What does it take for you to perform?

It's gameday. Go to school, eat, hang out with my team and finally go to the pregame meal in the cafeteria sponsored by the team moms. Those were the usual events everyone participated leading up to the big stage. Afterwards, I would take about an hour nap with my headphones playing suspenseful music such as In The Air by Phil Collins in order to get my body mentally and physically ready. Most people wondered how I would sleep right before the game and play with such high energy during the game. The secret was... having a rested body. Then, my alarm goes off. 

The marching band roars in, during pregame warmups, from outside of the stadium firing up everyone around including fans of the opposing team. Chills start circulating through my body as the band plays louder and louder as kickoff approaches. My teammates and I are jumping around as the bass thumps and echoes throughout the stadium. Both bands are boasting their school pride loud and proud as both schools are about to compete. The national anthem is played and finally after a few minutes you hear Oooohhhhh ooooo! as the ball is kicked. It's game time. 

Most people have different pre-game rituals, routines and triggers because everyone is unique in nature. Some of my teammates would have rap battles before every game and that would do the trick for them. Between listening to the marching band and taking a nap, I was always good to go. If something interrupted my pregame ritual I definitely would feel uneasy about it... enough to the point it could alter my performance on the field which is why having a habitual routine is so important. 

A Winning Culture

In the Rodney Jones' poems victory and triumph or described in a multitude of ways. A sense of triumph is felt when you are first in running sprints at the end of practice or even when winning a sack race. Although both sports are at different ends of the sports spectrum, the sense of accomplishment and victory is universal in both sports.

In Klosterman’s essay “33” sports and culture are both directly related as Klosterman relates the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers to just about every aspect of our daily lives. Klosterman uses the L.A. Lakers and Celtics as a force that divides yet unifies many people. Numerous stereotypes are also described and related to the L.A. Lakers and Boston Celtics such as racism.

Whenever I associate myself with a team, I am willing to accept the stereotypes that go along with that team; however, they are not always an accurate representation of me or anybody else that is associated with the team. As described by Klosterman in his questions, there is a Laker way of doing things and there is a Celtic way of doing things. Both ways of doing things usually are entirely different. Most people that associate themselves with the Lakers or Celtics are subconsciously emerging themselves in the culture of either team based on political standing, racism, or even because of legacy, which clearly has helped construct a stronger community and culture based on those factors. Similarly, as described in Klosterman’s The End Of Practice, no matter what team you are on, the end of practice is very much similar to most other team’s end of practice because it is just the way it has developed as football culture. Everyone who has been on a football team can relate to that.  Finally, Klosterman’s Winning helps describe what kind of society we live in through an irrelevant sport such as sack racing because winning is everything in our society. We live in a Machiavelli, ends justifies the means winning culture and unfortunately it gets many people in trouble such as the late Joe Paterno

Coach Coughlin and the New York Football Giants Organization

Coach Coughlin and the Giants Organization,

As a Miami Dolphins and New York Giants fan I appreciate what you have done in the past few seasons by utterly disappointing the New England Patriots in not one, but two Super Bowls. If you beat the Patriots again in the Superbowl that would be unbelievable because you guys seem to be the only team that can beat them in the big game. It is simply awesome to watch you guys underperform during the regular season and then come in as a heavy underdog and win the Superbowl. I enjoy watching your team because you guys are the typical grind it out blue collar team which seems to be rare in the NFL now a days with all of the spread offenses and at the end of the day your defense is what wins the championships.

As long as you guys keep on beating up on the New England Patriots and the New York Jets, I will always fully support you guys. The way Eli Manning remains as the 3rd most talked about quarterback in New York City is impressive considering the fact he has two Superbowl rings while Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez do not have shit... well Tebow has God but no rings.


Sincerely,
Joseph Hernandez

Participation vs Spectating

Participation and spectating in sports has a unique relationship because they go hand in hand with each other and are necessary for each other. Without spectators, there would not be high salaries which would result in less competitive sports. However, people in the sports world have realized that the fans are probably just as important as the athletes because they help the professional leagues expand through the funding they provide through ticket sales, donations, merchandise sales and television ratings which is why you always hear athletes saying they would like to thank all of their fans. They aren’t thanking the fans really for their moral support.. They are thanking them for their financial support.

While many athletes start at a young age, most of them do not become professional athletes or even high school athletes at the varsity level for that matter. It is a dilemma many people have to face because as a kid almost everyone has aspirations of becoming a professional athlete; however, they face the harsh reality that they are not gifted enough at their sport to compete at a high level. Sports always provide people with fun and excitement even though it can be done in multiple ways. Some fans feel like they play just as big of a role in the game as their favorite superstars such as LeBron James, which is why you see some fans decked out in their favorite player or team’s gear.

There is something that is universally given off by sports whether it’s participating in a sport or spectating a sport and that is an escape. Sports serve as an escape from the daily rut or routine that most people deal with as they get to enjoy watching the team that they have followed since they were little kids watching the big game with the family. Sports are also a uniting force as race and everyone’s differences are irrelevant when everyone is competing or cheering for the same goals.

What it takes to make a memory

In Chuck Klosterman's "Three Man Weave", a small irrelevant junior college team called the United Tribes Thunderbirds in North Dakota with only 5 players competes against other irrelevant teams and makes for an epic memory. This memory is the greatest sports memory of all time for Barry Webster, one of the players on the United Tribes Thunderbirds. When ESPN gave him a phone call, he happily spoke on and on about his memory of beating a team with only 3 players at the end of a basketball game.

In Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio by James Wright the start of something new is described in a small town. No matter how small the town is though, the start of football season is always something major. Football and basketball both give people a tremendous level of excitement at every competitive level whether it is at the peewee level or professional level. Both stories share that the teams are irrelevant on the social scale; however, both teams are extremely important to the few people that care about them. The people telling the stories and recalling the memories in both stories seem to have an extremely vivid memory pertaining to those events because those were obviously meaningful moments in their lives.

The love of sports usually does not stem and develop from the professional level, but at a lower level of competition. However, my love for football developed when I was given Madden 2002 from my friend Erik. My memories that I’ll write about are similar in the sense that they describe my love for the game, but I grew up in a more urban environment so the events in my memories are more relevant in the mainstream sports world. The retellings help define a culture because it shows how significant sports are to their culture. In small towns sports are usually valued more because there is not as much to do or talk about which was clearly the case in both writings.   

My Team Shits On Yours! Oh... wait

All it takes is some preseason hype or a big win for a fan or an analyst to jump the gun and say that a certain team is the best team. People feel empowered to make those statements without any evidence which is completely ridiculous. Every year before the season starts, there is a huge amount of hype that is built up over time due to anxiety and the fact that everyone wants to have the best team. After seeing one Miami Hurricanes Football practice this season, Howard Schnellenberger stated  "That's the best-looking squad I've ever seen in my life physically including the Miami Dolphins, the University of Alabama, anybody. In 56 years of coaching, they looked better physically than anyone I've ever seen"... Slow down there coach, the Miami Hurricanes are average at best and they are not even the best team in their own conference. 

It bothers me when people say their team is the best when there is no profound evidence that leads to that statement being correct. Analysts also argue that a certain player or team is the best and it only takes one performance for them to do so. When Jeremy Lin played a few great games everyone all of a sudden thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. When the Knicks faced off against the Miami Heat, Jeremy Lin looked helpless and all of the analysts and fans were handed a reality check. So whenever you're saying "my team is the best", just think again and ask yourself when was the last time your team won a championship or even their conference. Chances are your team does not fit the criteria of being the best team and your team is not the best so shut up.