Swagger Book Report

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

They recruit guys from soccer, basketball, a farm and even other football teams to come and play for them. Lengyel has a new vision for Marshall, and calls them the “Young Thundering Herd.” Jack is the person to do things that most coaches wouldn’t do because that just in his personality. As a result he seeks out help from Bobby Bowden, the coach of the University of West Virginia. Jack asks him “if He and Dawson can see the coaches’ videos, plays, and handbooks and even if he had any tips for them.” Bowden laughs at first and asks “if Jack was serious…” He then see that the men are serious and allows them to view the tapes, rules, handbooks and anything else they wanted. He does this because Bowden understands that a team is in grief and confusion. When this happens Dawson’s disbelief that he had about the team and Jack trying to help changes and he becomes a little bit more optimistic about the future of Marshall and the town.

Coach Steve Rocker is one of the most successful high school basketball coaches in Kentucky’s history. Coach Rocker was very successful in previous years. Strangely, this year was very different for him. For the first time in his professional life, he is falling short of his expectations, the community expectations, and the team’s expectations. His team lost a lot of games, but most importantly the boys had no motivation or desire to bring the team out of the rut they found themselves. His players have lost their will to win, their love for their teammates, and their passion to play. Coach Rocker’s motivational methods that have always worked before and resulted in success are now failing, and he doesn’t know why. He argues that his players have become selfish and bored with winning because they have been so successful in previous years. “And there’s no question that my guys have lost their drive to win because they’ve won so much in the past. Now all they want is individual ‘wins’…which just doesn’t cut it on a team” (Gongwer, 2010, p. 17).

Jonas is very mature at the beginning of the novel. For example, he volunteers at many places, plays games, goes to school every day, shares his dreams and feelings, and most importantly follows the rules.

Jonas began to feel like her wanted to go home. Jonas can't go back to his community, "But he knew he couldn't go back to the world of no feelings for that he had lived in so long" (Lowry 131). Jonas wants to leave the community and never come back to it again because no matter how much he tries to give them memories he can't change them. Jonas decides that it is ok for him to leave his community. “ If he stayed, he would have starved in other ways. He would have lived a life hanged for feelings, for color, for love” (Lowry 174). Jonas made the right decision of leaving his community because he would have been starving for answer on why they never changed the community but he feels happier that he rejected his society and left. (SIP-B) Jonas doesn't want to be a part of his community anymore. Jonas doesn't want to go back to his dwelling to see his family, "I won't! I won't go home! You can't make me!' Jonas sobbed and shouted and pounded the bed with his fist" (Lowry 153). Jonas doesn't want to go back to his dwelling to see his family again because his father lied to him about the ceremony of release for babies. Jonas wanted his childhood back, he didn't want to be the receiver anymore, "Jonas did not want to go back. He didn't want the memories, didn't want the honor, didn't want the wisdom, didn't want the pain. He wanted his childhood again, his scraped knees and ball games" (Lowry 121). That Jonas doesn't want to be the receiver of memory anymore he wants to get his childhood back so he doesn’t have to know about the memories of past communities. Jonas is rejecting his society because he finds out the true meaning of his community and why they took out what they

“The battle you are going through is not fueled by the words or actions of others; it is fueled by the mind that gives it importance” – Shannon L. Alder. The novel, Hoops by Walter Dean Myers, follows the life of Lonnie Jackson, a high school student from Harlem who has an unusually impressive talent for playing basketball. Lonnie’s goal in life is more than just being one of the best players to ever hit the court; for Lonnie wishes to create a new life for himself– one that is free from the struggles of Harlem streets. This goal along with his environment bring constant conflicts in Lonnie’s journey, which gradually develops his character from self-centered to compassionate. Lonnie’s professional relationship with Cal Jones as well as his bond with Paul and Mary-Ann guide him on how to both become a respected player and how to grow up into a noble man.

In my opinion, Jonas left the community because of the memories and the reality presented to him by The Giver. After realizing the truth, he wanted to alter the perspectives of the citizens in the community by releasing his memories, he believed that the way people lived without any knowledge of the world surrounding them was wrong, and wished to live a more meaningful life when he left.

Coach Dix believes that this style of coaching helps him motivate his young team. Being that crazy, funny, heady, and intense coach gets the young teens pumped and ready to run through a wall for him. When we talked about the difficult situations he has had to endure while coaching, Dix described two situations that occurred during his tenure at East Hall; Coach Dix mentioned a time when his star player who happened to win the Georgia Player of the year the previous year, kicked a ball during practice and broke out a window in the gym. He stated this was a difficult and sticky situation because the team played its big rival in two days. He said he did not sleep well the next few nights because of the impact a suspension would have on his squad. Another situation Dix had to deal with was a parent during a game, walked to the bench, grabbed their son and told the player to get dressed, we’re transferring from this school. Dix said that this was new territory for him and at that time he did not know what to do. To conclude the interview, I asked Dix two final questions. I asked him what were his ultimate goals for his team and what advice would he give to a first year coach? “Championships and graduation,” Coach Dix stated. As for advice for a first year coach, Dix said “Preparation was KEY.” “Great coaches are always prepared for anything and everything!”

