Friday Night Lights dissected
October 23, 2004
Last night, my wife, son and I saw the movie Friday Night Lights. It was distrubing. Sports have become life in our culture. Adults and children hang their identity on sports and how well they or their team play them.
Based on a book, the movie shows how nuts people can get about athletics. A person's worth can be determined by how well they hit, throw or catch a ball. People pack stadiums and argue ad nauseum about their teams. Parents get so intense about their kids' teams that they communicate their love and approval for their kids depends on performance. That's sick and wrong and destructive.
Too bad people can't play sports for exercise and fun. Joe Falls when he wrote a column for the Detroit Free Press described sports as the toy department of life. Amen Joe.