Many people form their lives around watching or playing a certain sport. In my house, when football season starts, my dad and brother watch football religiously every Sunday and Monday. On Sundays some of my dad’s friends come over to watch the game, my mom prepares snacks and lunch for “the guys”. When the game is on they are so interested in it, that they have no idea what is going on around them, I try to talk to my dad when the game is on and he always seems to ignore me. I love how they get so into the game, and cheer really loud and yell at the television. For them like many other people, they have found football to be a hobby, something to do in there past time.
They have formed habits around watching the game. In the movie “Varsity Blues,” football isn’t just a past time for the town, but it is a way of life, the whole town is involved in the high school football team. “Varsity Blues” takes place in a small town in Texas called West Canyon, in this town if you are a healthy boy, then you are a football player. Young males have tons of pressure from their families, friends, teachers, and others in the town to play football, and take the game very seriously. But how did this town get so involved in the sport, why do they make such a huge deal about the game, and what happens if you are a male in West Canyon and you do not believe the world revolves around a high school football team.
Jonathan Mox grew up in this town, with all of these pressures, but he did not agree that high school football was the most important thing in life. His father really pressures him because he used to play football as well and takes it very seriously, and thinks that Mox should as well. The movie begins with Mox explaining how football means everything to the town he says, “football is it’s own society in West Canyon.” Mox started playing football at a young age with his other friends and team mates. They were taught to listen to what the coach says and to win at all costs, football is how they are brought up. The coach at West Canyon is Bud Kilmore, who has been the coach for 30 years, and has never lost a game. He has coached generation after generation of football players.
Kilmore also coached Mox’s father, him and some of the other fathers go to the practices to watch their sons practice and get yelled at by Kilmore. They think that the way Kilmore yells at them is good for them as they are growing up. Kilmore is not the nicest man, his motto is to win and if you are not on his side and agree with all he says then he will not be very nice to you. Mox does not agree with him, so he gives Mox a very hard time.
The star in West Canyon is Lance Harper, the quarterback for the high school team. The day of the big football games, the school puts on a huge rally to pump everyone up for the game, Lance gives a speech about how they will win their game tonight, Lance as well as everyone else is very confident about winning the game. “To win at all cost,” means that you will play through any situation; if you can still walk then you can play in the game. Another star player is Billy Bob, who is an offensive lineman. Before one of the games Billy Bob passes out in class, because he has had too many concussions to his head. The school nurse advises him not to play, but coach Kilmore decides that he needs him to play.
Another player that is injured is Harper, he has been having knee problems, which Kilmore ignores by giving him shots before the game to ease the pain. That was not a very smart idea because in one of the games, Billy Bob who is in no condition to play, faints on the field and Harper ends up getting hit by two guys. He hurts his knee and has to go to the hospital. Mox comes in to finish the game, no one has faith in him, but he ends up winning the game. Harper tore every ligament in his knee and will not be able to play football for at least a year, and chances are he may never play again. For Harper and his father his life is ruined, he had a full scholarship to Florida State University, which is now no good to him.
The rest of the season, which is four games, Mox is the new quarterback and star of the high school football team. Anywhere he goes he gets treated like a superstar, he went to buy beer and the clerk gives him the beer free, because he is such a great player. He got interview by the news, and everyone now has this new fascination for him. With Mox as the quarterback he has his own ideas about how they should play the game, he has plays that Kilmore doesn’t agree with. Mox gets accepted to Brown University, on an Academic scholarship, and Kilmore threatens to change his transcripts if he screws up any of the games, and does not listen to his orders. Mox feels that the guys need to have some fun because the pressure is just too much.
The night before one of the last games Mox sets up a time for the guys to let loose and forget all of their pressures. They go to a strip club and drink all night long, when it is game time they fall apart. They just can’t play as well as they should because of the partying the night before. They end up losing the game and Kilmore is very upset with them, because they ruined his perfect title.
When the final game comes, the game that if they win they will be state champions. But at half time they are behind and Kilmore is yelling at the team, telling the guys that they have to win the game. Mox stands up to him and tells him that he is not going to play under him anymore; he will not finish the game. The other players back Mox and will not finish the game if Kilmore is the coach.
The team ends up winning and Kilmore never coaches again. This movie really shows the impact sports can have on you life, although football wasn’t the main focus in my town it still was very big. On Friday nights all my friends and I would go and watch the football games, we would socialize more than watch the game, but we would still attend. I think that sports bring people together, and makes people very happy.
I think how Mox stood up for himself was a very brave thing to do, he didn’t believe that football was everything and knew that Kilmore’s way of coaching was not the moral way of running a high school football team. He led his team into doing the right thing by not letting Kilmore coach them, and winning the game without a coach. He was on the inside, he saw the affect that the game was having on his friends and wanted to do something right to fix it. That took a lot of guts for him to do that.
Although I think being involved in a sport is a positive thing, but in this situation it was not. Being involved in a sport was one of the best things I ever did. I starting playing soccer at the age of 7 and did not stop until I was out of high school. I loved to play soccer more than anything, I would play fall soccer, spring, winter, and summer leagues, and I could never get enough of soccer.
I too, just as Mox had a couple of coaches I did not agree with, I hated to play for them because I felt that they had other motto’s besides just coaching the team. I would still play because I loved the game but did not agree with what they had to say. If I had a good coach I would play my hardest to help the team out. Sports really shape our society, and culture. You will not find very many people who do not have some love for at least one sport or another. There are so many sports out there that people love and will always watch the sport of their choice.