In the novel Losers Take All by David Klass, Jack Logan, the main character, is a senior Fremont High School. Fremont High School is a New Jersey high school where importance is placed on sports success. When their old principal suddenly dies competing in a race, Mr. Muhldinger, the football coach, becomes principal and sets a school rule requiring all seniors to play a sport. The new principal unsuccessfully attempts to recruit Jack to join the football team, knowing that Jack’s father and brothers were successful football players at Fremont High. Jack joins a soccer team focused on having fun versus winning. The soccer team is made up of kids with no sports experience or interest and became known as “Losers.” With the players’ lack of experience, losing record and some strange on-field behavior, they attract national attention and develop a public following. This led to college scouts recognizing Jack has athletic ability. Jack savors this opportunity and continues to play well with the Losers but the team members do not support Jack’s efforts. Throughout the story, Jack has changed as a person as evidenced by his evolving relationship with his father, Jack’s new interest in contributing to his school, and Jack’s acceptance of his athletic ability.

He accepts the role and begins training with The Giver. As time goes by, and he has received numerous memories, he starts to realise how cruel his society is. (SIP-A) In one of his later memories, we see The Giver pass on the memory of a rainbow. Jonas starts to learn about colors and vibrance. (STEWE-1) Jonas is first given the memory of a rainbow. “Days went by, and weeks. Jonas learned, through the memories, the names of colors; and now he began to see them all, in his ordinary life (though he knew it was ordinary no longer, and would never be again)” (Lowry 97). He felt good about what he was seeing, for a good amount of time at the least. (STEWE-2) But, Jonas starts to change his mind, and wonder why people don’t have color. He realizes that people can make choices without having the government do it for them. “‘If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?’” (Lowry 97). Yes, Jonas does agree with The Giver after the fact that decisions can be dangerous. But, Jonas still likes the thought of decisions and colors. (SIP-B) The main reason Jonas decided to flee from his society, is the way that they handled releases. His father had been lying about the process for all of Jonas’s life. (STEWE-1) Jonas asks The Giver about release because of the release his father was doing that

Jonas starts out with a very low understanding of what it means to be mature. He has no knowledge of pain, love, or any other emotion. He proves this by acting like a normal child. He plays with his friends after volunteer hours. He attends school on a regular basis. Jonas is a stickler for the rules. He has been told that it is wrong to not follow rules and that there

In addition to basketball players leaving behind a backup plan when they leave college early for the NBA, they also leave behind the wisdom and maturity gained in the college experience. The value of the college experience cannot be weighed; however, it is evident when players are missing those crucial life lessons. For example, NBA fans know DeMarcus Cousins and Michael Beasley for their lack of maturity. They are defined by their rotten attitudes and off-the-court issues. Cousins’ immaturity has resulted in team suspensions, and Beasley’s off-the-court conflicts have hurt his play and reputation (Diaz 1). Cousins and Beasley are not the only players battling immaturity; there are many NBA players who should have stayed in college to mature as players and men. Although one-and-done players only miss out on three years of college, those

Beyond athletes, Cutter High School also contains problematic coaches. Part of the reason T.J. doesn’t participate on other sports teams at school is because of the coaching staff. He explains, “Coaches have tried to get me to turn out for sports since junior high. Sometimes they’re insistent and sometimes downright nasty…even to the point of calling me a traitor” (11). These are grown men who place an overwhelming amount of importance on their sports and can’t look past their goal of winning. T.J. refers to Coach Benson, the football coach, and Coach Roundtree, the basketball coach, noting that at some point he’s sure the two coaches would “retreat to the time-tested and highly grating tool of public humiliation as a motivator” (12). Besides the way this coaching style grates personally on T.J., it shows a lack of tolerance from these coaches as well as a lack of respect for the very

No matter how superb an experience is, the community can never appreciate it to its full extent, because they have no contrast to the negative experiences possible. Later in the book Jonas demonstrates this with a quote; “Jonas did not want to go back. He did not want the wisdom, he did not want the pain. He wanted his childhood again. He wanted his scraped knees and ball games” (Lowry, 121). This shows how he could not fully value his life before he began his training and gained

The film “Coach Carter” demonstrates many great examples of good communication between coach and athlete. I will point out a few examples of good communication from the film and I will explain why the examples I discuss demonstrate characteristics of effective communication. I will use a few excerpts out of the communication chapter of our text book, Chapter 11. I will use these excerpts from Chapter 11 of our text book to explain why the examples/quotes from the film, that I have pointed out, demonstrate good communication skills. The film “Coach Carter” is a great film about a high school basketball team that is located in a bad area of town. The