Favorite Passages
Quotes I Love :):
(Considering I didn't like the book much, there aren't many.)



"On the far wall of their office was a depth chart. It had the names of each of the players on little magnets that could be constantly juggled, from first string to second string, from tackle to guard, from fullback to tailback, from offense to defense, or removed altogether. They went to work immediately, because there was no time for sentiment, no reason to postpone it. Boobie's name had been taken off long ago. But now the others joined him as well. WINCHELL... MCDOUGAL... BIlLINGSLEY... CHAVEZ... CHRISTIAN.... They and all the other seniors were placed in a neat little pile at the bottom, and suddenly there was no sign of them at all on the board, just black, empty spaces that would soon be filled by other magnets at quarterback, and tailback and middle linebacker and all the other positions."

I love this passage on page 336 because it is the perfect ending. For those six seniors highschool football is over, they're erased from the wall. But next year they'll be forgotten as new players fill their old positions, and the cycle of temporary fame will continue on.


"Odessa is the setting for this book, but it could be anyplaces in this vast land where, on a Friday night, a set of spindly stadium lights rises to the heavens to so powerfully, and so briefly, ignite the darkness."

I love this passage on page xiv because the metaphor at the end is really clever. I think I explained it on a test we took one time.


"When Boobie Miles returned to the football field, no one called out his name with those bellowing chants that had rocked the Watermelon Feed in a moment that seemd like a millenium before. There were no bursts of applause, no coach's speech comparing him to the great Permian runners of the past, no take-your-sweet-time walk down the aisle of the crowded high school cafeteria. In the space of five weeks he had become an afterthought whose past performance earned no special privilege and seemed largely forgotten."

I love this passage on page 194 because it's so true. In football, if you're not out there doing well and making a name for yourself, you get forgotten and become just another face in the crowd just like that.


"There were days when he didn't know if he could take it anymore, days during off-season when it was time to do the dreaded mat excercises in the hot, sweaty weight room, those endless flips and somersaults at full speed. 'I threw up whether I ate anything at lunch or not. There were days I didn't eat, it didn't do any good.' But the image of Friday night always kept him going."

I love this passage on page 249 because it talks about how tough it was at practices and during off-season, but the thrill of Friday nights was enough to keep Jerrod McDougal on the team.


"'Why are the scores of the Permian games so lopsided?' Boobie himself had posed the question one day. 'Because they only have one Boobie.' He was right. They only had one Boobie."

I love this quotation on page 52 because it just makes me laugh everytime I read it. It's creative too. =).