List of Characters

Boobie Miles, #35:
A 200-pound running back/monster, Boobie was the star of the Permian Panthers. That is, until his cleat got stuck in astro turf during a scrimmage and he blew out his knee. Boobie had a learning disability, and without football, he basically had nothing left.



Brian Chavez, #85:
An excellent football player, Brian's dream wasn't to be a football star, it was to go to Harvard. He was very agressive on the field, but when he wasn't playing football, Brian was more concerned with his schoolwork. This wasn't common for most Permian Players, as most lived for football, and only football.



Don Billingsley, #26:
Starting tailback for the Permian Panthers, Don is constantly trying to live up to the standards his father, Charlie, once set as a Permian football player.



Ivory Christian, #62
The middle linebacker. He used to get in all kinds of trouble, but then decided to turn his life around and condemned anything that wasn't Christian. He didn't take the SAT's or ACT's because he didn't want to go to college, and tries to hate football. He's addicted to the game though, and an excellent player.




Jerrod McDougal, #76
The offensive tackle. Standing at 5'9", Jerrod had little hope of continuing football into college. He loved the game, and was extremely supersticious.






Mike Winchell, #20
The starting quarterback for the Permian Panthers, Mike Winchell was a so-so player when under pressure. He lost his Dad at an early age, and his home life wasn't the best. He was there for the team, though, and continued to try his hardest.



Coach Gary Gaines:
As coach of the Panthers, Gary Gaines was under a lot of pressure to help his team succeed. If they failed, the whole town turned against him until he redeemed himself with a few wins.

Other websites related to the book
http://www.fridaynightlightsbook.com/


http://www.oaoa.com/specialsections/fridaylights/fridaylights.htm


http://www.xanga.com/kfitz249?nextdate=10%2f6%2f2005+12%3a2%3a17.287&direction=n


http://www.lawbookfinder.com/books/0306809907/details

Plot Summary
The book Friday Night Lights was published after author H.G. Bissinger spent a year in Odessa, Texas studying the Permian High School football team. The book gives readers an inside look on life in Odessa in the year 1988. At that time, the town of Odessa, a town basically run from oil drilling, was going through an economic depression because oil prices were extremely low. To get through hard times, most citizens had turned to the one great thing left in town, the high school football program. The high school football team, the Panthers, was the best team in the state, and was under the pressure of 20,000 fans and parents to succeed by making it to the state play-offs, and winning. Friday Night Lights takes a look at individual players, mostly seniors, and how each player is dealing with the stress from football as well as issues with racism, segregation, money, and where he is going with his life (see "characters" page for more info on each player). After a tragic loss, the Permian Panthers were tied with two other teams to go to the semi-finals. They went, but ended up losing. The book ends by discussing what happened after the loss in the semi-finals, and what the senior players did since their high school football careers were over.

Personal Review
The only entertaining part of the story was the pictures in the book Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger. It lacked a proper plot, and skipped randomly around different aspects of the town of Odessa, Texas. I found the book to be rather boring, and often found myself dreaming about gauging my eyes out while trying to read. I'll admit some pieces and chapters captivated my attention, but overall, it lost my interest within the first few lines of each chapter. I don't reccommend reading this book if you have a short attention span that must be surrounded by action at all times.

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. =).