Danielle+and+Ashely

=Permian High School=



//By: Ashley Doty//

Permian High School is located in Odessa, Texas. The high school opened in Odessa in 1959 and was named for the Permian Basin (Wikipedia). The book ‘Friday Night Lights’ was based on this school and its well-known football team. “ It was in the severely depressed belly of the Texas oil patch, with a team in town called the Permian Panthers that played to as many as twenty thousands fans on a Friday night” (Bissinger). During football season, the town revolves around the team and everybody comes to support the team on Friday nights. The team won the Texas state championship in the 4A classification in 1965 and in 1972 and the 5A classification in 1980 (Wikipedia). The high school is also considered the unofficial national champions for 1972 and 1989 (Wikipedia). Successful high school football has been around ever since the town was founded. Permian High School and Odessa take pride in what their team and the town have accomplished together.

“Permian High School” Wikipedia.16 August 2009. Web. 20 August 2009. Bissinger, H. G. ‘Friday Night Lights’. 1990.

=H.G Bissinger=

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//By Danielle Rouviere//

Harry Gerard Bissinger was born November 1, 1954 in New York City. “.. Maybe it was my own past as an addicted sports fan who had spent a shameless amount of time watching football and basketball and baseball” (Bissinger). All of his life Bissinger was a sports fanatic, which led him to many of his jobs. His first writing job was as the Sports Editor for the University of Pennsylvania’s school newspaper. After his stint as a sports editor he moved on to work for the //Philadelphia Inquirer//. At this job he won the distinguished Pulitzer Prize for his investigative reporting on corruption in the Philadelphia court system. He also worked for several magazines including //Sports Illustrated// and //Vanity Fair//. But all of his experiences led him back to his quote about being a sports fan; this is why he decided to write the book //Friday Night Lights//. This book became his most successful work, being called “the best book on sports over the past quarter century” (ESPN). The success of this book has led it to become not only a movie but also a hit series on NBC. Bissinger is currently still writing for //Vanity Fair// and he just finished another sports book on LeBron James’ high school basketball career, //Shooting Stars//.

"H.G. Bissinger." __Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia__. 25 July 2009. 22 August 2009 