Thursday, February 26, 2015

Hoop Dreams

    "Hoop Dreams" was a tremendous documentary revolving around two amazing basketball stars who played in high school in Chicago. Arthur Agee played for the Marshall Commados. William Gates was the starting point guard for St. Joseph's. Both players had promising basketball careers and had hopes of going to play in college and onto the NBA. Both Will and Arthur struggled keeping good marks in school because they were only motivated in basketball. Will and Arthur lived in areas of Chicago where drugs were prevalent. However, they were able to stay off drugs and away from drugs because they knew that getting into that kind of stuff would jeopardize their basketball careers.
Image result for hoop dreams
     A theme that I recognized from the beginning was the theme of basketball being more of job to them more than it was a sport. The boys loved playing the game, but later on in life and into high school it became a job to them. Their coaches wanted the best for them, but it resulted in putting so much pressure on the boys. It almost made them begin to not like playing the game. There were even points in the movie where the boys did not want to continue playing. The coaches put so much pressure on the boys and recruiters stressed the boys that it became a job and it was no longer a sport to them.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

How Sports Transcend Culture

      Professional sports has impacted society in a variety of ways. Sports make athletes as well as their viewers look past racial discrimination, political standpoint, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs and join together to play, win, or watch. Sports have a unique way of bringing all types of people together to cheer on their favorite team and celebrate in their victory or commiserate the loss. Even today, it is able to bring people together during this time of racial discrimination in the US, athletes still are able to work together as one team. Ever since Jackie Robinson, broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, discrimination has been broken down in professionals sports allowing athletes to forget about racial disputes and just play the game that they fell in love with.

Image result for jackie robinson broke the color line      Sports however, also has some negative impacts. Die hard fans would become aggressive and get carried away and lost in the game. It would result in damage due to celebration or damage due to anger because of the loss. It also creates negative impacts on an athlete's career. Take for example, Billy Cundiff. He missed a field goal attempt to tie the game for the Ravens which lead to a Patriots win.  He received hate mail and death threats because he blew the game for the Ravens. Many lives are affect by sports. You hear all the time about players who can no longer live normal lives because of injury caused by sports.

    Sports have been a huge part of my life ever since I was young. I have always relied on sports to an emotional outlet for whenever I was not feeling like myself. I would go out and play catch or I would shoot around in my neighborhood. It was my way of releasing stress. I loved playing with all my friends and winning championships most summers. Sports is the main reason I am friends with who I am today. Our common interest in sports made it easy for us to connect and we have been friends ever since. Sports has given me the opportunity to create lasting bonds and gain on and off field knowledge that will help me for the rest of my life.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Do Americans like Villains in Sports?

        In my opinion, I feel that Americans like villains in sports when the the villain is going to lose. They like seeing their favorite team take down the Villain and be a hero to their respective city. In this article however, they take into account that boths team that played in the Super Bowl were evil villains. It discusses how the Patriots are like Lex Luthor. The evil genius who continuously gets in the way of Superman and causes him a myriad of problems. " Whether it's allegedly deflating footballs in the men's room of their stadium (Deflategate), or spying on other team's practices (Spygate), head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady know all the lines that can't be crossed, and how to cross them"(John A. Tures).  The losing team being the Seahawks, can be compared to The Joker. Marshawn Lynch truly brings out the Joker-esque personality of the Seahawks. He fails to comply with uniform regulations and he has a dislike for media questions, he truly shows how the Seahawks resemble the psychotic Joker.

     The Super Bowl was one of the craziest games I have seen in quite awhile. The back and forth nature  kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire game. It wasn't until the amazingly lucky catch by Jermaine Kearse that I gave up hope. After I let out a scream that could be heard for miles, I sat back in my chair in utter disbelief. I had given up. I was ready to pack up and leave my friend's house. I took one last look at the television and saw Russell Wilson preparing to make a throw. I ran back to see Malcolm Butler make the interception of his life and save the game for the Patriots. I was ecstatic. I hugged just about very one in the room and was so unbelievably excited. I could not belief the series of events that had occurred in the last few minutes of the most important football game of the year. I lost my mind and spent the rest of the night cheering and celebrating with my friends. It was a night I will remember for the rest of my life. I spent it with some of my best friends and watched the most thrilling and exciting football game. It is a game that will be talked about for quite some time.



.