‘Last Chance U’, a must watch for any of you football folk
Sports Editor
We’ve now made it into the dog days of summer and I have to hand it to all of you native Californians, y’all deal with some pretty cruel heat. Texas gets hot, but not quite this bad. Although the dry heat is nice for a change.
So what is my answer for the heat? Cranking down my A/C and turning on Netflix. I recently became aware that the fourth season of “Last Chance U” was available and away I went, into an elongated binge marathon. It was phenomenal.
The series documents a Independence Junior College in the middle of no where Kansas where football is just about all they have. The head coach, Jason Brown, recruits players who originally had Division 1 talent, but messed up off the field so they need to right their wrongs back at the junior college level.
Mind you, if you’re not of the age to hear a swear word about every 10 seconds, I would wait ’til you’re older, but if you can look past it, it’s well worth your time.
It shows the rocky journey a season can take on a player, coach and most importantly their families.
Football is so much more than just the individuals that make all the glamorous plays. There’s multiple working parts and this behind-the-scenes documentary captures it very well.
Academics are another reason this show has gained so much notability. The personal struggle some
players go through to get their grades back up for D-1 scholarships is portrayed in this series perfectly. The players will spend countless hours with instructors who constantly lift them up and motivate them to do their homework. It shows that for most players, the only thing stopping them from succeeding in school is themselves. They have to use the same mentality in the classroom as they do on the football field.
By the last few episodes you’ll find yourself attached to a few people. It could be the star player, it could be one of the assistant coaches or it could even be a trainer, but what’s most gratifying is these are actual people. They work long days and don’t get caught up in the camera following them. And whether they make it big or not, they got to tell their story to you.
So, if you’re trying to beat the summer heat, I recommend kicking back, grabbing an ice cole beverage and watching “Last Chance U.”