Dan refers to Pete as Dad in this episode. This was a rare episode where the word Dad is spoken. Normally, fathers are referred to as Pa by the children on this show.
All of a sudden, Walnut Grove has a boys' football team, which seems strange. Then Albert mentions that it used to be fun when they did it last year, but there was absolutely no indication that the town ever had a team before. Reply: Perhaps they all just played for fun last year. Or maybe he is referring to when he played on the team in Winoka.
Nitpick: During one of the football practices the players complained to Coach Ellerbee that Laura was assigning too much homework. The coach went to talk to Laura to see if she would consider cutting down on the homework. Laura was unwilling to do so, emphasizing that school was more important than football. Here's my nitpick: When Coach Ellerbee went to the school, some of the children were just leaving the school. This implies that the football players were let out early for practice. Since Laura was not willing to ease up on the homework for the players, I find it unlikely that she would dismiss the players from school early.
Pete: Miss Wilder, all I'm asking you to do is cut down on the boys' homework during football season. Laura: Mr. Ellerbee, my students are here to learn, not to play football. Football is an extracurricular activity. Now, it only seems logical to me that if my assignments are too difficult for the boys to complete, then football practices need to be cut down, not homework. Pete: I see. Then you're not sympathetic to my problem? Laura: No, I'm not.
The dangers of football in this era are shown very well. 25 years later, President Theodore Roosevelt would actually call for a ban on the game unless ways were found to reduce the violence that resulted in several deaths a year on the football field in these days.
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