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Importance of careers in sports
Hoop of dreams essays
Importance of careers in sports
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Hoop Dreams 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. Having a lot of money can determine how you are going to live your life. For Arthur, money was a big issue for him when he was at St. Joseph’s. Even though his parents only had to pay half the cost of tuition, they still were not able to pay it. So Arthur had to enroll in Marshalls where everything started to crash for him. St. Joseph’s weren’t going to give him his transcript for the semester because of the lack of payment for the tuition. Money was really hard for him and his family. But for William, he got someone to help his parents pay the tuition to stay at the school. William still was having trouble supporting his daughter and …show more content…
girlfriend. Both Arthur and William lived in the ghettos of Illinois and couldn’t get away from poverty. For anyone, money helps with education. Being able to go to a private school over a public school can decide your fate. Pressure of any kind can either make you or break you. With Arthur, he had a lot of pressure on himself to be an amazing basketball player. His Dad was planning on going into the NBA, but life got in the way of pursuing his dream, so Arthur decided to finish where his Dad left off. Everyone wants to make their parents feel proud of them. William also had a lot of pressure on himself to be the best. Coach Pingatore would be really tough on him and make him work hard even with a knee injury and that is why he needed multiple surgeries to fix it. Everyone relied on him to be on top of the game and make the best shots which later made him less confident as a player. But he did rise to the occasion when he needed to and in the process lost the chance to see his daughter be born. Dreams can always change, no matter how young or old you are.
Going to a public school, gave Arthur less opportunities to work with better coaches and scouts that could help him by giving him scholarships for college. His dream slowing started to deteriorate because he realized that basketball didn’t make him happy anymore and same with William. William by the end of high school, didn’t have the same view of basketball as he did when he was a sophomore and most people don’t make it to pro. According to the NCAA, out of the 541,054 high school players, only 1.2% of college players get drafted by the NBA. So the chances of him making it in the NBA were very
slim. Both Arthur and William had struggles that were outside of themselves, their family’s problems with money, pressure from others, and education, were things that they couldn’t control. Arthur not being able to go to St. Joseph’s wasn’t his fault because his family couldn’t pay the tuition. William supporting his daughter Alicia when he was junior in high school was hard because he had to focus on school and basketball. Arthur had the pressure of finishing his Dad’s dream in order to make him feel proud. William was constantly being pressured by Coach Pingatore, who was also extremely tough on him even when he had a knee-injury. Both of the boys didn’t have the proper education from their old schools, they were both way behind their grade level.
At the heart of Desi Hoop Dreams lies an interpretation based upon how important intersectional processes are in the making of identities. Three specific intersectional identities deserve emphasis in making this argument from racism, masculinity, and discrimination. These identities can create a tough environment for people trying to fit in with different cultures and backgrounds. In Desi Hoop Dreams, characters Sanjeet and Krush show the difficulties of trying to fit into Atlanta, Georgia with a South Asian background.
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.
Of course, being a professional basketball player was young Pete’s dream. He did everything he could to get better, and to be like his father. When it came to his early basketball career, it didn’t really do to...
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.
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.
But not in all cases. Consider for example, a famous boxer Evander Holyfield. He was believed to make over 200 million dollars in his boxing career. This is more than enough money to get you through life. Where is he now, well he has been evicted from his mansion in Atlanta and is by all purposes bankrupt. Why, well because he had no education. If he would have gone to college he could have had a job and not be in the situation he is in today. Sadly to say, he is not the only one in this situation. Players like Allen Iverson and Antoine Walker are in the same boat. This could have been prevented if they had just went to
Arthur Agee and William Gates, two high school basketball players, dream of playing basketball in the NBA. Arthur controlled the basketball court as point guard at local playgrounds in Chicago. He competed against boys three years older and still dominated. One day, Big Earl Smith, the legendary playground basketball scout, approached Arthur to discuss his future playing basketball. Big Earl delivered to Arthur a tuition paid scholarship offer to attend St. Joseph. This presented Arthur the opportunity to play for Gene Pingatore, the coach of St. Joseph, considered the greatest high school coach in the suburbs and city. With the scholarship, Arthur attended St Joseph and met William Gates, another basketball prodigy and recruit at St. Joseph. Unfortunately for Arthur, William developed into the more proficient and touted player. Due to William’s success and notoriety, St Joseph passed Arthur’s scholarship money onto William. Arthur’s impoverished family situation, coupled with losing his scholarship money, forced him to drop out of St. Joseph and attend Marshall, the local public school. Throughout Arthur and William’s high school experience, they
In the novel Slam by Walter D. Myers, a boy from the hood, Greg Harris, can do it all on the basketball court and knows he can make it to the NBA. The only things stopping him are his grades and attitude. Greg must overcome his struggles in the classroom and his temper to keep his dream alive. Greg will have to go one-on-one with the thing he loves most verse the thing he hates. It will be a match he cannot afford to lose.
Steve Cohen shows the disparity between the rising cost of college and a family’s capability to afford it. Cohen explains “Tuition has risen almost 1,200 percent in the last 35 years, and the sticker price for many four-year private colleges and out-of-state public universities exceeds $250,000.” Moreover, he goes on to say that even at public universities, it is about $80,000 for four years for tuition and other college related expenses. Later in his article, Cohen explains how this leaves middle-class families in a very uncomfortable situation. The parents or other money-making entities in the household want their student to go to college and earn a degree, but now there can be an element of stress in figuring out how the fees will be paid for. Furth...
...ame all crossed paths as college kids. Building on collegiate stars gave pro basketball an identity. It allows players to develop better due to the superior coaching staff in colleges. Staying in college will also let players develop a valuable following, which benefits the NBA.
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
Money is the main concern for some people. It is a crucial necessity for anyone who is trying to succeed in life. Many believe that the only way to succeed is to have a lot of money. For this type of person, achieving success starts with going to a good college.
Money and power do not just apply to college. A child who has a wealthy