When Did Compe Friedman, Hilary Levey. “When Did Competitive Sports Take Over American Childhood?” The Atlantic. N.p., 20 Sept. 2013. Web. 03 Mar. 2014.titive Sports Take Over American Childhood??

The article discusses how sports had molded are children over the past hundred years. It started out in the 1900’s, with poor kids and immigrants living in crowded tenements. They would spend most of their time playing sports in the streets. Because these activities were not chaperoned by adults, they would often end up in shambles. Most of the richer children were engaging in music and art, instead of sports. After WWII this had to change do to the fact that the country was going through the industrial revolution and the country needed laborers. The rich kids were look at as soft and weak. Sports was a way to make them stronger, and prepare them for a career doing much harder work than they were accustom to. This lead to adult supervised sports.

As colleges became more crowded and more difficult to get into, being skilled at sports gave a person a better chance of attending a school of their choice. There were also recessions going on which lead to less money being put into youth sports programs, resulting in many programs being canceled. This lead to parent paying for their children to play. Another incentive for children playing sports was after the 1970’s, the salary for many professional sports was increased. If you had a very gifted child, you may see sports as a way for your child to make it big.

Although I found the article to be interesting. I thought the authors writing style was quite boring. It seemed to be all facts, and very little opinion. I never got a feel for how the author felt about the subject.

Let’s Start Paying College Athletes

Is it fair that N.C.A.A. rakes in billions of dollars off the backs of college athletes? The author of the article feels strongly that the N.C.A.A. should pay the workers that generate all this revenue. He has come up with a plan that seems very fair for all involved. It would give the athletes far more than their getting know. His plan has five elements for success. First make the colleges bid on players coming out of high school. Instead of sweet talking them in the living room, offer them a contract. Second is a salary cap for every team. This will keep things fair and the smaller colleges will be able to compete with the larger ones. Third, if a player stays in college for the full four years he will also receive an extra two year scholarship. During a football season, it is not uncommon for a player to spend more time working on his sport, than his studies. This will allow players that have no chance of reaching professional level, to finish their degrees. The fourth element would be to give each player lifelong health insurance. This will insure that players that incur concussions, or other lingering injuries, will be covered for the rest of their life. The fifth element would be to create and organization to represent both the current and former athletes. Unfortunately this plan is only for men’s football and basketball.

I thought the author displayed a lot of passion while writing this article. He obviously put a lot of thought into it, and spent a lot of time researching this topic.

I really liked the article, and agree with him 100%

The Case Against High Sch

Ripley, Amanda. “The Case Against High-School Sports.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.

Is it fair for public schools systems to continue to pour millions of dollars in to sports programs while neglecting programs like math, science, music and art? The US is ranked 31^st  internationally in math. All while the US spends far more per student on sports, than they do on academics. If the US didn’t spend these resources on sports, and diverted them to math a science, would are children be more competitive in the work force.

I found it alarming that one particular school are spending $1300.00 per football player and $618 per math student. Or a school in Texas that is spending $1348.00 per cheerleader and a measly $328.00 per math student. $1348 for a cheer leader, are you kidding me. In my opinion this is a gross misplacement of funds that are supposed to go to education. Its not meant for school sprit or town rivalries.  This is truly a case displaying the needs of the many being sacrificed for the needs of the few! Wouldn’t we get more bang for our buck if we spent this money on physical fitness programs, to combat obesity. Or health classes to teach children how to take care of them selves and to respect their bodies. If you feel competition is important, then how about hosting academic decathlon’s.  It’s the schools responsibility to educate our children, not to amuse them.

I found this article to be eye opening, if we are falling so far behind the rest of the world in education, why are we not looking for better solutions. Why is this the first time I heard of this? Why are’nt more people talking about this problem? The top countries leading in academics do not have state sponsored sports programs. They put all the resources into educating their children. If we want to close the gap, maybe we should to.

ool Sports

                                                                       Lesson for a Lifetime

I can remember it as if it were yesterday. I was 8 years old, and my mother had just signed me up for Little League.  I had just received my first baseball glove for Christmas and I haven’t used it yet. The first practice was at Legion field in Bridgewater MA. The field was located just behind the William Middle School, which was the school I was attending.  I was so excited I couldn’t stop talking, I remember my mother telling me” calm down”. The field was huge, with bleachers to either side of home base. The entire perimeter of the field was fenced in.  This was the first time I have ever been on a baseball field.  All the other kids were exhibiting the same enthusiasm that I was experiencing. There was a lot of screaming, yelling, and running going on. Before the practice even started I made a new friend. His name was Bobby Brady, he was a year older than me and missing a front tooth.  I always remember him because of the TV character on the Brady Bunch, and he was the best athlete on the field.

