of anyone and give them feelings that cannot be described, and put them into a time and place that nothing else at the time can match. I suppose the book's main moral is this: Wonderful as that magic may be, be careful how you use it because, like the glow of the lights, it eventually shuts off.

For understanding the power, the allure, the unity, the fanaticism, the depth and the tremendous meaning that can be found in not just high school football but in any strong organization in general, it is safe to say that few better and more memorable works exist than Friday Night Lights.

[Side note: A movie adaptation was released in 2004 and stars Billy Bob Thornton. The movie has some intense game sequences and is well filmed, with the look and feel of the Permian program being faithfully reproduced, along with the single-minded devotion that Permian fans felt. However, as expected with a book that has a surprising amount of depth and complexity, the movie is not satisfying. It skips over the economic and racial issues that plagued Odessa, for one thing. It also plays around with historical accuracy (The movie shows a huge conflict between Don Billingsley and his father, which is hinted at in the book but is not as obvious as it is in the movie. Another change is that the match up between Permian and Carter is in the state finals at the Astrodome!). The movie also paints a more sympathetic picture of Boobie, showing that his injury was a cornerstone reason for the team not fulfilling its goals while downplaying the great contributions made by other players, and also shows that he still had respect from players and coaches alike. In fact, he shut himself off from the team afterwards, being intensely depressed and disappointed at himself and his circumstances. Many players and coaches misunderstood his actions- not realizing that Boobie had built up an enormous fantasy before the season that he now saw go to bust- and considered him to be selfish; making jokes and ridiculing him in private. In the movie, Boobie is shown in attendance at the Permain/Carter game, when, actually, he listened to the game from a car radio in Odessa. He later admitted that he regretted allowing the injury to ruin his senior year.

So bottom line on the movie: Visually great, but, as most any movie would, lacks the depth and emotion of Bissinger’s work]

Recommended: Yes