As I watched this movie, I developed and steadily growing dislike for both the coach and the team. There is a scene late in the movie with a kid who had spent three years on the bench and had never played in a single game. Earlier scenes showed that the team won every game in previous seasons by six or more touchdowns, and that star players played both offense and defense. What kind of crappy coach and crappy team never puts the second string in, even when they are leading by 40 points? The muddled point of the movie seemed to be that winning wasn't the most important part of playing the game. For me, this scene blew that ideal out of the water. For this team and this coach, the point wasn't just winning, but winning by huge margins, to the detriment of the players who weren't superstars.
Review of When the Game Stands Tall
