I have already written about this topic in my final essay blog post but I think I need to expand and get into some details. In sports, I believe a coach and his or her players need to have a certain connection to be successful. In order for a connection to happen, trust needs to be earned between the players and coach. That trust must be earned by the coach as well as by the players. This year, not only has my former coach broken his trust with me, but many of the supervisors at Alameda High who I use to trust lost a lot of respect from me. This all began before winter break during the Alameda High School men’s basketball tournament. In our first game against McClymonds High school, I was getting really frustrated at the coach, Mr. Felder, because he was being very negative and he wasn’t coaching but instead yelling at his players. Then during the game, he gave up on our team by sitting at the end of the bench with his head in his hands, moping. Mr. Felder also pulled out all of the starters, including myself. I was very upset because we were still playing hard and deserved a chance to try and win the game. And the game was still close but he thought that we already lost. Finally, he decided to put back all the starters again but by then we were down 25 points, too far behind to catch up so I told him, “I’m tired” because I was frustrated with his attitude. We ended up losing the game because of him. Afterward, I vented to the head varsity coach and my parents on what my frustration was, that our coach had quit on our team. The head varsity coach went to speak to Mr. Felder to get his feedback. The head varsity coach returned, then explained to my parents and I that Mr. Felder had told him that I had quit on the team! I was completely shocked! The head coach told me and my parents that we would have a meeting and discuss the situation without any penalty later in the week. We agreed and I expected to play in game the next day against Skyline High.
The next day, December 19, Saturday, we were to play Skyline at 2pm. With game time approaching, I notice that Mr. Felder had not entered the locker room to give the customary pre-game speech. Instead, the women’s JV basketball coach, Mr. Burnett, walked into the locker room. How odd I thought? Mr. Burnett then proceeded to blast the players for not playing together the night before, singling out the Captains, particularly me by accusing me of quitting on the team. Minutes to game time, the doors open and the team walks out to their bench. A minute later I come out with Mr. Felder behind him. My teammate Zac, who had turned his ankle, was in street clothes and asked me, “Are you ready?” I replied, “I’m not playing, I’ve been suspended.” Mr. Felder had ordered all of my teammates out of the locker room, and then told me I had been suspended. I thought we had all agreed that no actions were to be taken until all the facts had come out in our upcoming meeting on Wednesday. I guess not! Yet, I sat on the bench, encouraged my teammates, and I really wanted to be there for them. The 3rd quarter rolled around, a time out was called, and my teammates and I huddled together. During the huddle, another teammate made a comment out of frustration. Mr. Felder thought he was giving him attitude and said, “There must be something wrong with this team and you all have attitude problems.” I looked at my injured teammate Zac and we just rolled our eyes. Then all of a sudden, Mr. Felder started to bark at us asking if were having a conversation. I said, “No. We weren’t talking.” He replied, “Well you can go sit down at the end of the bench.” I was so mad that I walked into the locker room and took my frustrations out in there instead of exploding in front of him. As I walked out of the locker room to return to the bench, I see my dad and I told him, “It’s not right, I didn’t say anything. He kicked me out of the huddle!” What ever happened to our agreement to meet to discuss the situation, and just let me play? Minutes later, my family and I walked out of the gym humiliated and furious.
My parents pulled me from the team, we had a series of meetings with the head varsity coach, the athletic director, and the principal, but all we got out of it were lies and slander. They labeled me a “Quitter” and took the side of the Mr. Felder, without even considering the facts. My parents called the Superintendents office and we asked for an investigation of all parties involved and to ask parents, players, and coaches what really happened. On Monday, February 1st, we were informed that Mr. Felder had been fired for conduct unbecoming a coach. He had yelled at all the players during practice the week before and then proceeded to humiliate a player, calling him a “cry baby” and then saying, “You can tell that to your punk-ass dad.” My parents had another meeting with the Superintendent and the principal, they apologized to what had happened to me during the winter break, and after checking out the facts I was cleared of the suspension, that I didn’t quit on the team, the coach did. What really bothered me was that the school administrators believed Mr. Felder without even talking to me about what happened. I wasn’t given a chance to tell my side.
