BP11

Through the words of John Singleton, the director of the 30 for 30 documentary "Marion Jones: Press Pause" he unravels the truth about how Marion Jones ruined her track career. Initially, the film brings emotions of depression to the audience as they hear sad music and see Marion Jones confess to the public about how she had lost so much because of the use of sports enhancement drugs. We see her breakdown in front of reporters and news stations as she is explaining to the public how she pleaded guilty to lying about taking these drugs to federal agents which led to a 6-month prison sentence. In prison, she is able to adapt to life although she does not have her husband or her kids by her side until she got herself landed into solitary confinement for defending herself from one of her cell mates. She was forced into a small room with little light for 23 hours a day for 50 days, and usually Jones would get to go outside, but not always. We listen to her as she explains her workout routine in this small room, and it is even more horrible as we learn her watch was taken away which allowed her to keep time. Jones had to make a calendar to keep the days right, and when she was taken out of solitary confinement she was excited to go back into prison even though that does not really make any sense. Jones is able to put this behind her and move on in life as she returned to husband to have another kid. She worked her butt of trying to improve her basketball skills which landed her a spot on a WNBA team! Marion Jones story may have ended on a good note, but there is no way that any of her past experiences will ever escape her. 

In John Singleton's 30 for 30 documentary, 

"Marion Jones: Press Pause" the audience is able to hear the truth behind a track star who lost it all. Think about this, has any other sports phenomenon who took steroids or other enhancement drug ever spent ANY time prison except for Marion Jones. Yes, she broke the hearts of many and shocked millions, but was all of this prison worthy? The answer is blatant, NO. This was an absurd punishment and there is no way to describe how unfair it was. Many critics have said that this only happened because she was the best of the best and she was African American. This is not true because when you put the facts together it does not make sense. A list of black athletes that have taken steroids are Barry Bonds who hit dingers in the MLB, Lance Armstrong a saint at bicycling, and Hulk Hogan a professional fighter.  They did not receive any jail time, but they did have their records taken away. My final opinion is that Marion Jones went to jail based on other people being jealous. She was famous for something that looks so easy, but is actually really difficult. Jones was an Olympian and let me be frank her medals should of been stripped away. I bet my life that there have been more then a handful of Olympic Gold Medalists who have never been caught. Yes, its not fair to cheat, but is fair to cheat Jones out ever running the sport she loves again?

The Norton Track Family

It was no surprise to see Norton High School running and throwing at the D4 Massachusetts State Championship for track on Wednesday, June 3rd as they have been undefeated for the past two seasons. The team was led by many strong captains and athletes and in particular an extremely good coach..How was this coach able to lead his team through so much success with his copious supply of wins?

In sports, there has been coaches that have proven people wrong, gone against all odds, and have been able to achieve great things. For most coaches it is their dream is to be most popular one out there and have their name all over the record books. For others it is all about the athletes, getting them to achieve as much as they can and succeed past their potential. The Norton Track team has a coach that can prove this point to you.

The Norton Track Team came out victorious in winning the D4 State Championship on June 3. They have gone undefeated for two seasons and have been striving to consummate the D4 state title for the past couple of the years. The team was led by Norton High School's own English teacher. The guy behind all of this team's success was Coach Kent Taylor. He has been able to improve and push his players, so they could be the winning team that they are today. Taylor has been able to constitute a team full of the competitors in Massachusetts track such as his record holding senior captains, Mike Tierney, Eric Sanford, Cam Stalters, and Adam Winiarz. He also been able to bring the potential out of many runners as a lot them racked up on Varsity points this year. The question still hasn't been answered, how was this coach able to lead his team to so much success?

Coach Taylor has been been involved with all of the running going on throughout the school year as he coached cross country,Winter track, and Spring track. It has been easy to see that this man blatantly has a love for running or just plainly loves coaching it. Why wouldn't he love coaching it if he wasn't good at it. Taylor is currently sponsored by Brooks Running, and has competed in hundreds of races over the years. He is simply a good runner and is able to share his small tricks with his runners. He is able to tell them everything they need to know not from research, but from experience. Experience is a key component in sports because you cannot expect athletes to know what to do without a little bit of coaching.

