He taught me how to handle pressure in clutch situations of a game. As a sophomore I started and we went to the playoffs. He taught us that this game is more than just something to do you has to love it. When I step on a basketball court it feels like nothing matters. The stresses that I been going through or the pain or the sickness just doesn’t matter.
Man and boy stood cheering by, And home we brought you shoulder-high” (Housman). This sufficiently explains how the boy in that poem was a local hero that was loved by his fans. This is also seen in “Ex-Basketball Player” whenever it said, “bucketed three hundred ninety points/a county record still!” (Updike) That must have been a might feat to accomplish. Both of the poems have a eulogy feeling to them. Of course, A.E Housman’s poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” has a cold, tomblike tone to it, because it is about a death of a young man.
The only reason I choose this poem as a topic for my first paper is that in my point of view, I have a lot of common points with Flick. I really loved this poem and I will try to explain to you why, in this paper. John Updike’s poem “Ex-basketball player” suggests that whatever the feelings are, happiness or sadness, both the man and the town he lives in, become dependants on each other for reaffirmation of the past. The poem is built around the character Flick Webb, who was a famous highschool basketball player. But now, he is confronted to the monotony of pumping gas in the small town where he was born.
Hazy balls of sweat, plummeting towards the wooden floor, I am tired. Thirty sprints of the court, as a warm up, I look at the coach, with a ‘put me on the court’ kind of look. He takes no notice of me, turns away and continued watching the other players. The clock reads twenty minutes to go. The 1963 State Basketball team tryouts, I am the first coloured boy to be allowed to even try out, only an exception because I am tall, 6’6” to be exact, mum measured before I came.
When people hear his name they remember when he played basketball and the role he had in county history. “Pearl Avenue” is another case of symbolism used by Updike (1). An avenue is typically grand; however, the poem describes “Pearl Avenue” as being “cut off” shortly after it starts (1,2) “Pearl Avenue” also leads to where Flick is working now (1). “Pearl Avenue” is a representation of Flick’s life and career. Both started with great expectations only to be met with a firm stop and cut short of any possible success.
The Stray Bullet Jim felt very happy that morning; there was no particular reason for that happiness apart from the fact that he was just drafted in by the head coach for the college basketball team. He had all the attributes to make it big in basketball; he stood 6ft 10in tall, was built like a truck and was surprisingly athletic for someone with such a huge frame. He had worked really hard to get into the team, the road was not easy, the fact that he was new to the college didn’t make things any easier, but still as soon as one saw a glimpse of him on the court they knew in their hearts that this boy was destined to become the next big thing in college basketball, and may be go on and rub shoulders with the big boys in the NBA(National
Chris Herren is the ex NBA basketball player who always manages to make it to the headlines. However this is not because of his outstanding performances the news are mostly based on his latest drug usage and addiction confessions. It has been fourteen long years for the basketball star in drug addiction. Chris herren was a favorite among the Boston college basketball team. The officials at the NBA club expected him to be a future star even before his first official match as a national player.
He only scored 19 points & it was the only game of his I watched live. He had the ball stripped from him by a sneaky & quick Spud Webb but did not let it get to him. He airballed a 3 pointer, and the crowd “ohhhddd” in disapproval, but he laughed & then shrugged his shoulders at the crowd and the crowd changed its disapproval & started laughing with him. He had learned to laugh at himself & lean on his teammates (a young Scottie Pippen & young Horace Grant, as well as Craig Hodges) & knew something about his own limitations. Even though he was coming back from injury, and I think Mitch Richmond scored more than he that game, he still was “better” than the rest & scored a “measley” 19 points.
Was it positive or negative? According to the video I felt that the impact of the interaction between Jim and his father was a positive. I believe that Jim is trying his best to do what ever he can to bring his grades up he clearly stated that he enjoys hanging out with friends but it has nothing to do with his grades. He is trying his best to do whatever he can, but he just don’t know how to explain it to his parents. 3.
Happy has lived in the shadow of Biff his whole life, he feels that to get the attention he deserves he must strive to be more successful than his brother. When Willy was talking about Biff, Happy kept hinting that he was losing weight, but Willy seems to ignore him. “He is a marked-down version of his father, with not even a grand dream to cover his grossness. His only redeeming aspect is an easy-going fondness for his family” (Koon pg.37). Happy shows