Patience. Persistence. These two words, more than any others, describe the career of Mike McGuire.
“There were frustrating times along the way,” McGuire, a 2013 graduate of UConn’s Sport Management Program said. “But if you’re dedicated something will work out.”
Currently, McGuire is a Coordinator of VIP Services for the Washington Nationals. His primary responsibility involves overseeing the visits of special guests at the ballpark to ensure a positive experience. Though relatively new to the job, McGuire thoroughly enjoys the experience. However, he certainly had to pay his dues and wait for his opportunity.
Originally from South Windsor, Connecticut, McGuire attended Kingwood-Oxford High School in West Hartford. A lifelong fan of UConn athletics, his college choice was of little question. Drawn by the university’s strong academic reputation and its potential
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You really get to learn all parts of the business. It made me a more versatile candidate in the future”. Upon conclusion of his internship at Red Frog Events, McGuire worked briefly with the Game Entertainment Team of NBA Development League’s Delaware 87ers. After five months, he leveraged his volunteer experience to land an internship in the Community Relations Department for the Washington Nationals. As part of this department, he worked closely with the club’s military outreach program, coordinated the process of donations, and even worked with high-ranking government officials to improve the club’s reputation in the community. Despite making a strong impression, there were no full-time opportunities available with the club at the conclusion of his internship. McGuire found himself at a crossroads. He interviewed for a multitude of positions in the sports industry, but nothing seemed to work out, and he had to take a job at Target to make ends meet. Admittedly, it was one of the most difficult times of his
To understand the meaning behind Jackie Robinson’s statements, information about his life must be known. Robinson is a former Major
It meant I could quickly make counter offers and explore areas that I knew I was prepared to be flexible on.
Jackie Robinson was told to go out to talk to Branch Rickey, the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was thinking about putting Jackie on the team but at that time Mr.Robinson didn’t know that. “The truth is you are not a candidate for the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers. I've
Jackie Robinson was an African-American who played for a “Negro League” for a team call the Kansas City Monarchs. Their team colors being white with thin red stripes going vertically down the uniform. But a manager from the MLB’s jaw dropped to the floor when he saw how great of a player Jackie was, and decided to do something that nobody ever thought would happen. “I had never seen a ball player,” stated the Dodgers manager. “quite like Jackie Robinson.” He drafted Jackie Robinson in to the MLB for a team called the Brooklyn Dodgers, but just because something good happens, doesn’t mean that there will a few obstacles along the way.
Jules Tygiel certainly spent a lot of time writing about the importance of Jackie Robinson and the influence he had on and off the baseball diamond in his novel, Baseball’s Great Experiment. Before reading this novel, I considered myself to be
The story of Jackie Robinson has become one of America's most iconic and inspiring stories. Since 1947, American history has portrayed Jackie Robinson as a hero, and he has been idolized as a role model to the African American baseball community. It is an unarguable fact that he was the first to tear down the color barriers within professional baseball. The topic of Robinson’s role in integration has long been a point of discussion amongst baseball historians. Researchers have accumulated thousands of accredited documents and interviews with friends and team mates such as short stop, Pee Wee Reese, and team owner, Branch Rickey. However, few journalists have asked why Robinson was selected and what was Branch
Baseball is one of the nations pastimes, and accepting a black man playing baseball made it easier to see integration in more important instances. Branch Rickey was an innovative MLB executive who had high hopes for Robinson. Rickey saw the qualities that Jackie Robinson possessed and his hope was that he could use Jack to help break the color barrier. Respect and equality was important in Robinson 's career and he knew that blacks needed to be accepted in the Major Leagues in order for the league to be just. Having this knowledge made him stick with baseball even when he thought about quitting. Jackie 's commitment was one of the most important values for successfully breaking the color barrier, and his attitude of determination and persistence helped him fight for justice. With the help of Rickey and many peers, Jackie agreed to sign with the Dodgers, where he remained committed so that more could follow in his path on and off the field.
