Friday Night Lights

Whilst on a school trip to Shanghai in late October I picked myself up the 5 season box set of the American television drama Friday Night Lights. I heard little bits about this show but had never watched a full episode. Friday Night Lights is set in the fictional Texas town of Dillon and tells the story of their two high school football teams the Dillon Panthers and the East Dillon Lions.

I was very keen to watch the program but my wife not so. She described it as Beverley Hills 90210 set on a football field. After a few episodes of Friday Night Lights we were both hooked.

Whilst it is set mainly in high schools I would say it is not a high school drama nor a sports drama, more a small town, real people drama.

The characters are incredibly likeable. Coach Eric Taylor is a leader for his team both on and off the field as he strives to make the boys in his team better players and even better young men. He and his wife Tammy share an amazing relationship where they support each other's careers and listen and value the opinions of each other.

Through 7 seasons of football viewers are only introduced to 7 players: Jason Street, Tim Riggins, Brian 'Smash' Williams, Matt Saracen, Landry Clark, Vince Howard and Luke Cafferty. The fortunes of these boys on the field and in everyday life boys are followed closely. For mine my favourite character was Vince. He struggled with a turbulent home life with a drug using mother and a father recently released from prison. Vince wanted to rise above his background and become both a great player and a great person.

Passion is one of my favourite words. I love people who are passionate no matter what it is about. Friday Night Lights is full of passion. The town of Dillon is passionate (obsessed would probably be a better description) about high school football, Tammy Taylor is passionate about her job as a school counsellor, Landry is passionate about Tyra, Tyra is passionate about Riggins, Julie about Matt (the characters are mostly teenagers remember), Coach Taylor is just as passionate about winning on the field as he is about developing his players to be fine young men.

The final thing I want to add about Friday Night Lights is the amazing battle cry the players scream before running on the field:

"Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose"

Hey I am going to use it whenever I need to motivate myself.

Friday Night Lights.... Watch it.