Backpack

It was a no brainer when I was thinking of what to put in my backpack. Like most of you, my family has to be the first intangible. The three characters in the bottom selfie have pushed me beyond my limits to show me everything that is possible out there and how to achieve it. The family photo goes along with the house being struck in the top right. Not only was my house struck by lighting and burned down but was also destroyed during Katrina. The two photo’s symbolize unity and how sticking together through tough times can bring family and friends closer than ever. The photo of the guys in camouflage represents my passion and love for the outdoors with my friends. For me, hunting has always been an escape from the stress we encounter daily. Being awake and setup before sunrise allows you to appreciate the little things in life. It is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life and share with my children one day. My final intangible comes from my English class, the EasyBib logo in the middle. I chose this image to represent the frustration I have encountered throughout the class, but persevering to complete whatever challenges we are thrown in life, not just applying to the classroom.

Business of Keeping Quiet

Changes are to be made within a corporation when employers choose profit over their employees well being. Since the first game of football in 1869, people have always been able to recognize the physical consequences of such competition. For over a century however, people have forgotten the associated risks and continued to grow the game on a physical level. By not publicizing the impacts of this physicality, the NFL has been able to continuously grow. That changed in 2002 following the death of The Pittsburgh Steeler’s center, Mike Webster. Since then, concussion awareness has gone viral and the NFL has taken a hard hit. From a business standpoint, I would like to know much has the awareness of concussions affected revenue and the league’s reputation? I plan on researching historical trends involving fans, participation among young players, and the current market.

Football has a reputation for being a very physically demanding and high-risk sport where injuries are almost a guarantee per game. Until the 1950’s, players wore a padded leather helmet, which back then, was deemed the smartest and safest option. In that era of the game, fans were more interested in how hard players could hit than their teams scoreboard. The physicality built the NFL to be the top-gross national sport league. The trend has continued until the turn of the century following Mike Webster’s mysterious death that was revealed to be caused by too many blows to the head.

 

Pictured here is famous Steeler’s Center, Mike Webster.

RIGHTing a Letter

“The nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground”, Winston Churchill. When one man tries to limit another man’s worth due to a position of power or the color of his skin, life has a funny way of bringing forth leaders at just the right time. Over the last few weeks, I have spent time studying two primary examples of leaders putting themselves on the line to stick up for those without a voice. For Thoreau, this was the government straying away from its roots and abusing their power. For Martin Luther King Jr. it was the disrespect and lack of freedom faced by blacks. Both leaders spent time in jail and both leaders wrote powerful letters to their corrupt government. How do these two life-changing letters, written almost a century apart from one another, compare?

 

This picture represents how powerful the people can be, it just takes one to start.

Rally the People

In Roger L. Guffey’s “Left-Handers (Those Sickos) Got No reason To Live”, we are exposed to an extremists perspective regarding individuals who are left handed. What makes this crazy story so real was Roger’s ability to treat this issue like it is truly detrimental to Americans. For example, in the first paragraph Roger is quoted saying, “I want to encourage the court now to go after one of the most despicable and un-American actions that threatens our great country today: left-handed people.” Now it is obvious his writing is extreme and we know there is nothing wrong with left handed people, he does a great job at attempting to fire up the people through his passion and use of emotion. By using phrases like “we should all band together and pray fervently that God will strike these little perverts dead”, he makes it seem like we must stick together as a strange majority and go against those who are different from us.

 

French President Charles de Gaulle addressing his people.

Big Hits

The movie I have chosen for my issue analysis is Concussion. I have chosen concussion for many reasons but the main one being my major. Through sports commerce classes, I have learned a number of challenges and issue facing the sports industry, and none other presents as much controversy as concussions in the NFL. How long has the NFL known about the dangers of concussions and how has the rise in public knowledge of concussions going to affect the NFL?

This issue concerns me in a number of different ways. First of all, I am a big NFL fan and will be until I die. Second and more importantly, I am a Sports Administration major and chances are, I may wind up working for an NFL team. If rules were to be altered or the league were to change something about the way football is played, that will hurt the league which could affect the job market. I don’t want to say I agree with the NFL for keeping concussions below the radar, but from a business standpoint I do understand where they are coming from.

