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Bissinger gets Darlington family buzzing about book
Apr 25, 2002 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
Buzz Bissinger, one of the nation’s most honored and distinguished journalists and author, talked about his controversial book, Friday Night Lights, on Friday, April 19, in the Van Es Arena of the Huffman Memorial Athletic Center, to students, faculty, parents, and alumni.
“My interest in sports began back in 1967, when I was a 13-year-old growing up in New York City,” Bissinger said. “My personal epiphany came when a writer named Dan Jenkins wrote about a high school football player from Abilene, Texas, who was worshiped by everyone. I was mesmerized; I thought it was magical that someone so young could become so famous.”
He urged the audience to hear one thing, if nothing else. “When you graduate from high school get out and drive across the country. Get out of the box; get out of the life you know,” he said.
Bissinger’s own journey took him to places where he learned that “there were people who were nice, who didn’t yell at you when you asked for a second cup of coffee.” “I saw many dried, shriveled out towns except for the shrine of the high school football stadium,” Bissinger said.
Bissinger described seeing dedication, duty, sacrifice, service, and “beautiful silence in a locker room before a championship game.” He also saw the other side, “high school kids being sacrificed in the name and hope of going to state, discarded once their athletic ability dried up.”
“I observed that preparing these athletes for life after high school sports was done as an afterthought and I saw girls taught to stand behind their man and purposefully not excel,” Bissinger said. “Twelve years later the issues raised in the book still are out there.”
“The athletic culture exists everywhere. It can be dangerous if left unchecked,” Bissinger said. “I saw the energy of a town putting all its resources behind a high school football town and what it accomplished. What if the town had put its resources behind something more lasting?”
Bissinger shared that Booby Miles, who was the best football player in Texas at the time he was living in Odessa and writing about the team, became a throwaway kid, a kid not worth teaching, because everyone thought he had football to carry him through life. “Then he was injured before the season even officially started and he never recovered,” Bissinger said.
Miles still calls him regularly to ask for money, according to Bissinger. His wife has left him and he tries to take care of his kids, even though he is 30 years old and has no checkbook, no driver’s license, and no benefits.
“I give him money even though I know I shouldn’t because I know I’m enabling him, but I care about him and I feel badly because I know he was the victim of scorn and racial abuse,” Bissinger said. “I can’t help but wonder what would have become of Boobie if someone had given him the minimum of what he deserves—an education.”
“When I look at Darlington, I see a school that is flush and beautiful; alive with fertile minds and good teachers,” Bissinger said. “This is a special place and your success in sports helps make it special.”
“Sports is a magnificent teacher; heart can go so much further than talent. But be careful not to abuse it; don’t think of it as a final means to an end,” he concluded.
His presentation was the culmination of a yearlong, first-year book project spearheaded by David Hicks, president. “I felt that as an academic institution we were intellectually fragmented and that such a close community as ours should take advantage of an opportunity to do one academic thing together, such as reading a book,” Hicks said in his introductory remarks. He assembled one member of each academic department together to solicit suggestions for books to read and to collectively decide on this year’s book.
Following the presentation, all Upper School students and faculty, and interested alumni and parents broke into 22 breakout sessions around the Upper School campus to discuss the book. Darlington faculty facilitated the session.
“My interest in sports began back in 1967, when I was a 13-year-old growing up in New York City,” Bissinger said. “My personal epiphany came when a writer named Dan Jenkins wrote about a high school football player from Abilene, Texas, who was worshiped by everyone. I was mesmerized; I thought it was magical that someone so young could become so famous.”
He urged the audience to hear one thing, if nothing else. “When you graduate from high school get out and drive across the country. Get out of the box; get out of the life you know,” he said.
Bissinger’s own journey took him to places where he learned that “there were people who were nice, who didn’t yell at you when you asked for a second cup of coffee.” “I saw many dried, shriveled out towns except for the shrine of the high school football stadium,” Bissinger said.
Bissinger described seeing dedication, duty, sacrifice, service, and “beautiful silence in a locker room before a championship game.” He also saw the other side, “high school kids being sacrificed in the name and hope of going to state, discarded once their athletic ability dried up.”
“I observed that preparing these athletes for life after high school sports was done as an afterthought and I saw girls taught to stand behind their man and purposefully not excel,” Bissinger said. “Twelve years later the issues raised in the book still are out there.”
“The athletic culture exists everywhere. It can be dangerous if left unchecked,” Bissinger said. “I saw the energy of a town putting all its resources behind a high school football town and what it accomplished. What if the town had put its resources behind something more lasting?”
Bissinger shared that Booby Miles, who was the best football player in Texas at the time he was living in Odessa and writing about the team, became a throwaway kid, a kid not worth teaching, because everyone thought he had football to carry him through life. “Then he was injured before the season even officially started and he never recovered,” Bissinger said.
Miles still calls him regularly to ask for money, according to Bissinger. His wife has left him and he tries to take care of his kids, even though he is 30 years old and has no checkbook, no driver’s license, and no benefits.
“I give him money even though I know I shouldn’t because I know I’m enabling him, but I care about him and I feel badly because I know he was the victim of scorn and racial abuse,” Bissinger said. “I can’t help but wonder what would have become of Boobie if someone had given him the minimum of what he deserves—an education.”
“When I look at Darlington, I see a school that is flush and beautiful; alive with fertile minds and good teachers,” Bissinger said. “This is a special place and your success in sports helps make it special.”
“Sports is a magnificent teacher; heart can go so much further than talent. But be careful not to abuse it; don’t think of it as a final means to an end,” he concluded.
His presentation was the culmination of a yearlong, first-year book project spearheaded by David Hicks, president. “I felt that as an academic institution we were intellectually fragmented and that such a close community as ours should take advantage of an opportunity to do one academic thing together, such as reading a book,” Hicks said in his introductory remarks. He assembled one member of each academic department together to solicit suggestions for books to read and to collectively decide on this year’s book.
Following the presentation, all Upper School students and faculty, and interested alumni and parents broke into 22 breakout sessions around the Upper School campus to discuss the book. Darlington faculty facilitated the session.