Jackie Robinson’s life changed when he became the first black man to play in the World Series and Major League Baseball during a time of segregation in the United States. These life-changing events challenged him because he had to face racially tense crowds and endured threats from teammates, opponents and bigoted fan. According to paragraph three of the text, Robinson states, “Some of my teammates refused to accept me because I was black. I had been forced to live with snubs, rebuffs, and rejections. “ This quote explains that Robinson had faced the rejections from some of his teammates because he looked different from them. Despite the racism he faced, these life-changing events caused Robinson to grow and develop by making him proud of his accomplishments and appreciate the support, courage, and love shown by his supporters. In paragraph four, Robinson states, “Black people supported me with total loyalty. They supported me morally: they came to sit in a hostile audience in unprecedented numbers to make the turnstiles hum as they never had before at ballparks all over the nation. Money is America's God, and business people can dig black power if it coincides with green power, so these fans were important to the success of Mr. Rickey's ‘Noble Experiment’.” This quote stated the idea of the blacks were trying to fight through their excitement and nervousness that they felt since they had not been
Becoming the first African-American to break the racial barrier in a white supremacist sport like Major League Baseball during the 1940s when colored racism still occurred is an accomplishment like no other. Jackie Robinson faced numerous hardships and endured countless racial setbacks during his professional baseball career, but managed to set aside his frustrations and continue to emerge as a symbol of hope and unity for all. The makers of 42: The Jackie Robinson Story portray the story of his career as it demonstrates the struggle of race stereotyping during the 1940s and the interpersonal power struggles of being seen as an “equal”. “I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being” (Robinson) is a powerful message that I would like for you to keep in mind as you continue to read.
Jackie was a phenomenal athlete for young kids to look up to. After the start of World War II he served in the military from 1942 to 1944. After the war he returned to his love for baseball, playing in the Black major leagues. He was chosen by Branch Rickey, vice president of the Brooklyn dodgers, to help integrate the Major Leagues. Rickey hated segregation just as much as Robinson and wanted to change things “Rickey had once seen a Black college player turned away from a hotel… Rickey never forgot seeing this player crying because he was denied a place to lay his weary head just because of the color of his skin” (Mackenzie). He was finally able to do something about segregation and help change baseball and the United States for the better. It wasn’t that all the teams were racist and didn’t want a black player but when the major league teams had an away game they would rent out the stadium to the black teams for them to play at. And the executives of teams didn’t want to loose the money that they were making off of the black teams. “League owners would lose significant rental revenue” (“Breaking”). He soon signed with the all-white Montreal Royals a farm team for the Dodgers. Robinson had an outstanding start with the Royals, “leading the International League with a .349 batting average and .985 fielding percentage” (Robinson). After Robinson’s outstanding year he was promoted to the Dodgers he played his first game on
Robinson’s issues kept going. The team Robinson was facing that day, the Philadelphia Phillies and their manager, Ben Chapman. (“Jackie Robinson”). While facing each other, Ben and his team shouted inappropriate terms at Robinson from their dugout. The players of Philadelphia and some of his own teammates threatened to not play against Robinson’s team, but Leo Durocher, the Dodgers’ manager, said that he would choose Robinson over anyone on the team. It was more than just Leo who stood up for Jackie. Including President Ford Frick, Baseballl Commissioner Happy Chandler, even Pee Wee
In the article “ Jackie Robinson : Justice at Last,” it tells the reader a lot about a MLB player who broke the color barrier. Jackie Robinson was a tremendous athlete, intelligent, sensitive, calm, and skillful, perfect for the job. Jackie Robinson agreed to play on the MLB team The Dodgers. He had to agree to many things to play, and he did. He agreed to take abuse, avoid fighting, and be brave. Jackie Robinson was the right man to complete the job.
While he may seem he couldn’t have been any better on the field, he was just as great off the field. Clemente knew that leadership and social responsibility in the Latino world was also a part of his career (Regalado 679). In fact, he stated, “Lots of kids will try to imitate me, and maybe I will have the chance to do some good for people,” in an interview with the New York Times (Regalado 679). Clemente’s presence on and off the field challenged the misconceptions about Latino players, especially those from Puerto Rico, by the typical American at the time. Driven by the need to succeed, he emerged as a symbol for not only Latino recognition but also Puerto Rican (Regalado 683).
In July 1949, he testified on discrimination before the House Un-American Activities Committee. In 1952, he publicly called out the Yankees as a racist organization for not having broken the color barrier five years after he began playing with the Dodgers.” He was very active in social activism for blacks rights. His biggest focus was impacting others
This is an 87-year-old Greek individual who was first admitted here on 11/20 after a catastrophic brain stem stroke with aphasia and dysphasia. All of his history is obtained from both his wife and his daughter. They tell me he was born in the island of Chios in the Eastern Aegean Sea. Stayed there until he was 20 years old, learned the trade of construction and carpentry and moved to this country in 1949. First to New Jersey then moved here to the Durham area where he had an uncle and married his wife in 1953. They have two children, a George runs the Roast Grill here in Raleigh, a city-wide institution and Risa teaches at Campbell and is an opera singer. In his earlier life, he was a house builder and did construction work for the majority