Once upon a time, in a remote village far away, there was a red-haired, freckle faced little boy who loved to play basketball. He was not too tall, he was not too small, he was just the right height to shoot hoops. Everyday he walked miles through the woods, in his old worn out high-tops, to the urban center where there was a basketball court. The older boys always played there. They were tall and had new high-tops that were as brightly colored as candy. The little boy thought they looked like magical shoes.
Well, every time the little boy arrived, the older boys said they had just started a game or told him he could play the next one. They never let him play. They always asked him to fetch the ball when it went out of bounds and asked him to keep score because he looked smart. Day after day he walked miles to that basketball court and he asked to play and day after day he went home feeling rejected. Could those shoes make the boys jump higher and run faster? Would shoes like that get him into their game?
…show more content…
Day in and day out he practiced and practiced. He practiced his jump shot, his passing his dribbling and his rebound shots. Again, he approached the older boys with confidence. On one cold, blustery day, in early July, he arrived at the court early. Not many older kids were around. He asked again if he could play. He was in total shock, they had said yes this time. He played like he had never played before. He jumped, he passed, he dribbled and the older boys just laughed and said he would never be more than a score-keeping geek. He went home dejected once again, but at least this time he had
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 he just “sells gas, checks oil, and changes flats” (19-20). The purpose of Updike’s poem is to convince the reader that athletes should also focus on getting a good education.
Your dreams of being someone may not turn out the way you think they will. The documentary Hoop Dreams is a story about two boys from the ghetto that want to play in the NBA. Arthur ¨Man”Agee goes to Marshalls and William Gates goes to St. Joseph’s which are both situated in Illinois, where their dreams of becoming a pro basketball player vanished. Both of the boys face obstacles that are outside of themselves. Arthur´s family struggled with money, education, and pressure from others hurts him. Also, William struggled with balancing his family with basketball, the pressure from others, and education.
The short story Black Holes and Basketball Sneakers by Lori Aurelia Williams was inspired by events Williams experienced. The main character Malik was a poor 13 year old that lived within the inner city of Houston. He dearly wanted a pair of basketball shoes that everyone else had except for him. The catch was that his mother couldn't afford both providing food for her children and fund for the "JC Jumper's". These shoes are what Malik really dreaded for. The climax of the story was when the Bullets jumped the player to receive the JC Jumper's. This climax inflicted a change in Malik's attitude over how the Bullets retrieved the JC Jumper's. Malik believed that the Bullets obtained the shoes immorally, then making Malik want to have nothing to do with the Bullets. Over the course of the story Malik changes in his view of the shoes and people overall. This change in character creates a different person and a different personality throughout the story.
Although many youngsters fail in the NBA, there are a few high school players who have had, or do have a successful career in the NBA. Some of these are, Moses Malone, Kobe Bryant, Tracey McGrady, and this year’s most valu...
Basketball is a chart-topping sport that is loved by many fans. It’s been a hit since 1891 when it began, starting in Springfield, Massachusetts. It grew rapidly in popularity and spread around the world. Many people found it comforting to play, such as Pat Conroy. Pat Conroy was an outstanding basketball player, who was committed in going far with his teammates. Although he seemed superb, he had a troubled life growing up at his family home. His parents were abusive and uncaring towards him, therefore he used basketball as an alternative. In My Losing Season, Pat was able to obliterate the thought of his abusive parents. His comfort was playing basketball with a team he will never fail to remember. The outcomes Pat acquired were admirable,
Everyone wants to get better at something, but some want it more than others. In “How to Transform an Everyday, Ordinary Hoop Court into a Place of Higher Learning and You at the Podium”, the narrator wants to get better at basketball, so he wakes up everyday at 4:30 to go with his dad to his work. Everyday, the narrator would wait 3 hours in his dad’s car until the gym opened, only to sit on the bench and watch the other men play basketball. Finally, one of the best players, Dante, tells the narrator he can play but he’ll get “smoked”. However, the narrator proved him wrong. The narrator learns that if you persevere, work hard, and have confidence, your dreams may come true. In How to Transform an Everyday, Ordinary Hoop Court into a Place
This book is about Elijah Jumper Breeze he had survived a rough summer. After his dad died crude exactly from a heart attack him and his mom moved from the suburbs into Connecticut to the urban community of Harlem that is in New York City to live with his grandmother. That meant an entirely new neighborhood, new friends and no father to stand next to him. Nevertheless, Jumper survived.(Robinson) He was mostly called by most as Jumper. and is in love with basketball. Another important character is Nia, his best friend. Jumper doesn’t realize what street ball is, and how important it is to kids. Jumper and Nia are running for student council, and this creates a bit of tension between them. Their school doesn’t have a basketball team,
Throughout his childhood and teenage years Terry has shown strong determination to achieve his goals. As a child Terry had always wanted to play basketball for his school. Unfortunately, he was not very good at this sport. He practiced until in eighth grade when he made the basketball team. His coach advised him to take up a different sport such as running or soccer due to his short height. Although
While children usually had more than their parents in the Polish neighborhood in Chicago, young Krzyzewski was a successful point guard at Weber High School, an all-boy Catholic prep school. He was afforded the opportunity due to his parents paying extra to send him, despite his father being an elevator operator in Willougby Tower and his mother, a woman who scrubbed floors at the Chicago Athletic Club. Love and support from both parents at a young age provided him confidence as an adult. (Krzyzewski, 2001)
During the year of 1978 Michael Jordan was set out to try and make his high school basketball team in which he was only 5’10” and could not dunk a basketball. (Newsweek). The one and only Michael Jordan was cut from his own high school team, granted he was trying out for Varsity and not Junior Varsity, this still infuriated Jordan. According to Newsweek Jordan said it was “embarrassing not making the team… [and] he went home locked himself in his room and cried (Newsweek).” This small setback seemed to only motivate Jordan as the article also states Jordan become Laney High’s best player.
