Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can’t Lose.

It left me with that Thelma & Louise you’re-different-now-kind-of-feeling … with the exception of driving off the cliff of course.  I know some people out there hate all that is television and think it’s the devil and in truth with all these awful reality shows out there, I can’t blame them.

However, this TV adventure left me with a positive feeling, which I thought was a pretty awesome way of continuing the New Year,  and I have Netflix to thank for that.

Well in truth after every night for two weeks I wanted to slap myself for being so stupid and not watching it when it was actually on the air. I mean for crying out loud I’m a sports fan, and football enthusiast, but I’m also a lover of good characters and great stories. And I might have been put off by the fact that it looked like one of those teenage shows, but I realized I was way off on that. And so I watched and watched and watched until 2 a.m.

Friday Night Lights Tami Taylor and Coach Eric Taylor

I know, I know. Some may think that staying up late watching television is crazy, but I got hooked and had to watch episodes back to back to back.

I looked forward to the “Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t Lose.”

I got cheesy in me when it comes to sports stories, it’s part of the old jock in me.

In any case if you haven’t guessed it by now it’s the show Friday Night Lights. If you haven’t seen it …

Dude … I encourage you to do so. I don’t normally recommend shows that are not on FX or AMC, but this one is definitely a must watch.

They have some pretty badass characters and even though it had some strong female characters like Mrs. Tami Taylor and Dillon High School student Tyra, I was drawn to the dudes. Not so much because they were good-looking more so because of their stories.

Friday Night Lights

I loved the inspiration behind Dillon High Football Coach Eric Taylor and his pregame and half-time speeches. He also cracked me up with his you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me stare followed by one-liners. I liked seeing the back-up quarterback Matt Saracen and his coming-of-age story. I liked the surprises that Tim Riggins had in store for me and I rooted for him to smarten up and catch a break.

However I tripped out on how much beer was being consumed by everyone and how easily they got it. I was also amazed at no matter how big the hangover, they always said ma’am or sir when asked a question. I tripped out on my need to say y’all after watching the show. I tripped out on how Buddy Gaherty and the boosters created so much frustration and anger that I constantly rooted for them to fail in their sneaky ways and leave Coach Taylor alone, which happened sometimes.

In the end Coach Taylor and his players got what they deserved and I was able to take advantage of the little life lessons throughout seasons 1 to 5. One of my favorites was Coach Taylor’s pregame saying.

“Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose.”

It helps when you’re feeling crappy in the morning. It helps when you’re about to venture off into a new day. It helps when you’re writing your novel and are stuck. It helps when you’re a football player in Dillon, Texas and you’re ready to take the field in the state championships. It helps.

You can use it in any scenario, doesn’t necessarily have to be sports and you don’t necessarily have to say y’all. But it definitely helps you get in the Thelma-&-Louise-this-is-going-to-change-my-life-today-kind-of phase. This therapy is universal and it’s cheap, so it’s best to get Netflix and get right on it.

 

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