Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream
Encyclopedia
Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream is a 1990 non-fiction book written by H. G. Bissinger
. The book follows the story of the 1988 Permian High School
Panthers football
team from Odessa, Texas
as they made a run towards the Texas state championship. While originally intended to be a Hoosiers
-type chronicle of high school sports holding a small town together, the final book ended up being critical about life in the town of Odessa, complete with portraits of what Bissinger called "the ugliest racism" he has ever witnessed, as well as misplaced priorities, where football conquered most aspects of the town and academics were ignored for the sake of championships.
Bissinger was a writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer
when he was selected to be a Harvard Neiman Fellow. It was while he was at Harvard that the idea to write a book focused on the role high school football plays within American society, in particular rural society, took hold. Bissinger returned to the Inquirer briefly, received a Pulitzer Prize, and then took off in search of a community for which high school football was paramount. He settled on Odessa, Texas. Permian High School and its football team, the Permian Panthers, had a long, rich history of winning in Texas' 4A and 5A division, winning championships in 1965, 1972, 1980 and 1984. Bissinger moved his family to Odessa and spent the entire 1988 football season with the Permian Panther players, their families, their coaches, and even many of the townspeople in an effort to understand the town and its football-mad culture.
In 2002, Sports Illustrated
named Friday Night Lights the fourth-greatest book ever written about sports.
The role of Permian football in the town is examined. The Panther booster club
is one of the largest social groups in the city. Many school children look up to the players and hope to play for the team one day. Many high school girls hope to become Permian cheerleaders, but the competition is fierce. Others become "Pepettes" who are assigned to one football player. Peppettes bring their assigned player gifts every Friday, are in charge of pep rallies, and personally decorate the exterior of the homes of their assigned player.
In the 5A playoff semifinals, Permian meets Dallas Carter
, a predominately black team. Carter's system is even more corrupt than Permian's, and in a hard fought game in the rain, the Panthers are defeated. Carter goes on to win the state championship, but faces severe penalties the next year for their grade tampering, giving the state championship to Judson High School
.
The book ends with Coach Gaines erasing names of the graduating seniors from his board and replacing them with names of the juniors who will replace them next season. Permian goes undefeated the next year, with future NFL player Stoney Case
as quarterback, and becomes the 1989 Texas State football champions.
Bissinger discusses the Midland Lee game, Permian's arch rival. The game is played on October 28, 1988. He introduces the characters of Gary Gaines, Mike Winchell, Don Billingsley, Boobie Miles, Ivory Christian, Brian Chavez and Jerrod McDougal and gives insight into their personalities, thoughts and their pregame rituals. Boobie, who had injured his knee in a preseason scrimmage in August finally gets his chance to start. During the game he doesn't perform up to par and in fact makes his knee worse. Permian puts up a valiant fight but lose 22–21. After the game a furious Boobie storms out of the locker room and quits the team two days later.
Chapter 1: Odessa
Bissinger begins the book at the start of the 1988 football season in August and how Gaines is preparing for it. Bissinger then chronicles the history of Odessa. It was originally founded in the 1880s by land speculators from Zanesville, Ohio
. They advertised the land as being as fertile farmland like in Kansas
and Iowa
. However the settlers quickly discovered that it was dry and arid. The town saw little growth until 1926 when oil was discovered in the Permian Basin
(hence the high school's name). Almost overnight the town boomed and it saw more growth in month than it had in ten years. The population increased dramatically and money was everywhere. In town the roads were so muddy that the oil workers (nicknamed boomers) often had to bring in cattle to pull the equipment to the oil fields. According to the book, "diarrhea, lawlessness, overcrowding, bad water, prostitution, and a rat problem" plagued the town. Out in the oil fields, the boomers worked round the clock to make their money. Meanwhile, Odessa High School
's football team garnered success by winning the state championship in 1946 and making it back to the championship in 1953, thus laying the foundation for football fanaticism. Another boom in the 1950s led to the opening of Permian High School
in 1959. Permian proved quickly that it was not going to play second to Odessa High. They became known as the embodiment of Odessa: small, white and overachieving. Meanwhile, due to demographic shifts and oddly-drawn boundaries, Odessa High became populated with mainly poor whites and poor Hispanics—while a substantial majority of the city's relatively small black population ended up in the Permian attendance zone. This is not to say, however, that Permian didn't have its share of poor people from all major ethnic groups.
Chapter 2: The Watermelon Feed
Bissinger talks about the Watermelon Feed held at Permian in August as a preseason celebration. He then chronicles the history of Permian football. Since its founding in 1959, it had won the state championship in 1965, 1972, 1980 and 1984. Despite the fact that it only won one state championship in the 1970s Permian had statistically been the winningest team in the state of Texas. Bissinger then discusses the pressure Gaines is constantly under because of how devoted the Permian fans are. High school football is used as a distraction for the once thriving community of Odessa which has gone into a slump when the second boom ended.
Chapter 3: Boobie
This chapter focuses on the black star running back James "Boobie" Miles who is Permian's ticket to the state championship. Bissinger uses Boobie as an example of the negative effect high school football can have its players. Boobie is not a good student and doesn't have to worry about grades because he will most likely get a football scholarship to a major college. The dream seems all too real until in August during a scrimmage in Lubbock
, Boobie injured his knee. With the season opener only a week away no one knows what to do. Now the pressure is on quarterback Mike Winchell. Meanwhile junior running back Chris Comer is called to replace Boobie.
