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Bleachers

by

John Grisham
2003
     
    MonkeyNotes Study Guide by Diane Clapsaddle

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Reprinted with permission from TheBestNotes.com Copyright  2007, All Rights Reserved 
Distribution without the written consent of TheBestNotes.com is strictly prohibited.

KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS
SETTING
The town of Messina, probably in the state of Mississippi in the present day, with flashbacks of football seasons in the sixties, seventies, and eighties.

CHARACTER LIST
Major Characters
Coach Eddie Rake - Although he never appears in the flesh in the story, he is definitely the main character. He is a legend in Messina, having coached the high school football team for 34 years and piling up tremendous statistics. He also was fired for inadvertently causing the death of a player because of his strict conditioning practices. He is in the process of dying of cancer, and his former players begin to return to Messina to reminisce about their coach and the glory days of Messina football.

Neely Crenshaw - He is the main character, and the author tells the story from his point of view. He had been the great football hero in the 1980’s and had a great future perhaps in professional football. Then, he received a career-ending knee injury as a sophomore in college and his great future disappeared. He has not returned to his hometown in 15 years because of his hatred for Coach Rake.

Paul Curry - Now a banker in Messina, Paul was also a great football hero with Neely. He had been Neely’s favorite receiver and best friend. They were also co-captains of the ’87 team.

Silo Mooney - He is the local owner of a body shop behind which he runs a chop shop for illegal parts. So far, he hasn’t been caught, but it seems only a matter of time. When he played football with Neely and Paul, he had been the most dominant player in Messina history. He was as wide as he was tall, and according to…….

Additional characters are outlined in the complete study guide.

CONFLICT
Protagonist - The Protagonist is Neely Curry whose life has gone anywhere but where he hoped it would go. He had been the greatest quarterback in Messina history, but his glory days came to an end with a knee injury during his sophomore year at Tech. He had been struck by Coach Rake during halftime of……
 
Antagonist - One antagonist is Coach Rake. His coaching style made him a legend, but some of his players come away somewhat scarred. He was the kind of man whom his players either….. 

Climax - The climax occurs when Neely Crenshaw appears as the third eulogist for Coach Eddie Rake. The reader doesn’t expect him to be the one to speak well of his memories of his coach, because we….. 

Outcome - The outcome involves the catharsis that both Neely and the town of Messina experience as a result of the death of Eddie Rake. The split in the town over Rake’s firing is resolved through the…… 

SHORT PLOT SUMMARY (Synopsis)
This novel is a brief narrative about a town and its high school football program. By focusing on a minimum of characters, the most important being Eddie Rake and Neely Crenshaw, the author presents the consequences when winning becomes everything to everyone. Neely and his former teammates return to Messina, their hometown, to sit vigil while their former coach, Eddie Rake lies dying. Using the technique of……. 

THEMES
Forgiveness - The first and most important theme is that of forgiveness. Eddie Rake slapped Neely for losing the first half of the championship game in 1987 which prompted Neely to knock his coach out. Neely himself had drifted through the last 15 years of his life, bitter about his knee injury and his wife leaving him. Now, Neely must not only forgive his coach for all that he had done to him, but he must also forgive himself for his own bitterness, his weakness in being unable to give up football, and his cruelty to others like Cameron. Through the vigil for Eddie Rake, he also sits a vigil for who he used to be. He leaves his ……..
 
What Makes True Greatness? - The second theme is what makes true greatness? Eddie Rake was a flawed human just as we all are. He made mistakes that eventually led to his losing his job and from some of his players feeling bitter toward him. However, at his death vigil and funeral, the reader is allowed to see that he was a truly great man. He loved his players even though he couldn’t show it. He loved his family even though he dominated them. He wanted to win for all the right reasons even though he didn’t…… 

Additional themes are identified in the complete study gide.

MOOD
The mood is often somber, bitter, and filled with regret. However, it is also uplifting as so many people come to realize the great influence Eddie Rake had on their lives. It is also uplifting, because the….. 

John Grisham - BIOGRAPHY
Born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas.  John Grisham had wanted to be a professional baseball player. When he realized he didn’t have enough talent to be a pro, he switched gears and majored in accounting at Ole Miss (Mississippi State University) where he also graduated from the school of law (1981) . 

Grisham’s real career began as a lawyer in Southaven, Mississippi. In between his courthouse dates and serving in the Mississippi House of Reprentatives (1983-1990), he took time to begin writing his…….. 

