Crossing Lines

Football and Homosexuals. Ahh...yes that sounds about right. Wait...well somehow writer Paul Volponi marries these two ideas. The ideas not the football players!

Adonis is a senior Varsity football player. He's excited for his final season to start, but the new school year starts with more drama than anyone anticipated. Alan, a new student at school, is a flamboyant gay man who is not afraid to stand up for himself and be himself. Adonis wants nothing more than to avoid Alan, but Ethan, the football team captain, has a problem with Alan's sexuality and the way he presents himself. Along with that, the fashion club, whose vice president is Adonis's sister, has made Alan their president. Adonis cannot escape Alan's presence or keep out of the issues. The girl he's dating is a good friend to Alan, and thinks that Adonis is the only football player with the balls to think for himself and do the right thing. As the drama and homophobia in school heighten, the football players plan a prank that will hurt and embarrass Alan. Where does Adonis stand on the line? He's unsure whether to be safe with his friends, or to cross the line and do the right thing.

This novel is a young adult title. It approaches some hard issues like bullying, homosexuality, homophobia, and peer pressure. Unfortunately I didn't think it really delved into these issues. Volponi certainly gets the homophobia point across. There are lots of slurs toward Alan and it hurts to see petitions going around school to try and get him kicked out. Although Adonis is uncomfortable with all of this, he never says anything to anyone and then he lies to the girl he's interested in by telling her he's totally against what the guys are doing. He backs up his friends and their hurtful opinions through most of the novel. I didn't like him. I understand what a difficult place he was in, choosing between whether to remain one of the guys or to do the right thing and become an outcast.

The ideas were too black and white. At the end it became here was the right thing you should have done, and here is the wrong thing that was done. Also, the climax came at the last 40 or so pages of the book. Volponi didn't dig into the afterward of what happens to Adonis and how he deals with having stood up for the gay guy. It felt like the end of the novel should be the middle of it. There was so much more to be  probed and I wish he would have looked into the opinions in this novel more. A lot of points were brought up that felt useless. Alan's family dynamic is brought up, but it feels like it's thrown away a bit. There were details that are stuck in there that are pointless because they don't go anywhere.

All in all I was thankful that this novel looked at issues that are rife throughout high schools and the world. However, the main character was a guy who thought he was an individual, but gave into peer pressure by remaining silent. Maybe he is supposed to represent the more prominent figure of the person who enables by being quiet. I just wish these ideas were more looked at. There's so much depth there that could have taken this novel to a different level.

Underdogs and Evolution in Football

I'm not much of a sports person. Sure I enjoy watching football, basketball, baseball when I'm at a bar or at an actual game, but it's not something I seek out and it's not an area I have a lot of knowledge of. My parents shoved me into sports, so I've played most major sports and still enjoy playing when I get the chance. Well I didn't know what to think when my boyfriend told me that "The Blind Side", the book, was more about the football market and economy of the NFL than the gooshy underdog story. That sounds...out of my comfort level. But I thought, heck why not!

Well if you've seen the movie, then you understand the gist of the book. Poor, unrecognized, unloved, black high school boy gets recognized and finds his place in the world. It's a great story. Well that's what about half to two thirds of this book is about. I loved reading about Michael Oher and his adopted family the Tuohys. The writing in this book is accessible and the story is anything but dry, which (I must admit) I often find non-fiction to be. For the most part, that part of the book and the movie are very similar with a few differences spotted throughout.

The other half to two thirds of the book are about football. How the game has changed the role of the players and strategies for drafting and playing. The subtitle of the book is "evolution of a game", so Michael's story is only part of the book. It just happens that he lives up to the role of the elusive right side offensive tackle (yes this book taught me some football lingo though I really didn't retain much of it), which happens to be the position that Michael Lewis places emphasis on in the book. The first chapter of the book had my head spinning. What is all this jargon? Where does which player play? There is strategy to this brute of a sport? After those ten pages or so I almost put it down, but I'm happy I continued with it. I was naive and I confess this book helped me see that there's a reason these men get paid as much as they do. There lives are often cut short due to the mass amounts of physical damage they do to their bodies during their years playing the game. These are people who were born to play the sport because of their physical make up and their athletic ability. The offensive tackle cannot just be some sumo wrestler sized man, he must also be light on his feet and fast. Those are rare qualities in so large a man.

A point in the story that somewhat bothers me is the adopting of an underprivileged child for his athletic ability. The Tuohy family did not adopt Michael merely for his skills in sports, I know that, but they do discuss taking on the task again. I am all for helping people get educated and rise up to their full potential, but it seemed like the Tuohys became interested in only helping those with athletic ability. What about the others? Sure sports are great, but what about those kids who are intelligent and can make a good life for themselves, but they're stuck in the wrong circumstances? Ok maybe that is cutting off more than they can chew. At least they are trying to help those who need it instead of just overlooking the issue. There are programs out there that only want to help kids with certain grade point averages, so why not have programs that want to help student athletes. I still have some quandaries with it, but it's better than nothing.

Lewis did an eloquent job of telling an 'against all odds' story along with exploring the evolution of the game of football. I'll admit I enjoyed Michael's story more than the chapters about how strategy changed and reassessing the importance of certain positions. For the most part I thought the story read more like a novel than a non-fiction. I'm happy I stepped out of my comfort zone for this book. If you're into football, even slightly, you should consider giving this book a read. Michael Oher and the Tuohy family are lovable and Lewis does a fine job of explaining the game of football and presenting a number of view points and sources for his story. He made it accessible to the avid football fan along with the novice. Cheers to you Mr. Lewis for bringing outsiders into the world of football and going beyond just the dark horse story to create a near seamless conglomerate.