Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights

A Way of Life: MOJO Style

Permian High School’s Panther football team is located in the small town of Odessa Texas. This town was consumed by football and would go to the extremes to support the team. The town took so much pride in their Permian team that football had many effects on the community as a whole. Along with the community, football also had many major effects on the players. “Those lights become an addiction if you live in a place like Odessa, the Friday Night Fix.” (Bissinger, XIV). Permian football was not just a team or any old football game, it was a way of life in Odessa.

Football both negatively and positively affected the community as well as the individual players themselves. In a town that experienced many lows, football seemed to be the key factor that united its citizens. Football positively affected the community by holding it together. The school systems also took a toll as football became more important. School was less about academics and more about football. The community went to great lengths to support and honor their football team. This showed by some of the community’s negative actions and the extreme lengths they would go to. Football impacted the community along with its players. Boobie Miles’ life revolved around football, both for the better and the worse. Jerrod McDougal cannot let the past go about Permian football. While Ivory Christian let go of Permian football so it would not hold him back in life. H.G. Bissinger moves to Odessa to experience all of this hands on and talks about it all in his book Friday Night Lights.

Football preserved the community when Odessa reached its lowest points. Odessa was well known for its oil that it produced and used to be a booming town. Jobs were created and people moved from all over the United States to Odessa. However, the town experienced the typical cycle of booms-and-busts. There were many good years where the town strived but a severe bust would quickly....