Chapter 4: Dreaming of Heroes
This chapter focuses on the life of Mike Winchell, Permian's starting quarterback. Mike lived with his mother. His father ,Billy ,died when Mike was just thirteen. Billy had always been keen on Mike playing football when he was a little kid. Mike's older brother Joe Bill took over that role but in 1988 Joe Bill had since moved out. Mike who was a very intelligent student was getting offers from Brown University but only had prospects of playing football at a small division college. Don Billingsley is Permian's starting Tailback and son of the legendary Charlie Billingsley who played football in the 1960s. Don, whose mother had been a Permian cheerleader while Charlie played football, moved from Blanchard, Oklahoma
to Odessa in 1986 before his sophomore year. Don and Charlie had always had a rocky relationship but it was all made better by football. Don was always inspired by his father's stories and always tried to live up to him. Yet sometimes he faltered because he was sometimes fumbled the ball on key plays.
Chapter 5: Black and White
Bissinger discusses the issue of race relations in Odessa which he describes as the ugliest racism he had ever witnessed. The town didn't desegregate until the 1980s and even then the schools were racially divided. Many viewed football as exploiting the talented black athletes by using them and then spitting them out afterwards.
Chapter 6: The Ambivalence of Ivory
Bissinger begins by discussing the life of Permian linebacker Ivory Christian. He originally thought he would go to Ector High School, where many poor blacks went, until Permian was desegregated in the early 1980s. Ivory had ambitions of become a minister at a Baptist church. Ivory gains these ambitions whe he has alife changing dream that involves a dark tunnel and light. Because of this dream Ivory decides that he will change his partying ways and tun his life over to God. Because of this desicion he becomes ambivalent towards football and what it stands for beginning the inner battle between Homeric and Christian values.
Chapter 7: School Days
Bissinger spends the chapter discussing the situation at Permian High School. He highlights the misplaced priorities as well as bad spending. More money is spent on sports medical supplies than the entire English department. The teachers make less money than the coaches who are financially at the mercy of the boosters who seldom care about education. Permian's SAT scores have plummeted dramatically since the 1970s and no one seems to care as long as Permian wins football games. As a result, everyone including the football players suffers. As the season progresses, Permian begins winning games.
Chapter 8: East versus West
Bissnger discusses the Permian–Odessa High game. The cross town rivalry is fueled by the cultural difference between the schools. For one thing Permian also got the majority of the Ector County
education budget while Odessa High typically got what was left (which wasn't that much). Odessa High had once been the beacon of hope in the city. It won the 1946 state championship and did well overall. Then Permian opened in 1959. The middle class whites went to Permian and the Mexicans
went to Odessa High. Also Permian hasn't lost to Odessa in over twenty years. Permian wins the game 35–7.
Chapter 9: Friday Night Politics
Bissinger discusses the political views in Odessa which has long been a Republican voting city. The 1988 election is coming up and it is clear that majority of its residents are going to vote for Republican candidate and then Vice President George H. W. Bush
, who lived in the area in the 1940s and 1950s. They had loved Ronald Reagan
so the choice was clear. Many view Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis
as far too liberal and think he is out to destroy their way of life from his comfortable home in Massachusetts. Unlike Dukakis, Bush understood west Texas and indeed middle America. Meanwhile, Permian rolls over Midland High School winning 35–0. Bissinger also discusses the life of Brian Chavez, the Permian tight end. Chavez is extremely smart and has ambitions of going to Harvard. His father Tony is a successful lawyer originally from El Paso, Texas
. Tony had enlisted in the United States Army
after high school. After he was discharged he took his GI Bill money and decided to take law classes at Texas Tech
in Lubbock
eventually graduating with a law degree in 1978. He supported the family by working as a police officer in El Paso. On his trips between the two cities he drove through Odessa and thought it was dirty, seedy and trashy and wanted to work in Midland. However once he graduated he got a job offer in Odessa and moved his family there. In 1982 the family moved to the Country Club estates, the nicest part of town. Tony was in many ways the embodiment of the American dream.
Chapter 10: Boobie Who?
Bissinger discusses Boobie's football career after his injury. He thought the injury wasn't that serious and constantly tried to convince the coaches he could play. He played as a back up in several games but never got any serious playing time. But as Boobie's career is falling Mike Winchell's is soaring.
Chapter 11: Sisters
Bissinger discusses the Permian-Midland Lee rivalry. Even though the two towns were very similar, the hatred ran deep. Odessans viewed Midland as a town full of rich snobs and Midlanders view Odessa as a city full of rednecks, money burners and drunks. In 1983 an article in Forbes magazine
named Midland one of the nicest places to live in America. At the same time, Newsweek
named Odessa "Murder Capital U.S.A." with a record 29.8 murders per 100,000 residents. Bissinger traces the roots of the hatred to the second oil boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The boom had been brought by the oil embargo by OPEC
as well as the Iranian Revolution
, the 1973 Oil Crisis
, the 1979 Energy Crisis
and the Carter Energy Policy. Oil prices skyrocketed and for the second time in forty years the boom was on. People were making money left and right in both Midland and Odessa. There were stories of welders who could barely read making as much as $90,000 a year. Stories abounded of business men buying Lear jets and building huge homes for no other reason than the fact that they could. The oil executives thought they were in control of everything and didn't realize it was all circumstantial. Once the embargo ended, the boom was over. The final nail in the coffin was the closing of the First National Bank of Midland in October 1983 as a result of the 1980s oil glut
and the Permian Basin never fully recovered. Bissinger also discusses the effects that the Reagan 1980s had on the Odessa-Midland Area.
Chapter 12: Civil War
After Permian loses to Midland Lee the fate of the season is unclear. Gaines is now under tremendous pressure and wonders if he will still have a job in a year's time. In two season Gaines had only gotten as far as the third round of playoffs. Meanwhile Jerrod McDougal, the Permian defensive tackle who knew he wouldn't play football in college, was devastated at the prospect of the season ending so early. Permian, Midland High and Midland Lee are all tied with one district loss each and only two can go to represent the district in the 1988 playoffs. It will be decided in a coin toss.