CHAPTER SUMMARIES WITH NOTES / ANALYSIS
TUESDAY
Summary
The first day of Neely Crenshaw’s journey back to his hometown of Messina begins with a description of Rake Field: the high school football field, which people consider more hallowed ground than the local cemetery. He has arrived in October, and as he drives around the field, the memories of his days there come pouring back. When he had played there, it had been simply known as The Field, but after Coach Rake had left, the town named it after him.

Neely had always known deep in his soul that he would return someday, even though he had told himself that it would never happen as long as Rake was alive. Now, Coach Rake is dying and that means a funeral with hundreds of former players packed into the stadium, all wearing their Spartan green. He peruses the field now after 15 years away and sees the two practice fields, a luxury no other school in the state can boast. However, he’s surprised to see that there are untrimmed weeds at various spots, something that would never have happened when he attended Messina High School. He remembers how dozens of volunteers would gather every Thursday afternoon with their gardening shears to trim the grass. It’s a sign to him that the glory days are gone. 

Neely also remembers how no one was allowed to walk on Rake’s field. The coach would curse anyone who dared, including the Mayor, who set into motion an attempt to have Rake fired. However, Rake had more political clout than anyone in the town, and the Mayor was firmly defeated in the next election.
Then, he imagines the pre-game jitters he had always felt with the fans, the band and a very nervous number 19 – Neely Crenshaw, high school All-American, the highly recruited quarterback with the golden arm, fast feet, plenty of size, maybe the greatest player Messina had ever produced. Of course, that is Neely Crenshaw in another life. He used to play in front of crowds of 10,000 or more, but he has heard that they are half that size now. He remembers how his parents sat on the forty yard line, because the college recruiters had the prime seats on the fifty. He had personally received over 100 recruitment letters, with 31 offering him full scholarships, and had been the object of a huge press conference when he had signed with Tech. It had never made sense to him that a town of 8000 could seat 10,000 or more each game, but he knew that the overflow came in from the county; they were the people, who his father warned him away from, and who stood in the north end of the field. They would drink, fight, and curse themselves, the opposition, and the referees. However, as number 19, he adored their raucous behavior, and they certainly adored him. He had never lost before them in three seasons with over 100 touchdown passes.

Then, Neely switches his gaze to the giant scoreboard in the south end zone. On it is the history of Messina football and thus the history of the town itself. There were the undefeated seasons of 1960 and 1961 when Rake was not yet thirty years old. However, it is The Streak that stands out, the years from 1964 to 1970 when Rake’s teams went undefeated until Wayne beat Messina in the state championship. Eighty-four wins in a row became a record, which made Rake a legend at the age of 39. Unfortunately, the town had a terrible time recovering from that defeat,and the following winter was a hard one. Rake brought them out of their gloom the next season with a 13-0 record and a state championship win over the same high school, which had ended The Streak. There were also state championships in ’74, ’75, and ’79. This was all followed by The Drought – from 1980 to 1987, Neely’s senior year, Messina went undefeated, but never won a state championship, and there was definite discontent in the town. They wanted another streak.

Also on the scoreboard are the tributes to all the Messina heroes – seven numbers retired, including Neely’s number 19 and Roman Armstead’s number 81, the only Messina player to ever play in the NFL. Beyond the scoreboard is the field house, a facility that any college would envy. No expense had ever been spared for Rake’s teams and now there is something there that Neely had never seen before: a monument with a brick base and a bronze bust of Rake himself. Under the bust are the all the statistics that any Messina citizen could rattle off from memory – 34 years as coach, 418 wins, 62 losses, 13 state titles and an undefeated streak of 84 straight wins. To Neely, it’s not a monument, but an alter, and he can almost see the Spartan fans bowing before it every Friday night. The last building Neely notices from his perspective is the steeple of the Methodist church behind which sits the house that the town had given Rake on his 50th birthday. Inside, he is sure, are Miss Lila and her three daughters waiting for Rake to take his last breath. He doesn’t think any former players will be there.

