Posted on April 2nd, 2008 by jijjitt
So I found this article on opposing viewpoints, and I am using it for my argument essay. Cheating? Perhaps. Certainly doing it the easy way. Anyways, in this Ashley Brown, a student at Ohio State University (gross) argues that athletes should not be role models. She says “But the public will never truly know how most athletes behave off-camera and it is for this reason that athletescannot be role models.” A point she uses is the exceptions to the “good behaved” athletes. These would be Kobe Bryant, Mike Tyson, and Dennis Rodman. We all know Bryant’s story, but if not I dont really feel like explaining it. She also says that since they are at their jobs a lot, sometimes weeks away from their families, that they should not be role models. “Their job permeates every aspect of their lives, making it less of a job and more of a lifestyle.” Another point she makes is that doctors, nurses, fireman, and policemen should be given more respect. This is because they are saving lives and making the world a better place everyday. Athletes are paid to play a GAME, so they do not deserve the respect others do.
Ok so I disagree with this article. Well…clearly since I am writing my essay on it. But I think that athletes can be very good role models for a lot of kids out there, especially some inner city ones who dont really have any at home. These athletes are in the spotlight 24-7, and they can give a lot of hope to plenty of children.
There are a couple of things about the writing that bugged me. First I didn’t really like her tone in general. It just sounded really arrogant to me. She also contradicts herself a little bit. For example “the public will never truly know how most athletes behave off-camera” then she gives an example of the Bryant case. But the thing is, we do hear more and more of athletes off-camera lives. If any controversy comes up, we hear about it for at least 5 straight days. She also never really looks at an opponents side of the argument. Not once was it even mentioned. This is not required to publish an essay, but it kind of bugged me.
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Posted on March 23rd, 2008 by jijjitt
In this week’s past tournament, World number 1 Roger Federer was bounced in the Pacific Life open in the semis by American (whoot whoot) Mardy Fish. This was the first time Fed was beat by an American since 2003 when he was taken down by Andy Roddick. But in this article, Roger had nothing but praise for Fish. “He played great today,” Federer, 26, told reporters after losing to Fish for the first time in six meetings. “I can only congratulate him. Fantastic.” Mardy is ranked 98th in the current world rankings, but Fed insists that he is better than that. “It’s not like he’s been 98 for the first time in his life and he just made a career breakthrough breaking into the top 100,” “The guy has been top 20 before and he’s had big matches before. He should have won Cincinnati a few years back beating Andy (Roddick) before he became No. 1. We know how good Mardy can be. Let’s not talk about 98. We know he’s way better than that.” Nonetheless, Federer was happy with the way his weekend. He lost, but he felt as though he played pretty well.
I loved this article. First of all, because Mardy Fish is the man. Unfortunately he had to beat Federer, but I am very glad for him that he won. Second, because this shows what a great guy Roger is. Usually when you see the greats lose, they sometimes make excuses to justify their loss. But Federer had nothing but praise. When you get beat this bad, it is hard to find excuses that will explain why you lost, but it is still a great display of the human being he is. Federer is a great role-model. Unfortunately again, he plays tennis. So many children do not really look up to him. But even for being the best player in the world, he really tries to be himself. Not a star. He is doing that very well.
As for his job, not so much. He lost in the semis in the Australian open, and has lost in a few other tournaments tournaments already this year. I know, terrible. But really, he has not been playing like himself. Maybe it is time to get a coach again? Who am I to suggest what he should do? All he has done without a coach is reach the finals of 12 straight Grand Slams (something like that) prior to this year’s Australian. So Roger…dont ever listen to anything I have to say. Unless you keep losing…
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Posted on March 23rd, 2008 by jijjitt
As if Tiger Woods’ golf game wasn’t doing it for him, Gatorade is now launching a new line of sports drink called Gatorade Tiger. Clearly after Tiger, unless there is another Tiger we do not know about besides the animal. “Gatorade said today it would break a TV spot during the NCAA Men’s Division I basketball tournament on CBS this weekend in which Woods, dressed as an astronaut, takes his game to the moon. The spot, “Gatorade Tiger Moon Shot,” will be followed by a related sweepstakes promotion, “Out of this world,” in April.” The advertisement reenacts the event in 1971 Alan B. Shepard Jr., of Apollo 14, struck a little white ball an estimated 400-600 yards. Well done good sir. This new line will feature three flavors: Red Drive (cherry blend), Cool Fusion (citrus blend) and Quiet Storm (grape blend). These are said to be “inspired and selected by” Tiger. He says this about the campaign, “I have experienced a lot of amazing moments in my golf career, but Gatorade Tiger is taking me someplace I never imagined with this campaign…I’m really excited about how this launch has come together because it brings to life that I’m always thinking about taking my game to the next level.”
So let’s be honest. The man could have retired when he was about 12. Gatorade is bound to make a killing off of this new line, I already almost went out and got some. But umm…do you really think that Tiger himself inspired this? No. I dont think there is even that good of a chance that he chose the flavors, but who knows, they might have told him they were thinking of these and he said yes. I do find this really intriguing though. Gatorade has always gone with conservative titles, like “Rain” and “Frost”, but now they have named their newest line after a human. We are still pretty certain that Tiger is human. But this really shows you how dominant he is. It is unbelievable. I dont think there will ever be another athlete this dominant…ever.
