Book Review: Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger

One of my favorite movie speeches is the "Perfection" speech by Billy Bob Thorton in Friday Night Lights. It's touching, brilliant, and makes me all dewy-eyed. It was that kind of uplifting writing that I decided to read Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger, the basis of the movie and the ongoing NBC TV series. I didn't get that kind of motivational warm and fuzziness, but what I did get was much more compelling.

The world of Friday Night Lights is focussed around aging Ratliff Stadium, the 19,000+ high school football stadium in the east-end of Odessa, Texas in 1988. Bissinger had moved to Odessa in the summer of 1988 to follow the lives of six of the Permian Panthers and their senior years at Permian High School as they try to make the Texas State Championships. "Goin' State in '88!" is the rallying cry of the town of Odessa.

Although Bissinger focuses on the lives of these young men who carry the weight of their town's dreams and aspirations on their shoulders, he also looks at the context of those Friday night games. He examines the social and economic circumstances from the boom and bust oil economy, to the casual racism of Odessans, and the reality of the education crisis in the United States. It shows just how important sports can be to the make-up of society, and how it reflects culture, and culture reflects it.

It's an incredible piece of literature, and I definitely recommend it to football fans, fans of the movie or TV show, and anyone else. It really is one of the best books I've ever read.

Five out of five.

Shoot-out Specialists

About ten days ago, Sports Illustrated's Michael Farber dedicated some space in his On The Fly column to talk about the Edmonton Oilers' domination in the shoot-out this season.

Combined with Christmas Day highlights of Jonathan Toews' dominant shootout performance in the 2006 World Junior Championship, it's clear that modern hockey franchises - NHL and otherwise - have to face the reality of the shoot-out.

Although the Oilers are currently a glum 16-18 this year, and are deep in the cellar of the Western conference, they are an impressive 10-1 when the game goes to a shoot-out. Consider how pathetic their record would be if they hadn't won those games in the 1-on-1!

Today, Canada beat Slovakia for their twentieth consecutive victory in the World Junior Championships. A record that would've been snapped four games ago if Jonathan Toews hadn't been so dominant with three goals to beat Team USA in the 2006 semi-finals.

Farber discussed the idea of teams employing shoot-out specialists. I agree - - that is an idea whose time has come. Every NHL team should now dedicate a large section of practice to the shoot-out. It'd be good for both the goaltenders and the shooters to practice.

With more then half of the Oilers' wins coming from their skill in the shoot-out, it's clear that the potential is there for the skills competition at the end of a game to make or break a team's season. General managers, coaches, and players should take notice and begin to adapt to an aspect of the game that is quickly growing.

The third and fourth-liners of the NHL should start dedicating chunks of their off-season to practicing their dekes and breakaway shots, while goalies across North America should start practicing as well - - the game is changing, and for the better.

And Major League Baseball reaches a new low...

No, not just the Mitchell Report.

Pete Rose using the Mitchell Report as leverage to get into the Hall of Fame. That is an all time low.

It's bad enough that Andy Peittite, Miguel Tejada and surefire Hall of Famer Roger Clemens have either admitted to or been accused of taking steroids and/or Human Growth Hormones. We now have Charlie Hustle himself weighing in on the subject.

In an interview with Dennis Miller on the VERSUS network, Rose said:

"I've been suspended 18 years for betting on my own team to win," then he added "I was wrong ... but these guys today, if the allegations are true, they're making a mockery of the game."

I'm pretty sure that Pete Rose criticizing anyone, anywhere, for anything having to do with baseball should be dismissed out of hand. After all, when these guys supposedly took steroids, there were no rules against the use of performance enhancing drugs. When Rose bet on baseball, he was breaking a rule that had been in place since 1919. He has no right to cry foul.

But it gets better! He also complains about these players making a mockery of baseball. This from a man who has repeatedly dressed up as a chicken for World Wrestling Entertainment events, and been chased from the ring by a giant. Don't believe me? Check it out on YouTube and the WWE's own website.

So why is Pete speaking up now? "If you're going to put these guys that supposedly did steroids into the Hall of Fame, I mean I've got to get a shot somewhere," Ah. There you go. Self-promotion. Good job Mr. Rose.

Although Rose and his 4,256 hits have their place in history, more then just about anyone else, Pete Rose deserves to be kept out of the Hall of Fame.

The very best part is that when Miller asked Rose how the steroids would have affected his career hits record, he replied:

"I would have got 5,000 hits,"

To be absolutely clear on this:

Pete Rose (who definitely committed a cardinal sin) wants to be let into the Hall of Fame because people who did not break the rules might get in. He (the guy who dressed up as a chicken and acted like an oaf for Vince MacMahon) feels they made a mockery of the game. But if there were steroids available to him, he would have done the same thing.

Ladies and gentlemen: Pete Rose. Class act.

Response to Tim Layden's Worth Remembering...

On SportsIllustrated.com today, Tim Layden posted a preview of his article on Kevin Everett's ongoing recovery cycle. The full article is going to be in SI's print edition, but the two online pages still made a hell of an impression.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, it's pretty straightforward. In the season opener, the Buffalo Bills hosted the Denver Broncos. Tight-end Kevin Everett went for a tackle and broke his neck. To be precise, his helmet collided with another helmet and snapped his head back, leaving him a quadriplegic on the field.

Thanks to the fantastic work of Buffalo Bills training staff, they were able to keep Everett's spinal column intact. Surgeon Dr. Andrew Cappuccino was able to perform a controversial procedure involving hypothermic treatment and his patient is saved.

Kevin Everett is able to walk again.

No, he'll never be a professional football player again. But who cares? A young man has avoided personal tragedy. That's much more important then some game.

I think one of the most frustrating, if not upsetting, parts of this story is that there is no one to blame. Sports is, by its nature, oppositional. If it is not a head-to-head game, there's at least someone you are competing against. Someone to other.

But in this case, there was no other. There was no one to blame.

Everett's hit was clean, and was a play that could happen to any player in the NFL or the Canadian Football League. Helmet-to-helmet collisions are a constant in the game, and can't be removed from North American football.

You can't levy a fine on bad luck and you can't suspend a bad break. Thank goodness Kevin Everett is not a quadriplegic.

Everett's temporary paralysis was the result of one of the standard risks of being a professional athlete. It is something that we, as fans, should keep in mind. Every time our favourite athletes step on to the field of play, they are taking enormous risks.

The Starting Line

I'm a big fan of sports. Always have been. I watch all the major North American leagues, and even some less prominent ones like the National Lacrosse League. I also follow sports around the world, like the European Premiereships and even, on occasion, Australian Rules Football.

Given that my passion is sports, it's only natural that I begin writing down my thoughts and impressions of what consumes me. I read alot, so I expect I'll do book reviews as well and also discuss articles that I've read online and in the world of print.

Welcome to the Cheapseats. I hope you enjoy the view.