This had to be one of the most accurate portrayals of inner city life ever made. This show dealt with it all, drugs, gangs, sex and even death. The second season was to me its peak. You got to see the losers become winners, but not without paying a price. Thorpe infecting Coolige's girlfriend with syphilis (predating the AIDS crisis), a player dying of a brain hemorrhage during practice and the most heartbreaking moment, Jackson getting murdered on the eve of the team winning the city championship. But, the most amazing thing is that this would be the breeding ground for two of the finest directors around, Thomas Carter and Kevin Hooks. Bruce Paltrow not only was a genius director, but he was also a professor and his charges learned well and became great on their own.