blog 10

Michael Jordan

OTL: Jordan has not left the building

I read an article about Michael Jordan's exit from his basketball playing career and transition into normality and current life today. The writer is making the argument that while Michael is finished with his playing career, the competitive fire that resides inside of him will always be a part of his personality. Whether its challenging some of the charlotte bobcats to a one on one pick up game, or playing black jack until he wins, he will compete until he comes out victorious. This characteristic comes as a gift and a curse. In terms of basketball, it was the best gift that Jordan possessed. In life after basketball, however, it isnt such a luxury. while he had a lustrious career, the writer argues that Jordan still reminesces about the days of him playing for Chicago, and realizes that he will never be at that level ever again. This haunts jordan. So he finds other outlets in his life to fuel his competitive fire. He golfs religiously, works out regularly, and often times plays one on one against the Bobcats players until he cannot move the next day and needs treatment. The article was written fairly recently and is about Jordans current life. So he related the article to the current era when with mentioning the new team Charlotte bobcats and how Jordan owns them. The writer also alludes to the fact that one day in the future Jordan will be forgotten and a likely name to take his place will be Lebron James. He also mentions the constant comparisons between Michael and  Lebron that already take place in our current sports era.

Blog 8

10 hours spent studying
50hours sleeping
20 hours interacting with media

What surprises me about how I spend my time?
-I am surprised that I spend double the amount of time studying, on twitter, instagram, or watching TV

Do you spend most the time on activities representing your most important values?-or not?
-I do not spend enough time studying so my time is not being used the most on whats most important. I need to study more and worry less about social media and television.

Where do I waste most of my time? What is it costing me?
-I waste most of my time during the middle of the day when I just sleep all day and eat. I could be doing more studying and homework, but I waste those precious hours away eating and sleeping then I have to stay up late and lose sleep.

I need to spend more time studying and also more time sleeping. Therefore I need to spend less time on social media and television because that time is useless. It makes me lose sleep and also hurts my grades so I need to cut down the time I spend on that.

Blog 7

I watched a clip of the 1970's final four game. First of all, a huge difference between now and back then in the game is that there was no three point line on the court they were playing. Also, the players seemed to not play as "showy" as now a days. Fast breaks ended with fundamentally sound layups, not dunks. There were alot more mid-range jumpers, and there were alot more white players if Im being completely honest. 

The shorts the players were wearing were extremely short. The hairstyles of the coaches and some of the players even could be best described as bushy and long. The classic combover was sported by white players and the black players either had shaved heads or afros. UCLA had sleeveless jerseys while the contender wore short sleeved shirts. 

As far as slang terms, I could catch alot of terms that were necessarily different than todays slang, but some terms used were "dish"-pass, "jumper"-jumpshot, and "big-man"-center. 

inbetween gametimes, during timeouts there were commercials for pepsi that featured women dancing in clothing with flowers and such which suggest appealing to the "hippie" mindset of young people

Blog 6

I scored highest on Intrapersonal learner
second highest on Interpersonal, Body/kinetic, and Musical/rhythmic learner
and third highest on Logic/math, and verbal/linguistic

The best way for me to improve on my study skills would be to work by myself in a quiet, secluded area. I also need to allow time for my self to reflect and meditate on what I learned as well as studying in short time blocks, allowing myself to stop and absorb what I just learned. I need to work at my own pace and not worry about finishing first. (Intrapersonal)

Other ways for me to improve my learning would be to try working in groups ans sharing info with other people, maybe even try teaching the material. Interview outside sources and debate with others in the group about information during online chats and discussions. (Interpersonal)

More ways for me to improve would be to establish a study group. create stories and skits based on the information I had learned, and read as much info related to the areas as possible. Outline the chapters in my own words and recite my notes aloud. (verbal)

Overall, finding what works for me best within these 3 groups would benefit me greatly ane help me focus my study time and also save time.

Blog 5

Name of article: Phelps Steps Away, Seeking Help Others Could Have Provided

Writer of the article: Karen Crouse

Affiliation: New York Times Columnist

Publication: New York Times

Date of publication: October 5, 2014

5 questions before reading:

1. What did he do
2. Who could have helped
3. Where did it happen
4. Why didn't he get help before hand
5. Is he retiring?

The authors main reason for writing this article is to inform the public about the internal struggles that Phelps has to deal with, and also lets us know that he has learned from his past issues and is taking steps in the right direction to cleaning up his act on his own.

The most important information is that Michael Phelps has an insane amount of pressure on him and many of his "friends" put the weight of the sport of swimming on his shoulders and this is why Phelps has social issues and acts up.

By writing this article, the author is implying that athletes put in the limelight are bound to fail in areas outside the sport. She is cutting popular athletes that are the face of their sport some slack becasue of the immense pressure they are under, and suggesting that too much pressure and importance may be put on these athletes.

The author is proving that Michael Phelps outside the pool issues are highlighted by his social retardation and that he has been forced to focus on swimming and swimming alone for over a decade and that can cause issues.

The writer is assuming that Phelps support community was not actually interested in his life success, but merely on his success in the pool.

The writer provides a couple quotes from Phelps swimming coach and mother, but for the most part not alot of cited information was used.

I believe the article is fairly presented because for most people no one knows about Phelps life outside of swimming. This insight to the struggles Phelps deals with helps the media and the public know about phelps civilian life instead of just his life in the pool.

I do believe and trust this article because it is from the New York Times which is a very reliable source. Also, the information about his swimming medals and off the field issues are accurate because I was aware of them.

