The Program

The season begins for the university football team at ESU and one thing matters to Coach Winters: winning. The quarterback has a drinking problem, one of the defensive players is using steroids, and the new running back has no interest in the school's rules. David S. Ward shows directly how much American college sport is an industry: scholarships, sponsorship and being passed in classes are parts of the same system. The story rests on the players' individual histories and saves nobody. James Caan plays the coach. One scene was cut by the studio after release, because it was imitated in real life and led to deaths, and it does not appear in later prints. Who it is for: viewers who like American sports drama and are curious about college football. Who it is not for: anyone wanting more than an institutional critique of sport.