ed values and codes for behavior. Informational pooling may be identified as the stylized manner in which news or intelligence is shared among a group's members. According to research conducted by Deutsch in 1951, groups tend to be characterized by three distinctive kinds of information: first, information which is external to the system or organization; second, that which relates to the past, especially the group's pertinent history; and third, the "internal operations of the system itself" (Deutsch as cited in Pankin, 1982, p. 110). Deutsch's classification of these three types of information helps to highlight how the Permian Panthers continue to dominate large sectors of the Odessa community. The Panthers' history privileges this otherwise easily forgotten town. Glory is attached to their illustrious name and its achievements by inhabitants of Odessa and even Texas. Bissinger concludes the Epilogue to his work by observing "The Permian Panthers ended the decade exactly the same way they had begun it. Two days before Christmas, they became the state champions of Texas" (Bissinger, 1990, p. 355). Since their victories bring status to Odessa, their standards and codes of behavior are given a disproportional significance within this community thirsting for both greatness and greater visibility.
In order to sustain their "greatness" the Permian Panthers participate in the standardized three kinds of feedback in distributing information and analyzing its reception. First, they involve themselves in "goal-seeking" so that "new external data" can be integrated within the "system whose operational channels remain unchanged" (Pankin, 19882, p. 110). This occurs when injured players choose to play with their ankles "air wrapped" rather than succumbing to the extraordinary pain which they are suffering (Bissinger, 1990, p. 343). Functionalism would reinforce the group's need to impose solidarity by imposing a structure which ...