Varsity Blues



""Football is a way of life.""

- - Jonathon 'Mox' Moxon

Varsity Blues is one of the great Cliché Storms of the 1990s. It is a sports story that centers around high school football in great state of Texas.

This film contains examples of:
"Jules: Then quit!
 * All Guys Want Cheerleaders: Averted by Mox, who actually turns down a cheerleader because he prefers his girlfriend.
 * Badass Bookworm: Mox, who can make a ref across the field groan in pain from receiving a spiral thrown by him while sitting... As he reads Slaughterhouse-Five.
 * Big Man on Campus: Who you are if you're the quarterback at West Caanan High School.
 * Big Game
 * Billy Elliot Plot
 * Blackmail: What you do to ensure your players listen to you.
 * The Cheerleader: Darcy Sears
 * Conflicting Loyalty: There are multiple examples, however a conversation between Mox and his girlfriend underlines his conflict.

Mox: I can't.

Jules: Then play.

Mox: You don't understand..."

"Mox: Tweeter, do you think you'll enjoy prison?
 * Cool People Rebel Against Authority
 * Date Rape/Black Comedy Rape: Charlie Tweeder talks to Mox about how girls are panty-droppers, after you give them some pain-killers and alcohol. Subverted by Mox who, rather than laughing about it, asks him if he'll like prison.

Tweeter: I don't know...what?"

"Mox: No-no-no, it's Billy Bob. It's gotta be true or false. Billy Bob! The man is holding up some fingers, true or false?
 * Dawson Casting: Featuring Dawson himself!
 * Dumb Muscle: His name is Billy Bob.
 * Down to the Last Play
 * Drill Sergeant Nasty: Coach Kilmer, as are most football coaches.
 * Everytown, America: West Canaan, Texas.
 * Fanservice Extra: A few of them.
 * Groin Attack: "...And say, 'I'm stupid and I'm about to get hit in the nuts.'"
 * Hangover Sensitivity: When the boys leave the strip club following a night of partying. The hangover lasts into the game that night.
 * Hot Teacher: Taken to the extreme with Miss Davis, especially considering it's a small town.
 * How Many Fingers?: The trainer uses this to help diagnose Billy Bob.

Billy Bob: ...true?"

"Coach Kilmer: The only pain that matters is the pain you inflict!"
 * I Call Him "Mister Happy": The result of Miss Davis' brilliant exercise in her Sex Education class.
 * Interrupted Suicide:.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname
 * Our Founder: There is a bronzed statue of coach, for whom the high school stadium is also named.
 * Parental Obliviousness: His son just received an acceptance letter to an Ivy League college, but Sam Moxon wants to talk football.
 * Parental Substitute: Billy Bob: ] "Man, Coach loved me like a son! Treated me like one, too."
 * Put Me in Coach: "Put me in there! We'll block it."
 * Practical Voice Over: The radio announcers a few times in the film.
 * Losing Is Worse Than Death: Of course it's easier since it's not his well-being, but that of his players at risk. Unfortunately, this is a bit of Truth in Television with many coaches in high school sports.


 * Miracle Rally
 * Naked People Are Funny: The stolen patrol car is full of this trope.
 * Rousing Speech
 * Save Our Team
 * Serious Business: Football in West Caanan, Texas.
 * Slow Clap
 * Small Town Boredom: The reason Darcy Sears sticks with the star players.
 * Sports Story
 * STD Immunity: Averted, albeit indirectly, when Tweeder looks down his own pants and asks aloud, "...The fuck is that?!"
 * Teenage Wasteland: If you're a Coyote in West Canaan (especially a starter), don't expect the law to apply to you. You are a part of a different society that has its own laws.
 * Teen Drama: It was produced by MTV Films.
 * Token Minority: Wendell Brown. He is also the only one of the main cast to have been a professional football player.
 * Villain with Good Publicity: The town loves the coach because he wins championships, but also because they're not aware of the lengths to which he goes to do it.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Almost to tears.
 * Wild Teen Party
 * You Can Leave Your Hat On: Miss Davis again.