The Article is accurate with all of the swimming stats about medals because I am aware of his medals and world records.

1. Phelps decided to put himself in a program to help with his drinking problem.
2. His mother and any advisors could have helped him
3. It happened in his home town during his break from swim training
4. He didnt get help before hand because he felt his mentors only cared about his success in the pool
5. For the time being, he is not swimming so it seems he is somewhat retiring for now. He had retired earlier for 18 months but then came out of retirement. 

Blog 4

I watched "The Field of Dreams". The movie was about A man in Iowa that built a baseball field on his farm because he had a voice in his head that said "build it and they will come". His farm was failing so this was a very controversial decision to build on his land that couldve been used for crops. After he builds the field, he starts players that were involved with the infamous "Black Sox Scandal". These players had been banned for life for throwing a World Series for money. So their second chance was to play at his Iowa farm field. The farmer and his family were the only people that could see them play, and whenever the government and other IRA people came to seize the farm, they couldn't see the players. The man ends up seeing Shoeless Joe Jackson in life when he was really young, and eventually gets to play catch with his father. The movie depicted baseball as a sport that was in the blood of the USA. By putting the setting in Iowa on a farmers land, it enforces the notion that baseball runs through the veins of the hardworking people that provide for the USA. While the man traveled to find clues at several ballparks, it depicted the sport as wildly popular because every stadium they went to was full of baseball fanatics that all had their special story about the ball park and baseball in general. The movie was very accurate in its depiction because I believe that baseball really does influence and provide entertainment and hope for middle class families in America that work very hard. Also, its historically relevant because the Black sox scandal was a real ordeal and the movie did a great job of telling its story. I would give the movie a 4.5/5 stars because it not only had alot of baseball history but also tied it into recent and relevent baseball facts and ballparks and had a good moral message at the end.

blog 3

Describe your personality type: Hardworking and helpful

How will your personality affect your career path?: It will point me towards a job with people contact and something that involves helping people.

What are your major interests?: I enjoy handling money; stocks, investing, ect

How can these interests be transferred to a career choice?: They will guide me towards a job that deals with handling money.

Do you enjoy physical or mental work or both? why?: I enjoy both because breaking a mental sweat is just as important as physically breaking a sweat and you want to be well rounded.

What does this mean to your career path?: whatever I do, I need to make time to exercise.

IS your major goal in choosing a profession money? or something else?: The money is a big part of it but not the biggest. I want a job that allows me to help people first and foremost. And if I make alot of money in doing so thats awesome.

Where do you want to live? why? I want to live in West Texas. I was born there and I just like the people and the pride that goes on with living down there.

What does this preference mean for your career path? It means I should look for a job in Texas.

Do you enjoy traveling? Do you want to do a lot of traveling? Yes I love traveling, especially for vacation.

What does this mean for your career choice? I should choose a job that involves traveling.

What do you truly value in your life? what motivates you? Family motivates me the most and being financially secure.

How might these two things affect your career decisions? I would make sure to get a job that allows me to focus on those two things.

What are your skills? What do you do well? I am good at having conversations with people and helping them accomplish goals.


How could your strongest skill help you make a career decision? If you focus on your strongest skill it would make it easier to narrow down your career choice to something within that skill set.

Do you prefer routine or variety? Why? I prefer routine because I work better when I know something is happening on a schedule.

My dream job would be to be a Financial Advisor. A financial advisor is someone who helps clients reach personal financial goals by helping them invest, save, and even buy when they need to. I like this job so much because I get to help people, work with money, and there is unlimited income potential which excites me greatly.

Blog 2

"42"

This movie served as a documentary of Jackie Robinson's rise to the major leagues and the many hardships and trials he faced once he got there. This movie depicted baseball as a predominately white sport. There were lots of negro leagues where talented african american players had the opportunity to play. Most of the managers of the major league teams refused to even consider picking an african american to play on their team, no matter his ability. Until the dodgers manager. He made a highly controversial move and brought up Robinson to play. As the season progressed, Robinson, and in cosequence, his team, were faced with many unruly away teams and fans that were less than accomidating when it came to hotel availability and even sportsmanship on the field. Every group of people from fans to managers to other plays to even his own teammates discriminated against him. And one player even requested to be traded to Pittsburgh rather than play with a black man. I believe this movie depicted baseball correctly in that era because civil rights was a hotly debated subject and barriers were being broken and built back up again. And Robinson played an influential role in the civil rights movement and breaking down racial barriers.

Blog 1

After reading these two essays, I found that in some ways I am experiencing/ have experienced the same thing. Other parts however, I have not. For instance, I did not have a competition with my friend to see who could go the longest without opening a book. A big reason for this is that I've always paid alot of attention to my grades throughout high school because I knew that the higher my GPA and ACT were, the more academic money I would get paid. On the other hand, I am finding that the quantity and expected quality of my work is much higher than high school was. I had one major outside pressure to coming to SEMO and that is baseball. I was given the opportunity to play baseball here and it met all the criteria for what I desire in being a college athlete. I was lucky enough to have my parents let me go wherever I wanted and them not pressure me on a certain school or area. My main purpose for going to college is to get my degree in business/finance and become a financial advisor. I am aware that many people change their majors and life goals during college so I might change my mind later, but I like having a plan. I plan on meeting the academic goals for this school by utilizing all the rescources available including a SOAR counselor and also study hall hours assigned to me by my coach.