 My coach’s name was Mr. Pacheco. He was a giant of a man, probably 6’4 250 to 275 pounds. He had wild blond curly hair almost like straw, and crooked teeth. His hands were so big they were as large as my baseball glove. He had a very deep voice and at first yelled a lot, it seemed mostly at me. And I’m not ashamed to say I was petrified of him. But as I got to know him he was really just a big teddy bear, lot of bark and no bite. My biggest problem was I was afraid of the ball, come to think of it I was afraid of almost everything back then.  Whether   I was hitting or fielding, where ever the ball was going, I was going the other way. The first game I warmed the bench for the first four innings, but in the 5^th Coach put me in to bat. I could here in the background the cheers of my mother, and the coach yelling “stand in there, hang tough.” I was never so scared in my life, my knees were trembling and I thought I was going to throw up. I stepped into the batter’s box and look up at the pitcher, He looked like he was at least ten years old. He was much taller than I. And he threw hard and fast, I jump out of the batter’s box every pitch he threw, and I was called out on strikes. I walk back to the dugout with my head hanging low. I could hear my teammates laughing and making jokes about me as I entered. On the way home, that evening my mother asked me why am I so afraid of the ball. I told her I didn’t know, I just am. She told me in the best way she could. ”You know it’s a little embarrassing to see you jump out of the way of the ball all the time. It makes you look like a baby.” I told her I was sorry and I would try to do better. But what I was really feeling was, maybe she should stand there and let someone throw a ball right at her face, and see how it feels.

Two days later we had a practice in the morning, before the game that evening. Coach Pacheco told me to put on the catchers equipment. I told him I have never played as a catcher. He replied “all you have to do is catch the ball, now get in there”. I didn’t want to but I did. The equipment was heavy, the chest protector was cutting into my sides when I moved my arm. The helmet and face protector were also heavy and made it harder to see through. I put on the glove and it was lose on my hand, and I was sweating. The glove was much heavier than I was used to. But I was more concerned with being hit by the ball, or worse the bat. But to my amazement it wasn’t that bad. The first pitch nocked the glove right off my hand. I put the glove back on, this time twisting my fingers in tighter. Then the pitcher threw the ball and I caught it, I saw it all the way into the glove. I was starting to feel a little comfortable and confident.  And then it happened, a foul tip off the bat right to my shoulder. It stun me hard at first, a stinging from my shoulder to my chest. Next pitch was in the dirt, and then into my stomach, I heard the coach say. “Good block.” I wasn’t trying to block anything, it just hit me, and it didn’t hurt at all. I felt like I was getting the hang of this. Coach yelled to me from the bench “the balls not as scary anymore is it”. I replied no sir, though I wasn’t as confident as he was. Next was batting practice, while I was standing there waiting for my turn, coach turned to me and said. ”You played better today”. In my shy way I shrugged my shoulders and said yes. And I thought to myself, he was right I did play better today.  When I got up to bat, I didn’t hit the ball, but I also didn’t jump out of the batter’s box, and I keep my eyes open and even took a swing at the ball.

That night the sun was just starting to go down. I was feeling hungry and the smell of hamburgers and french fries was in the air. Like before I was warming the bench. It was the top of the fourth inning, we had runners on 2^nd and 3^rd base. I heard the coach yell out, “Brow get your helmet on, you’re on deck.” I went and got my helmet, and I was standing in the on deck circle while Bobby struck out. It made me feel better that he struck out, that way when I did I wouldn’t feel so bad. Next thing I here is the Umpire saying batter up. I steped into the box, my knees were once again shaking. First pitch went screamed right over my head, ball one. Second pitch also right over my head, ball two, I heard in the background the other coach telling the pitcher to slow down and just throw the ball over the plate, and my mother screaming. ” Come on Richie!” I took a step back out of the box, coach Pacheco told me “stand in there, if it looks good swing.” I could hear my mother and my teammates cheering me on. I think it was at that exact moment that I realized, that I wasn’t afraid anymore, and that I have nothing to fear. With the bat on my shoulder, I choked up on the bat. Adjusting my hands and tightening my grip. I stared toward the pitcher, watching him fig it with the ball. He looked annoyed that he threw away the first two balls. He went into his wined up and threw the ball. For the first time I could see the ball, I didn’t swing the bat that hard but it hit it right on the sweet spot. I ripped it between 1^st and 2^nd base. I was in such shock, I didn’t even run, I remember hearing the coach telling me to run. With all the parents and my teammate cheering, the only one I could here was my mother.” run Richie run, you did it, you did it!” The ball rolled all the way to the corner of right field. I was running as fast as I could, almost falling rounding 1^st base. I made it to 2^nd safely, and scored 2 runs. I looked over at my mother, she was on the sideline by 1^st base, and she look so proud jumping and clapping. Then the tears just started flowing, I had no control over them. I did it, I got a hit, and a double as a matter of fact. I didn’t have to stay out there for long, the next batter struck out.  We went on to win the game. It was a great day, a day that changed how a faced my fears for the rest of my life.

