It is this unifying theme that is also expressed in both the book, Friday Night Lights, as well as the movie, Miracle.
The Unifying Effects of Representative Sports as Demonstrated in Friday Night Lights and Miracle:
In Bissinger's Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, the author explores the societal webwork that is Odessa, Texas. An oil town that soars and plummets as oil comes and goes, is held together by the local high school football team -- the Permian Panthers. In the book, Odessa is a town that is both metaphorically and literally divided. There is the racial division of Whites vs. Blacks and Hispanics. Reminiscent of a far earlier time in America, Whites in Odessa in the late 1980s, on the whole are bigots, who feel Blacks are inferior.
There is only thing Blacks are valued for in Odessa -- football. For this reason, the town is literally divided into the two high schools, Permian and Odessa. The districting lines have been drawn so that all of the White students go to Permian. Only a select number of Black students get to attend the school. This, Bissinger surmises, is due to the school's desire to have students that play football. Yet, despite this divisional layout of Odessa society, it is the Permian Panthers' football that brings the town together. These students that otherwise would be seen as second-class citizens are respected and envied for their football prowess. It allows friendships to form that wouldn't normally. Town members relate so strongly with the success of this high school team, it can override the economic turmoil of the oil industry, as well as the social turmoil caused by the underlying bigotry. The movie, Miracle, has a similar theme of societal division being overcome by representative sports.
Miracle centers on the real-life story of the 1980 men's United States Olympic hockey team. The beginning of the film clearly illustrates the natural divisions this pieced together team must face. The 20 members of the Olympic team come from different teams. Some even were intense rivals in the past. The 'us vs. them'...
state and college vs. college competition of the past. However, the only way the team has a hope of winning the gold is to allow the sport to become a cohesive catalyst.
In the end, much like the spectators of the Olympics, the individual players of the 1980 team feel the pull of representative sports. Where they were from in the past, and their differences, become increasingly less important as the reality of being a national team sets in. They realize that not only does the success or failure of their team reflect on their individual sporting prowess, but also will reflect on the country as a whole. This coming together is what eventually allows them to win the gold.
Conclusion:
In the end, representative sports have a powerful societal impact. Spectators, and even the individual athletes, become so completely immersed in the relationship of the success or failure of the team, that it becomes something personal. This can lead to increased division due to intensified rivalries that spill outside of the sporting arena, such as was found with El Salvador and Honduras. Or, it can be a unifying rallying point for societies, such as in South Africa, giving new opportunities for creating friendships, crossing cultural and racial divides, and bringing together those who once would not have considered the other party a likely friend, let alone ally.
Works Cited
Bissinger, H.G. Friday Night Lights. New York and Washington D.C.: Da Capo Press, 2000. Print.
Coakley, Jay. Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies. New York: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2009. Print.
Eitzen, D. Stanley. Fair and Foul: Beyond the Myths and Paradoxes of Sport. Lantham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2003. Print.
Hoglund, Kristine & Sundberg, Ralph. "Reconciliation Through Sports? The Case of South Africa." Third World Quarterly Jun 2008: 805-818. Print.
Miracle. Dir. Gavin O'Connor. Perf. Kurt Russell. Walt Disney Video, 2004. DVD.
