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How sports events bring people together
How do sports bring communities together
Society and sports
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High school sports can have a tremendous effect on not only those who participate but the members of the community in which they participate. These effects can be positive, but they can also be negative. In the book Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger shows that they are often negative in communities where high school sports “keep the town alive” due to the social pressure. In this way, Friday Night Lights gives insight into the effects of high school football being the backbone of a community, revealing that the fate of the individual football players are inadvertently determined by the actions of the townspeople. African-American players are often negatively affected due to the prevalence of racism in the town. Ivory Christian, for instance, is a born-again Christian with aspirations to be a famous evangelist, but he is unable to pursue his dream due to his commitment to the football team. Because of this, the townspeople have unrealistic expectations of him and assume that he will put all his time and energy into football. Furthermore, there is a greater pressure on him to succeed...
Is High School football a sport, or is it more than that to some people? I’ve learned that the book is more sociological, which means that it focused on our human society of racial issues and also emphasizes the economy and the divide between the wealthy residents of one city versus the more working-class denizens of another are all subjects that are given an in-depth examination. This is more of the main or focal point of the whole book and in not so much in the movie. Although Bissinger's story is a true-life recounting of the 1988 football season of the Permian High School team, it reads like fiction and even though I believe his book is superior, the theatrical adaptation still stands apart as one of the great football movies ever to see in theaters. In the movie it was that team unit that was most significant in the development of the tale. Almost 80 – 90% of the book is in the film but there still are some differentiated contrasts found in the book in comparison to the movie. It has the intensity and the realism that kids were and are and also captures the...
Even though the Permian Panthers had won a state championship the community wasn’t fond of black people. They wanted a state title but not all the recognition to go to Boobie Miles because he was a black running back. “He responded without the slightest hesitation. ‘ A big ol’ dumb nigger.” (Bissinger, 49) There are multiple accounts of harsh and unneeded racism thought the book. “ They started chanting something. Some said it was ‘Oreo Oreo!” The expectations of how the season will go is a huge conflict in Friday Night Lights. Two weeks before the season starts there is a watermelon feed for the players and families to come support. People would come to the Watermelon Feed with their children as if they feel it’s important for the little ones to see this spectacle at a young age and be awed by it. Even though people struggled financial and economic hardships, the lights of a Friday night game ignite their hopes and dreams of a better
In the book Friday Night Lights by author H.G Bissinger, there are various themes circulating around, However, the theme of racism overwhelms the majority and provides sufficient insight into the social hierarchy and social structure of the town of Odessa, Texas. The book overlooks a group of high school students dedicated to playing football and their struggle with identity, culture, and race. Race not only affects social problems within the book but also psychological, economic and political. Friday Night Lights compares the tensions between the black and white players and the community as a whole, who idolize the game, proving that a single high school football team can shape an entire town. Bissinger uses the racism
Botstein begins his essay by listing examples to assert that the American high school is obsolete. He describes high school as if to someone who knows nothing about it, so as to better expose the failings of the institution. Current or former high-schoolers remember the team sport culture, but might not realize its harm without Botstein’s detached and somewhat analytical description.
This article proposes the idea of what would happen if Black people really embraced the sports world and made that their priority instead of education, “He provides the example of percentages of Black males competing in the NBA (77%), NFL (65%), MLB (15%), and MLS (16%) in comparison to the fact that fewer than 2% of doctors, lawyers, architects, college professors, or business executives are Black males,”. Dr. Robinson brings up the sta…..
Within a community is a sense of unity, which for many is brought together by the young athletes of the community. In his article “High School Sports Have Turned Into Big Business,” Mark Koba of CNBC highlights that within the last thirty to forty years high school football has escalated into a highly revered tradition in which not only communities, but highly successful corporations have begun to dedicate millions of dollars towards (Koba n. pg.). This highlights the status of sports within the community and may explain part of the reason schools would favor sports over other programs. Because sports programs can often turn over big profits for schools, they tend to dedicate most of their excess funds towards sports, and rely on sports programs to create large profits for the school. When school administrators see how much sports unite, excite, and benefit the school, they develop a respect for sports and consider it a necessity to provide a good sports program for their students and community. Also in his article, Koba quotes an interviewee named Mark Conrad who is the associate professor of legal and ethical studies at Fordham University 's school of...
Athletics in American schools have always been controversial for many reasons. Some of these reasons include health concerns, safety precautions, and academic significance. Daniel H. Bowen and Colin Hitt wrote an article titled, “High-School Sports Aren’t Killing Academics” to present the factors of positive correlation between success in athletics and academics. I believe that athletics in high schools not only benefit students socially, but also academically.
