Background Buzz Bissinger was actually born Harry Gerard Bissinger III, but he requested to be called “Buzzy”. He has written two books concerning sports journalism and his other book discusses Philadelphia politics. Bissinger’s most well known book was called Friday Night Lights and it was even made into a screenplay and film. His skills were truly recognized in 1987 when he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. Bissinger currently produces two to three pieces a year as a contributing editor for Vanity Fair. He also occasionally travels around the world making public appearances and giving lectures. I have never read anything that discussed the problem of fixating on high school sports in such a detailed way. Summary “There were the rose-colored images of innocence and valor and healthy competition, attributes that we continue to insist upon from sports in America even though such …show more content…
Bissinger adds his own personal research to the piece by adding information regarding the building of an extremely expensive high school football stadium in Odessa, Texas. He also mentions the conversations he has had with parents of high school athletes about how high school sports are getting out of control and how the parents never listen. Bissinger then includes numbers concerning the amount of money that is spent to build certain high school stadiums. The piece states the arguments people use in support of the sports centers and then the writer tears them down. Bissinger also makes sure to ask questions in relation to how the non athletic student body may feel with all this money going to athletics and not to education. The piece begins to wrap up with Bissinger’s prediction of what will start to happen if high school sports continue to be treated like college elite