Friday Night Lights II, Movie Reviews

“Friday Night lights” in West Texas means a number of things, for example:  stadium lights you can see for miles, two high school football teams chomping at the bits to hit, be hit, spit, blow snot, get dirty(they still use dirt and real grass around here), bleed red blood, run, block, tackle, and score more points than their opponent.  We wonder around here where all this legendary tradition started but I know my Littlefield Wildcat football machine started winning championships in 1936 and they have never let up.  In Wildcat country if you were an able bodied(meaning two arms, two legs and even a pee sized brain) you PLAYED football.  The only famous guy I know from Littlefield who did not play football was Waylon Jennings.  Well let’s do stop and give him credit for strumming instead of bumping, he did well without it and we are proud of him.  But, this is not about a famous C & W singer this is about West Texas football at its’ best.  

This story is devoted to two arch rivals and one happens to be named the Wildcats but not the Littlefield Wildcats, but low and behold the Idalou Wildcats versus the Shallowater Mustangs.  Two small school teams that have won a lot of games the last few years.  The night for this game was perfect, high 50’s, overcast with slight rain through out the game played on a natural turf field(meaning real dirt and grass).  The cheerleaders were in place, the band played, and the teams came out on the field with great enthusiasm waiting for the kickoff and that first hit of the night.  The game featured  a young gentleman(Jarek Black) playing for the  Mustangs who is leading the state in rushing and their opposing team the balanced Wildcats that have one some state titles in both football and basketball in recent season.  The game went as planned with Black picking up 298 yards rushing and the Wildcats offering a strong balanced attack against his almost unbelievable running.  Both teams are well coached and played their hearts out for 48 minutes.  To make sure no one left the fully packed stadium they played right down to the closing minutes with either team having a chance to win.  But, a game saving tackle kept the Wildcat team from scoring in the last two minutes and the Mustangs won, 20-15.  Later in the week Black was named state player of the week and still leads the state in rushing.  He is on track to break the rushing record that has been in the state record books since 1953.  On top of that he is an honor student, and a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and a model citizen.  While the college coaches are drooling over this 5’10” 210 Junior running back he is getting ready for the next game. The program didn’t mention if he walked on water to!! Stay tuned!!

Movie Reviews:

“Won’t Back Down”, ****, Maggie Byllenhaal and Viola Davis co-star as headstrong mothers waging a valiant struggle to save their children’s troubled inner-city school. Their forward-thinking efforts are hampered at every turn by apathy and a powerful, systematic bureaucracy.  They make a plan and then implement it despite the rejection of the school board and in place policy.  A great feel good movie and it is based on a true story.  Rated PG for thematic elements and language. 

“Taken 2”, ****,  Another very exciting action packed movie.  Llam Neeson returns as Bryan Mills, a retired CIA agent with a particular set of skills who stopped at nothing to save his daughter Kim from Albanian kidnappers.  When the father of one of the kidnappers swears revenge and takes Bryan and his wife hostage during their family work/vacation in Istanbul.  To escape Kim(daughter) is enlisted to help them and then Bryan does his thing of getting rid of the bad guys, one by one.  The ending results in a surprising agreement between good guy and bad guy.  Very good movie, but you do not have to go see Taken 1 to understand 2.  Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sensuality.  

EA, SH........:)!

greerman