I already know that concussions no matter when they occur can have a negative effect on you for the rest of your life. My parents did not let me continue with football when I was younger because they knew about the long-term effects of concussions. I know that many players out there today will hide concussion symptoms so they will not be taken out of the game or suspended for weeks. The NFL has started showing efforts to take action against players who take cheap hits and cause players to get concussions.

Through this assignment I hope to learn about what is going to be done going forward. How will this progress play out with my major going forward? I would also like to find out what the NFL is doing for players who suffered concussions before they were as big of a deal as they are now.

 

Here we see a direct hit to the head causing his helmet to come off. This type of hit is ruled as targeting now and results in ejection.

Mindless Rebuttal Argument

When you put on Honey Boo Boo, what are you watching and why? Yeah it’s mindless, pointless and leaves you speechless but I bet money you’ll watch the next episode or put it on when you see it. That’s the point; you’re going to watch it again. When people try to say that a TV show or weekly newspaper comic is mindless, that argument is irrelevant. The reason why I say that is because the point of Honey Boo Boo is not to educate people, you will not find episodes of it on PBS or the NASA Channel. The main characters of the show are uneducated and may come from a different walk of life than most viewers but that is what people who are lounging on the couch are looking for, something entertaining. Something that will create discussion and controversy that ultimately will catch the attention of others resulting in more viewers.

I understand where Kathleen Parker was headed with her story. I understand that to many older generations, if something lacks an educational purpose it shouldn’t be displayed to the public. I do believe there is truth behind that though. We should hold ourselves to a higher standard in terms of what we publicize, especially to our youth. Kathleen argues that even though we do have freedom of speech, we should not allow grotesque and mind erasing programs to air all the time. She then praises Alexander the Great by associating his accomplishments to Aristotle’s quote about knowledge being the greatest form of power.

I challenge her statement about how, “Culturally, we are all complicit in the decline of community values.” I find that hard to believe, especially in a time in history where people are challenging and trying to alter current ethics, values and beliefs. Although you may not agree with many of them, people are insistent on changing a society that ignores many of their values. I grew up watching Spongebob, Family Guy, and The Simpsons, all shows which are far from intellectual, but that doesn’t mean that I, or many others of my generation are complicit of declining community values. Growing up my parents were not supporters of the television I was watching, but it didn’t stop them from making sure I was taught and had my own communal values.

 

Honey Boo Boo (Alana), her father, and June wheelin around.

Argument Style

Here is a picture of my parents and I at our homecoming tailgate in the fall.

 

The last time I was in an argument was right before I left Georgia to come back to school. One week prior to when I was supposed to head back, I checked the weather and saw a chance of snow on the Saturday I was supposed to leave. As the week progressed, my friends on ski trip in Colorado told me about negative temperatures and heavy snowfall along with an increase chance of snow on the Weather Channel. Being from North Georgia we normally experience one snow later in the winter, which caused my parents to be skeptical of whether or not it was going to snow. I had some errands and other tasks I needed to finish before classes started so I knew I couldn’t risk leaving later than the day I was supposed to. After arguing this to my parents, they wouldn’t let me leave early, snow did in fact fall, and I left a day later than I was supposed to.

When I argue with my parents, I am usually direct and straightforward leading to an escalation in the actual argument. However when I usually argue, I prefer to do so in a group setting where I am arguing with a group about a split decision. I like coming to an agreement or compromise. I’m not a big fan of conflict so I like to find a solution fast.

Although when I argue with my parents I am very direct and usually less understanding, my biggest influence on my argument style is my parents. They listen well and are usually willing to come to a compromise. They are not big on controversy or trying to have the last word so growing up with that and using it over the years has led it to become why I argue the way I do. Part of that being many of the events that have happened to our family including a house fire, hurricane Katrina, and other dramatic events we have had to stay united and work together with whoever we have to deal with.

I like how my arguments usually don’t leave people unhappy or feeling unfair. It’s nice when even if I do not win the argument to be able to understand where the other side it coming from and their reasoning for why they believe they are right. If I could change how I argue it would be to voice my own opinion more if I truly feel passionately towards a certain topic. I can become more flexible by figuring out what we are arguing about and determining how important the argument is to me.

 

Jake

I’m Jake Hill. This is my English 2000 Blog.