As a player, I am trained to respect and trust my coaches. As a person, I am trained to respect and trust my elders. This really challenged me because I could not do what I was trained to do. Instead, I had to watch my back and I couldn’t trust the people who I am suppose to. I didn’t quit the team, or quit on myself. Even though the “Adults” lied and tried to blame me for their problems, I stuck to what I felt in my heart, to tell the truth and stand up for what I thought was right, even though it might cause me to stop doing what I love, like playing basketball. I lost my faith in some of the teachers at Alameda High, but I have learned that adversity really does test your beliefs and I’ve become a stronger person for it. Yesterday, I was selected along with three other teammates to join the varsity team for the NCS playoffs.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Apolo Ohno
In the 1500 m final, Apolo Ohno placed second after two Korean skaters, Lee Ho-Suk and Sung Si-bak made contact and crashed into the wall during the final turn of the final lap. Ohno was in fourth place leading into the crash, and as a result, moved into second place, earning the silver. Fellow American skater, J. R. Celski finished with the bronze medal. The gold medal went to South Korea's Lee Jung-Su. This win allowed Ohno, with six career medals, to tie Bonnie Blair for most medals won by a U.S. Winter Olympian. Training for Apolo was long,tedious, and tiring. In preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Ohno lost over 9 kilograms (20 pounds) of weight from when he appeared at the 2002 Winter Games. He went down to a 65.7 kg (145 lb) bodyframe and a 2.5% Body fat percentage enduring a 5 month 3-a-day training program combined with a strict nutritional program. As a result, he can lift double the weight he could before the training. His father chose to name his son Apolo after the Greek words "Ap," which means to "steer away from" and "lo," which means "look out; here he comes."
During the U.S. Short Track Speed Skating Olympic Trials held September 8–12, 2009, in Marquette, Michigan, Ohno won the overall meet title and defended his national title. He won the finals during the 500 m, 1000 m and 1500 m races.However, during the 1000 m time trial, Ohno came in second to J. R. Celski despite skating a personal best of 1:24.500 to Celski's personal best of 1:23.981.Celski, who finished second overall and was leading in points after the first two nights of the trials, was injured during a crash in the semifinals of the 1000 m race when his right skate sliced into his left leg; he did not skate in the 1000 m finals. Ohno had a narrow victory in the 500 m, beating out the silver place finisher Jeff Simon by only .039 of a second. Ohno, Celski, Jordan Malone, Travis Jayner and Simon Cho were the top five finishers at the trials. Afterwards, Ohno said about the nominated team: "This is the strongest team we've ever had. I feel really good about how we will do in the next Olympics".
Thursday, February 11, 2010
John Wall #11
The names come tumbling out of his mouth steady and true, as if John Wall wants you to know exactly how much thought he has put into what he's about to say. First come the all-timers: Magic, Isiah, Pistol Pete, Jason Kidd. Then Wall lists today's gold standard: Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose. "There are so many great point guards," says Wall, the Kentucky freshman who bestrides college basketball, circa 2010. "I know it's not going to be easy, and it's going to take so much work in the gym and studying the game, but my goal is to be the greatest point guard ever." It's the sort of statement that, voiced by any other 19-year-old on the planet, would draw eye-rolls and maybe even laughter. But halfway into what will almost surely be his only college season, Johnathan Hildred Wall of Raleigh, N.C., is persuading people who know the game that those aspirations shouldn't be dismissed as mere youthful bravado. "I've been around him, and I watch how he works," says Kentucky assistant coach Rod Strickland, who played point guard in the NBA for 17 years. "He wants to be great. When he tells you that, I believe that's seriously on his mind."
