Christopher Reeves, once said, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles”. Heroes are people who struggle to achieve their goals and develop extraordinary skills to reach them. Michael Jordan symbolizes an American sports hero who strove to improve his skills and achieve his goals. Michael Jordan is considered to be the best player in the history of world basketball. He is called “Air Jordan” for his extraordinary talent in making slam dunks and having great moves that send him airborne.
Gregg is in his third year in the NBA and still has not played a full season; He has been hurt every year. No one knows if this guy can still play at a high level; what if he is done now; he has nothing, cannot get a job, and probably is in debt with all this surgery. Giving the story of Gregg, sure it is a low percentage that this will happen, but why take the chance of it happening? Being a professional athlete does not last forever: the average age of retirement is around high 30s or early 40s, depending on the sport. That being said what is an athlete going to do once he or she is done, money does not last forever; especially the way professionals spend their money.
Even though our team was full of confidence and basketball consciousness, we still practiced a lot, and were well prepared for every game. Our team consisted of nice dribbler, outstanding rebounder, quick attacks player, an excellent 3 point shooter and a great isolation player. On the other hand, we did realize that there are many talented people who are not successful. No matter how smart or gifted you are, you need to work at it. We trained everyday after class for dribbling, passing, shooting, blocking, screening, free throwing.
Not surprisingly, Bryant was offered scholarships to almost every major college and university in the country. Not only was he a brilliant basketball player, he was also a good student, scoring an above-average 1,100 on his Scholastic Aptitude Test. Bryant and his parents remained coy about his future, however. They realized that they faced a momentous decision: whether to bypass college completely and go straight into the NBA draft. Vanessa met Kobe Bryant in November 1999.
Sherman Alexie has brought himself into his writing by including some of his personal experience in this young adult novel. In the novel, a underlining plot in the story is Junior’s run through his freshman basketball season on the Varsity team at Reardan High School. He makes varsity after an intense battle with the teams best player, Roger. Even though he is the best shooter on the team, Junior felt he wouldn’t get a lot of playing time, which at first he doesn’t, but then he becomes the teams spark plug, their 6th man, averaging 12 points off the bench. When came time to play his former school, Wellpinit, he started his first game.
The guidance counsellor attempts to open his mind to change by focusing on positive experiences in school. He begins by asking Billy what he enjoys and what his friends see as his strength. Billy is receptive to this strategy and expresses that his friends acknowledge how helpful he is when they are in need and how disciplined he is when preparing for a basketball match. The counsellor goes on to praise him for his sporting achievements and gets him to talk about his discipline and focus. The counsellor then discusses how Billy can work at applying the same focus and discipline he would on a basketball match to studying for his Junior Certificate exam.
He stays several long hours in his office mapping out strategy and expectations for his team. In addition, he is very passionate about his players succeeding not only in basketball, but also in school and life. The film Coach Carter has many management styles, the styles he uses most are Autocratic, Persuasive and Laissez faire in the film. Autocratic was used in the start of the film and at the end of the film. Persuasive was used in the middle of the film when the boys were winning.
Likewise, the hardships Tom had to endure as a child toughened his soul and sharpened his mind. Abandoned by his alcoholic father, Tom lived in “a miserable tworoom tenement” (Anderson 650) with his mom and siblings. The situation went from bad to worse when his mother passed away, leaving her little children uncared for. Tom, who was just 10 years old at that time, forced himself to overcome grief and to hold himself together for the sake of his siblings. He even shoved his father off in the funeral of his mother and worked arduously to fend for his family.
The doctors told him that he will be in the wheel chair for the rest of his life but he was determined to regain his strength and movement. How can one attain this disorder? The specialists struggled to find out the cause of this disorder for decades and there is still no answer. In Ian’s case, this disorder was acquired through the gastric flu because the antibodies to the infection attacked his body. His mother was assuming it was because Ian had a busy work schedule, he worked many difficult shifts.
Athletes in today’s society that pass up college to play pro sports are making a bad decision. A high school player that goes straight to the pros does not have enough experience. Sure, we hear about the high school students that went pro and had instant success like Lebron James and Derek Jeter, but these are only a fraction of the thousands of players that go pro each year. 85% percent of the athletes that go pro out of high school are unsuccessful and end their careers after just five short years. They are not ready to play side by side their professional counterparts because of lack of experience and immaturity.