: Heads or Tails
Permian ends the regular season beating the San Angelo Bobcats 41–7. But now it all comes down to a coin toss. Coach Gaines and Mike Belew drive to meet the head coaches of Midland High and Midland Lee. The event is held at a truck stop on the south side of Midland at 2:00 am local time. The location is undisclosed and it is broadcast live on TV. When the coin toss finally happens there it is originally thought to be a tie. Then it turns out to that Permian and Midland Lee landed head and Midland High landed tails. The two teams will continue their seasons while Midland High's season is over.
Chapter 14: Friday Night addiction
The playoffs have finally arrived. Permian first defeats Tascosa High School
in Amarillo 21–7. They then play Andress High School
in El Paso in the Sun Bowl
, winning 41–13. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Permian beats the Irving Nimitz
Vikings, a team ranked sixth in the state, 41–7. Bissinger also explores the fates of many famous Permian players and how many of them ended right back in Odessa. He cites these stories as key examples of the false world Permian football can have on its players. Permian then beats Arlington Lamar
21–7. But now it was on to play the team many called the best high school football team in the state if not the country—the David W. Carter High School
Cowboys from Dallas.
Chapter 15: The Algebraic Equation
Bissinger spends the chapter discussing the football players at Dallas Carter High School, which despite being all black is an upper middle class high school. The football obsession at Dallas Carter dwarfs the one at Permian. Players skipped classes, left school to get lunch, and had their grades fixed by teachers so that they could play. This led to a court case when a teacher, Will Bates, refused to lie about the algebra grade of a key player, Gary Edwards. The case was won and Dallas Carter got to continue their season. During the week of the game the coaches from Permian and Dallas Carter meet to decide where the game will be played. They eventually agree on Texas Memorial Stadium at the University of Texas at Austin
. They also agree on a racially mixed officiating crew to minimize any possible bias from that source.
Chapter 16: Field of Dreams
Permian plays Dallas Carter on December 17, 1988. The game is extremely close with Permian initially ahead. Don Billingsley makes some great tackles. Ivory Christian makes an interception. Jerrod McDougal blocks exceptionally well, and Chris Comer moves the ball exceptionally well. But then a bad call in which the football bounced off the artificial turf of the field into a Carter receiver's hand. Carter then scores. Permian is now down 14–9. As the game draws to an end in the fourth quarter Permian gains the ball and starts gaining yards fast until finally the final seconds of the game are at hand with Permian on the Carter 24-yard line. Winchell gets ready to pass to Robert Brown. The ball is snapped, Winchell looks to Brown and throws the ball. It is incomplete. Permian loses 14–9. For the players, high school football is over and a big part of their lives has just ended. Right after the game the team heads home. McDougal, who loved football to death, lingered in the team locker room for a little longer than everyone else but eventually left to the locker room. Then Gaines and the coaches took down the magnetic names on the board. Bissinger ends the chapter saying, "The season had ended, but another one had begun. People everywhere, young and old were already dreaming of heroes."
Epilogue
A week later, Dallas Carter won the 1988 Texas state championship. For the players, the sense of entitlement and the feeling that they could do whatever they wanted to reached an all-time high. Gary Edwards got a full scholarship to the University of Tennessee. However in May 1989, Edwards and several other players committed an armed robbery in Dallas. They were arrested and they were tried in September. It was then discovered they had committed as many as ten robberies prior. Edwards, who initially thought he would just get probation, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. After some review it was decided that because of grade changing on the player's action, Dallas Carter was stripped of their state championship.
Bissinger then discusses the fates of the 1988 Permian Panthers. Brian Chavez went to Harvard but quit the football team after only one day because there was no bond. He instead decided to play rugby
. Boobie Miles played football at Ranger College, a junior college. Jerrod McDougal attended Odessa College
and then Midland College. Although he missed football he could find happiness in the knowledge that Permian football would go on forever. Don Billingsley went back to Oklahoma and at first played football for East Central University
but then he severely injured his knee and needed surgery. Ivory Christian went to play for Texas Christian University
but quit playing football after his freshman year. Mike Winchell played football for Baylor University
but said it wasn't as great as Permian and lost a lot of his abilities.
1989 saw the price of oil rise as high as $20 a barrel. Yet that same year saw 46% of the nation's oil imported, the highest in twelve years. As a result, West Texas continued to suffer economically. That year Odessa was named the second-worst place to live in America by the Places Rated Almanac. Meanwhile Permian was dominating on the football field. They redeemed themselves, beating Midland Lee 17–13. Permian continued to win in the playoffs and eventually got to the state championship. Among the players was quarterback Stoney Case
who would one day became an NFL player. Before the game Gary Gaines told the players, "Everybody in this room has paid a dear, dear price. That ought to make your effort that much more intense, that much more fanatical, because of all the hard work and sacrifice that's gone into getting you here. It ought to make you play that much harder. You represent a lot of people. We're gonna represent them well and we're gonna win this sucker!" The players then took the field. Odessa had gone through a ridiculous amount of change in the 1980s going from a place where anything was possible to a place where nothing was certain and everything was finite. Yet football had always been there. Bissinger ends the book by saying, "It would always go on just as Jerrod McDougal had realized, because it was a way of life. The Permian Panthers ended the decade the same way they had begun it. Two days before Christmas, they became the state football champions of Texas."
(UIL) investigated the Permian Panthers football program alleging that H.G. Bissinger took players out to eat, and paid for the meals while interviewing them for the book, a violation of amateur rules. Bissinger had taken a leave of absence from The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he was a reporter, to follow the team and write the book.
As a result of the negative reaction in Odessa, a bookstore cancelled a booksigning by the author, and T-shirts possessed by the population had the words "Buzz off, Bissinger."
