Why was the team so upset over their winning streak coming to an end?? I mean, they had to lose sometime. What did they think - they were gonna go undefeated forever? Even some players crying, come on. It seems they cared more about the streak than than winning the championship.
shareClearly you have never been in such a situation.
It was something they grew up with constantly around them. During their most informative years "The Streak" was all that anyone talked about. They wanted to live up to the same standards that they saw others do and they didn't want to be the ones who lost it for everyone.
The weight of that streak had to be enormous, they probably didn't know themselves how heavy it was until it was gone. Truthfully they probably didn't do enough to show how painful it was to these young impressionable kids. They must have been crushed by it.
No of course I have not been in such a situation. But I can only compare to soccer teams when they have undefeated spells, such as the Arsenal team 10 years ago that went 50 games undefeated. They were actually relieved when they lost the streak as they could now focus on the title and not have the pressure to continue the streak. But that was pretty much over a season and a half. Since these high school football seasons are 10 games long, this streak must have seemed like ages, over 15 years so I guess that is the difference.
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They actually don't give scholarships, so you're incorrect in that statement. People have been making those claims and the recruiting claims for years; both false.
shareThe big private schools give scholarships just because it may not be "official" they have sport boosters paying for the poorer kids to go the poor kids family's don't have the money to get in. I couldn't care less if they do either if its a good school why not allow them to get in with scholarships.
shareBecause they are kids, things like that mean too much to them.
Early in the movie the coach answers a reporter "It never was about the streak." The whole movie is about instilling values into teenagers to help them grow up as good and dependable adults. Breaking the streak just afforded an opportunity to teach how to deal with unexpected loss. Loss of a teammate, a parent, a game.
..*.. TxMike ..*..
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.
I thought that it was a critique about American culture in general where winning is everything; ironically the coach was trying to teach the kids that it wasn't about winning but about the effort you put in and teamwork, but that nuance was not something the masses understood.
As a parallel you need look no further than Donald Trumps campaign for the Republican nomination for president - his popularity so far seems to be because his main policy is to "win", not what he would actually do if he were to win.
Yeah, they thought they would keep on winning forever. That is what they were told, that is what they trained for and that is what they played for. When the streak ended some players didn't just feel like their 4 years had been a waste of time but that they had also failed every team before it, the town, the coach and the school.
It might seem trivial to us, but to them it was life and death.