The next car into the Spartan Stadium parking lot holds Paul Curry who had caught 47 of Neely’s 63 touchdown passes. They had been close friends and co-captains, the famous duo of Crenshaw to Curry. Now, he works in the Messina bank his grandfather built, married to a local girl. Their wedding had been Neely’s last trip to Messina. Paul tells Neely that Rake is not yet dead and then gossips a little about the present team and their coach. Neely asks him if he ever comes into the stadium when it’s empty and walks around remembering all those good years. Paul tells him that he did for awhile, but now he’s given it up. However, since Neely hasn’t been back for 15 years, Paul believes he’s still dreaming about being the All-American quarterback. Neely responds that he wishes he had never seen a football to which Paul answers that he never had a choice, because Rake had them in uniforms when they were in 6th grade. They had played on Thursday nights and drew more fans than most high schools. Even then, they had memorized all forty plays Rakes had in his book. Neely still knows them all. Now Paul observes that those were the years when they were the heroes who could do no wrong. They were kings of their own little world for three or four seasons and then poof! it was gone. Neely admits that when he was in college he would drive by the school, but he had never wanted to see Rake, and about one month before they fired Rake, he had bought a six pack and climbed up in the stands to re-play all the games in his mind. It had been wonderful until he re-lived the last game, and then, it hurt all over again. Paul says that over time he forgot about being a hero and became just a fan. 

Another car pulls in and it holds Orley Short, the slowest linebacker in history according to Neely. He was a logger from the county and one of the players Rake loved the most, because they were so big and powerful from logging. Another man arrives in the stadium, and Neely can’t place him, a frustration, because he feels he should know them all, all of Rake’s players, a small fraternity whose membership is now forever closed. Paul then mentions how Neely is still Messina’s All-American. He has only to walk into Renfrow’s Café and see the huge photo still hanging above the cash register to know it’s true. He is still the subject of the town’s eternal debate: who is the better quarterback, Neely Crenshaw or Wally Webb. However, Neely can’t enjoy all the memories the way Paul can, because Rake is still back there, an ever-present part of them all. 

Paul receives a phone call while they reminisce from Silo Mooney, who indicates he’s on his way to see them both. Neely observes that he hasn’t seen Silo since they graduated, but Paul reminds him that Silo never graduated, because he had a little trouble with the police over four controlled substances. Now he is in the midst of a very “colorful” career. He was dishonorably discharged from the Army, worked on off-shore rigs, and peddled drugs until he was shot at. He sold shoes, cemetery lots, used cars, and mobile homes. Now he has Old Man Joslin’s junkyard, which he swindled away from him, fixed up a warehouse on it, and turned it into a legitimate body shop. Of course, behind it is a chop shop, which fences stolen parts. Paul expects the FBI to walk in any time with a subpoena, so he’s made all the bank records ready when Silo is busted! Paul also warns Neely to be careful what he says about Rake, because Silo loves the man. Rake had loved him, too, because Silo had owned the middle of every field he played on. His nickname comes from his build – six feet tall and as wide as he is tall. He averaged three personal fouls in every game he played, and no one had ever been cursed by Coach Rake with as much frequency and enthusiasm as Silo Mooney. 

Paul and Neely reminisce about other players as well, including Jesse, who is in jail and will be for a long time to come. Jesse had signed with the University of Miami, which burned Rake. Rake liked to deliver his own players to colleges of his choice, and he had wanted Jesse to go to A&M. Neely remarks that Coach had wanted him to go to State, but he chose Tech because of a secret $50,000 signing bonus. He admits that as long as he kept winning games there were little envelopes in his mailbox of as much as $5000 in cash with notes of encouragement from anonymous alumni. Paul admits surprise that Neely took the money, but Neely justifies it by saying it was a part of every school in the NCAA. 

Silo pulls in then and approaches them with the Messina strut in his walk. Neely thinks of it as a challenge to anyone to utter a careless word. They greet each other and sit three in a row across the bleachers. Neely tells Silo he now lives in the Orlando area and works in real estate. He is divorced with no kids while Silo has never married and has no children he knows of. He had stopped by Rake’s house that afternoon and tells Neely and Paul that it’s full of folks all sitting around waiting for Rake to die. He hadn’t seen the coach, because the dying man didn’t want anyone to see how he had become no more than a skeleton. This quiets all three of them, because they can’t imagine their old Coach lying helpless in a bed in a dark room. He had always relished physical contact with his players, and he loved the violence of football and demanded it from every player. In thirty-four years, however, he had only ever struck two players off the field – one had been a hothead who had quit the team and instigated a fistfight; the other had been Neely Crenshaw himself, who had received a cheap shot in the face.