Also not laughing is North Carolina coach Roy Williams, whose Tar Heels fell to Wall's Wildcats 68--66 on Dec. 5. "A lot of guys say things, but I believe he has the hunger to do that," says Williams, who calls the 6'4", 197-pound Wall the finest point guard he has seen emerge from high school since Kidd, nearly 20 years ago. "He has great size and speed for a point guard, tremendous lateral quickness and an ability to defend, make big plays at crunch time and make other players better. I think the sky's the limit for him." In the fourth season since the NBA's age-minimum rule forced most players with pro aspirations to spend at least a year in college basketball, Wall is the clearest example of a must-see freshman talent (for both college and NBA fans) since Texas's Kevin Durant, who in 2006--07 became the first freshman to be named national player of the year. Wall is on track to be the second, not least because his 17.2 points and 7.3 assists a game had led No. 3 Kentucky to a 15--0 record at week's end. But unlike Durant, who was famously taken behind Greg Oden in the '07 NBA draft, Wall isn't the subject of any debate.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS!!!!!!
For superbowl XLIV i really want thew saints to win because i think they deserve it and it would be nice because its the first time they have ever been in a superbowl. Just the fact that they made it to the super is a great achievement. But i think they can go all the way. The New Orleans Saints finished the season with an NFC best 13-3 record and went on to advance to the first Super Bowl in their 43 years as an NFL team. It had been a long journey for New Orleans. After joining the NFL in 1967, it took them 21 years to record their first winning season and another 13 years after that to win their first playoff game. Five years later, the New Orleans area suffered another setback when the Louisiana Superdome was devastated with the rest of the city by Hurricane Katrina, forcing them to play all of their home games in 2005 elsewhere as they finished with a 3-13 record. But in the offseason, the team's fortunes began to turn. First, they signed pro bowl quarterback Drew Brees, who would go on to throw for more passing yards than any other quarterback over the next four seasons. Drew Brees is also one of my favorite players because not only is he a talented young man but he is a good person. he was a really big contributor to the people of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina devastated the city.
Everyone is saying that the Colts are unstoppable because of Peyton Manning. Don't get me wrong, because Peyton Manning is one of the greatest quarterbacks but he is still human. I believe that if the saints keep it close, they have a very good chances of winning the superbowl. The defense has to be strong and relentless. the more pressure they put on Peyton Manning, the better. The Saints offense should take of its self. But the running game has to be there.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Do violent video games contribute to youth violence?
I think that violent video games in fact to contribute to the violence of young people because kids play video games for a few reasons. They play because they want to do something which they cant do in real life such as shooting and killing people, stealing a car, and other lethal things. Another reason is that they want to do something where they can be free to do whatever they want with a limited amount of rules. Basically, they can be God. The only problem with this is, is that it encourages them to do want to do the same thing in real life. These video games are so addicting and inspiring to them that it makes them act the same way when they're playing the video game and in real life. In other words, they make the video game their role models for how they want to behave.While most American kids do play video games, the center of the video game market has shifted older as the first generation of gamers continues to play into adulthood. Already 62 percent of the console market and 66 percent of the PC market is age 18 or older.
The game industry caters to adult tastes. Meanwhile, a sizable number of parents ignore game ratings because they assume that games are for kids. One quarter of children ages 11 to 16 identify an M-Rated (Mature Content) game as among their favorites. Clearly, more should be done to restrict advertising and marketing that targets young consumers with mature content, and to educate parents about the media choices they are facing. But parents need to share some of the responsibility for making decisions about what is appropriate for their children. The news on this front is not all bad. The Federal Trade Commission has found that 83 percent of game purchases for underage consumers are made by parents or by parents and children together. Here's where the media effects research, which often uses punching rubber dolls as a marker of real-world aggression, becomes problematic. The kid who is punching a toy designed for this purpose is still within the "magic circle" of play and understands her actions on those terms. Such research shows us only that violent play leads to more violent play.