However, over time, the accuracy of the story has held up. The book has been reprinted frequently, recently it was reprinted with a new afterword by the author detailing the team's accomplishments in the early part of the 1990s followed by the demise of the program in the latter part of the decade. In 2002, Sports Illustrated named Friday Night Lights the fourth-greatest book ever written about sports.
The book inspired the short-lived television series Against the Grain
, which was most notable for starring a young Ben Affleck
. A movie version of Friday Night Lights was made and then released in the United States
on October 6, 2004. It starred Billy Bob Thornton
as Permian Coach Gary Gaines
. The film was a box office and critical success and, in turn, spawned the critically acclaimed NBC
television series of the same name
, which ran five seasons from 2006-2011.
H. G. Bissinger
Harry Gerard Bissinger III, also known as H. G. Bissinger and Buzz Bissinger , is an American journalist and author, best known for his non-fiction book Friday Night Lights.-Early life and education:...
. The book follows the story of the 1988 Permian High School
Permian High School
Permian High School is a public high school located in Odessa, Texas and is part of the Ector County Independent School District. It was the subject of the book Friday Night Lights which in turn inspired a movie and TV series of the same name.-History:...
Panthers football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
team from Odessa, Texas
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
as they made a run towards the Texas state championship. While originally intended to be a Hoosiers
Hoosiers
Hoosiers is a 1986 sports film about a small-town Indiana high school basketball team that wins the state championship. It is loosely based on the Milan High School team that won the 1954 state championship....
-type chronicle of high school sports holding a small town together, the final book ended up being critical about life in the town of Odessa, complete with portraits of what Bissinger called "the ugliest racism" he has ever witnessed, as well as misplaced priorities, where football conquered most aspects of the town and academics were ignored for the sake of championships.
Bissinger was a writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
when he was selected to be a Harvard Neiman Fellow. It was while he was at Harvard that the idea to write a book focused on the role high school football plays within American society, in particular rural society, took hold. Bissinger returned to the Inquirer briefly, received a Pulitzer Prize, and then took off in search of a community for which high school football was paramount. He settled on Odessa, Texas. Permian High School and its football team, the Permian Panthers, had a long, rich history of winning in Texas' 4A and 5A division, winning championships in 1965, 1972, 1980 and 1984. Bissinger moved his family to Odessa and spent the entire 1988 football season with the Permian Panther players, their families, their coaches, and even many of the townspeople in an effort to understand the town and its football-mad culture.
In 2002, Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
named Friday Night Lights the fourth-greatest book ever written about sports.
Characters
- James "Boobie" MilesBoobie MilesJames "Boobie" Miles was a high school football tail back, and was a primary subject in the book Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H.G. Bissinger, and the movie inspired by the book...
- An African-American star running backRunning backA running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
for Permian heading into the 1988 season. The previous season he had rushed for 1,385 yards and showed flashes of brilliance. This season would be the season for him to shine and lead the team to a Texas state championship. Boobie was being heavily recruited by major college football programs such as NebraskaNebraska Cornhuskers footballThe Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. Nebraska is one of only six football programs in NCAA Division I-A...
, OklahomaOklahoma Sooners footballThe Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma . The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
, ArkansasArkansas Razorbacks footballThe Arkansas Razorbacks football program is a college football team that represents the University of Arkansas. The team is a member of the Southeastern Conference's Western Division, which is in Division I's Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
and TexasTexas Longhorns footballThe Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate football team representing The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. The team currently competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big 12 Conference which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National...
and USC and had professional football aspirations before suffering a knee injury in the pre season. He would never recover 100% and eventually quit the team in a rage. - Mike Winchell, the starting white quarterbackQuarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
for the Panthers. He is portrayed by Bissinger as a boy who is mostly level-headed, but prone to nerves. His play is unspectacular, but effective. He feels a lot of pressure from the town and peers alike. - Brian Chavez - A very intelligent Hispanic player. He is valedictorianValedictorianValedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
of his class and attends Harvard after graduating from Permian. He is a tight endTight endThe tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...
. He is mostly seen as an example of the good in Odessa, a diamond among rocks. - Ivory Christian, an African-American middle linebackerLinebackerA linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
for the Panthers. A punishing hitter with excellent reflexes and athleticism, Christian is a religious person. He struggles to enjoy playing football, realizing that there should be more to life and spends much of his time in thought. He is the only senior player from the 1988 Panther football team to receive a Division I football scholarshipAthletic scholarshipAn athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...
, attending Texas Christian UniversityTCU Horned Frogs footballThe TCU Horned Frogs football team is the intercollegiate football team of Texas Christian University. TCU competes as a member of the Mountain West Conference in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, but will move to the Big 12 Conference for the 2012 season. TCU began playing football...
. - Don Billingsley, a Permian tailbackTailbackTailback can mean:* Halfback * A line of motor vehicles caught up in traffic congestion; a traffic jam...
who frequently finds himself in trouble with the coaches. His father is a local legend for being a star player for Permian in the late 1960s, though Don is known more for his off the field activities, which at the time included drinking, fighting, and womanizing. - Jerrod McDougal, a Permian offensive tackle, who has sacrificed a lot to become varsity for Permian and, at 5'9", knows he is too short to play at college level, so practices several times a day to bring himself to an advantage.
- Gary GainesGary GainesGary Gaines is a high school football coach. Gaines was the head coach of the 1988 Permian High School football team which was the focus of the H. G. Bissinger book Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream and the 2004 motion picture Friday Night Lights starring Billy Bob Thornton...
, the head coachHead coachA head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
for Permian. A bright football mind who constantly deals with the pressures from the fans, the booster club, and the lofty expectations of being head coach for Permian.