Then, Neely and Silo reminisce about the knee injury which ended Neely’s football career. A player from A&M had deliberately gone for his knee in an out-of-bounds hit, and it was a career-ending injury. Neely accepts the blame, saying he should never have left the pocket, but no matter where the blame lies, the ultimate result never changed. The men decide to drink beer together and sit in the bleachers, because it seems like the place to be right then.

The chapter then proceeds to explain The Spartan Marathon Run, the annual torture created by Rake to inaugurate each season. It was always held the first day of August practice at noon for maximum heat. The format was simple – a player would run until he dropped with twelve laps around the field as the minimum. If the player was unable to complete twelve laps, he got a second chance the next day, but if he failed again, he was unfit to be a Messina Spartan. Once a player quit or passed out after the twelfth lap, he was made to sit at midfield and bake under the sun until there was no one left standing. Over the years, this practice had led some athletes to pursue other sports or quit athletics altogether. However, the benefit of this practice was the superb condition of every Spartan. In his senior year, Neely completed 31 laps, but Paul completed 38 laps and won the race. Every Spartan after that knew Paul’s number and the number of laps he ran. While he was at tech, but after his knee injury, Neely had met up with a coed from Messina in a bar. She told him there was a new record for the Marathon – a kid named Jaeger who had run 83 laps. 

At that moment, coming up the bleachers is the aforementioned Spartan – Randy Jaeger. He is wearing his green game jersey and quickly recognizes Neely. His family owns a shopping center north of town. He establishes with Neely that he had been a senior the year Rake was fired, an event about which Neely had heard only brief details. Neely asks Jaeger what Rake had said when he completed the 83 laps. Jaeger laughs and says that in front of the team, he told Jaeger he should have done a hundred, but in the locker-room, he very quietly told him that it was a gutsy performance. Other players appear in the bleachers as well, some from the sixties like Blanchard Teague and Jon Couch. They were on the ’68 team which was never scored upon.

All the men eventually congregate together when Silo returns with cases of beer. They talk quietly again until Neely notices Rabbit, a former teacher who had taught for eleven years at Messina High before anyone realized he’d never finished the 9th grade. Rake had intervened in the scandal and had Rabbit reassigned as the assistant athletic director. He drove the team bus, cleaned uniforms, maintained equipment, and supplied Rake with gossip. Now he turns on the field lights, which prompts Paul to note that he’s been turning them on every night for a week. It’s his version of a vigil, and when Rake dies, the lights will go out. Another memory they chuckle over concerns how Rabbit became crippled. During a game in 1981, for reasons no one would ever know, Rabbit had sprinted on the field to stop an opposing player named Lightning Lloyd from scoring. He tackled the guy and went airborne. He was taken off in an ambulance, and the officials awarded Lloyd a touchdown. As Rabbit was taken away, 10,000 fans stood and applauded him with respect. Rake then used the event to fire up his team, and they scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to win the game. At the annual football banquet ever after, Rake awarded a Rabbit Trophy for the Hit-of-the-Year.

Neely is asked when he last saw Rake, and he responds that Rake had come to visit him after his last surgery. They mention that they thought what had happened between Rake and Neely had been another cheap shot, but the truth about what had happened at the ’87 title game had been buried for 15 years, and none of them seem to want to break the silence about it. The discussion then turns to Rake’s jealousy of the stars of the team, his favorites, of which Neely was never a part, and when they had erected the bronze statue. Jaeger mentions how Rake and Miss Lila, after he was fired, would drive up on Karr’s Hill, sit and watch the game from there while listening to the play-by-play on the radio. He was making sure the town knew he was still watching. At the end of every halftime, the band would face the hill, play the fight song, and all 10,000 fans would wave at Rake. Jaeger further mentions that Rake took up golf, but was still bitter about what had happened. The rumor was that he would be buried beside Scotty. 

The next former player to arrive is Mal Brown, the county sheriff. His was the first number – 31 – to be retired. He had played during The Streak and had even played on a broken ankle, something Rake loved about players – the willingness to play hurt. After the requisite handshakes, the Sheriff observes that Neely should have come back long before this, that it “ain’t right to run away.” When the Sheriff then turns the conversation to Neely’s injury, Neely quickly ends it by asking which was Rake’s worst team. Mal Brown answers his question with a comment about how he went into voluntary solitary confinement after losing four games in ’76. The men chalk up so many losses to the lack of talent. The loggers quit when the price of timber shot up, the quarterback broke his arm, and there was no backup. It was the only time in 41 years that Harrisburg had beaten Messina. The Harrisburg players had rubbed it in big, and ran up the score. Rake wrote it down in his soul and went looking for loggers. The next year, they beat Harrisburg 94 to nothing.

