This past Friday, I attended Rose House’s screening of the classic sports film Friday Night Lights. As a lifelong athlete, I respected and appreciated this movie’s attempt to realistically represent an ugly truth of sport: success is never guaranteed, no matter how deserving you are of it.
The majority of sports-centric films I’ve viewed have ended with the main character or team rising above all odds, past failures, and personal struggles to emerge victorious in the final competition. Therefore, overall, I feel that athletic films tend to focus on success stories. But, as someone who has been playing sports her whole life, whether it be softball, basketball, cross country, or track, I can say that failure, disappointment, and heartbreak make up a large portion of competition. My dream throughout my high school track career was to beat my school’s 1500m record. Despite grueling hard work and an intense determination, I graduated from high school being just ONE second off of the record. I never accomplished my big athletic goal. Although I did beat other records and had many other accomplishments and successes as a runner, the point is that a lot of my races were tainted by thoughts that “I should’ve run faster!” or “I should’ve beaten that girl!”
Therefore, I appreciated the fact that Friday Night Lights had the main team, the Permian Panthers, lose the State Championships at the end, despite grappling with personal conflicts and injuries throughout the film. We all felt that the Panthers were so deserving of that win. All those kids had worked so hard and dealt with so many hardships – their star running back, Boobie Miles, was terribly injured and consequently prevented from competing in the State Championships. The fullback, Don, dealt with a disappointed, abusive, and alcoholic father at home. The coach had to deal with the extreme pressure of a small Texas town completely focused on their football team emerging victorious. However, despite all their uphill battles, intense practice, and deep drive, the Permian Panthers lost in a devastating manner. This is a common story of sports that we often don’t see portrayed in film or on television — sometimes, the team that loses is your team. It doesn’t mean that you didn’t try hard enough, want it enough, or deserve it. In the end, only one team can win, and it may simply just not be your day to succeed. Sports is a beautiful, ugly amalgamation of pride, joy, conflict, struggle, despair, regret, and distress.
I love it.