Experience is a big key to all of this success, but another big thing would be Taylor’s passion for the sport. He is so involved with tracks as he is takes care of all of the D4 scores sheets on their website. He is able to keep up with the standings from all of the team’s in his division. I asked track athletes at Norton High School about how involved Coach Taylor is for track. Freshman Julia Pali had a lot to say Coach Taylor, "He's so dedicated to the program and his love for the sport is so evident. He truly cares about the athletes and wants us to each do our best." All of their answers were, I can’t believe this guys has time to do anything else but track. He can be compared to an Olympic track coach because of how involved he is with his coaching job.

One biggest things about Coach Taylor is that he treats all of his athletes as family. EVERYONE on the team is part of his family, not just the varsity point scorers, but every single member on the team. He has been able to create emotions and unity within his team. Usually track meets would be considered boring once your event is over, but at Norton the atmosphere is full of laughter and energy. People cheer for each other and no one is the odd man out.Taylor has been able to bring something new to the face of track. The team work imputed by everyone on the team is amazing. He has created an everlasting family, a Norton Track Family.

Coach Taylor is at the apogee of his career, so who knows what is store for upcoming years. He has shown that he can easily get his hands on another TVL title, and has shown that he can put up a fight and be a top contender for the state title. If he was able to do it one year then he can do it again. Students apprehend Kent Taylor as a normal English teacher that just simply likes to run, but to his athletes he is like a father for he cares for all of them as if they were his family. 

Discussion Questions: 
1. What subject does Coach Taylor teach at Norton High School?
2. How many years has Coach Taylor gone undefeated?
3. Do you think Taylor will go undefeated next year too?
4. What company currently sponsors Taylor?
5. In your opinion, what is the key factor behind all of Coach Taylor's success?

BP 10

 In Grimsley's informative article, he provides information and facts about the boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Clay Liston resulting in the quickest knock out in boxing history leaving many fans uneasy about paying $100 for such a short fight that just lasted a little under 2 minutes long; fans were left thinking that the fight was faked or fixed. Within the article the author uses all  10 tips for scholastic sports writing, and argues his bias by using key points from the rhetorical triangle. Initially, Grimsley explains how Ali was not favored to win match. Many people thought that Liston would of been crowned champion at the end of the night.Also, the author is able to show a strong emotional appeal between the fight and the fans. People watching the fight went in thinking that it was going to be a nice well fought fight, but were pulled back from this when Ali knocked Liston out so early in the match. This left the fight to be torn at by critics and people that the match was staged, and Liston said that he could of gotten up, but the referee confused him. Lastly, Grimsley is able to keep this article strong by stating the facts and how the result of this iconic fight will always be in doubt.

Left to right-Suarez, Neymar, Messi

In the article, "Barcelona's Messi-Neymar-Suarez trio sets Spanish goals record with 120" by ESPN Staff, the audience which would consist of many soccer loving people learns about how FC Barcelona's strikers have surpassed the previous record for the amount of goals scored by a club that competes in a league called La Liga. Barcelona was able to build a fantastic squad in order to do this type of damage to other teams by scoring 120 goals just from the offensive line of the team, and how they contest to being one of the best teams in La Liga history. The staff is definitely bias to Barcelona because they do not use any negative words or language against them,they only seem to praise them by providing many statistics about goals scored by the club this year and in recent years. The staff seems to address almost all of the components of the 10 tips for scholastic sports writing exceptionally well as he ties in many ideas to the main point for writing the article. The logical appeal to this article is simple and to the point. FC Barcelona is a brute force when it comes to putting the soccer ball in the back of a net from their main offensive players;Messi, Neymar and Suarez. The emotional is very uplifting and explains how these players work hard and believe in what they do and how they do it even through criticism. To end, the ethical appeal shows how three extremely talented players with different styles of play can still pull together and get a win at the end of the day.

BP9: Deflate Gate

There has a been a lot of controversy surrounding the NFL game ever since the AFC Championship game this year as the New England Patriots went on to win against the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots have been accused of deflating footballs under the required PSI which has been named as the Deflate Gate. Footballs with a lower PSI then required would make for less fumbles and more catches as the football would be easier to handle. An investigation was started to get to the end of this which ended up not going in New England's favor. The team was not only fined 1 million dollars, but is being punished by having their record holding quarterback Tom Brady suspended for the first four games of the season and losing two of their draft pics for the 2016-2017 season. It is still unsure of how far these punishments will be carried out as the Patriots are appealing all of the accusations and punishments. This has split a curtain between football fans as some are left outraged by this decision while other are filled with joy as their team has a better chance of beating last years Super Bowl champion.