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Posted on March 16th, 2008 by jijjitt
A couple of days ago (Friday) CBS golf analyst David Feherty was hit by a truck while he was riding his bike near his home in Dallas. “Feherty said Friday he was returning from his morning bicycle ride a day earlier when a truck hauling irrigation equipment pinched him into the curb and he was struck by the side mirror.” The impact broke three of his ribs and punctured his lung. Feherty says this: “He didn’t want to hit the car on the left, so he ran over the cyclist on the right,” Feherty said. “I don’t remember a whole lot about it. There was a lady on the scene quickly, keeping me conscious. The next thing I know, I’m at Baylor Medical Center, the only hospital in the United States that doesn’t have The Golf Channel.” That’s a burn that they don’t have the Golf Channel. Feherty has taken up cycling and has piled up injuries, but these were “pilot error.” ”That’s when you hit the ground and slow down. This was flying through the air and speeding up,” he said. “It was entirely different, and not near as much fun. I was lucky I didn’t go underneath the trailer.” He expects to be good to go by The Masters, which is not far off by the way, and he insists that it is “not as bad as it sounds.”
I was shocked when I saw this article. There was nothing on the news about it or anything. I read the title “Golf analyst David Feherty struck on bike by truck, breaks 3 ribs” and I will admit that I laughed. Anything with Feherty in it is funny, even him getting hit by a truck. Umm…that is terrible. But thank-goodness he is in decent condition, The Masters would not be the same without him. Oh and one last thought, who does this truck driver think he is? He avoided the car, only to hit Mr. Feherty. But it is ok because bikes protect their passengers better than cars….? Haha, right. But my best wishes go out to Mr. Feherty. Get well so I can laugh at you.
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Posted on March 16th, 2008 by jijjitt
In a very recent article written by The Intelligencer (?) at phillyburbs.com (??) discusses President Bush’s recent request for More oil, please from OPEC. Yes and along with that also a years supply of…1 Million Dollars…haha what a request. Our country is in an economic downslide right now, and with the expensive oil prices, that is certainly not going to help. The intelligencer burns on the President in this, “Give us more oil, the president is saying, so we can remain addicted to relatively cheap gas and continue driving our SUV guzzlers. Rescue us from ourselves, is Bush’s request.” Fair enough. But this unknown being goes on to talk of how we really can’t blame OPEC for anything can we? After all, they are basically a business. Several countries make up OPEC and he explains once again the stupidity of the request by this; “They are going to make their collective decisions about oil production and distribution based on factors that will affect their bottom lines, not on some almost pathetic request from the U.S. president that they make more oil available to bail us out of our economic dilemma.” A greater supply of oil would only help for a little while, but in the long run, it would probably not help, at all.
I happen to agree with this creature of sorts. Some of the things it (?) says are a little out there though. For example, ” Perhaps we should thank OPEC for giving us a taste of some necessary medicine.” Very bold. Now yes, we do need to learn how to control ourselves, but thanking them is not one of the best ideas this thing has had. Everything else thought I liked what the being had to say. A very interesting request, unbelievable actually.
There are a couple things that I liked about this article. It gave the reader a lot of information. It didn’t use many stats, or anything like that, but it explained the situation very well. This unknown uses a voice that is perfect for the article. I don’t know what you would call it but it was well played. The being goes into plenty of detail on why it was a very dumb request, without it the article would suck. So those are a few things I liked about the writing. Whoever the intelligencer is, well done…
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Posted on March 9th, 2008 by jijjitt
Ron Sirak’s article on Tiger Woods was basically on how some of us golfer fans may perhaps be tired of watching Tiger dominate the field…of almost every tournament he plays in. He has currently won four straight PGA Tour events and will be going for his fifth straight this coming week at Bay Hill. He says that rooting against Tiger is perfectly fine, but he just doesn’t understand why people would be tired of it. He also uses the example of the Yankees, who won five straight from 1949-53, and Joe Louis, Sandy Kofax etc. Those last few rambling sentences can be summed up by what he actually said in his article “Now, I understand there are those who actively root against Woods because he wins so often, just as many despised the Yankees for the same reason. I have no problem with that. But the true sports fan — the true connoisseur of greatness — has to distinguish between his or her rooting interests and genius.” There you go.
I happen to completely agree with Mr. Sirak. I am a little biased though, as Eldrick (Tiger) is my favorite athlete. But Ron speaks truth. He puts it this way “One thing I know I have right is that the quality of play we have seen from Woods for more than a decade deserves to be celebrated.” Yes please. This is absolutely incredible. These are the best golfers in the world that he is up against, and he has a perfect season going right now! If he loses this week I will be shocked, the man says he is playing the best golf of his career, even better than 2000. So umm…let the celebrating begin.
