Raiders Night (football, assault)

Book Title: Raiders Night by Robert Lipsyte

Topic: Football, steroids

Thoughts: I read Lipsyte's The Contender when I was in high school and enjoyed his description of boxing and the character's conflict.  Raiders Night is another effective novel about a high school athlete who has a moral decision to make.

The novel begins near the beginning of Matt's senior year in high school before he heads off for a week of football camp.   I thought it was neat that the camp is on a military base that is no longer used.....wouldn't that be a great idea to use other closed military bases as camps or schools?  Anyway, on the next to last night of camp the seniors perform a prank on freshman called "Raiders Night," but this prank goes too far, and the rest of the novel centers on the team practicing and playing football but trying to forget the horrible event. 

Like in Shooting Star Matt's girlfriend, Brandy, only uses his for the popularity angle. We all know people like that, who will date someone to help their social status until someone else has more social status to help them climb the ladder.  Matt has to decide if he was a relationship that looks good to everyone else or a relationship with Sarah that looks and feels good to him.

I had finished Shooting Star yesterday and picked this one up to read knowing they are the same topic.  I would recommend Raiders Night over Shooting Star.  Maybe because this one has more characters that I like and despise, and I understand the turmoil Matt goes through to do what he wants in life instead of letting his manipulative father dictate what he should do.  I despise Matt's father but see this same characteristic in other parents around me.  Lipsyte (on his soapbox) even discusses how he has noticed how parents are having their children specialize in one sport instead of playing various sports.  We have discussed this at school too.  School boards will offer more activities for students to participate in because they want more student participation but many parents and students will specialize in one sport.  Do we really need year-round sports in which students play baseball, soccer, or basketball eleven or twelve months of the year?  If schools want more students to participate in various athletics, should the coaches give every player the same amount of playing time no matter whether they are good or not?  How do we know if a player who doesn't blossom early will still be terrible later on?  Aren't little league sports supposed to teach players the fundamental skills and sportsmanship?  Or are the little leagues thinking like legislatures that all students should be able to read before they enter kindergarten where the professionals are there to teach them?  Okay, I'll get off my soapbox.....

Maybe that's why I like this novel; it makes me question policies and human behavior.  I know Matt has a moral decision to make and he wrestles with it throughout most of the novel, but I would not be able to keep the horrible secret as long as he did.  I guess that would make me a non-team player, but my conscience would not allow me to let another person be abused like Chris was.