“A town, a team and a dream.”

Anyone who has played high school football knows that this saying comes straight off of the cover of “Friday Night Lights,” a best-selling book and, starting tomorrow, a major motion picture.

It’s almost impossible to find a negative review on the book, and it’s looking the same for the acclaimed movie. And there is a very good reason for this.

Although I’m not exactly sure what format the movie will follow (I’m thinking a “Varsity Blues”-type movie minus, Dawson), the book takes a very hard look at the impact high school football has on Odessa, Texas.

Author H.G. Bissinger takes a no-holds-barred look at a year through the eyes of a Permian High School football player.

One thing to take into account is that the true story is based on a Texas high school. Anyone who knows high school football knows Texas is a special place, unlike any other state in the country. Many Texas towns take high school football so seriously the entire town shuts down on game night. They do have a reason to act this way, though.

Texas is a known breeding ground for high school football players, a good portion of whom will go on to play college and even professional football. Heck, the ISU football team has 15 players from Texas on its current roster, with most of them making a big impact.

Although “Friday Night Lights” will make almost everyone who reads (or watches) it want to strap on the shoulder pads, it also takes a dark and gritty look into the low points. It takes a look at the role sex plays in high school football and at relationships in race that are both formed and stretched.

The major point “Friday Night Lights” focuses on, though, is the tremendous amount of pressure that is put on these small-town athletes and the celebration of winning, starting during childhood.

Although most kids in the country dream about growing up and being a Dallas Cowboy, a New York Giant or a San Francisco 49er, in Odessa, most kids’ dreams end at being a Permian High Panther.

This (as is the case with most Texas high schools, at least as mass media will tell you) is the child’s ultimate dream. After being a Permian Panther, a struggle forms for those who have not planned their lives afterward and the economic hardships that may come with it.

Here’s the point. I can’t speak for everyone who played high school football in Iowa, because there are some special circumstances, but my high school only had one thing in common with “Friday Night Lights.”

My junior year, our team’s slogan was “a town, a team and a dream.” That’s it. That’s where the comparison ends. The team went on to finish 1-8 under a VERY bad coach’s last year. That team had roughly 25 kids on it and seemed to be the exact opposite of Permian High. Instead of kids growing up wanting to be a Mason City Mohawk, kids ran from the idea of it.

Although a new coaching staff has taken over and started to turn the program around, 25 kids on a team in a city with a population of 25,000 should never happen, no matter what town or even state it’s in.

Sadly, much of the state of Iowa has failed to capitalize on football, even though it is now America’s favorite sport.

I, for one, never got the chance to play on a legitimate football team until eighth grade, which is much too late to first start the unique experience of playing football.

This state has been blessed with all three regent universities having good football programs. Iowa has been good for a fairly long time now (with only a few off years); Northern Iowa is a perennial favorite to win the Gateway Conference; and Iowa State has had some recent success and has an up-and-coming team.

Don’t get me wrong, Iowa does have some pretty good high school teams. Local teams like West Des Moines Valley, Newton and even Ames usually field pretty competitive teams.

Not only would kids and schools in Iowa benefit from a beefed-up focus on football, but, as “Friday Night Lights” has proven, it’s amazing how much one town or city can come together just once a week for one cause.