Hoop Dreams Hoop Dreams, written by Ben Joravsky, is about the story of two African American teenagers, William Gates and Arthur Agee. They grew up in Chicago's inner city and dream of becoming professional basketball players. Arthur and William face many challenges living in tough neighborhoods where life is not easy. Their personal challenges were a little different, though. Arthur faces many obstacles, including school troubles and family issues. One school problem he faced was living in a low-income family. Throughout his freshman year, Arthur was not able to pay his tuition for school. He owed the school $1500. Despite facing these challenges, he never gave up, showing incredible determination and hope. William, talented and focused, also deals with high expectations, physical injuries, and personal sacrifices. His story shows the pressures young athletes face to succeed. Joravsky uses these characters to show two perspectives. Arthur Agee was the kid with no money but hungry to make it to the NBA, no matter the circumstances. William Gates was the skilled athlete that had a bright …show more content…
This network of support is crucial in helping them navigate the ups and downs of their journey. It shows how their community's shared dreams give them strength and motivation to overcome challenges. Joravsky writes about the support from their community to put attention on how connected their success is and how important the community is in helping them reach their individual goals. “Family, friends, and the community stood by us, cheering us on when the road got tough. Their belief in our dreams fueled our determination to keep pushing forward, no matter the obstacles in our path.” (Joravsky 186). Joravsky uses this quote to show how Arthur and William's network of support played an important role in their
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.
Hoops by Walter Dean Myers takes place in New Jersey, a city where basketball may be the future of a lot of teenagers.Basketball is their only escape to success. Loonie is an All-Star basketball player but he just got a new coach,Cal.Cal was a professional basketball player but he lost everything because of drugs.Now Cal is trying to find his way back to basketball and in other part Loonie is trying to find his way to success.
Wes Moore, the author, had many important role models in his life that would eventually enable him to live up to his full capability. Uncle Howard, Wes’ mother’s brother, filled the hole that was left when Moore’s father died and when“[he] was eleven… and having difficulty in and out of the classroom [he could lean] on Uncle Howard’s shoulder”. Moore’s uncle was the man who convinced Moore that he could achieve more than just basketball at school, that education would allow him to reach his full potential. The persuasion to drop basketball as a career, enabled
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.
Hoop Dreams is a story about two young men who want to become basketball players in the NBA. The author Ben Joravsky wrote the book. The idea for the book came from the documentary movie, Hoop Dreams, which is a true story. Arthur Agee and William Gates are the names of the two boys who were followed from eighth grade to twelve grade to do the movie. Arthur Agee was a 5'6 125 pound guard from the playgrounds of Chicago when St Joseph recruiters saw him. Arthur was playing against guy's three years older than he was and he was still the best in the neighborhood. Arthur's parents Bo and Sheila Agee were very poor people who were on cocaine and could not support their family. Big Earl, the guy who recruited Arthur told his family that St. Joe's would be able to pay Arthur's tuition if he played basketball for them. Arthur went to St. Joe's and met William Gates. They had become friends in grade school but had never really done anything together. Eventually William turned out to be the better player and all the attention and money was focused on him. Therefore, Arthur was booted out of St. Joe's in the middle of the school year. He was forced to enroll at Marshall, the area public school. As a result, Arthur could see his dreams of the NBA were slipping away. Along with that, he couldn't keep his grades up enough to attend a Division I school. He and the Marshall Commandos ended up going downstate Arthur's senior year. They finished third in the state overall. Arthur ended up going to a junior college named Mineral Area in Flat River Mississippi. After his two years in Mississippi, Arthur received a scholarship to Arkansas State. He finished his degree in communications and he graduated. Arthur never did reach his dream of going to the NBA, at least yet. As you can see, it takes a lot for an inner city boy to try and reach his dream, but most of the time it never happens. William Gates was also 14 when he was recruited to go to St. Joseph. He and Arthur both had to wake up around 5:30 every morning so they could get on the subway to make it to school in time.
