People all over the world, including famous athletes who may inspire you, all go through the same problem of reckless decision-making due to too much power or too much ambition. My motive for choosing this topic is because it is evident people think or talk about problems like this a lot less than we should/could. Throughout my essay, I will go into detail on specific people who experienced my topic and why you should take it seriously and try to avoid the problem. Before we get into it, I would like to inform you that everyone in the world, no matter who you are or what successes you have, may experience this. Also, I'm going to say that going through the issue of reckless ambition may set you back far in life as others have seen. Reckless …show more content…
In this paragraph, I will go into detail about how too much ambition caused a famous athlete to lose his career due to reckless ambition. Further research has given me the idea that once you have already put in all the work to get to a successful position, it then becomes harder, maybe even harder, to maintain the position. In a source I found I learned the following, “Delonte West was arrested Thursday in Upper Marlboro, Md., after police officers pulled him over.”This was only the first time that Delonte West made a reckless move requiring consequences for him, in addition to this in another article I researched I have found out more.”The wife of Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West has filed a domestic violence report against her husband.”All of this is significant to the topic of my essay because it goes to show no matter how you are with your life you always have to put the effort as you did when you worked to get where you are. I say this because even if you get to a good spot where you like where you are and feel you “reached your goal” you have to keep in mind just because you're there doesn't mean you're stuck there. If you get too comfortable and end up slipping up just as Delonte did, you can end your whole career based on one or a couple of mistakes. Through my final body paragraph, I will try and touch on the fact that there are more, who could've been your role model that messed up their career with mistakes that could have been prevented. Now let us touch on how these famous athletes who worked so hard for their finances end up losing them all when they make these mistakes. There are two specific athletes who ended up struggling financially due to mistakes that ended up being made based on getting, “too comfortable.” Going over my research used to prepare for this, I have found that” Due to the disease he was suffering from, most of
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,
In David Foster Wallace’s essay, “How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart,” he argues that the true talent of star athletes is to completely engross themselves in playing the game. While worshipping the “abstractions like power and grace and control” of Tracy Austin, he notes the contradicting quality, her inability to articulate such abstracts (143). He continues by writing, as people’s expectation while reading the autobiography of a successful athlete is to take a peek at the secrets of their god given gifts, whereas the expectations are rarely met, making spectators, such as himself, disappointed. As a matter of fact, Wallace suspects that the exceptional talent of athletes may be brought out by their apathetic and ignorant nature when it
Throughout history, there have been many tales of hubris. The grand “hero” of the tale makes an executive decision, often against the counsel of those around him. This decision, of course, leads to some sort of life-altering consequence, which will forever affect the leader and perhaps even teach him a lesson about a poor attitude. Some of these tales are exaggerated fiction, which are created in order to teach readers a lesson about poor attitudes and what they can cause. Yet, from time to time, these tales of hubris are true, and the consequences are real. Such is the case with Royce Oatman. If Royce had been less hubris and more willing to listen to the advice of others, his family would have survived and eventually gone on to live happy and successful lives.
In sports, there is no shortage of black success stories. Meanwhile, two black men of prominence in Odessa (who are not athletes) fell from grace. Willie Hammond Jr. (the first black city councilor and county commissioner) and Laurence Hurd (a minister and desegregation supporter) were glimmers of hope for the black community that were both snuffed out. Hammond was arrested on charges of arson conspiracy and perjury and Hurd is in prison for burglary and robbery, leaving a hole in the morale of the black community that was not repaired. These losses, combined the with negative news of black people circulated via media, made the possibility of succeeding in a white man’s world inconceivable. Yet, there is no shortage of black success stories in sports, like Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson; in every area that is not a “rich man’s sport”, black athletes dominate. To the poor children on the Southside, there is something very alluring about the “Cinderella stories” of men from poor black neighborhoods rising to prominence through sports. Based on these examples, there seem to only be two paths for a black teen to take: criminal or athlete. Many of these teens aspire to be sports stars and depend on nothing else because there is nothing else. Some may become the superstars they hope to be or they fall into ruin as Boobie Miles, Derric Evans, and Gary Edwards
Many individuals find themselves developing ambitions or goals. Some of those individuals will have the determination to try to achieve these goals, which will lead to some failing, and others succeeding. In fact, this may impact other individual’s lives. In the non-fiction novel Into Thin Air, author Jon Krakauer examines both the advantages and disadvantages of ambition, implying that ambition can either be a blessing or become a tragic flaw. Krakauer develops his ideas by utilizing character motivation to explore the negative and positive aspects of ambition on self and others.
