n California. He was also a homosexual. In his struggles with his teams homophobic tendencies he decided to keep his sexual preference a secret from everyone on the team. He said about the situation, “It was really hard. Guys would make gay jokes all the time, and I’d have to laugh along with them. I hated a lot of them so much, but I loved football more than I hated them.” While more tolerance has been shown towards different sexual preferences than in the past, Wiecek’s story of discrimination and spite prove to be the rule towards gays in football. This is complementary towards the treatment that homosexuals have endured in other aspects of life, and proves further how high school football has infiltrated into the minds of its participants. Finally, rituals among a high school football team have influenced players to think and act in certain ways. Some rituals have no doubt been beneficial to both players and coaches, but others have not been so noble. One ritual prevalent in most high school football rituals is that of the pre-game prayer. While a dignified ritual it is somehow ironic that many of these football players, some of the rowdiest, raucous, and hedonistic individuals in the school, would all join together in a prayer with sincerity. In the same sense, many coaches known for their ability to curse fluently and to act upon any violent tendency, would join the prayer with equal piety as their players. While hypocritical in many views, this behavior in turn can be seen as congruent to many of the church-goers in America. While attending church, these same members would from Sunday afternoon to Saturday night indulge themselves in all manners of secular pleasure. Another ritual, this time one with great meaning and dignity is the holding of hands amongst players walking out onto the football field. This ritual held by nearly every high school team has shown the unity that the team possess...