Joseph's, we hear time and again, is the school where another inner-city kid, Isiah Thomas, started to climb his way to the NBA. Arthur was playing against fellow's three years older than he was and he was still the best in the area. Arthur's parents Bo and Sheila Agee were extremely needy individuals who were on cocaine and couldn't provide for their family. Big Earl, the person who enlisted Arthur told his family that St. Joe's would be ready to pay Arthur's educational cost on the off chance that he played ball for them. Arthur went to St. Joe's and met William Gates. They had gotten to be companions in evaluation school yet had never truly done anything together. Arthur and William are working harder, perhaps, than anyone else in their school for jobs which, we are told, they have only a .00005 percent chance of winning. We all have a dream. We watch Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas and the others on television, and we understand why any kid with talent would hope to be out on the same courts someday. But "Hoop Dreams" is not simply about basketball. It is about the texture and reality of daily existence in a big American city or as anyone else would say the
Starting my freshman year at County High School, I played basketball and loved every minute of it. I wouldn’t be conceited enough to say I was good, but God did bless me with the talent to play. My life revolved around the sport of basketball; some would say I slept, ate, and breathed every part of it. I spent all my time training and practicing to make myself a more dedicated athlete. This dedication not only helped me as a player, but also molded me into the person I am today. It somehow helped to prepare me for what defeat I would face with back surgery in the future.
...by the Texas Western Men’s Basketball Team of 1966 in emotional abuse, curfew, and stereotypes. The African-American players on the team elicited much harassment and racism. The emotional abuse that the team received threatened to break the team, but the team responded by triumph in the 1966 NCAA Division I National Championship. Then, the concept of curfew was not an important one within the Texas Western Basketball players’ priorities in the beginning of the season. The distraction of partying and girlfriends kept the men up all night and led to them being punished by their coach. In recruiting, Coach Don Haskins overlooked the stereotypes surrounding African-American basketball players and started the first all-black national championship team. This inspirational story is one that explains the reason for the racial equality in the sport of basketball today.
Marcus’s family is poor. His mother is a single parent. She is working long hours as a seamstress to provide for Marcus and her daughter, Sabrina, after her husband left the family. They live in a public housing estate referred to as the projects. Eddie has two parents that are both in jobs. They have a better economy than Marcus’s family, but Eddie doesn’t get as much money as he’d like to. They live in a private house in the same area of Queens as Marcus lives in. It is the beginning of the final term in high school, and parties and trips are coming up. The boys have saved up money to cover the expenses for a long time. But then, Nike comes out with a brand new pair of shoes in the basketball team’s colors, maroon and powder blue. Everyone on the team is getting a pair, and everyone will notice if the stars of the team haven’t got them as well. The boys consider themselves as too good for jobs, so th...
“Life is like a basketball, it bounces up and down.” I love basketball. I feel affection for the taste of victory, when you win a game. However, I also find losing a worthwhile experience. I worship the feeling where you score a point. It’s slow motion at first, as you gaze at the shot you’ve made, wondering if it is going to manage. Then the taste of your salty sweat and the sound of your pounding heart are back in action. *Swoosh* the ball rapidly swirls into the hoop and falls through the net. It is so stunning, and so breath-taking. “Beautiful shot! BEAUTIFUL!” the coach would yell. Everyone would give a little cheer, and I would smile and look down. I am proud to make the shot, but not cocky about it. It’s for the team, teamwork… I would think in my head. Afterwards, I would be focusing on how to get my head completely into the game, that’s how addicting it is.