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A team, a town and an actor

Sporting News, The, Oct 11, 2004 by Bob Thornton

I've lived in Texas and Arkansas, where high school football is politics, religion and every thing else. I've always been involved with sports. My father coached basketball. I played baseball. I love watching college football.

So it was a natural draw for me to do Friday Night Lights, my first true sports movie. I play a high school football coach, Gary Gaines. He had two different personalities--an intense game face on the field and a kinder, gentler demeanor away from the game. I worked to capture both sides.

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I got some inspiration from watching reruns of Steve Sabol's NFL Films work. He did a great job of depicting coaches' antics on the sideline. Old ball coach Hank Stram was quite a character for the Chiefs. The things he would say! Only Hank would go up to an official on the field and say, "I'm doing a good enough job of losing this game without help from you." In Friday Night Lights, I worked to throw in some of Hank's mannerisms and words as a tribute.

It was important to me and director Peter Berg to capture the authenticity of the football scenes in the movie, from what I would say to the players, to the plays we would run, to the hitting and tackling. We were fortunate to work with second-unit director Allan Graf, the best "football coordinator" out there. Every sequence was watched carefully. There was one play where it was obvious that two linemen fell down, instead of the running and blocking looking natural. We had to shoot it again.

There couldn't be a better theme for Friday Night Lights than "a team, a town and a dream." High school and college sports still have something special that some of the pro sports have lost--the pure passion and emotion of playing the game. Winning is what kids live for now because for most of them there isn't the promise of big money later. That's why it's hard for me to watch the NBA.

When I do watch pro sports, I look for some of those same qualities of character and love of the game. In the NFL, I like the Colts because of Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning. They are two classy guys and great competitors.

In baseball, no one combines teamwork and chemistry like the Cardinals. It's not as if I suddenly like the Cardinals because they're winning all these games. I've been a lifelong fan. Growing up in Arkansas, we had the Texas League's Travelers, the Cardinals' old Class AA farm team, so our following carried over to the big club.

I once had the chance to throw out the first pitch at a Cardinals game in Busch Stadium. It was extra special that it was in 1998--the year Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris' record. I threw a slider, and I got the biggest compliment from Bob Gibson, who was impressed with my delivery. He asked me where I learned that pitch. I told him it was from his own book on pitching.

I remain good friends with McGwire and manager Tony La Russa, so it's a thrill for me to see how well Tony's team is doing this year. I just hope they're healthy enough to make a long playoff run.

If I had to choose between winning another Academy Award and the Cardinals winning the World Series this year, it would be an easy choice. Go Cards.

Billy Bob Thornton already has signed on for his next sports movie, a remake of The Bad News Bears. Friday Night Lights opens nationwide Friday.

A team, a town and an actor

Sporting News, The, Oct 11, 2004 by Bob Thornton

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