BOOKNOTES-FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - Heads or Tails

I.

Summary

The Permian Panthers finish the regular season by pummeling the San Angelo Bobcats on the first Friday in November. This means the season ends with Permian, Midland Lee, and Cooper High School having identical records. However, only two teams can go to the playoffs, so the tiebreaker rule goes into effect: they will flip a coin. It seems silly that it comes to this after all the hard work and the endless hours, but that’s what it’s been reduced to. The three coaches will drive to a truck stop and, like three little boys, throw coins into the air until the odd man out is eliminated from the playoffs. The spot of the meeting - a truck stop - is kept secret to keep all the crazy fans away.

Gary Gaines, as he is driving to the meeting, feels foolish that everything has come down to something over which he has absolutely no control. The season had been a successful one when he looked at the numbers, but now it has become meaningless with the playoffs. Then, on the radio comes the song, Something Tells Me I’m Into Something Good, and he wonders if it just might be an omen. Now he suddenly beings to relax and feel surprisingly good as the cars spins its way to whatever fate holds in store. He is reminded of his father whom he had only disappointed once in his life - when he wasn’t tough enough to tackle him, and his father kept working him until finally he had gotten the lesson - he had to work hard to be the best he could be and that’s what it all came down to.

When he arrives, he is a little surprised and nervous to see so many cars, including the KMID -TV van. However, the TV people have been given permission to broadcast the coin toss live. They are inside a restaurant called the Convoy and each has a coin that has some meaning - Doug McCutcheon from Midland Lee has a 1922 silver dollar he received from a friend and it is supposed to have been successful in 11 prior coin tosses, Miller from.........

Notes

This chapter is significant for its expression of pain and joy when the fates that sometimes seem to control life bring either what we need or what we don’t need. Boobie and the players of Cooper High may be from entirely different towns, but they all feel the frustration of.........

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