Summary
The book opens with Permian's regular-season ending game against their arch-rival, the Midland Lee Rebels, then flashes back to the teams trials and tribulations throughout the season. Interspersed with the football team's saga is the history of Odessa and West Texas.The role of Permian football in the town is examined. The Panther booster club
Booster club
A booster club is an organization that is formed to support an associated club, sports team, or organization. Booster clubs are popular in American schools at the high school and university level...
is one of the largest social groups in the city. Many school children look up to the players and hope to play for the team one day. Many high school girls hope to become Permian cheerleaders, but the competition is fierce. Others become "Pepettes" who are assigned to one football player. Peppettes bring their assigned player gifts every Friday, are in charge of pep rallies, and personally decorate the exterior of the homes of their assigned player.
In the 5A playoff semifinals, Permian meets Dallas Carter
David W. Carter High School
David Wendel Carter High School is a public school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas . David W. Carter High School, which covers grades 9-12, is a part of the Dallas Independent School District....
, a predominately black team. Carter's system is even more corrupt than Permian's, and in a hard fought game in the rain, the Panthers are defeated. Carter goes on to win the state championship, but faces severe penalties the next year for their grade tampering, giving the state championship to Judson High School
Judson High School
Judson High School is a public, co-educational secondary school in Converse, Texas. It was established in 1959 and is part of the Judson Independent School District. The school was named after Moses Judson, who served on the Bexar County School Board from 1918 to 1939...
.
The book ends with Coach Gaines erasing names of the graduating seniors from his board and replacing them with names of the juniors who will replace them next season. Permian goes undefeated the next year, with future NFL player Stoney Case
Stoney Case
Stoney Jarrod Case is a quarterback in the Arena Football League, and a former National Football League quarterback with four teams.-High school and college:...
as quarterback, and becomes the 1989 Texas State football champions.
Chapters
PrologueBissinger discusses the Midland Lee game, Permian's arch rival. The game is played on October 28, 1988. He introduces the characters of Gary Gaines, Mike Winchell, Don Billingsley, Boobie Miles, Ivory Christian, Brian Chavez and Jerrod McDougal and gives insight into their personalities, thoughts and their pregame rituals. Boobie, who had injured his knee in a preseason scrimmage in August finally gets his chance to start. During the game he doesn't perform up to par and in fact makes his knee worse. Permian puts up a valiant fight but lose 22–21. After the game a furious Boobie storms out of the locker room and quits the team two days later.
Chapter 1: Odessa
Bissinger begins the book at the start of the 1988 football season in August and how Gaines is preparing for it. Bissinger then chronicles the history of Odessa. It was originally founded in the 1880s by land speculators from Zanesville, Ohio
Zanesville, Ohio
Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The population was 25,586 at the 2000 census.Zanesville was named after Ebenezer Zane, who had constructed Zane's Trace, a pioneer road through present-day Ohio...
. They advertised the land as being as fertile farmland like in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
and Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. However the settlers quickly discovered that it was dry and arid. The town saw little growth until 1926 when oil was discovered in the Permian Basin
Permian Basin
The Permian Basin is a sedimentary basin largely contained in the western part of the U.S. state of Texas and the southeastern part of the state of New Mexico. It reaches from just south of Lubbock, Texas, to just south of Midland and Odessa, extending westward into the southeastern part of the...
(hence the high school's name). Almost overnight the town boomed and it saw more growth in month than it had in ten years. The population increased dramatically and money was everywhere. In town the roads were so muddy that the oil workers (nicknamed boomers) often had to bring in cattle to pull the equipment to the oil fields. According to the book, "diarrhea, lawlessness, overcrowding, bad water, prostitution, and a rat problem" plagued the town. Out in the oil fields, the boomers worked round the clock to make their money. Meanwhile, Odessa High School
Odessa High School
Odessa High School is a public high school located in Odessa, Texas and is part of the Ector County Independent School District. The full name of the school is Odessa Senior High School. This name was originally to differentiate it from Odessa Junior High School...
's football team garnered success by winning the state championship in 1946 and making it back to the championship in 1953, thus laying the foundation for football fanaticism. Another boom in the 1950s led to the opening of Permian High School
Permian High School
Permian High School is a public high school located in Odessa, Texas and is part of the Ector County Independent School District. It was the subject of the book Friday Night Lights which in turn inspired a movie and TV series of the same name.-History:...
in 1959. Permian proved quickly that it was not going to play second to Odessa High. They became known as the embodiment of Odessa: small, white and overachieving. Meanwhile, due to demographic shifts and oddly-drawn boundaries, Odessa High became populated with mainly poor whites and poor Hispanics—while a substantial majority of the city's relatively small black population ended up in the Permian attendance zone. This is not to say, however, that Permian didn't have its share of poor people from all major ethnic groups.
Chapter 2: The Watermelon Feed
Bissinger talks about the Watermelon Feed held at Permian in August as a preseason celebration. He then chronicles the history of Permian football. Since its founding in 1959, it had won the state championship in 1965, 1972, 1980 and 1984. Despite the fact that it only won one state championship in the 1970s Permian had statistically been the winningest team in the state of Texas. Bissinger then discusses the pressure Gaines is constantly under because of how devoted the Permian fans are. High school football is used as a distraction for the once thriving community of Odessa which has gone into a slump when the second boom ended.
Chapter 3: Boobie
This chapter focuses on the black star running back James "Boobie" Miles who is Permian's ticket to the state championship. Bissinger uses Boobie as an example of the negative effect high school football can have its players. Boobie is not a good student and doesn't have to worry about grades because he will most likely get a football scholarship to a major college. The dream seems all too real until in August during a scrimmage in Lubbock
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
, Boobie injured his knee. With the season opener only a week away no one knows what to do. Now the pressure is on quarterback Mike Winchell. Meanwhile junior running back Chris Comer is called to replace Boobie.