The game industry caters to adult tastes. Meanwhile, a sizable number of parents ignore game ratings because they assume that games are for kids. One quarter of children ages 11 to 16 identify an M-Rated (Mature Content) game as among their favorites. Clearly, more should be done to restrict advertising and marketing that targets young consumers with mature content, and to educate parents about the media choices they are facing. But parents need to share some of the responsibility for making decisions about what is appropriate for their children. The news on this front is not all bad. The Federal Trade Commission has found that 83 percent of game purchases for underage consumers are made by parents or by parents and children together. Here's where the media effects research, which often uses punching rubber dolls as a marker of real-world aggression, becomes problematic. The kid who is punching a toy designed for this purpose is still within the "magic circle" of play and understands her actions on those terms. Such research shows us only that violent play leads to more violent play.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Final Essay
Juston Dea
Period 2
1/19/10
I wrote weekly blog posts this semester in my English class to help develop and improve my writing skills. Most of the topics I wrote about were by my own selection, while some were assigned to me by Mr. Sutherland. In some cases, I chose past SAT questions in order to prepare myself for the actual test coming up in my junior year. The ideas for my topics basically were inspired by personal experiences, by events that happened to me which I thought meant something to me, including current events happening in the world that everyone was talking about. In each blog, the topics gave me a chance to express how I felt emotionally, how happy, sad, angry, disappointed, and reflective. My least favorite, yet favorite blog piece is titled, Adversity, written right after the winter break, which I will go into more detail.
I usually write about topics that either are events that happen to me or to others. Most of the time, it’s about something that recently happened to me or something that I might have read in a newspaper and I can relate to because I’ve been in the same situation before. Some blog posts that have to do with my personal experiences are Adversity, Hawaii, My High School Baseball Career, and Is there another explanation or another point of view? I like to write about my personal experiences because it gives me a chance to express my feelings about events that affects my emotions either strongly positively or negatively. The blog post on Adversity explained how I dealt with life when it gets rough and expressed my frustrations about a situation during winter break. Hawaii was written after a family vacation as a graduation present for my sister and I; she from High School and me from Middle School. Hawaii was a truly positive experience. It was my first time to Hawaii and I got the chance to visit, observe, and try new things on four islands. It was also the first time I had ever gone on a cruise ship. I forgot to write something in my blog post that was extremely sad but meant a lot to me. While my family and I were on the island of Oahu, we visited Pearl Harbor. When I first got there, I thought that we were just going to see a sunken ship like the Titanic. But after looking at all the artifacts and reading all the information in the memorial, it was hard to believe that I was standing over 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors that died during the tragic attack. My High School Baseball Career was a reflection on the NCS game that we lost last year against Clayton Valley. I explained my disappointment and failures in the game. “This was the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my whole life. The pitcher picked me off. Even though I thought I was safe, I went back into the dug-out and I felt so terrible that I just sat the very end of the bench embarrassed and pissed off.” When I wrote, Is there another explanation or another point of view?, I was practicing for my SAT essay writing that I used a lot of my personal experiences. “As a basketball player, it is important for me to have many options and see the whole court.” I talked about how there will always be another point of view because everyone doesn’t think the same way. I included my basketball skills in describing the ways that I think.
I sometimes write about current events because they are important to me and I want to share my feelings toward the event to others. Also I write about them so I can keep track of the events so I can look back and remember them. The events I write about are very important to me whether it may be music, sports, or world problems. I wrote three blog posts on current events and each one has its own significance. I shared my thoughts about the Kanye West Controversy with Taylor Swift because I love music and I think what West did was extremely rude and unnecessary. “…it’s especially rude in this case because it is her very first VMA award and he just ruined her moment.” To me, global warming is a very big issue in the world today so I decided to write about it in one of my blog post. I wrote all the facts and details that cause global warming and included some suggestions that we as people can do to prevent it and hopefully I can be part of the solution in the future. I believe that if we just stop polluting the air, global warming would not be such a big problem. “The main reason why the world is getting so hot is because of the amount of greenhouse gasses we (as in everyone in the world) give off into the atmosphere.”
