Norman Dale wants control because he lost it once, badly, and the film does not hide the temper. Myra sees through him. The town meeting is a perfect picture of a public that confuses passion with ownership. Shooter is given a dignity that is not sentimental about drink: he is needed, and he is ill, and both are true. The last game matters because they have become a team that can run a play under noise, not because a miracle owes small towns a trophy.

A boy who plays anything should see the part where the stars are put in their place and then raised by being trusted. That order is the coaching.