Chapter 4: Dreaming of Heroes
This chapter focuses on the life of Mike Winchell, Permian's starting quarterback. Mike lived with his mother. His father ,Billy ,died when Mike was just thirteen. Billy had always been keen on Mike playing football when he was a little kid. Mike's older brother Joe Bill took over that role but in 1988 Joe Bill had since moved out. Mike who was a very intelligent student was getting offers from Brown University but only had prospects of playing football at a small division college. Don Billingsley is Permian's starting Tailback and son of the legendary Charlie Billingsley who played football in the 1960s. Don, whose mother had been a Permian cheerleader while Charlie played football, moved from Blanchard, Oklahoma
Blanchard, Oklahoma
Blanchard is a city in Grady and McClain counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 7,670 at the 2010 census. Blanchard is part of a rapidly growing area of northern McClain and Grady Counties known as the "Tri-City Area" with Newcastle and Tuttle.-Early history:Blanchard is...
to Odessa in 1986 before his sophomore year. Don and Charlie had always had a rocky relationship but it was all made better by football. Don was always inspired by his father's stories and always tried to live up to him. Yet sometimes he faltered because he was sometimes fumbled the ball on key plays.
Chapter 5: Black and White
Bissinger discusses the issue of race relations in Odessa which he describes as the ugliest racism he had ever witnessed. The town didn't desegregate until the 1980s and even then the schools were racially divided. Many viewed football as exploiting the talented black athletes by using them and then spitting them out afterwards.
Chapter 6: The Ambivalence of Ivory
Bissinger begins by discussing the life of Permian linebacker Ivory Christian. He originally thought he would go to Ector High School, where many poor blacks went, until Permian was desegregated in the early 1980s. Ivory had ambitions of become a minister at a Baptist church. Ivory gains these ambitions whe he has alife changing dream that involves a dark tunnel and light. Because of this dream Ivory decides that he will change his partying ways and tun his life over to God. Because of this desicion he becomes ambivalent towards football and what it stands for beginning the inner battle between Homeric and Christian values.
Chapter 7: School Days
Bissinger spends the chapter discussing the situation at Permian High School. He highlights the misplaced priorities as well as bad spending. More money is spent on sports medical supplies than the entire English department. The teachers make less money than the coaches who are financially at the mercy of the boosters who seldom care about education. Permian's SAT scores have plummeted dramatically since the 1970s and no one seems to care as long as Permian wins football games. As a result, everyone including the football players suffers. As the season progresses, Permian begins winning games.
Chapter 8: East versus West
Bissnger discusses the Permian–Odessa High game. The cross town rivalry is fueled by the cultural difference between the schools. For one thing Permian also got the majority of the Ector County
Ector County Independent School District
Ector County Independent School District is a public school district based in Odessa, Texas .In addition to Odessa, the district also serves the communities of West Odessa, Gardendale, and Goldsmith as well as rural areas in Ector County....
education budget while Odessa High typically got what was left (which wasn't that much). Odessa High had once been the beacon of hope in the city. It won the 1946 state championship and did well overall. Then Permian opened in 1959. The middle class whites went to Permian and the Mexicans
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
went to Odessa High. Also Permian hasn't lost to Odessa in over twenty years. Permian wins the game 35–7.
Chapter 9: Friday Night Politics
Bissinger discusses the political views in Odessa which has long been a Republican voting city. The 1988 election is coming up and it is clear that majority of its residents are going to vote for Republican candidate and then Vice President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, who lived in the area in the 1940s and 1950s. They had loved Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
so the choice was clear. Many view Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
as far too liberal and think he is out to destroy their way of life from his comfortable home in Massachusetts. Unlike Dukakis, Bush understood west Texas and indeed middle America. Meanwhile, Permian rolls over Midland High School winning 35–0. Bissinger also discusses the life of Brian Chavez, the Permian tight end. Chavez is extremely smart and has ambitions of going to Harvard. His father Tony is a successful lawyer originally from El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
. Tony had enlisted in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
after high school. After he was discharged he took his GI Bill money and decided to take law classes at Texas Tech
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...
in Lubbock
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
eventually graduating with a law degree in 1978. He supported the family by working as a police officer in El Paso. On his trips between the two cities he drove through Odessa and thought it was dirty, seedy and trashy and wanted to work in Midland. However once he graduated he got a job offer in Odessa and moved his family there. In 1982 the family moved to the Country Club estates, the nicest part of town. Tony was in many ways the embodiment of the American dream.
Chapter 10: Boobie Who?
Bissinger discusses Boobie's football career after his injury. He thought the injury wasn't that serious and constantly tried to convince the coaches he could play. He played as a back up in several games but never got any serious playing time. But as Boobie's career is falling Mike Winchell's is soaring.
Chapter 11: Sisters
Bissinger discusses the Permian-Midland Lee rivalry. Even though the two towns were very similar, the hatred ran deep. Odessans viewed Midland as a town full of rich snobs and Midlanders view Odessa as a city full of rednecks, money burners and drunks. In 1983 an article in Forbes magazine
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
named Midland one of the nicest places to live in America. At the same time, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
named Odessa "Murder Capital U.S.A." with a record 29.8 murders per 100,000 residents. Bissinger traces the roots of the hatred to the second oil boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The boom had been brought by the oil embargo by OPEC
OPEC
OPEC is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965, and hosts regular meetings...
as well as the Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
, the 1973 Oil Crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
, the 1979 Energy Crisis
1979 energy crisis
The 1979 oil crisis in the United States occurred in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. Amid massive protests, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled his country in early 1979 and the Ayatollah Khomeini soon became the new leader of Iran. Protests severely disrupted the Iranian oil...