Immense pressure is put on professional athletes making millions of dollars every year to support loved ones. “If you haven’t experienced it yourself, there is no way to describe it.” That is how one professional athlete described the pressure put on by family and friends to share the wealth (Why Athletes Go Broke: The Myth of the Dumb Jock). Magic Johnson has become an extremely successful entrepreneur after playing in the NBA, Johnson believes it is beneficial if friends and family are no part of an athlete’s investments or business endeavors. An athlete hiring a friend to do a pointless job is much more beneficial for the friend than the athlete. An athlete does not need the help of friends in order to prosper while friends of the athlete rely on the athlete’s wealth to live (Torre,4). Many different people will stretch the definition of friend in order to try and indulge in the luxurious lifestyle an athlete is living. “In any business where you make a lot of money, there are people trying to get their hands on it.” said Levi Brown. All sorts of people are flocking to athletes to try and get in the athlete’s pockets (Pro
In “Delusions of Grandeur” by Henry Louis Gates Jr., Gates discusses a big problem and mental state in black communities. He addresses the fact that the mindset of the black youth is in the gutter. In their eyes the only way to fame and fortune is by being a professional athlete. That mindset is destroying and breaking down the black community because out of every black kid trying to be a professional athlete only one out of million is making it to the professionals. Leaving a sufficient gap in black youth striving to be other professionals such as doctors, lawyers, doctors, government officials, business owners, CEOs, accountants, or bank tellers. Furthermore, it ultimately causes blacks to fill out and settle
As Miller and Wilson revealed, athleticism is not always analogous with success. Willy regarded Biff highly because he observed Biff’s presence and athleticism, and he believed these qualities would result in immediate success. Today many parents associate sports with success and therefore pressure their children to excel in sports. In today’s society it is very rare that fears of discrimination would cause children to not pursue a lucrative career in sports. Both Miller and Wilson knew the impact of sports on family dynamics, and how sports have evolved from a leisure time activity to a full-time commitment. Clearly, many of the qualitative aspects of sports--competition, teamwork and physical dexterity can contribute to being a success in almost any career.
The history of sports goes back since ancient times. It has been a useful way for people to explore nature and their environment. Sports include different activities and games such as football, soccer, basketball, and etc. to express their skills and talents. Also, sports are a way to relax and have fun; but are sports all our African Americans rely on? The dream to become future sports stars. The reason why Gates begins his essay with an anecdote is to show and compare how many african-american athletes were at work today and how little the chances of African-Americans becoming athletes are compared to being a lawyer, dentist, or even a doctor. African-Americans assume that they are born athletes and it’s because the school system doesn’t teach them reality and educate them to undertake more realistic goals for careers.
Many NCAA basketball players who make the decision to enter the NBA are not mentally prepared to deal with the responsibilities of life in the NBA. Young players depend on others who influence them or help make bad life decisions. What the young players visualize as the reward for playing in the NBA is the big money and with that big money make many mistakes financially. In th...
In David Foster Wallace’s essay, “How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart,” he argues that the true talent of star athletes is to completely engross themselves in playing the game. While worshipping the “power and grace and control” of her, he notes that such talent does not stretch to the field of writing (143) He continues by saying, her memoir did not meet reader’s expectation, which is to take a peek at the secrets of her God-given talent. As a matter of fact, Wallace suspects that the exceptional talent of athletes can only be brought out by their apathetic and ignorant nature when it concerns something other than their passion.
It’s the triumphs as well as the defeats, that I will remember most about my life when I look back in thirty years. If I can look back and say, “I didn’t think I could ever accomplish this, but I gave it my all.” Pursuing the next challenge along with being a well-rounded, compassionate person will allow me to consider my life a success in thirty years. Nothing in my life emulates this attitude towards what I will consider a success, in terms of pushing my limits, in thirty years, than my current pursuit of collegiate level sports.
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
I decided that I wanted to play a sport, I chose volleyball. Most of my friends played the sport so it wasn't hard for me to adjust and make new friends. Becoming a student athlete was a big adjustment for me, I could no longer float through my classes but I need to excel. And that's exactly what I did. For the first time in my high school career I made not only honor roll, but principal’s honor roll. For the first time my mom was proud of my report card, that made me even more proud. From then on I knew I wanted nothing less than what I earned, good grades and a proud family. From my decision to chose to become a student athlete not only make me work harder but, be great at everything I put my mind to. I had motivation to stay successful, to stay eligible. Three years ago if you were to ask me where I thought I would be my senior year, I probably would have told you low level classes barely making it by. Now here I am today excelling in my education preparing to take the next step in my future, college. Even if we don’t understand why we go through them, we have to be willing to let our obstacles become out
“People are remarkably bad at remembering long lists of goals. One may have learned this at a professional level when trying to get my high-performance coaching clients to stay on track; the longer their lists of to-dos and goals, the more overwhelmed and off-track they got. Clarity comes with simplicity.” As a child he always looked at being able to play or coach a sport at the professional level. For the reason of me just loving the game of Basketball. Also i know it will make an impact on lives because people look up to you and the money in make will give back to communities and change lives around you. The career of a Professional Coach is a challenging and fun career,because of the level of competition and it’s a dream job. The research will describe the career of