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
In fourth grade I took gymnastics. I really like it, and had a lot of
One of the biggest factors in achieving your dreams is the support system that you have behind you. There is only so much a person can control before it begins to wear you down, and you can’t endure anymore. In the beginning of the documentary Hoop Dreams, both boys had a strong dream of making it to the NBA, but slowly over time you begin to notice that dream of theirs start to fizzle and become out of reach. In this situation, Arthur and William both had the odds stacked against them even before they attempted to pursue their dream. The struggles financially, educationally, and pressure from family were too substantial to ignore, and eventually led to their failure.
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...
To conclude, the poem “Ex-Basketball play,” is a poem that shows the reality of life. It reflects the nature of life in the real world and it helps people who have a dream and want to pursue their goals to go for it. The poem was formally organized and provides a number of figurative languages that helps to bring out tone of the poem.
In the collegiate world of sports, basketball has become an increasingly recognized sport among African Americans, predominantly males. The hope of any young basketball player is that one day a scout will come and recruit them into stardom The question that presents itself as a problem to the lucky few who are chosen to go professional, is whether or not an education is more important than a million dollar shoe deal, “The NCAA's (1998) annual six-year study reported that only 33% of Black male basketball players graduated, (Chronicle of Higher Education, 1999). Individually, basketball reported the lowest graduation rate in all divisions,” (Robinson, 2004:1). Basketball players have become so idolized in the eyes of young Black male basketball athletes, that the value of education appear to be less important in the development of these young men, “According to Sailes (1997), there is an over-representation of Black males in particular sports and an under-representation in other segments of American society. He provides the example of percentages of Black males competing in the NBA (77%), NFL (65%), MLB (15%), and MLS (16%) in comparison to the fact that fewer than 2% of doctors, lawyers, architects, college professors, or business executives are Black males.”, (Robinson, 2004:1). The idea of the attainment of a professional basketball player’s salary in the NBA, without even having to go to school for the time it takes to earn a degree is very appealing to some players. Those with a wealthy, or even upper-middle class upbringing may not view material assets as a priority. In the Black community, we have theorized that money and success play a more important role than education in most households. Although these two seem to go together, one resulting from the other, this does not apply in the sports world. Our research will examine the role that the family value system plays in influencing Black vs. White male athletes to turn professional, as opposed to obtaining a college degree before turning professional.
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.
The movie “Basketball Diaries” is based on a series of journal entries written by Jim Carroll during the early years of his life, these entries would later on be published as a novel. Growing up in the slums of New York City, Carroll was exposed to many instances of drugs abuse and as a result of his life being filled with stress such as him living in an unstable household without a father, and losing his best friend he began to engage in substance abuse. As a teenager, Carroll was willing to go to extreme lengths just to fit in with his peers. He was an avid basketball player who seemed to be devoted to the sport and was knowledgeable when it came to teaching others what he knew about the sport. Based on the opening scenes of the movie, one can tell that Carroll was a very impressionable teenager. Like many teenagers, Carroll was left open to the influences of his environment and so he was misguided because instead of trying to steer him on the right path, the older folks led him to what would inevitably become his destruction. This paper will provide background information of the ...
“The odds of a high school basketball player making it to the “next level” to play college basketball (DI, II, or III) is slim. In fact, only 3.4% of high school players go on to play college basketball. Taking it even further, only 1.2% of college basketball players go on to get drafted in the NBA” (Winters, 2016). There are two types of players in the game. There are the kids who play basketball because they are athletic, and all they are seeking to gain is the recognition and awards. They want to be known. Those players are self-centered, they do not play for the team, and generally don’t play because they love the game. These are the types of players who don’t usually go on to play at the next level. On the other hand, there are the players that absolutely dedicate their life to the game of basketball just because they love the game. That is what coaches are looking for in a player, and that is the kind of player I am striving to be.
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