and the Carter Energy Policy. Oil prices skyrocketed and for the second time in forty years the boom was on. People were making money left and right in both Midland and Odessa. There were stories of welders who could barely read making as much as $90,000 a year. Stories abounded of business men buying Lear jets and building huge homes for no other reason than the fact that they could. The oil executives thought they were in control of everything and didn't realize it was all circumstantial. Once the embargo ended, the boom was over. The final nail in the coffin was the closing of the First National Bank of Midland in October 1983 as a result of the 1980s oil glut
1980s oil glut
The 1980s oil glut was a serious surplus of crude oil caused by falling demand following the 1970s Energy Crisis. The world price of oil, which had peaked in 1980 at over US$35 per barrel , fell in 1986 from $27 to below $10...
and the Permian Basin never fully recovered. Bissinger also discusses the effects that the Reagan 1980s had on the Odessa-Midland Area.
Chapter 12: Civil War
After Permian loses to Midland Lee the fate of the season is unclear. Gaines is now under tremendous pressure and wonders if he will still have a job in a year's time. In two season Gaines had only gotten as far as the third round of playoffs. Meanwhile Jerrod McDougal, the Permian defensive tackle who knew he wouldn't play football in college, was devastated at the prospect of the season ending so early. Permian, Midland High and Midland Lee are all tied with one district loss each and only two can go to represent the district in the 1988 playoffs. It will be decided in a coin toss.
: Heads or Tails
Permian ends the regular season beating the San Angelo Bobcats 41–7. But now it all comes down to a coin toss. Coach Gaines and Mike Belew drive to meet the head coaches of Midland High and Midland Lee. The event is held at a truck stop on the south side of Midland at 2:00 am local time. The location is undisclosed and it is broadcast live on TV. When the coin toss finally happens there it is originally thought to be a tie. Then it turns out to that Permian and Midland Lee landed head and Midland High landed tails. The two teams will continue their seasons while Midland High's season is over.
Chapter 14: Friday Night addiction
The playoffs have finally arrived. Permian first defeats Tascosa High School
Tascosa High School
Tascosa High School is a high school in Amarillo, Texas- Notable alumni :* Kevin Fowler, Class of 1984 - country musician*Paul Lockhart, Class of 1974 - former USAF test pilot and astronaut...
in Amarillo 21–7. They then play Andress High School
Andress High School
Andress High School is a public high school located on the northeast side of El Paso, Texas. The school serves about 2,000 students in the El Paso Independent School District. It is located in the Sun Valley neighborhood at the intersection of Sun Valley Drive and Mackinaw Street...
in El Paso in the Sun Bowl
Sun Bowl Stadium
The Sun Bowl is an outdoor football stadium, on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso. It is home to the UTEP Miners of Conference USA , and the late December college football bowl game, the Hyundai Sun Bowl...
, winning 41–13. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Permian beats the Irving Nimitz
Nimitz High School (Irving, Texas)
Chester W. Nimitz High School is a public high school in the Irving Independent School District, Irving, Texas. It was named for U.S. Navy Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. Nimitz High School is one of four public high schools in the Irving Independent School District...
Vikings, a team ranked sixth in the state, 41–7. Bissinger also explores the fates of many famous Permian players and how many of them ended right back in Odessa. He cites these stories as key examples of the false world Permian football can have on its players. Permian then beats Arlington Lamar
Lamar High School (Arlington, Texas)
Mirabeau B. Lamar High School is a secondary school in Arlington, Texas. It is named for Mirabeau B. Lamar, the second president of the Republic of Texas, and located at 1400 West Lamar Boulevard....
21–7. But now it was on to play the team many called the best high school football team in the state if not the country—the David W. Carter High School
David W. Carter High School
David Wendel Carter High School is a public school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas . David W. Carter High School, which covers grades 9-12, is a part of the Dallas Independent School District....
Cowboys from Dallas.
Chapter 15: The Algebraic Equation
Bissinger spends the chapter discussing the football players at Dallas Carter High School, which despite being all black is an upper middle class high school. The football obsession at Dallas Carter dwarfs the one at Permian. Players skipped classes, left school to get lunch, and had their grades fixed by teachers so that they could play. This led to a court case when a teacher, Will Bates, refused to lie about the algebra grade of a key player, Gary Edwards. The case was won and Dallas Carter got to continue their season. During the week of the game the coaches from Permian and Dallas Carter meet to decide where the game will be played. They eventually agree on Texas Memorial Stadium at the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
. They also agree on a racially mixed officiating crew to minimize any possible bias from that source.
Chapter 16: Field of Dreams
Permian plays Dallas Carter on December 17, 1988. The game is extremely close with Permian initially ahead. Don Billingsley makes some great tackles. Ivory Christian makes an interception. Jerrod McDougal blocks exceptionally well, and Chris Comer moves the ball exceptionally well. But then a bad call in which the football bounced off the artificial turf of the field into a Carter receiver's hand. Carter then scores. Permian is now down 14–9. As the game draws to an end in the fourth quarter Permian gains the ball and starts gaining yards fast until finally the final seconds of the game are at hand with Permian on the Carter 24-yard line. Winchell gets ready to pass to Robert Brown. The ball is snapped, Winchell looks to Brown and throws the ball. It is incomplete. Permian loses 14–9. For the players, high school football is over and a big part of their lives has just ended. Right after the game the team heads home. McDougal, who loved football to death, lingered in the team locker room for a little longer than everyone else but eventually left to the locker room. Then Gaines and the coaches took down the magnetic names on the board. Bissinger ends the chapter saying, "The season had ended, but another one had begun. People everywhere, young and old were already dreaming of heroes."
