The Black Hole

I've never been a huge fan of the NFL team the Oakland Raiders, but whenever I see them on TV or someone wearing the jersey, it takes me back. I can remember the first time I watched my older brother put on the raiders jersey for his practice, it wasn't the Oakland Raiders jersey, but it was a Bartlett Raiders jersey. Bartlett is a small town in Illinois where I was born and raised and the Bartlett Raiders is the towns pee-wee football organization. My brother is two years older than I am so he started playing football before I even knew what the sport was really about. As I learned more about the sport, I ended up followed my brothers footsteps and joined the Bartlett Raiders. Many of my life long friends to this day were teammates that I met from the Raiders and we have shared many memories together growing up. If I would of never joined this football team I might not have met these friends and my life could of been a whole lot different. It's safe to say that this pee-wee organization has had a significant impact on my life since the day that I joined. Whenever I watch NFL football on Sundays and see the Oakland Raiders or just see a fan displaying the jersey it always triggers my childhood memories of the first time I saw my brother put that jersey on and how my life never seemed the same since.

Green or Gold

The number 33. If you're Celtics fan, the first thing you think about is the great Larry Bird. If you're a Lakers fan, then you probably thought of Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Both of these players wore these numbers and were historically great NBA basketball players. In Klosterman's essay 33 he wrote about how the rivalry between these two teams in the 80's was one of the biggest in sports. Klosterman also connected this rivalry  to race in America during this time as well. He said that most African-Americans were fans of the Lakers because almost the whole team consisted of black males.On the other hand, the Celtics had three white males starters in a league that was mostly dominated by African-American athletes. Klosterman didn't stop with race though, he believed that these two teams represented everything from religion to politics and everything in between.
In the poem The End of Practice there was a dream that was described in great detail of the ending of what seemed like a high school football practice. From saying a prayer with the team, listening to the coach give his end of practice speech, and to the locker room full of players who are exhausted from a long day of work.
These two stories show how communities can come together to support a team, but they might be supporting more then a team, whether they know it or not. I feel like supporting this team only defines us in part, because it's just a sport. Some people might think of supporting a team as something more but at the end of the day, you're just a fan. But there are also different levels of fans, there are people who go all out and believe in everything the team stands for, and there are fans who just enjoy cheering and could care less if their team loses a game.I also believe that in rough times in a city, state, or even nation wide, that supporting a common team or sport can help bring a community closer together and help overcome tough times. I feel like a great example of this is every four years at the Olympics. I feel that the Olympics help bring a sense of pride and hope to our nation every time they air. This feeling of pride is the reason why communities support teams in the first place, they want to be able to say, "that's my team that won". Whether you're team is the one in the green uniforms or the gold uniforms, you support that team for a sense of pride and hope.

Da Bulls

Dear Chicago Bulls Organization,
I can remember the first time I watched the Bulls play on television and was just amazing by what I saw. I was a young child and my dad was watching the game in the living room and invited me to sit down to watch it with him. He was always watching basketball on T.V. and I never really understood why. That all changed the day I watched the Chicago Bulls.
I was in awe of how amazingly smooth and athletic the bulls player played that game. I remember one player standing out the most, number 23. He was a tall African-American who seemed like to be the leader of the whole game, he had complete control. As he would dribble the ball around defenders and make shots or pass to wide open teammates, he just made it look effortless. Since that game I became much more interested in the game of basketball, and especially the Chicago Bulls.
As I started to follow "Da Bulls" more and watched the games with my dad, I learned that number 23 was a guy named Micheal Jordan. My dad referred to him as "The Greatest Player Alive".
I just wanted to thank the Chicago Bulls Organization for getting one of the greatest players in NBA history so I was able to witness him play growing up. If it wasn't for Jordan being on the Bulls, then I might not have gotten into basketball at all. I would also like to thank the organization for recently drafting Derrick Rose to the Chicago Bulls. Watching Rose play just reminds me of Jordan controlling the game and making in look effortless.
I look forward to continue being a Chicago Bulls fan and support the organization for many years to come. Good luck and GO BULLS!