Silo then rises to leave and tells them all he’ll see them tomorrow. He tells Mal Brown that he’s laying off stealing cars for a few days in honor of Coach Rake. As he walks away, the Sheriff predicts Silo will be in prison within 12 months and that Paul had better have his bank records in order. Neely isn’t in the mood for such a discussion and gets up to leave as well. As he walks down the bleachers, he uses everything he has in him to walk without a limp. He has learned over time to keep walking as if everything is normal.

Notes
This opening day of the vigil for Coach Rake introduces the readers to Neely and his “fraternity brothers.” These are the heroes of the glory teams Rake coached, and they are here to sit and reminisce about him, as he lies dying. There are many subtle references to the ’87 championship team which Neely led and the confrontation between him and Coach Rake. The reader quickly becomes aware in this chapter that Neely is here not just to sit a vigil for Coach Rake, but also to resolve the ambivalence he feels towards the man……

OVERALL ANALYSES
CHARACTER ANALYSIS
Eddie Rake - He is the head football coach of 34 years at Messina High School who is dying as the story begins. Through the memories of his players, especially Neely Crenshaw, the reader meets a man of inordinate skills and talents who not only goes down into the legend of the town, but into the hearts of the young men he coached. Like most human beings, he is flawed: he is too domineering at home, he pushes his players beyond what’s necessary or right, he strikes one of his players in his anger at losing, and he causes the death of another by making him run until he collapses with heatstroke. However, in spite of his flaws, he was a great man who influenced these same young men in so many positive ways. He taught them to conquer their fears and strive for the best within them, he made them think twice about committing some wrongdoing, he gave them courage when they needed it most, and he taught them to live lives of character. He was also a man who believed in justice and had great sympathy for the neediest among us. He took care of people, and he eventually accepted his own fate like a man. He even found a way to apologize from the grave for all his regrets. In the end, his legend and his legacy far outweighed any flaws he exhibited.

Neely Crenshaw - Neely is a troubled man of 30 when he returns to his hometown to sit a death vigil for his former football coach, Eddie Rake. He has a love-hate relationship with this man whom he hasn’t seen for 15 years. He has spent those years trying to overcome his bitterness, but has failed miserably. The truth is that he is very much like Eddie Rake. He has a hard time accepting that he is no longer the great football hero, and he is bitter at how life has treated him. He also knows people whom he has treated poorly and to whom he owes apologies, but like Eddie, it takes him a long time to realize this. It’s only when he…….

Additional characters are analyzed in the complete study guide.

PLOT STRUCTURE ANALYSIS
The author divides the novel into four days – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday – rather than into chapters. This effectively emphasizes the idea of a vigil kept over time to help people remember a person who is dying.

THEMES - THEME ANALYSIS
The most important theme is that of forgiveness. Both Neely Crenshaw and the town of Messina must find a way to forgive so that the best in people can survive on into succeeding generation. Neely must find a way to forgive Coach Rake for slapping him at half-time of the ’87 championship game. He also must find a way to forgive himself for committing his own sins against other people like Cameron Lane. The town of Messina must find a way to forgive each other so that the rift that resulted with Rake’s firing can be healed and people can believe in each other again. Eddie Rake himself has to face the idea of forgiveness before he dies as seen in his final note read at his funeral. He publicly apologizes to the town and the parents of Scotty Reardon for causing his death and he apologizes to Neely Crenshaw for slapping him. These actions indicate the true measure of a man – that he can accept his own shortcomings and do something about them.

Through the character of Eddie Rake, the reader learns the second theme – what makes true greatness? Rake had many failings, but he had so much good to offer that it overshadowed his failings. He had so instilled his beliefs in his players that long after they had left his field, they were still …….

Additional themes are analyzed in the complete study guide.

AUTHOR’S STYLE 
The author’s style largely involves flashback in order to tell all the stories about Rake over his 34 years as a coach. He also tells the story mainly from the viewpoint of Neely Crenshaw, because he is…… 

RISING ACTION
The rising action begins with Neely Crenshaw’s return to Messina and his first visit to Rake Field in 15 years. It follows his experiences during the death vigil for Coach Eddie Rake over four days ending at…..
			