Epilogue
A week later, Dallas Carter won the 1988 Texas state championship. For the players, the sense of entitlement and the feeling that they could do whatever they wanted to reached an all-time high. Gary Edwards got a full scholarship to the University of Tennessee. However in May 1989, Edwards and several other players committed an armed robbery in Dallas. They were arrested and they were tried in September. It was then discovered they had committed as many as ten robberies prior. Edwards, who initially thought he would just get probation, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. After some review it was decided that because of grade changing on the player's action, Dallas Carter was stripped of their state championship.
Bissinger then discusses the fates of the 1988 Permian Panthers. Brian Chavez went to Harvard but quit the football team after only one day because there was no bond. He instead decided to play rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
. Boobie Miles played football at Ranger College, a junior college. Jerrod McDougal attended Odessa College
Odessa College
Odessa College is a public two-year junior college based in Odessa, Texas, USA serving the people of Ector County and the Permian Basin. It opened in 1952 and currently enrolls about 5,000 annually in its university-parallel and occupational/technical courses, and 11,000 students annually in its...
and then Midland College. Although he missed football he could find happiness in the knowledge that Permian football would go on forever. Don Billingsley went back to Oklahoma and at first played football for East Central University
East Central University
East Central University is a four year public university in Ada, Oklahoma, located in the south central region of the state. The university also has courses available in McAlester, Shawnee, Ardmore, and Durant....
but then he severely injured his knee and needed surgery. Ivory Christian went to play for Texas Christian University
TCU Horned Frogs football
The TCU Horned Frogs football team is the intercollegiate football team of Texas Christian University. TCU competes as a member of the Mountain West Conference in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, but will move to the Big 12 Conference for the 2012 season. TCU began playing football...
but quit playing football after his freshman year. Mike Winchell played football for Baylor University
Baylor Bears football
The Baylor Bears football team represents Baylor University in Division I FBS college football. They are a member of the Big 12 Conference. The team plays its home games at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas.-History:...
but said it wasn't as great as Permian and lost a lot of his abilities.
1989 saw the price of oil rise as high as $20 a barrel. Yet that same year saw 46% of the nation's oil imported, the highest in twelve years. As a result, West Texas continued to suffer economically. That year Odessa was named the second-worst place to live in America by the Places Rated Almanac. Meanwhile Permian was dominating on the football field. They redeemed themselves, beating Midland Lee 17–13. Permian continued to win in the playoffs and eventually got to the state championship. Among the players was quarterback Stoney Case
Stoney Case
Stoney Jarrod Case is a quarterback in the Arena Football League, and a former National Football League quarterback with four teams.-High school and college:...
who would one day became an NFL player. Before the game Gary Gaines told the players, "Everybody in this room has paid a dear, dear price. That ought to make your effort that much more intense, that much more fanatical, because of all the hard work and sacrifice that's gone into getting you here. It ought to make you play that much harder. You represent a lot of people. We're gonna represent them well and we're gonna win this sucker!" The players then took the field. Odessa had gone through a ridiculous amount of change in the 1980s going from a place where anything was possible to a place where nothing was certain and everything was finite. Yet football had always been there. Bissinger ends the book by saying, "It would always go on just as Jerrod McDougal had realized, because it was a way of life. The Permian Panthers ended the decade the same way they had begun it. Two days before Christmas, they became the state football champions of Texas."
Investigation
While he was writing the book, the University Interscholastic LeagueUniversity Interscholastic League
The University Interscholastic League is an organization that creates rules for and administers almost all athletic, music, and academic contests for public primary and secondary schools in the American state of Texas....
(UIL) investigated the Permian Panthers football program alleging that H.G. Bissinger took players out to eat, and paid for the meals while interviewing them for the book, a violation of amateur rules. Bissinger had taken a leave of absence from The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he was a reporter, to follow the team and write the book.
Reaction
The book's release during the 1990 season coincided with the team being under investigation for holding illegal off-season practices, which resulted in the team being declared ineligible for the playoffs and thus not participating in the postseason for only the second time since 1980. Permian's absence from the playoffs allowed San Angelo Central into the playoffs for only the 3rd time since 1966. The negative reaction to the playoff situation was exacerbated by the book, and many residents of Odessa received the book with responses ranging from mild indignation to threats of physical violence aimed at the book's author.As a result of the negative reaction in Odessa, a bookstore cancelled a booksigning by the author, and T-shirts possessed by the population had the words "Buzz off, Bissinger."
However, over time, the accuracy of the story has held up. The book has been reprinted frequently, recently it was reprinted with a new afterword by the author detailing the team's accomplishments in the early part of the 1990s followed by the demise of the program in the latter part of the decade. In 2002, Sports Illustrated named Friday Night Lights the fourth-greatest book ever written about sports.
The book inspired the short-lived television series Against the Grain
Against the Grain
- Broadcast media :*Against the Grain , 1993 NBC drama series with Ben Affleck*Against the Grain , an interview program on Pacifica Radio station KPFA, Berkeley, hosted by C.S...
, which was most notable for starring a young Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
. A movie version of Friday Night Lights was made and then released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on October 6, 2004. It starred Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...
as Permian Coach Gary Gaines
Gary Gaines
Gary Gaines is a high school football coach. Gaines was the head coach of the 1988 Permian High School football team which was the focus of the H. G. Bissinger book Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream and the 2004 motion picture Friday Night Lights starring Billy Bob Thornton...
. The film was a box office and critical success and, in turn, spawned the critically acclaimed NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television series of the same name
Friday Night Lights (TV series)
Friday Night Lights is an American sports drama television series adapted by Peter Berg, Brian Grazer and David Nevins from a book and film of the same name. The series details events surrounding a high school football team based in fictional Dillon, Texas, with particular focus given to team...
, which ran five seasons from 2006-2011.