The boys come from different walks of life, however they all have similar struggles and have the same goal of being state champions. Tight-end Brian Chavez, linebacker Ivory Christian, running back Boobie Miles, and Coach Gary Gaines are all prominent figures throughout this book, each showing a different side of how life can treat you in Odessa, and how you can look at life. With the 1987 football season over and the 1988 season about to start, The Permian High School football team is the center of the town’s focus, as per usual. Boobie Miles is an African American athlete that comes from the poorer side of Odessa. Miles does not place any importance on school work, and can barely read.…
Barack Obama once said, “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope”. (“Barack Obama, Goodreads”) Shawn Grim and Rudy Ruettiger were both young men that wanted to prove someone or something in their life wrong.…
“You can’t just take what’s given to you in life. You have to earn some things” (“Sports Stars”). This quote was said by Jerome Bettis explaining how he is dedicated to win and achieve his goals in life. This quote strongly emphasizes how he wants to do more than all of the other ordinary football players. Jerome Bettis was a star running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1996 to 2005 and he is best known for his strong and powerful yet speedy running style.…
A junior football star that is a running back named Jimmy Weddle that is on the top high school team in California named the San Francisco titan high school. Jimmy Weddle is mostly known for his short height at 5'9, how ripped he is and how nice of a guy and friend he is to people. Jimmy is always worried about his family since they support him all around in life mainly in football and that's why he's in the spot he is right now. He also is always thinking about what he has to do for school, his friends, and one of the most important things to his football. Jimmy Weddle always has a swagger to him and a chip on his shoulder, but not in a bad way because he's always helping friends, family and his community out.…
Often, we sports fans love to talk about the big plays, trades and all that makes our love of the game complete. Unfortunately, we can’t always discuss these aspects. Sometimes we forget that these players are people beyond their jerseys and uniforms. Recently, the sporting world took notice of two superstars that fell on hard times and the recovery they embarked on.…
The Grange family went into a new struggle with no money, so they were forced to move to move to Wheaton, Illinois with other family members. From there he became a high-school football phenomenon. In a 4 year tenure, his team had only lost one game (“Red”). Grange had a very small body figure, which kept him from playing college ball at Illinois University, but his brothers strongly encouraged Red to try out.…
“You worked – possibly slaved is the word – Jesse, for many years for this. And you deserve everything they're saying about you and doing for you.” (Quotes) These words were spoken by the wife of a man who was once known as the fastest man alive, James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens. His significant performances as a track and field athlete led to worldwide changes on and off of the track.…
In the post slavery and Reconstruction era of the United States, two men were born who would change the landscape of the country, although their backgrounds in some ways were diametrically opposite, the disapproval and hostility to the way they lived their lived were parallel. Arthur (Jack) Johnson and Paul Leroy Robson were pioneers in sports, brave in combating the racism of their times, and unrelenting in their quest to exert their manhood. Both men were forerunners of greatness, paving the way for the African-Americans who followed them, who are recipients of the opportunities that these two great men created. I will attempt to give evidence of how these men changed the landscape of sports in America, but whose impact on society exceeds…
My hero “It's not about how hard you hit it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward how much you can take and keep, moving forward, that's how winning is done.” -Rocky Balboa Shawn Loughrige a very hardworking family man a football coach and speaker at church. Mr. Loughrige has taught me no matter how hard life is keep, pushing and you can get through it. Shawn taught me no matter how hard life is just keep pushing and you'll get through it.…
America discovered Red Grange because of football, but football was not Grange’s whole life. He was more than a football player, and it was his trials and triumphs off the field shaped him as a man. Throughout his life Grange repeatedly fought past adversity and through his struggles off of the football field to become a smart, humble and resilient man while still dominating the football gridiron. Red Grange was born in 1903 in a small Pennsylvania town.…
Hoop Dreams is a true story of two inner-city young African-American kids who wanted to become a professional basketball player. William Gate and Arthur Agee are filmed in the documentary, it shows their passion, dedication and love for the basketball and how basketball kept them away from the streets. Sport is being a very prominent institution in United States, Mostly in African-American kids, parents indulge their children in sports as a gateway from drugs and gangs. The documentary shows two aspect of life, in one hand is captures the passion, determination of William and Arthur to become a professional basketball player and on the other hand, it talks about larger subjects: ambition, competition, poverty, race and drugs…
Rudy and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Abraham Maslow created a theory about how the human meets their needs. His theory contains five tiers that start at the physiological needs and continue up to self-actualization. Physiological needs are our most basic needs that get us through everyday life, such as food, water, shelter, and sleep. The next step is safety needs which is where we find security in life and is the last “basic” need. Next, we reach the need of belongingness and love, which is a psychological need rather than a physiological need.…
Louis Jenkins’s poem “Football” can serve as a lesson for many student-athletes, not only football players. The message within this poem tells student-athletes that decisions must always be made, but it is never easy no matter the size of the problem. Some athletes will throw the shoe, others will keep…
Remember the Titans is a true story of a High School in Alexandria, Virginia, during the early 1970’s. Two schools had combined to form the T.C. Williams High School. Caucasians and African-Americans were forced together and tensions arise when the Caucasian football coach, Coach Yoast, was replaced by an African-American, Coach Boone. These two coaches had two very different coaching styles, tactics and roles. Throughout this essay the different roles of the coach will be discussed, as well as how effective each coaching method was and how the players responded to the different coaching styles.…
Sports is a big aspect of high school life, especially the sport of football. The films The Blind Side, Remember the Titans, and Friday Night Lights, all revolve around the sport of football and how it manages to change the lives of the athletes. Among these films, the main themes I will focus on will be on the impact of being in a team and the influence an authority figure has on the athletes’ lives. I will begin with examining the theme of being a part of a sports team and how much growth it can have on an individual. At the beginning of the Blind Side, Michael Oher was extremely reserved and did not know how to play football.…