FALLING ACTION	
he falling action begins with  Neely’s eulogy for Coach Rake, when the townspeople and the former players can’t brings themselves to leave after his funeral. Only Rabbit firing up the mower makes them realize that Coach is gone forever and that life goes on. The players from the ’87 team try to….. 

POINT OF VIEW
The point of view is third person omniscient. It is seen through the eyes of an all-knowing, all-seeing omniscient narrator, who is the author himself, but he re-directs his…. 
	
OTHER ELEMENTS
FORESHADOWING
There are several other literary devices that pop up at various times in the story. One of the most prevalent ones is foreshadowing which frequently presents clues of something that will happen later in the novel. Some examples of foreshadowing include:
1.	When Neely told himself that he would never return as long as Rake was alive, it foreshadows that there is a conflict between him and Rake.
2.	When Neely hears people describe his injury as a cheap shot, he thinks that’s a Neely of another life. This foreshadows his conflict in giving up his bitterness over the loss of a pro career in football…….
IRONY
Another element that is important to note is irony – when something happens, or is seen, or is heard that we may know, but the characters do not, or that appears opposite of what is expected. Some examples of irony include:
1.	It was ironic that the coaches also took a vow of silence after the ’87 championship game.
2.	Ironically, Neely remembers how Coach had once told him to harness his fear and use…… 

QUOTES - IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS AND ANALYSIS
The following quotations are important at various points in the story (Dell, 2004):
1.	“No piece of ground in Messina was more revered than The Field. Not even the cemetery.” (pg. 3; This emphasizes the importance of football in Messina.)
2.	“Eddie Rake was a legend at the age of thirty-nine.” (pg. 9; This prepares the reader for the coming story of how Rake became the greatest of high school coaches.)
3.	“I wish I had never seen a football.” (pg. 14; These words from Neely reinforce his ambivalence about his football career.)
“You count the years until you get a varsity jersey, then you’re a hero, an idol, a cocky bastard, because in this town you can do no wrong. You win and win and you’re the king of your own little world, then poof, it’s gone. You play your last game and everybody cries. You can’t believe it’s over. Then another team comes right behind you and you’re forgotten.” (pg. 16; This description explains the….. 

SYMBOLISM / MOTIFS / IMAGERY / SYMBOLS
Other elements that are present in this novel are symbols and metaphors. Symbols are the use of some unrelated idea to represent something else. Metaphors are direct comparisons made between characters and ideas. There are many symbols and metaphors used by the author such as: 
1.	There was a monument with a brick base and a bronze bust of Rake himself. Under the bust were all the statistics he had amassed. This symbolizes how Rake was a kind of god.
2.	Neely’s determined attempt to walk normally in spite of the severity of his …..

Another element found in this book is a motif. A motif is a recurring thematic element in the development of an artistic or literary work. There is one important motif in Bleachers: the motif of the catharsis some characters experience. Coach Rake learns to say he is sorry before he dies. The town learns to….. 

IMPORTANT / KEY FACTS SUMMARY
Title: Bleachers
Author: John Grisham
Date Published: 2003
Meaning of the Title: It refers to that area of Rake Field where all the players meet to hold a vigil until the death of their coach.
Setting: The town of Messina, probably in Mississippi in the present day, with flashbacks of…… 

STUDY QUESTIONS - MULTIPLE CHOICE QUIZ
1.	Neely Crenshaw lost his chance to play pro ball when
a.	he hurt himself in a car accident.
b.	he received a cheap shot in a game and blew out his knee.
c.	he got into a bar fight and couldn’t throw the ball ever again.
2.	Neely is ambivalent about returning to Messina, because
a.	he hasn’t been back for twenty years.
b.	he doesn’t want to see Cameron Lane at the funeral.
c.	Coach Rake had slapped him during halftime of a game…….

ANSWER KEY
1.) b  2.) c  3.) c  4.) a  5.) c  6.) a  7.) b  8.) c  9.) c  10.) a  11.) a  12.) b  13.) c  14.) a  15.) a

ESSAY TOPICS - BOOK REPORT IDEAS
1.	Explain how Scotty Reardon’s death is an example of how adults can go too far while teaching children or young people about life.
2.	Describe what happens in the bleachers while the players wait for Coach Rake to die. How does this experience contribute to Neely’s catharsis?……

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