One of the Best books about America and Sports

I saw the trailer for the movie the summer before college, over 20 years ago, and picked this book up. I read it quickly. Years later I read it again, something truly rare for me. I drove through Odessa TX and stopped there for lunch. If I wasn't so tired I might have made the detour to the Ratliff Stadium.

Rarely, if ever, has a book left such an impression on me. It told the story of a West Texas town through the lens of their high school football love. It was brutal, surreal and heartbreaking in all the ways a true, but incredible, story should be. You could see the rose colored glasses that the fans wore in this world but H.G. Bissinger pulled no punches exploring the racism, the economics and fever that seemed to come to a head on Friday nights.

This is not a puff piece. You will not feel good about the city of Permian Texas once you are done. I know this book was met with controversy as Harry Gerard Bissinger does not shy away from the racism that seemed baked into the town. He does an excellent job of adding context to the story of the 1988 football season.

Though this book you learn the history of the city and the high school football team, current events in the world and west Texas, football itself. You can read this, not know the different from a left guard to a corner back, not find Odessa on a map and come away with a sense of what this town is and what the team meant to them.

The book spends most of its time with the Head Coach, Gary Gaines and the pressure to continue the tradition of the winningest team in Texas High School history. H.G. also explores the story through hand full of players most notably James "Boobie" Miles, the most talented player on the team.

Sports journalism has produced some exceptional work and this book is no exception. It is one of the best books I have ever read and I cannot recommend it enough.