The Beautiful Game : Personal Narrative : The Beautiful Game

It was a dark thursday night in April. The sky was clear enough to see the moon shining brightly along with many small circular diamonds. I’m in a dark blue Avalanche, being driven to a baseball diamond. I play for the MIlwaukee Brewers on a little league level. It’s my last game of the season, and I can’t wait for the umpire to say the words “Play Ball” (which states that the game has begun).

Growing up in Louisiana I was surrounded by all kinds of different physical activities. All of my siblings were involved in sports and it was only natural that I developed a love for them too. As a child I remember going to the park to play basketball with my cousins or just playing football with everybody from the neighborhood. Sports became a huge part of my life, and I surrounded myself with people who loved them just as much as me. Things began to change when my family and I moved to Georgia. I noticed that I wasn’t playing football in the neighborhood anymore. The kids were different they would rather sit in the house and play video games instead of being outside. My love for sports was always there I just needed a spark to bring my passion back to life.

Sports are extremely popular around the world and only get more popular as time goes on. Sports is on television (TV), in the news, in the newspaper, and online. It only makes sense that this is the case. A sporting event is the ultimate drama. The variability of a game is what gets people so into it. Sports can tell a story, and teach great life lessons as well as inspire people. If sports are that important to the people around the world who watch it, just think about how important sports are to the ones who actually play it and coach it. It is their passion, their persona, their life. With the media’s harsh expectations of teams today, unless a team wins a championship, they are deemed unsuccessful. Since expectations are so high,

Over my years of school, one big influence on me has always been sports. Ever since a young age, I have always enjoyed playing and watching sports. In my four years in high school, I have fell in love with the sport of lacrosse.

Sport is a global phenomenon, it is a common between all the nations of the world there is not one culture that has not engaged in a way or another in some type of sporting activity; such activities are not only often physically challenging and mentally stimulating – they also provide a sense of belonging and personal meaning to people’s lives. In American culture like many other cultures worldwide winning is highly prized and cherished by fame and money from audiences and sponsors.

As the crowd was cheering as the game went on I was on the edge of my seat. At the time my family was visiting California for the first time. We all had a blast and before we wanted to leave all of us wanted to go to a baseball game. As we were walking to the stadium all of the hard core fans were getting hyped for the game. All of them playing games in the parking lot.It felt like I was meant to be at the game. I was rooting for the angels at the time because the rest of the crowd was. My dad was taking pictures of the players throwing,catching,and making plays. I remember as the game was getting close to the end that I had to get cotton candy. Cotton candy was one

Four, maybe five German soldiers surrounded me. They were moving in faster than a pack of starving wolves, and I was their downed prey. There were flying bullets, dark smoke, and explosions everywhere. I was oppressed and knew that this was finally it. All my hard work was about to disappear into a plume of smoke. I commenced raising my rifle, and then in the midst of this chaotic scene there was this ever so subtle giggle over the headset. I look upwards dumbfounded to see a firestorm of bombs hailing all around me, and enveloping my entire section of the battlefield obliterating everything. It was my brother Chase piloting this monstrous desert-sand colored beast of a bomber, which just unleashed utter devastation on the opposing

Sporting events are the foundation of the American culture and continue to be the beliefs Americans cling to in times of hardship. Sports have transformed

For many players, participation in their sports offers an escape from these stresses. They are able to leave behind the responsibilities at home and give it their all out on the field. Athletes feel great levels of euphoria while competing because sports offer them a safe haven from reality. To Ken Skates, a Permian High School alumni, football was “always something to fall back on.” He states, “I get out to the football field, and everything wipes clear in my mind” (Bissinger 329.) Like players, fans also use sports as an escape from their everyday lives. Parents put a lot of effort into their children’s teams. Some, like Dale McDougall in Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights, even dedicate the majority of their time helping to benefit their team. McDougall “had built a life around it, a whole routine - the lasagna dinners, the booster club meetings, the practices in the dappled afternoon light with that sweet breeze blowing across, and of course, those wonderful games, so glorious, so exciting, the power of a million stars shining down on Odessa on a Friday night. She knew it had to end sometime, but she wasn’t ready yet, not in this final minute, not for her, not for her son, not for her town” (Bissinger 326.) McDougall spends weeks making lasagnas and preparing for her son’s games as a

When I was young my Dad would always remind me of how important these years as a kid are. He would always say watch how you act as a kid, for it will set the stage for the rest of your life. So many people I know ruined their lives when they were kids. This small, yet so important statement runs through my mind everyday. I love how everyone says they don’t care what people think of them, but I wish they knew how important it is to have a good image. I am not perfect, but I would like to be close as possible. But as Salvador Dali said “Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it. “ The problem I see is everyone wanting to be someone that they are not. Sure, we all have our idols that we look

The role of modern sport in American life is immense. While various forms of entertainment, and consumption such as music, art and film compete for an audience, sport is often recognized on a different level, commanding the attention of people across all ages, genders and ethnicities through its enchanting qualities. From an early age, many Americans are socialized through sports, learning to interact, befriend others and develop community. In some cases, fans can are so compelled by sport that they can recite statistics and decade-old trivia, while unaware of their own parents’ birthdays. Though in general, at some point in life, many have experienced an impassioned or emotive feeling through sport, whether rooting for an underdog,

What is America? America is summer time hayfields, backyard barbeques and front lawn lemonade stands of those young entrepreneurs; but most importantly, America is sports and its fanatics. Whether it be under the Friday night lights of a hometown, high school football game or at a national level, both fans and players take winning seriously, and is often considered sacred. Red Saunders, former football coach of the UCLA Bruins said, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” However, is that really the case? Though it is an added bonus to win while playing sports, it is not the only thing because through athletic players build character, become more employable and establish life-long networks.

The influence that modern sports have had on society within the past few centuries is profound. Billions of individual’s worldwide tune in through various forms of media in order to support their most revered establishment. Throughout the hardships and adversities that humanity has overcame, and will continue to overcome, one can turn to the world of sports to escape from these destitutions. The athletic activities provide and fuel the competitive spirit found deep within, and permits supporters to have the greatest amount of encouragement and backing of an organization possible. As society has progressed through a multitude of circumstances, the world of sports has adjusted its standing in society in order to stay relevant and withhold

Sports was a part of my life growing up - whether it was attending games with my family to support the Huskies at Rentschler Field or Wolfpack hockey games at the Hartford Civic Center or even being part of a basketball team since before middle school, I have grown to love the atmosphere that sport brings. Whether it was assisting my Mom coach in our town’s T-Ball league or working with the disabled or even with the students at Wish Elementary School, through sports, I have been able to build a solid sense of a wider community. It is not just about the game itself but it is about what happens in-between and after. It is the indescribable bonds that form between

Sports, admittedly, have had a huge impact on our culture. Some of us even use sports as an excuse to gather our family for some quality time with each other, whether they just hangout for the sake of entertainment or engage in a meaningful conversation full of fervid passion when discussing spectacular plays, athletes, and coaches. However, people talk about the multitude of positive traits that sports are associated with, one must be informed about the abundance of issues that sports face; issues that keep sports from being what we want it to be- free from malicious intent and more along the lines of a peaceful collaboration perpetuated by authentic equality; coming together to proclaim our love for the game. Inequality, for example, is