Professional Athletes, Fans, and Everyone In Between

Some people grow up loving a certain sport because they might have saw that sport being played by a professional athlete, or they might have been taught that sport by a loved one, or maybe they just followed the sport because everyone else does. Whatever the reason for following a sport, it is usually because you have some kind of sentimental connection that lead you to the sport that you love. The article Participates Versus Spectators started off on how a particular sport might have been introduced into a persons life and the way you looked at the sport then compared to today. Growing up it's all fun and games, literally. Kids enjoyed playing sports or on a sports team because they enjoyed the excitement of the games or the friendships they made. There was never any real competitive nature in the game when we fell in love with it. The writer of this article explains as the years go on and if a person's talent level doesn't continue to improve or they don't feel the game is as fun as it use to be, then more and more athletes stop playing. If this isn't the case, then an athlete will continue to compete either until they make it professionally or get stopped by other road blocks on the way. Many players will still continue to play sports in club teams or intramural teams if they choose to.
The author then talks about how these athletes might not always continue on playing the sport(s) that they love, but they might remain a spectator of that sport. Many athletes will continue to follow the sports that they love and watch it either professionally or on the college level. Technology continues to improve which makes it easier and more convenient to fans to follow along with their favorite teams. Spectators are the main reason that professional athletes are able to play a sport to make a living, without fans following the teams and sports they love, athletes would be out of a job.
I felt that I was able to relate to everything that the author mentioned in this article because I am such a huge sports fan and have been following sports since I could remember. The way the author moved all the way from youth sports to professional and Olympic athletes really made me think of my childhood years and how I grew up with sports. I think this thought process is going to be a key concept when I am trying to right my first paper coming up. Bringing up all of these old sports memories and being able to convert them into a story is going to help me a lot.  

Five, Four, Three...

A typical basketball game consists of five players competing against five other players. That is how this junior college basketball game started, but it's not how it ended. The Thunderbirds were an all-Native American team that started the game with five players on the floor, and no substitutes on the bench. Their opponent were a bunch bigger and more athletic team called the Lumberjacks'. The Lumberjacks' also had more then five players on their team. Given these circumstances this game should of been a walk in the park for the Lumberjacks', but it wasn't.

With four minutes left in the game the Thunderbirds were leading by four points when one of their players fouled out of the game. With 1:06 left in the game, another Thunderbirds player was fouled out, and the score was tied at 81-81. The Lumberjacks ' made a costly turnover down the stretch that gave the ball back to the Thunderbirds who managed to get the ball in the basketball playing with only three players on the court. It was remarkable that an undersized, less athletic, and out numbered team could pull off this amazing victory to advance to the next round of the junior college basketball tournament. If you would like to read the whole story, click HERE.

A poem by James Wright, titled Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio was the next story that I read. This poem was a re-telling of James' memory of his hometown High School on an October night where friends and family fill the stadium to watch a football game. This poem describes all the different faces James would see in the stands during the game and people from different towns as well. He also described how fathers of players would rather be there to support their son rather then at home listening to their nagging wife.

I believe that these two stories do a great job at describing the community in which the story takes place and the time period as well. While reading these stories you can really visualize what the author is describing and can tell weather the community supports the sport or could care less about the sport. Both of these readings were re-tellings from sporting events that the authors experienced growing up. Chuck Klosterman acknowledge that he did do some research to help piece his story together and collect all the correct facts, but both of these stories were just memories transferred onto paper. Football and basketball were the two sports that were described in these readings and they are some well known sports around the world. Even if a country does not participate in playing these sports, they have probably heard of them sometime in their life. There were also many cultures that were mentioned in these readings including Native American, Polish, and African American as well. 

I like how in the first reading (Three-Man Weave) the author interviewed players and coaches that might have been involved in the game and that even though they felt confident about their memory of the game and statistics, they weren't always right. One player recalled having 35 points in the game when he actually scored 33. The Lumberjacks' coach said he thought the "Iron Five" shot 78 percent from the field when it was actually 61 percent. I thought it was a great job by Chuck Klosterman to search for all the stats and facts because even if you think your memory is correct, it can always play little tricks on you.

I think that the first essay might help me while writing my paper because it's similar due to the fact that it's based off my memory and I will need to do some research to help make sure all of my facts and re-callings are accurate.  I also liked the format that Chuck used to write his essay, he opening up with information that gave his readers a general idea of where the story took place and gave a visualization of the setting and everyone involved. Then he got into the details of the game which made it much easier to follow and understand after already knowing about all the small details that might have been overlooked. I think this was a great idea to help the audience follow the story easier and I think I will use this format in my first paper.