Descriptive Essay On The Magic Basketball

At this camp Danny’s friends are all in different groups, leaving him all alone. To make matters worse for Danny, all of the kids in his group are a lot bigger, faster, and skilled more than he is. This makes Danny start to regret coming to this camp. At the beginning of camp nothing is going right for Danny. His coach doesn't like him, his friends aren’t with him, and a boy named Rasheed Hill, whose team got beat by Danny’s team in the championship game

That summer, Simpson’s father, Phil, who was a great athlete in his own right, called and asked me if I could take him to the Five Star Basketball camp in Pittsburgh. Every July I would take several of the top players in our area to Five Star, an invitation only camp that featured many of the best high school players in the country. I told Phil that I did not think he would get in because the camp’s youngest players were rising sophomores and Greg was only entering his freshman year. I gave him an application and told him to give it a try but not to be disappointed

After spending the past few days sitting, watching the neighborhood boys play basketball on the Bronx Court in New York, Wes Moore finally found his chance to join them. Because of the uneven teams, Moore was invited by one boy to play with the

The rain had just stopped pouring, and we had all gathered in a park nearby, as a makeshift memorial for Johnny. It wasn’t really a funeral, we didn’t have the budget for that, and it wasn’t like his parents cared enough to give him a proper goodbye.

Johnny has a fear of Socs after getting jumped by them, which led him to kill Bob. He is regularly beaten by his father and emotionally abused by his mother. Ponyboy mentioned a quotation of Johnny   “ I had never been jumped, but I had seen Johnny after four Socs got hold of him, and it wasn’t pretty. Johnny was scared of his own shadow after that.” After Johnny killed Bob trying to protect Ponyboy from drowning he ran away with Ponyboy to an abandoned church in Windrixville. At the time he was afraid of anybody that he thought could hurt him. When the church went up in flames Johnny made the decision to run in with Ponyboy to save the children in the burning building. His gallant actions led to him being paralyzed, but he learned to overcome his fears of easily being frightened. Before that, he always used to think about killing himself because he was scared and hurt, but now knowing that he has something to live for he thought he was too young to die. He said this “you want to know something, Ponyboy? I’m scared stiff. I used to think about killing myself… ”, “ I don't want to die now. It ain’t long enough. Sixteen years ain’t long enough. I wouldn’t mind it so much if there wasn’t so much stuff I ain’t done yet --- and so many things I ain’t seen. It’s not fair. You know what? That time we were in Windrixville was the only time I’ve been away from our neighbourhood.” Thus, adversity can help to overcome the hardships and

Everyone has a courageous moment in their life, but Johnny has multiple moments where he shows a true act of courage. The first event that shows that Johnny is courageous is when he saved Ponyboy from the Socs. There has been this rivalry between the Socs and the Greasers (the rich and the poor) which has caused a lot of fights. When Johnny’s best friend Ponyboy and him were in the park they were jumped by Bob and his group of Socs. They were drowning Ponyboy in the fountain and Johnny decided to take a courageous action and stab Bob to save Ponyboy. If it was not for Johnny, Ponyboy would be dead. Johnny knew that stabbing Bob would get him in trouble with the police, but he took the chance. “ You really killed him, huh, Johnny ?...

Johnny overcame many life problems that would have turned someone bitter or a coward. He was raised in a terrible home, with his physically abusive father and verbally abusive mother. Ponyboy claimed that, “If it hadn't been for the gang, Johnny would never have known what love and affection are.” Johnny found

This presents him from a living a normal life because he is focusing on the negative aspects of the miraculous moment he encounters; although it is tragic, Johnny tries to prevent God’s plan from happening to Owen. Later, he realizes that he could not and God is unstoppable. Canon Campbell points out to Johnny that he lives “in the past” and has a “head for history which has affected their relationship because Johnny was once “close to Canon Campbell,” but he is focusing more on the past and ignoring the present (203). This demonstrates that Johnny is retreating into his past memories which affect not only his relationship with others, but him as well.

According to the NCAA, only about 0.03% of high school basketball players get drafted out by an NBA team. 0.03% is such a little percentage that it is the same chance of someone getting four of a kind in a first round of poker (www.norwichcsd.org/Downloads/ ProSportsOdds.doc). With this striking percentage it is amazing to think so many young players hope to make it to the pros. In the end, regret and defeat are much too common, a theme that John Updike features in his poem, “Ex Basketball Player”. The poem's persona, Flick Webb, was surely not one of those lucky 0.03%. Flick Webb was the star basketball player at his high school. Now older, he works at a gas station, sometimes reliving his old dream by gloomily bouncing a tire by himself.

In high school Allen hated basketball, he didn’t want to play, at all. His mother forced him to go to practice he complained but changed his mind when he saw all his football buddies there.

“...Johnny could get more meaning out of some of the stuff in there than I could…”(75) Johnny never got good grades, but Ponyboy saw his potential, he just was a slow learner. In my past I had looked too fast at someone and judged him on how he was as a teammate, what he acted and looked like. There was way more

“We are, and we will beat you.” I said. “Yea we won't lose to you.” Said Alex. Then I see John go up

Have you ever played basketball with your friends? Well for Jayson Barnes, basketball wasn’t just a game, it was a lifestyle. Jayson Barnes lost his mother at a young age. Ever since then, he has been avoiding social services. Until one day, he gets caught stealing sneakers and his life is changed forever.

First Johnny stands up for Cherry, a girl they meet at the movie. Johnny says “leave her alone Dally. You heard me, leave that poor girl alone” (page 24). Dally was mistreating Cherry so Johnny stood up for Cherry. This is something that the shy little Johnny wouldn't do but Johnny actually spoke his mind to Dally. Around the middle Johnny took the biggest risk of his life, he knew if he took that risk it would change his life either way. He took that risk saving Ponyboy's life. Johnny states “I killed him Pony. They were drowning you, Pony they might have killed you” (page 57). From then on Johnny was not that little kid they knew, he before was too scared to talk, now he killed someone to save Pony's life. Last Ponyboy said “I had come to realization when Johnny pushed me out of the train and fell on the damp grass. Johnny must have stayed awake while I was sleepin“ (page 63) . This is showing that Johnny took responsibility and stayed awake even though he was super tired. From what Johnny was like in the beginning is very different from now, he now has courage and isn't as sensitive than in the beginning of the

Johnny’s internal issues are as equally grievous as his external issues. He practically raised his siblings since he was six years old, and started to work in factories when he was seven. Due to his early start transferring to adulthood, he never really had the chance to experience a jovial and enjoyable childhood. Johnny “had been robbed of a large part of that playtime by being compelled to take care of [his siblings] … he had fallen the part of little mother and father as well” (8). Johnny does not have any pleasurable memories to look back on and confirm that his upbringing readied him to steadily transition to adulthood. His mother is not a major help in his life, consequently making him uphold both roles of provider and supporter when it comes to his family. With no time for himself, it was evident in Johnny’s face that “there was no joyousness in him…