Clearly, these people are crazy, right? I mean, the director doesn't whitewash things --he shows the backwards priorities, irresponsibility, questionable recruiting, etc. w/o editorial comment. At the same time, the film is structured so that the overriding momentum depends on rooting for the football team, which by all rights deserves to lose so the town can maybe soberly assess themselves. And yet I don't think this situation is all that unusual.