Tom Brady had been accused of deflating footballs in the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. This accusation may ruin Tom Brady's infamous legacy and all of his records. As a huge Patriots fan, I believe that Tom Brady is innocent. In Well's report, it said that the evidence is more probable then not. That said there is no tangible evidence that proves that Brady or someone else tampered with the footballs. Also, Brady would not willingly give over his phone to investigators, so they could see his personal messages. The press got a big kick out of this because why would Brady not give over his phone if he was innocent. Honestly, I have nothing to hide on my phone,  but I would refuse to have someone look through my phone. Cellphones contain all of your personal conversations and other personal information too. It makes total sense that Brady would turn over his phone, he has a bunch of [personal information on it that no one should see except him. Additionally, what if the phone go into the wrong hands and all of his information was available to the public. All though most football fans hate the Patriots, I hope that they will be able to see that this is just a big scandal trying to ruin the former Super Bowl Champions.


The Deflate Gate issue has been brought to a halt as Tom Brady has been suspended the first four games of the 2015-2016 NFL season, and he is not being allowed to practice with the team during this period also. This is not a justifiable punishment because four games is literally a fourth of the season plus a bye is between the fourth game. Brady is losing five weeks of practices with his team. That is a long time to go without playing with your team and watching videos of what works and what doesn't work. He is not able to resemble game like plays when he is practicing by himself.  Yes, he is able to work out and do accuracy drills, but he is going five weeks without undergoing the pressure of a game like situation. Lastly, explain to me why Brady is a getting punished for under inflating footballs while Aron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers is over-inflating them. Earlier this year Rodgers admitted that he liked his footballs harder then they were allowed, and wanted to see when he could get away with it. How is this different from Brady if he deflated some footballs? The answer is that is is not, and everyone wants to just accuse the Patriots of something because they are one of the best teams in the NFL.

Instead of Tom Brady's four game suspension, the Patriots at most should only be being fined the 1 million dollars. There is not real evidence to prove that Brady lowered the PSI out of the footballs in the AFC match up against the Colts. Also, I think that the NFL should make a stronger policy to check the PSI of footballs before every game to prevent this from ever happening again. This would not be a hard ruler to enforce either. The Patriots should be able to appeal this case and have all of it go away. The Patriots proved that they could win a game with inflated footballs as they went on to win against the Seahawks in the Super Bowl.

BP #8

 In the documentary, "The Short Game" by Josh Greenbaum shows his audience what it takes to get to ad win the Pinehurst Tournament in North Carolina. This tournament takes all of the best golfers from around the world that are six through eight years old! The film followed eight kids who showed the potential of being very successful  the tournament, Allan, Zama, Kuang, Alexa, Jed, Augustine, Sky, and Amarie. Greenbaum starts of the documentary by taking us through the everyday life of each these young golfers. He is able to make us comprehend that these kids spend so much of their time on golf that they barley have anytime to hangout with friends. Surprising enough though, they don't seem to be affected by this or care too much about missing out on a childhood. When the tournament comes around, Greenbaum follows each golfer to see how they are doing. All of the golfers start out on a strong note, but Jed soon falls behind because he suffered from !0 over par from being late to his tee off time. This put him out of getting a trophy, but it was calculated that if he didn't get this penalty that he would of won. Throughout the second day, each golfer is staying strong with Amarie,Allan, and Sky both in the top three for their age group. By the final day, Amarie and Allan bot start off with a bogey creating a disappointing feeling as the end of the tournament nears. Amarie and Allan are able to get past the bad start, and climb the ranks to first place for their age groups.

"The Short Game", a documentary about outstanding young golfers competing at the World Championship for golf at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina blew me away. Initially, these children are so good at golf, yet they they are 6-8 years old. All of these children showed a high potential of making it to the professional league someday. Also, it was so inspiring seeing how golf is literally everything to these kids. Each one was willing to throw away their childhood in order to improve and succeed when it comes time to golf at the World Championship. Subsequently, I was stunned by how hard some of the children's parents were. Yes, some were supportive, but others were making their kids cry their eyes out. These golfers have accomplished so much at such a young age, but somehow their parents find the need to pressure them even more after a bad hit or whole. Telling your kid how to do something better is okay, but when your asking your kid what's wrong with himself or herself then that means there is something wrong with yourself.

