P2+Explain+how+the+failure's+in+the+society+of+Odessa+relate+to+the+failure's+of+the+Permian+Panthers.

7. How the relations between the Permian football team and the town of Odessa are alike between the failures are that the economy is bringing the town down so it is the same for the players. Bissinger stats in Friday Night Lights “She remembered the cruelty of the 1986 season, her husband’s first, when Odessa was going through the worst economic crisis in its history.” (237). He stats in the book that the coach of the team had to deal with the new team that he was coaching but also the town that was going through the worst times of their lives. The only good thing they had to look forward to be the football team beating who ever they played. The thing was they weren’t doing that and they were losing with their new coach and nothing going right in the town of Odessa. But as time went by the team came together, the town got rid of its problems and they moved on and everything evened out to the way it was. When the town became better then they didn’t put so much pressure on the Permian football team and make them need to win and instead they didn’t have to worry as much and just played the game for fun. That is what the sport of football is all about anyway having fun. -Ryan M. Schmidt

7. The failures in Odessa radiate despair and a feeling of defeat every time the Permian Panthers are beaten by an opposing football team. According to Jerrod McDougal, "It's gonna suck, but hopefully I can keep busy. The only way to make it decent is if we win state. For the seniors, it will be the fulfillment of a dream. But even then it won't lessen the pain" (Bissinger 236). Though Odessa has a stack of worries miles high, how their football team plays every friday night always resides at the top of that stack, because it is the most important aspect of their lives. The biggest failure, in their minds and the biggest failure that can occur in Odessa, is if that team loses even one game, especially if that game hurts their chances of going to the playoffs. Jerrod expresses the failure he feels with himself and his team because he knows there is nothing in the world that will ever take the pain of losing that game away. He knows the pain that is throbbing in the hearts of the supporters is all their fault. It is as if the Permian Panthers have been dubbed Gods and every mistake they make on that field becomes a failure in everyone's mind for the rest of their lives. There is no dream that can be accomplished to retrieve that failure and there is amount of success that will take the pain out of their minds. The Permian Panthers create failure with every missed tackle, every bad pass and every loss; they are supposed to be perfect, when they are not, they are failures.

-Kara Grubb

7. The failures of the Permian High School football team relates to the failure of Odessa by the decline in economy. According to Sharon Gaines, "They don't have any idea about the time they put in and the dedication. They don't have any idea, and they don't care. They don't have any idea of what families give up"(Bissinger 237). People in Odessa rely on the football team to make it to state so the economy will improve. It is really tough being a football coach in Odessa because they are pressured to win all games for the better of Odessa. The loss to Midland Lee devastated the coach, football players, family, and the society of Odessa. Permian HIgh School football is the only hope and spirit that keeps Odessa alive. Sharon and her kids give up a lot for Gary Gaines to be the permian football coach. The town does not realize how hard it is on Gary, his wife, and kids losing to a another football team. - Mesha Goodheart

7. The failures of controlling racism and crude behavior within the society of Odessa relate to the failures of the Permian Panthers because of the pressure and lack of faith. "I don't think they realize these are sixteen, seventeen, eighteen-year-old kids, I don't think they realize these are coaches. They are men, they are not gods. They don't realize its a game and they look at them like they're professional football players. They are kids, high school kids, the sons of somebody, and they expect them to be perfect" (Bissinger 237). The racist qualities and people living within Odessa only use the hispanic and black raced people to play in football because they were already toughened up by living on the South Side of town. They discriminated in order to make Permian Panters the best of the best. When the Panthers would lose a game, all hell would break loose on the players and coaches especially. For sale signs would be posted in the coaches' yards after a lost game, some even in the players'. Fans put their full spirit into a team winning, that they don't realize the pressures put upon these mere high school players who put their whole life into the game. These failures pushed the Permian Panthers to be more like slaves to their society instead of fun for the spirit of a game. -Alyx Adams

7. The failures in Odessa are the economy and how it is a slow-developing town. These failures cause extreme attention of the only thing they have to succeed. It is for the Permian High School football team to win the football games. The coach, Gary Gaines, tells his players, “Keep up the tradition that was started many years ago” (Bissinger 24). He knows that football is the only thing the town of Odessa has to offer. Without Friday night football, the town has nothing. Therefore, the town has put an enormous pressure on the team to win and give their town a victory. This has caused a flaw in the town because they believe that the coach and the players are responsible for the town’s success. So when the coach or the players do not give them what they want, the town feels no need to keep them there. -Jessica McKenzie

7. The failures of Odessa directly relate the the failures of the Permian football team. As Jerrod McDougal puts it, "Its gonna suck,but hopefully I can keep busy. The only way to make it decent is if we win state. For the seniors it will be the fulfillment of a dream. But even then, it wont lessen the pain"( Bissinger 236). With the way that Odessa is, what ever happens relates to football. There whole lives revolves around football. When there is a failure in the football team, then the way that the city takes it is, there is a failure in Odessa. If the team doesn't make it to the play offs then Odessa citizens just look at Odessa as a failure. With all the pressures that the football team has to deal with, they cant fail. For if they do, they get the cold shoulder. The failures of both Odessa and the Permian Panthers directly relate to each other because when the football team has a failure, Odessa has a failure.

Tyler Blaker

7. It is obvious how failure's in the society of Odessa relate directly to the failure's of the Permian Panthers. Failure has haunted over Odessa for a very long time. It stains the town's past. It has affected many aspects of the town (including the town's football team, and society). Football is extremely important, and extremely glorified in Odessa. So when failure, and a lack of passion, and effort started seeping into the society, it spread to football, and many other aspects of the town. Bissinger states, "They don't have any idea about the coaches and the time they put in and the dedication, "she said. "They don't have any idea, and they don't care. They don't have any idea of what the families give up." (238). This is a fine example of the beginning of the seep. It shows that many of the football players in the community had other aspects of their lives interfering, and impacting their football lives. It could be the beginning of some sort of failure in the Permian Panthers team, or it could not. It all relies on the players, and their thoughts.

-Patrick Schulte

7. The failures of Odessa, Texas directly relate to the Permian Panthers in certain ways. The town itself is not in a great economic mindset; the only thing the people of Odessa have to rely on is oil. According to the players of the Permian Panthers football, "It’s gonna suck, but hopefully I can keep busy. The only way to make it decent is if we win state. For the seniors it will be the fulfillment of a dream. But even then, it won’t lessen the pain" (Bissinger 236). This is due to the amount of pressure that the players go through every day to perform and come through with a win. If the team does not get a victory then the entire town ends up suffering from the loss. The failures of Odessa have piled up to an amount to where they have to rely on a high school football team to get through the week. For example, when the Permian Panthers lost to the Midland Lee Rebels, the coach got home and saw For Sale signs posted up in his front yard, a not so subtle sign of the city telling him how they felt about the loss. The entire city relies on the football to a fault in who they are as people.

-Daniel Kron