The Foot: When a Football Show Isn't About Football

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The season four finale of Friday Night Lights airs, for the second time, on Friday at 8PM. For those unaware, DirecTV runs the season in the fall and NBC runs the season when they have no other programming, and because they are legally obligated to.

I haven't missed an episode this season but the steady disinterest grows. I wondered why. I enjoy the show. The first season is well-done, the second season is a trainwreck but the show rebounded with a strong season three; however, the interest began waning around the time that Jason Street managed to snag a job as a sports agent in the most unrealistic way possible. The strongest aspect of the show remained strong: football. Football has been nothing more than a plot device this season. The writers might've lost interest in the football aspect of the show. The football element is handled so poorly that the East Dillion Lions season is even more unrealistic than the Jason Street storyline from season three. The show wanted to semi-reboot the story and bring in new characters. The writers succeeded in creating and introducing well-developed, interesting characters. Unfortunately, the storylines have been a tad too cliche; however, the storylines haven't been the most original, and they've used familiar family drama tropes.

In the penultimate episodes, entitled "Laboring," the show returned to its strongest element: football. Coach Taylor was forced out of his job at West Dillion and became coach of East Dillion as a result of re-districting. In "Laboring," the two schools prepare to play on Thanksgiving and the buildup to the game is not pleasant for the Taylor family. In addition to getting vulgar and obscene calls, Coach's field is destroyed and the town wants Tami out of her job. The episode re-introduced the life-and-death experience of football in West Texas.

With the exception of the Luke Cafferty plotline, the East vs. West story received zero attention. Instead, the writers gave us C stories like Saracen working with a hard-to-work-with-genius-Artist-who-eventually-opens-Matt's-eyes-to-what-he-wants. When the show introduced the character Big Mary, an ex-Dillion football player who wants nothing to do with East Dillion boosters or football in general, we never learn why he became bitter about the sport he used to love and play. One day, Big Mary changes his mind and becomes an advocate of the team and a mentor to Vince. The development isn't earned because this part of Big Mary's character is never explained. The storyline had potential.

On a recent BS Report, Buzz Bissinger talked about his experience living in Texas while writing the book. Bissinger spoke about life after football for these players. The players aren't celebrated. They've been tossed aside for the new group of players who will bring glory to West Texas. The first season of the show dealt with this story but Big Mary could've been a voice for one of those players. He wasn't. I know that the show doesn't deal with the book these days; however, the show missed their chance.

The fourth season had various crime storylines. FNL never handled stories about crime well. Tim and Billy Riggins found themselves in crime because they wanted to earn large sums of cash quickly. The cops arrest them both. Vince, one of the new characters, became the East Dillion QB but he has a checkered past. Naturally, the character faces temptation from his thuggish group of friends. Vince's primary story will not be defeating the Dillion Panthers. His primary story will be: am I going to get murdered? This is because his best friend was killed, and he didn't want to take part in the revenge. The storyline is compelling. Vince's journey throughout the season is interesting; however, this is a football show, or at least it used to be. I'm most interested in the football stuff. Unfortunately, the show isn't.

With the finale looming, and the final season looming in the fall, I wonder how the fourth season will conclude. The story of season four has been Coach as a transplant. He wanted to build the Lions into a respectable team and he has, and he also wanted to re-build the East Dillion community as evidenced when he turned the lights back on at Carroll Park. Whether or not he has re-built the community remains iffy. His wife probably won't remain Principal of West Dillion. Julie will most likely receive permission from her parents to leave Dillion for training with Habitat For Humanity. The Riggins Brothers could flee Dillion once they know how much jail-time they'll be facing. Vince could very well die if the writers really want to act like this show is The Wire.

Signs point towards an ending in which the Taylors pack up their belongings and move away from Dillion. I think such development would be terrific. FNL, at its heart, is about Eric and Tami Taylor. Many of the original core group of characters have been written off. Why not leave Dillion entirely? The town treats Coach like Philadelphia treats Andy Reid, and COACH WON A CHAMPIONSHIP.

I'm probably wrong. I hope the football game is the central story of the finale. I hope football is used as powerfully, as hopefully as it was in past seasons.

Is it too much to ask for a show about football to be about football?

THE QUOTES

Once again, I thought of a new running feature in The Foot. Will the feature last or will it be forgotten like the Great Character feature? I do not know. I read a lot of Associated Press game stories for MLB, NHL and NBA. I enjoy reading quotes from the athletes. My favorite quotes come from NHL players but no NHL quotes will see this space until October. The title says it all. This will be quotes I find funny, insightful or thought-provoking and most quotes will be pulled from AP game stories.

COREY HART, ON J.A. HAPP BEFORE HOUSTON'S 5-0 WIN (FROM MLB.COM):

"We faced him last year right before Cliff Lee," Hart said a few hours before the game, "and most of us thought [Happ] was better."

Several scouts say J.A. Happ is "Cliff Lee Lite."  Prof and Cuz think he's a career third or fourth pitcher in the rotation. We shall see. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

JERED WEAVER, ON CLIFF LEE, AFTER LA'S 4-1 WIN (FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS):

"He got me in Texas, and it was fun to match up with him again," Weaver said. "Obviously, when you go up against a guy like Lee, you know it's going to be a battle. I mean, the guy is pretty impressive and fun to watch. He's a proven guy. It's a weird deal to see him hop around to all these different teams. You don't understand why they don't lock somebody like that up."

Weaver sounds like a Phillies fans spokesperson.

CLIFF LEE, ON COMPLETE GAMES, AFTER THROWING ONE IN A LOSING EFFORT YESTERDAY (FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS):

"Getting deep in games and giving the team a chance to win, that's a starting pitcher's job," Lee said. "All I can do is throw strikes and make the other team swing the bat. I can't control if we score runs or make plays. They found some holes and got some hits."

Ever the diplomat is Cliff Lee and I know Nolan Ryan (he who cares not for pitch counts) loves that attitude.

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