I wonder if Coach Pacheco new what a wonderful thing he did for me that day. He taught me to face my fears, to leap without looking, and to always believe in myself. I will be forever in his debt for that. Since that day I have never feared doing something new, or anything I was afraid of. It was a lesson that lasted a life time.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/19/091019fa_fact_gladwell

Gladwell, Malcolm. “Offensive Play.” The New Yorker. N.p., 19 Oct. 2009. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.

How different are dogfighting and football.

The main point of the article is that when it comes to dogfighting we see it as brutal and wrong. We see it as immoral and uncivilized to let two animals have at each other until the one is seriously injured or killed. But in football we look past the brutality and the injuries because the sport brings in Billions of dollars each year. And the fear is if they were to make the sport less brutal and safer no one would want to watch it. So they really don’t know how to address the problem.  But the reality is that research shows that the players are suffering brain injuries that they will have to deal with for a lifetime.

I was really surprised that so many of the young athletes that were studied, had brains that showed symptoms that you wouldn’t see in a 60 or 70 year old man. Really alarming.

I found the authors style to be very descriptive, and well research. In the beginning of the article when he was describing his symptoms I could have diagnosed him with CTE or chronic traumatic encephalopathy my self. Witch in layman terms is, chronic degenerative brain trauma. Resulting in dementia and Alzheimer’s like symptoms.

I would give this article 5 stars and two thumbs up. All parents should read this article before they consider allowing there children to participate in contact sports. I know I will. And that includes my future grand children to.

importance of sports in my life

There’s nothing I love more than kicking back on the couch with a beer and a bag of chips, watching the Patriots game. I’m choosing the theme of sports because I have always been a dedicated sports fan. I make a full effort to make sure I watch as many Patriots, Bruins and Red Sox games as I can.

In my memoir I could write about my most memorable game. I’ll never forget the game between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos, when the Patriots were down 28 points after half time, and came back to win the game. It was an incredible finish. Or the Boston Bruins being down 3 goal to the Toronto Maple Leafs, in the game seven conference finals. With only two minuets to go,the Bruins came back to tie the game, and then win it in overtime. When the Bruins scored the final goal , the screams and cheers blew the roof off my house.

For my assignment on ethnography, I could explain how concussions in football and hockey are changing the culture of the game, trying to make it less brutal. Although their intentions are for the safety of the players. This is changing how the game is played. In some cases, making it less enjoyable to watch.

In the argument, I would like to argue against the expansion of the instant replay rule in baseball. I will include reasons why the change would diminish the enjoyment and experience of watching the sport. The new instant replay rules that are being proposed, would make the games much longer, and more difficult to tolerate, and it is feared that some teams may try to exploit the new rules.

To support my argument, I could use the photo essay, to include photos of games going into extra innings or lasting over three and a half hours. I could also include pictures of fans sleeping, sitting in the blistering heat, or enduring the pouring rain.

Sports is a huge hobby and a love of mine. It’s great being part of something millions of people in the world enjoy. GO BRUINS!

Who am I as a writer? The truth is, I’m not sure. Writing has never been one of my strong points. I have been out of school for over thirty years, and haven’t had to compose a essay for quite some time. Most of those years were spent in the construction field. In the building trades, it was sometimes common for communication to consist of hand gestures, and shouting obscenities across a large room. Not a whole lot of writing.

In the mid 1990’s. I went back to school to become a licensed practical nurse. I worked as a nurse for about five years. But in nursing, communication is more in the form of observation and assessment documentation. Which is structured and doesn’t leave a lot of room for free thought or opinion.

When I do read it’s seldom books. I like to read world news, and the stock market reports. I get most of my news from the Internet these days.

There was a time, when I was younger that I enjoyed reading books. One title that stands out in my mind was Lord of the fly’s. This was one of my favorites. In my adult years, books have given way to television and a occasional magazine.

So back to the question who am I as a writer?  A novice at best.