My favorite and least favorite blog post was a recent one about adversity. I decided to write about adversity because at the time, I had just experienced a stressful situation and I believe that I handled it very well. In my blog, I didn’t include all the details because I wrote it the day when the problem was solved and I expressed my feelings in an open manner rather than personal. Now, I am going to tell the story behind my blog post. Over the winter break, I was wrongly suspended from a basketball game for actions that didn’t warrant a suspension. The coach quit on the team, the players all knew it and were upset, but the coach put the blame on me by saying that I quit on the team and wasn’t acting like a Captain should. Also, the way that the suspension was carried out was unprofessional, cruel, and personal which caused my parents to pull me off the team. They later had several meetings with the heads of the program to discuss whether or not I would return to the team. As I said in my blog post, “In some cases, adversity may lead to sacrificing the thing you love most.” Currently, I am back on the team, some of the administration has apologized for their actions, and I feel that I have become a stronger person by not allowing the childish behavior of adults to influence me. “But if you quit and give up, you're not giving yourself a chance to mature and grow up.” I realized that adults, teachers, and coaches can make mistakes too, but that doesn’t give them the right to try and hide or shove it under the rug so other students won’t see them in a different light. Unfortunately, in this situation, the adults didn’t want to be held accountable for their actions. I have lost a lot of faith in some of the teachers and administrators here at Alameda High School because of my suspension during the winter break. I used an admiring quote from the movie “Rocky Balboa” as my closing statement on my blog post to show that I got knocked down, but I wasn’t knocked out. “It's not how hard you get hit. It's how hard you keep going after you get hit.”
The ideas for the blogs I wrote this semester were inspired by my personal experiences, events that I felt were important to me and would affect my future, and situations where my emotions ran high or low. I wanted to write about topics that made me feel happy, sad, angry, disappointed, and reflective. I also, picked Adversity, as my least favorite, yet favorite blog piece. I experienced a lot of stress and anger during the winter break, but I believe I have come out of it a better person. I want to close with a quote from the movie, “Invictus”…
“I am (learning to be) the Master of my Fate…I am the Captain of my Soul”
Period 2
1/19/10
I wrote weekly blog posts this semester in my English class to help develop and improve my writing skills. Most of the topics I wrote about were by my own selection, while some were assigned to me by Mr. Sutherland. In some cases, I chose past SAT questions in order to prepare myself for the actual test coming up in my junior year. The ideas for my topics basically were inspired by personal experiences, by events that happened to me which I thought meant something to me, including current events happening in the world that everyone was talking about. In each blog, the topics gave me a chance to express how I felt emotionally, how happy, sad, angry, disappointed, and reflective. My least favorite, yet favorite blog piece is titled, Adversity, written right after the winter break, which I will go into more detail.
I usually write about topics that either are events that happen to me or to others. Most of the time, it’s about something that recently happened to me or something that I might have read in a newspaper and I can relate to because I’ve been in the same situation before. Some blog posts that have to do with my personal experiences are Adversity, Hawaii, My High School Baseball Career, and Is there another explanation or another point of view? I like to write about my personal experiences because it gives me a chance to express my feelings about events that affects my emotions either strongly positively or negatively. The blog post on Adversity explained how I dealt with life when it gets rough and expressed my frustrations about a situation during winter break. Hawaii was written after a family vacation as a graduation present for my sister and I; she from High School and me from Middle School. Hawaii was a truly positive experience. It was my first time to Hawaii and I got the chance to visit, observe, and try new things on four islands. It was also the first time I had ever gone on a cruise ship. I forgot to write something in my blog post that was extremely sad but meant a lot to me. While my family and I were on the island of Oahu, we visited Pearl Harbor. When I first got there, I thought that we were just going to see a sunken ship like the Titanic. But after looking at all the artifacts and reading all the information in the memorial, it was hard to believe that I was standing over 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors that died during the tragic attack. My High School Baseball Career was a reflection on the NCS game that we lost last year against Clayton Valley. I explained my disappointment and failures in the game. “This was the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my whole life. The pitcher picked me off. Even though I thought I was safe, I went back into the dug-out and I felt so terrible that I just sat the very end of the bench embarrassed and pissed off.” When I wrote, Is there another explanation or another point of view?, I was practicing for my SAT essay writing that I used a lot of my personal experiences. “As a basketball player, it is important for me to have many options and see the whole court.” I talked about how there will always be another point of view because everyone doesn’t think the same way. I included my basketball skills in describing the ways that I think.