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Posted on February 24th, 2008 by jijjitt
As a longtime writer for Sports Illustrated, Rick Reilly has written many essays for the back-page of the magazine. But unfortunately, after 22 years with the magazine, he will be switching over to ESPN. Anyways, I was able to find one of the essayshe had published on the back-page. This was written last October, and it was all about getting season tickets to The Green Bay Packers. He tells stories of a few people who have been on the waiting list for them. All of them had to wait thirty-plus years to finally get the tickets.
What makes me really enjoy reading his writing is how he says things. At first when I started reading his pieces, I did not realize it was an essay. Probably because I was not very smart, but he makes it so fun to read. For example, when talking about how long the waiting list is, “For instance, if you put your name on the waiting list today, you would be number 74,659. An average of 70 people give up their tickets every year, which means you’ll have your tickets by the 3074 season. Luckily you’ll still catch Brett Favre’s last year.” Hahaha…I love his sense of humor. He is such a funny writer. Another example of this just for kicks, “Some of them have been waiting since 1970! My God, that was the year the Beatles broke up.” Oh yes…that was so worth it. He uses his humor so well, he really keeps you interested in what you are reading.
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Posted on February 24th, 2008 by jijjitt
One of the “This I Believe” essays I read was by Tony Hawk. As most of you know, he is considered to be the greatest skateboarder ever. The title of his essay is “Do What You Love“. In it he tells people to that they should “take pride in what they do, even if it is scorned or misunderstood by the public at large.” He goes on to tell how little faith everyone had in him on his journey to becoming a professional skater. His high school “careers” teacher told him that he would never make a living by skateboarding, so his future was bleak. But he kept working on it, and he never gave up, even through all the criticism. Now, he is one of the most recognizable people in the world. At the end of his essay he gives this advice, “You might not make it to the top, but if you are doing what you love, there is much more happiness there than being rich or famous.”
I really enjoyed his piece. I started reading it because I actually knew the name. But what I really liked about it was his philosophy that if you do what you love, you will be much better off than doing something you don’t like that gives you a lot of money. You may not be better off resource-wise, but you will certainly be a lot happier. I absolutely agree with him. I have been preached this by many family members. And I also believe that doing what makes you happy is way more important than doing something that gets you possessions etc. Money cannot buy you happiness……..or can it?
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Posted on February 17th, 2008 by jijjitt
Last week the PGA Tour made a stop in Pebble Beach, California, to play the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. The 18th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links is one of the most famous holes in golf. Stepping on the 18th tee was described by Robert Louis Stevenson as “most felicitous meeting of land and sea”. It has been a place where the game’s greatest have hit their last tee shots of the day, from Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Woods. From a spectators point of view you can look down the fairway where the pros are lining up their shots. But 45 degrees left, you will see “another world”, a group of sharp, jutting rocks, to the surf spot Ghost Tree. Bob Welsh, a CBS cameraman for 32 years said this about Pebble, “Just for sheer beauty, there is absolutely no place like this in the world. Any weather, any direction, I can swing the camera and there it is.” Out in Carmel Bay you can see Gray Whales doing there thing. Just below the tee there are sea otters darting around, and sea lions barking and sleeping on the rocks. From a golfer’s standpoint, the 18th is really not that much of a hole. Well, you have the ocean to your left, and some trees to deal with, and some bunkers, and wind off the bay. But at 543 yards, this par 5 is very manageable…yeah, I guess. It is certainly not one of the hardest holes on tour, probably not even the most intimidating. But the beauty of the hole, and it’s surroundings, make it one of the most famous holes in the world.
The thing that I really noticed about this article was how descriptive Sir Larry Dorman was. He had a lot of great lines like, “There, you can taste salt air and hear waves hiss like a thousand cottonmouths across the rocks below.” He used a large number of these colorful sentences that really made this article good to read. But he really had no other choice, because who would honestly want to read a whole article on a single hole. Another thing I noticed was how effective the title was. I was immediately drawn in by the words “Pebble Beach’s 18th Hole,” but it went on, “Is a Perfect Intersection of Golf and Nature”. This is when I really thought I should read it. Obviously you are going to want a title that draws readers in, but I thought this was an exceptional one.
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Posted on February 17th, 2008 by jijjitt
This past weekend in Delray Beach FL, there were the International Tennis Championships in the city center. To promote the day, they held a Nintendo Wii Tennis Tournament. The winner of the tournament would get two VIP courtside tickets for the finals and his own Wii console. It came down to Gil Mayron, 23, of Boca Raton, and Surej Kalathil, 34, of West Palm Beach. It was an intense battle, but Kalathil would come away with the victory. John Butler, the executive director of the ITC said this about the event, “We’re trying to branch out and find new fans. Our goal is to include everything we can to make this a party.”
So let me get this straight…there was a Wii tournament with grown men playing right? Okay umm…big nerds. I will be the first one to admit that Wii is very fun, but lets get real here, a tournament? The executive director said they were trying to “branch out and find new fans.” But is it worth going this far? Alright…maybe I am overreacting a little, because there is a lot of these things going on…so I’ve heard. So maybe it is not that big of a deal that grown men are suiting up in headbands and gym pants for a virtual tennis tournament…
Couldn’t get that link thing to work, so here’s the article http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/south/epaper/2008/02/16/0216wiitennis.html
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