In March of 1946, a man named Kenny Washington made a very important contribution for the NFL (Britannica). Kenny Washington became the first African American to ever play in a professional sports league (Amaral). Since he was colored in the 1940 draft class, none of the teams wanted to draft him (Bowen). Even though Kenny was doubted and treated differently than others, he was able to play on a smaller league team near the Pacific coast (Bowen). Then the day finally came when Kenny was allowed to play in the NFL after World War II had ended. This essay will discuss the story of Kenny Washington’s life before he became the first African American football player, what he went through to get there, and why he is important to the NFL.
Defending Titles Diversely: A Persuasive Essay about the Lack of Diversity in Sports Many Americans have seen or at least heard of the movie “Remember the Titans.” The classic film focuses on a school that blends black and whites and takes on an African American head coach. The coach knows the importance of winning, but also knows the team must work together to get those wins and have respect for every single person in the locker room. Although coach Boone was still put in a tough situation with the school board and the community, he was able to lead his team, with the help of a white assistant coach, to an undefeated season. The team coming together is exactly what America does with sports.
In sports, there is no shortage of black success stories. Meanwhile, two black men of prominence in Odessa (who are not athletes) fell from grace. Willie Hammond Jr. (the first black city councilor and county commissioner) and Laurence Hurd (a minister and desegregation supporter) were glimmers of hope for the black community that were both snuffed out. Hammond was arrested on charges of arson conspiracy and perjury and Hurd is in prison for burglary and robbery, leaving a hole in the morale of the black community that was not repaired. These losses, combined the with negative news of black people circulated via media, made the possibility of succeeding in a white man’s world inconceivable. Yet, there is no shortage of black success stories in sports, like Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson; in every area that is not a “rich man’s sport”, black athletes dominate. To the poor children on the Southside, there is something very alluring about the “Cinderella stories” of men from poor black neighborhoods rising to prominence through sports. Based on these examples, there seem to only be two paths for a black teen to take: criminal or athlete. Many of these teens aspire to be sports stars and depend on nothing else because there is nothing else. Some may become the superstars they hope to be or they fall into ruin as Boobie Miles, Derric Evans, and Gary Edwards
Coakley (2009) starts off the chapter by introducing how participation in organized sports came about and how gender roles played a major role early on. He describes how most programs were for young boys with the hope that being involved would groom them to become productive in the economy. Girls were usually disregarded and ended up sitting in the stands watching their sibling’s ga...
H.G.Bissinger, through his novel Friday Night Lights, creates an appeal to pathos to persuade readers to care about his opinion that the emphasis placed on High School Football has a dangerous impact on the lives of students. To support his opinion, Bissinger employs methods and techniques which help create an appeal to pathos. Pathos is an appeal which heavily relates to a reader’s emotion on various different aspects. To establish the fundamental problem Odessa, Texas has when it comes to football, Bissinger shows the religious like attitude the game is conceived with. By adding testimonies, Bissinger ties in emotion while strengthening his argument. Lastly, Bissinger uses personal stories
It is often informative as well as interesting to analyze the differences and the similarities between a book and that books movie adaption. This is especially true when the book is based on actual events due to the fact that it allows one to get a real sense of how film makers can manipulate certain elements to make the story more entertaining. It is obvious that the author of Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger, and the director of the movie, Peter Berg, were attempting to portray Boobie and the other characters involved in the most realistic way. However, the film version of Friday Night Lights has distinctly different portrayals of Boobie’s actions as well as a number of similarities in comparison to the book version.
The choice of popularity, or being a normal kid, is a predicament a lot of young teens find themselves in nowadays due to high school football. Football seems to be the biggest and coolest sport in most high schools. Some schools go as far as having parades and pep rallies before games. While other sports just get a morning announcement. But what comes along with the popular high school sport, isn’t so great. Football should be banned from American high schools because it comes with a lot of pain both physically and mentally, it puts loads of pure pressure on incoming students, and it promotes pain over pleasure.
The scholars expounds that Black athletes were commodities on the playing field to help win games and bring in revenue to their respected schools. However, the schools were just as eager and willing to leave their Black players behind and dishonoring the player as a part of the team. Therefore, not compromising the team’s winning and bring in profits for the school. Sadly, Black athletes at predominately White institutions (PWIs) who believed that they were bettering the live of themselves and their families members by going to college and playing collegiate sports to increase their post secondary careers. However, these athletes were only “show ponies” for their schools. Unfortunately, Black athletes had allegiance to their school; however, the school turned their backs on the athletes to protect the profit and notoriety of the school and the programs. Money and respect from White fans and spectators were more important to the PWIs than standing up for the respect of their Black players. Racial bigotry in sports was rampant and it was only going to get worse.