I sometimes write about current events because they are important to me and I want to share my feelings toward the event to others. Also I write about them so I can keep track of the events so I can look back and remember them. The events I write about are very important to me whether it may be music, sports, or world problems. I wrote three blog posts on current events and each one has its own significance. I shared my thoughts about the Kanye West Controversy with Taylor Swift because I love music and I think what West did was extremely rude and unnecessary. “…it’s especially rude in this case because it is her very first VMA award and he just ruined her moment.” To me, global warming is a very big issue in the world today so I decided to write about it in one of my blog post. I wrote all the facts and details that cause global warming and included some suggestions that we as people can do to prevent it and hopefully I can be part of the solution in the future. I believe that if we just stop polluting the air, global warming would not be such a big problem. “The main reason why the world is getting so hot is because of the amount of greenhouse gasses we (as in everyone in the world) give off into the atmosphere.”
My favorite and least favorite blog post was a recent one about adversity. I decided to write about adversity because at the time, I had just experienced a stressful situation and I believe that I handled it very well. In my blog, I didn’t include all the details because I wrote it the day when the problem was solved and I expressed my feelings in an open manner rather than personal. Now, I am going to tell the story behind my blog post. Over the winter break, I was wrongly suspended from a basketball game for actions that didn’t warrant a suspension. The coach quit on the team, the players all knew it and were upset, but the coach put the blame on me by saying that I quit on the team and wasn’t acting like a Captain should. Also, the way that the suspension was carried out was unprofessional, cruel, and personal which caused my parents to pull me off the team. They later had several meetings with the heads of the program to discuss whether or not I would return to the team. As I said in my blog post, “In some cases, adversity may lead to sacrificing the thing you love most.” Currently, I am back on the team, some of the administration has apologized for their actions, and I feel that I have become a stronger person by not allowing the childish behavior of adults to influence me. “But if you quit and give up, you're not giving yourself a chance to mature and grow up.” I realized that adults, teachers, and coaches can make mistakes too, but that doesn’t give them the right to try and hide or shove it under the rug so other students won’t see them in a different light. Unfortunately, in this situation, the adults didn’t want to be held accountable for their actions. I have lost a lot of faith in some of the teachers and administrators here at Alameda High School because of my suspension during the winter break. I used an admiring quote from the movie “Rocky Balboa” as my closing statement on my blog post to show that I got knocked down, but I wasn’t knocked out. “It's not how hard you get hit. It's how hard you keep going after you get hit.”
The ideas for the blogs I wrote this semester were inspired by my personal experiences, events that I felt were important to me and would affect my future, and situations where my emotions ran high or low. I wanted to write about topics that made me feel happy, sad, angry, disappointed, and reflective. I also, picked Adversity, as my least favorite, yet favorite blog piece. I experienced a lot of stress and anger during the winter break, but I believe I have come out of it a better person. I want to close with a quote from the movie, “Invictus”…
“I am (learning to be) the Master of my Fate…I am the Captain of my Soul”
Writing Groups
If there is one thing that i need help with, it would be writing. My writing is not very good at all and i think writing groups will help me start to understand and comprehend how to write better. I think some ways of organizing writing groups is by having different groups focus on different topics or areas of writing. I think this would be a lot more useful than if we all did the same topic because we get to see how other people can write effectively on the same idea in many different ways. I also believe that by doing this, students can get more experience with topics they aren't very comfortable with. I really need to be in a focused group to get my work done. If i am with my friends, i will enjoy my time much and won't get anything accomplished. Im not sure how the groups will work yet but i hope i can learn more and improve my writing abilities. I also think that it is wise that Mr. Sutherland is picking groups otherwise i would be very distracted. I also believe that we should proofread each others papers so we can learn to not make the mistakes of others.
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