by As much as we love covering High School Sports at Kee On Sports, even we cannot deny the drama that will sure enough go on each season off the field.
There are many examples of what teens face now a days, despite if they play sports or not. It’s hard to believe, but a movie that came out during my own senior year of High School actually warned us of all of this and more.
None of us noticed it at the time, but Varsity Blues may have been lightyears ahead of its time when it comes to the pressures on the high school athlete. It brought in a modest 52 million, but is worth its weight in gold for what it taught us.
Let’s take a deeper look, shall we?
Ignoring concussions – Late into the first game shown in the film, star lineman Billy Bob gets concussed and should leave the game because of it. The head coach Bud Kilmer is quick to put him back in and completely ignored it. Later in the week Billy Bob would collapse in class because of it and once againKilmer would show up and remind him he would play every snap the coming week on offense.
Keep in mind this was before a major spotlight was shown on concussions. It would eventually become a national problem worldwide, not just in high school sports. This movie tried to warn us.
Not only that but concussions could lead to suicidal behavior. Long before pro wrestler Chris Benoit and NFL Hall of Famer committed concussed induced brain damage suicide, Billy Bob tried to warn us. In a truly emotional and hard to watch scene he is shown with a shotgun, getting drunk talking about ending it all.
Language to insult minors – “You don’t know the difference between a pu$$y and a wet fart” said the evil coach Kilmer in the early moments of the film to his lowly backup Johnny Moxon. I’m all for motivation, but do some things really need to be that vulgar from a coach who should be motivating you? It’s only gotten worse since.
Painkiller and steroid addictions – Take a look in Tweeders locker, I’m pretty sure those aren’t Flintstones vitamins sitting there. This movie also brings light to the phrase “taking the needle”. Star quarterback Lance Harbor has a massive amount of scar tissue in his knee because Kilmer kept shooting him up before each game so he can play.
This backfired on Kilmer as eventually Lances knees snaps for good, ending his season and full ride to Florida State.
Racism – Kilmer was a redneck racist who only used his speedy tailback Wendell Brown to move the ball down the field with a relentless amount of carries until it came time to score. He would make sure to run Lance on a keeper, or Tweeder on a sweep.
He refused to give his African American tailback any chances to score. Brown would try to talk him to him about how tired he was from too much work when Kilmer told him, “never show weakness son, never show weakness”.
Physical Contact with players from coaches – Kilmer loses control of his temper and physically assaults Mox. I hate to say it, but I just saw this exact thing happen on a sideline recently.
Varsity Blues, a movie that some took as a comedy and others as strictly a sports movie. Who knew that it predicted the future and brought light to things that truly needed it!
Has anything changed since? I personally feel that it has as student athletes do not play through injuries nearly as much as they used to. Concussions and any head or neck injuries are taken more serious than ever now as well.
These are only 5 things, but go back and watch the movie again and you will more than likely notice 5 more that I didn’t even mention.
