Essex Hemphill's American Hero

John Maloney’s “Good!” A short (14-line) poem incompasses the fast paced events within a Basketball game.It is limited third person from the perspective of a player that gained possession of the ball after a missed basket. The poet focuses the narrative onto the actions after the rebound occurred. The speaker of the poem, a player on the court, is focused on the game and the game alone, determined to keep the ball in his team’s possession and allow his team the chance to make a shot. Which in the end, he ends up taking the shot himself earning his team two points.

The theme of this poem is about a high school basketball star that has become less successful in the

“Rejected by Rose,” screamed, TNT broadcaster, Kevin Harlan. Derrick Rose’s block on Rajon Rondo’s shot was the play that forced game 7 and kept the Bull’s season alive. The 2009 first round series between the Chicago Bulls and the reigning NBA champions, Boston Celtics was the best playoff series I ever watched. What does Rose’s late-game heroics have to do with anything? The excitement of the sport of basketball. My paper will be about my favorite sport to watch and play I will also mention about my favorite sport to participate in ancillary. Afterward, I will relate my favorite sport to Michael Mandelbaum’s The Meaning of Sports and offer my opinion on the book.

We do have memories to recall from our past – good and bad. From these memories brings a part of who we are in a diverse nation and a lesson that changes our lives forever. This is evident to Regelio Gomez' article entitled “Foul Shots”, that shares his memorable experience in playing basketball during his teenage years as both being his ghost and his teacher for almost 2 decades. His narration is a consequence of anyone who describes winning in the name of game or losing in the name of race.

In this paper we are looking at the poem “Ex-Basketball Player” by John Updike and; looking at these questions relating to the poem does the poem's speaker pity or admire Flick? Are readers meant to pity or admire Flick?

The use of imagery to depict a Golden Age is evident in John Updike’s poem “Ex-Basketball Player.” This piece of poetry tells the story of a man named Flick Webb, who works at a garage pumping gas and repairing cars. As the poem continues, we learn that Flick once was an incredible basketball player; he holds the county record for points in a season. However, after high school, he never continued with his abilities, and never studied another trade. There is one stanza of the piece—the third stanza—that focuses on Webb’s ball-playing days. Updike describes his incredible abilities with beautiful language, comparing Flick’s hands to “wild birds” in the sense that they were delicate yet impressively skilled; as the poet describes them later on,

The history of sports goes back since ancient times. It has been a useful way for people to explore nature and their environment. Sports include different activities and games such as football, soccer, basketball, and etc. to express their skills and talents. Also, sports are a way to relax and have fun; but are sports all our African Americans rely on? The dream to become future sports stars. The reason why Gates begins his essay with an anecdote is to show and compare how many african-american athletes were at work today and how little the chances of African-Americans becoming athletes are compared to being a lawyer, dentist, or even a doctor. African-Americans assume that they are born athletes and it’s because the school system doesn’t

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.

Remember that boy in high school that was the star of the basketball team? He still holds most of the records for the team. He scored more points than anyone else in the school’s history. He never studied much because he was an athlete. His basketball skills were going to take him places. But high school ended and there are no more games to be played. Where is that former all-star now? In his poem “Ex-Basketball Player,” John Updike examines the life of a former high school basketball star. Flick Webb was a local hero, and he loved basketball. He never studied much in school or learned a trade because he was a talented athlete. Now years later, the only job Flick can find is working at the local gas station. He used to be a star, but now

“To An Athlete Dying Young” and “Ex-Basketball Player” share the lives of two very different athletes. Both experience success in their lives, but one dies with his glory while the other lives past his days of glory and works at a gas pump where he is not recognized. The poems discuss the importance of having glory and keeping that glory as long as possible. Through the poems the readers learn the benefits of dying young as well as the consequences of living after one's glory has faded. Where Houseman glorifies the athlete for his achievements and early death, Updike portrays the disappointment of the athlete living past his days of glory and not reaching high

It’s often an uphill fight. The ego-driven culture of basketball, and society in general, militates against cultivating this kind of selfless action, even for members of a team whose success as individuals in tied directly to the group performance. Our society places such a high premium on individual achievement, it’s easy for players to get blinded by their own self-importance and lose a sense of interconnectedness, the essence of teamwork.”

Chinese Americans often stayed in Chinatown in San Francisco and while it was a cultural center that provided a strong community, racism and gentrification were inescapable. As Kathleen Yep analyzes in her article about this pastime, “basketball was used to carve out an empowering space against the context of poverty, racism, and the multiple forms of patriarchies in their lives.” Informal pickup games between a few women turned into an organized pastime where they trained to become better than any other women’s team, and even some men’s teams, in the city. Basketball was also used as a tool to combat racism. The Chinese women would consistently win over white women even without their privilege. They broke norms in the name of winning and bringing success to the ‘ghetto’ of Chinatown. Yep writes, “the Playground players defined themselves as Chinese American women through their strength, stamina, and toughness,” which is the complete opposite of the popular image of the small, frail, and timid Chinese

It also introduces us to and establishes Olympian Jim Thorpe, a multi-sport player once considered the world’s greatest athlete, and legendary coach, Glenn “Pop” Warner.

“Basketball was once a game for the Irish and Italian Catholics in Rockaway and the Jewish on Fordham Road in the Bronx.” (Greenfield 210). Back in the beginnings of basketball ethnic names like Red Holzmans, Red Auerbach, and the McGuire Brothers were etched as stars of the NBA (Greenfield 210). But in the present names such Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson are a fixture of pro basketball with national television exposure and million dollar salaries. This is a far cry from the old school basketball of white men with status playing it for leisure. Greenfield and Wolf believe there is a question of style with today’s modern player.

During the 80’s, the period of which these individuals played, the NBA desperately needed a new spark, and the NBA got just what it needed. Larry Bird’s Celtics during the 1979-80 season made a dramatic improvement “from a 29-53 record the year before to 61-21”(Magic Johnson and). While Bird is making an extraordinary turnaround for his Boston Celtics, Magic Johnson, during his rookie season, won a NBA championship for the Los Angeles Lakers. This was the Los Angeles Lakers seventh NBA championship victory. Their success helped the NBA, but their identities off the court supersedes the game of basketball. The years previous to the Magic-Bird rivalry were ever changing. The NBA changed from a fundamental, half-court game with all-white players, to a quick pace, athletically acrobatic game with mainly black players. Few old-school former white people, such as Jerry West and Pete Maravich, could participate and compete in this new form of basketball. This different style of basketball significantly swayed many viewers, white fans, from attending the NBA games. White fans felt that the game was very egocentric and didn’t involve all the players. Also, the white fans didn’t