 In Josh Greenbaum's documentary " The Short Game"(2013), he exposes how young golfers who participate in the Pinhurst World Championship are sort of missing out on a childhood. The producer first proves his statement by showing video montages of the daily life of eight young children participating in the championship. Greenbaum is able to show the audience that these golfers spend so much time on the golf that they have barley any time to enjoy their childhood. He then concludes this argument bu using different ethnicity and backgrounds of all eight golfers. Greenbaum is able to communicate to the audience that it doesn't matter what type of family you come from because you are still going to be putting in all the hard work, though in many different forms. To end, he is able to explain how the parents are perfectly okay with how their children train and prepare for this tournament. His purpose is to show how young kids who are trying to make it to the Pinehurst tournament are being treated as adults and not as children in preparation for it. Greenbaum seemed to have coaches, parents,referees, and spectators in mind as his audience because he wants these children to be treated right, and not treated as if they are expected to win the Deutchue Bank at eight years old!

BP #7

 In  Trevor Martin, Jonathan Paley, and Ross Finkel's  documentary Schooled: The Price of College Sports(2013), they persuaded their audience that the NCAA is causing college athletes to not get the education that they are paying for and going to school for, and also that these athletes should be getting paid. The producers first convinced the viewers of the film by using analogies to show the wrongdoings of the NCAA and how they are cheating college athletes out of the degree they are going to school for.
Martin's and his crew then go on by explaining how the NCAA is exploiting athletes and not paying them for all the hard work because their collegiate sport is more of a job the a hobby. They then conclude with the story of Devon Ramsay and how is a victim of the NCAA and not a convict who was forced out of football because of a revision on an essay that he completed. Martin, Paley, and Finkel's purpose was to expose the NCAA in order to give back to all of the students who were wronged by the NCAA. They seemed to have a remarkable audience because they were able to uncover the truth about the NCAA to warn and open the eyes of many on how college athletes are suffering from how the NCAA is ran.

NFL Texans running back, Arian Foster agrees to the claims this film makes

 In the documentary, Schooled: The Price of College Sports the film unravels the truth about how the NCAA organization really works. You are able to comprehend the difference of how college sports work now than how the used to be with all of the information that is perceived throughout this film. You soon learn that when division one schools say, "Education comes before sports" is a complete lie. The producers go on to show us that schools are letting athletes take paper classes causing them to not get a full understanding of what they are supposed to be learning. The film goes on to talk about how students are also receiving degrees that they didn't earn. They may be receiving degrees, but they have no idea how to apply them in the real world. Since only a small percentage of collegiate athletes make it to the professional leagues, they don't have any experience in their major they went to college for. Lastly, this film shows its audience how athletes should be getting paid because of all the hard work that they have to do in order to play on a college team. College sports are more like a job than the competitive sport that they are supposed to be.

BP#6 JJ Nelson Won't Go Home with $100,000

JJ Nelson running the 40-yard dash at the annual NFL Combine

 In the article, "JJ Nelson:Adidas never offered deal" written by sports annalist Darren Ravell from ESPN talked about how the top runner in the 40-yard dash during the NFL Combine never received his $100,000. It was said that the top three runners in the 40-yard dash were eligible to receive $100,000 if they wore Adidas's newest style track shoe, and signed a contract that agreed to future endorsement deals. According to JJ Neslon, he never received his $100,000 because he was never offered a contract to sign. In fact, he recalls signing a few waivers, but no contract was ever talked about or given to him. This has caused some confusion and anger as JJ Nelson went on to explain to the press that his family and friends think that he turned down the offered sum of cash.

It appears that the truth of this story is yet to unfold. From my speculations, I totally agree with Darren Ravell and how he thinks Adidas never offered him the deal in the first place. Nelson with a labeled name of being a, "late-round draft pick" would make total sense that Adidas would not offer him an endorsement deal. Adidas saw him as a nobody and what good would it do if a wide-receiver that is not that well known sponsored your product. It would potentially be a waste of money, or even a loss of money in the end. This company may not of seen a lot in Nelson, but they should of at least given him the endorsement deal to sign. Who knows, one day JJ Nelson could be the face of the NFL and on the front page of Sports Illustrated.