NFL Combine

The NFL combine has been nothing but a surprise. The most impressive quarterback was unknown coming into the draft Arizona’s Matt Scott. Most experts said that the ball exploded out of his hand. The best Offensive Line man at the combine was an unheard of kid coming from an unheard from school. Terron Armstead is a 306 Ibs offensive tackle ran a 4.7 at the combine he played his college ball at Pine Bluff University. Where that is I can’t tell you. The most surprising Wide Receiver was Denard Robinson; a converted quarterback from Michigan proved to the scouts that he has hands. This made me believe that no matter what school you play at to look good in the combine athleticism is key. You can’t teach athleticism but looking good at the combine is a far way from being a good football player. This is why I always believed that the combine never meant anything unless you have to prove yourself. If you’re going to get drafted the combine doesn’t mean anything you can go 1^st overall and still be worse then the 300^th pick. Take Tom Brady for, seven quarterbacks were drafted before him and only one is still playing in the NFL today. Tom Brady has 3 super bowl rings  while everyone else is working a desk job. Its how you prove yourself when you’re in an actual game.

MJ

Michael Jordan turns 50 in only a couple days now and even when he’s out of the game he is getting worldwide attention, just for his birthday. Michael Jordan changed the face of basketball, the shoe market, and advertisement. Before Michael Jordan you would never hear of athletes singing with companies. As a 50 year old retired from playing he still makes a little over $80 million a year. He owns a N.B.A team in Charlotte and let’s not forget about the famous shoe line Jordan’s.  The way Nike marketed Michael Jordan and the era he came into was perfect. Originally Jordan wanted to sign with addidas but they denied him when Nike offered him a contract he jumped on it. Giving Nike an amazing profit Jordan wasn’t only the face of the bulls, and the NBA, but he was also the face of Nike. Addidas later found Allen Iverson and tried to follow what Nike did with Jordan, but it didn’t work nearly as well. Sports marketing companies now recruit people to sign with their businesses instead of the players coming to them. Some of the bigger companies start with kids that are in high school. Let’s face it Michael Jordan changed the way sports were perceived in this country and he helped grab the attention of every marketing agency. He was an amazing athlete, a great basketball player, and one of the best in the world at marketing himself. Retired from the game and still making $80 million a year doesn’t sound so bad to me.

NHL is Going Strong

It was something I needed to talk about, the NHL is back and coming strong. There ratings are great and people are packing the stadiums. The only thing that I have to complain about is that the Black hawks sitting on top of first place. They have great talent and are playing great as a team. As a Detroit Redwings fan Ive got to say I'm hoping for a fall in their play. I cant hear another Hawks fan come up to me and say. "How about them hawks" or "Tell your Redwings to keep up." We get it the hawks are a good team. I never know what to say, because they are a more well rounded team then the wings this season. I always come back with the fact that the wings have 11 cups and the hawks only have 4, but I hate that I'm the kid living in the past. Overall I'm happy that the NHL is going strong again, because it is the greatest game in the world. I never understand how people could argue with me, but  I guess its something I've fallen in love with. Hockey has the physicality of Football, the athleticism of basketball, and the physical stamina of soccer, while doing this all on a thin blade. It is a sport that I think anyone can start watching and fall in love with. I hope I can see the NHL reach one of the top sports in America again that would be great.

Troops Coming Home

Recently President Barack Obama will announce in his State of the Union address that 34,000 U.S. troops will be home from Afghanistan within a year. This is about half of the current active military that serves in Afghanistan. "Obama will announce the troop draw down and the future of the U.S. role in Afghanistan during a joint session of Congress that is otherwise expected to be dominated by the economy and other domestic issues." Fox News reports. Many people are on the fence with Obama's decision, but the one thing I would not want to see is people who voted for Obama to complain. We all new when he was elected president was to cut down on our active men and woman actively serving, and also he wanted to settle are wars. It is hard to be completely upset with Obama, this term. He has stayed on track of what he told us he was going to do. Unlike last term when many of his promises were not delivered. I realize things cant get better with one term but four years is a long time of not seeing that much of a progress. Coming from someone who was disappointed with Obamas last term, I cant argue with most of his decisions this term.

Sexual Assault

Our society is very screwed up; many people that set awful examples are what kids look up to. Athletes are the center piece of bad role models. Many of them have criminal records, and think that they can do no wrong. It starts with scandals like Manti Te’o’s and criminals like Marshawn Lynch star running back for the Seattle Seahawks. Many people don’t understand that they are the center of attention, they are people that kids look up to and inspire to be. If they cannot accept this role then they should not be in the lime light. Personally I also believe that the media is to blame. They do whatever they can to take stories and twist them around. Kids see how stars are portrayed and accept and inspire to be them. The other factor to High School athletes miss behavior is the way they are treated in the community. For example Steubenville the town that had several student athletes of the Big Red sexual assault and under age drink promote the actions of the football players. They don't mind what is happening and support all the decisions they make. I don't believe that the issue is rape, because most High School students are not among the people that would rape, but if they are under the influence and see it as funny knowing nothing will happen to them they will take advantage of girls. The town and society expects them to drink and do things that they know are wrong. Knowing they cant get in trouble the kids take advantage of the situation. The problem is that people don't let this kids know that playing sports isn't something that is given to you, but it should be an honor. You represent not only yourself, but your school, and all the people that have taken the field before you. The alumni the town and the organization are represented by you and your teammates. Society lets people get away with whatever they want and when something so disgraceful happens they finally punish them.

Americas Killing Problem

The shooting at Columbine High School will always be a negative day in America’s history and something that will not be forgotten. America has had many awful massacres that we all wish we could forget about, and instead of figuring out what the problem is we continue to let these killing sprees take place. Why is it that no other country in the world has even close to as many killings as us? In the documentary Bowling for Columbine many people in America have a theory, for example many people said entertainment, video games, more guns, etc. The hard fact about all of these theories is that all the other countries have the same if not more guns video games, and many of the same exact entertainment. So if it is not the social media and the amount of guns what is it? I cannot give an answer to that but I believe it is a topic that our government and people in our country should explore. We have 10 times the amount of killings then most countries. Why is that? What can we do? The only reason I can come up with is the society we live in supports violence. The media is constantly covering negative things like killings, because it draws people in. Many role models are known for killing and doing illegal things. Many Americans see the way to resolve their problem is to kill. If we could figure out the reason of why we have more killings then our country would be a vastly improved.

Book Report 5

Chapter 10- Although I thought the end of this story would be uplifting I was wrong. The author lets us know the destruction it has truly had on him. Romeo said when talking about his sister, “She fought as a soldier bud died as a child.” He goes on to say, “I have witnessed the destruction of children who have been recruited as child soldiers not only the bodies of the dead but the living souls of these once children who have been influenced to commit such horrific acts.” Romeo is trying to say that even though these children have committed awful acts that no one an evil person could commit, they are only doing it to try and save themselves, and they don’t know the difference between right and wrong. They do what there expected and trained to do. When they get the great privilege of getting away they are already destroyed. Although this story is awful in its self the main point of the story is to help spread the word. At the end of this chapter he goes on to say, “Bring your new-found depth of argument to the political elite mous responsibility to protect, to assist, to intervene.” This was obviously an important part of Romeo’s life. Romeo is in great fortune that he was able to come out of this awful experience with a positive attitude. I enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend this to readers.