The Shame of College Sports

   The first paragraph caught my attention where I can just imagine a potential football star having lunch at Denny's with a business man. The two are talking, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary until you see something is passed under the table between the two. It looks like a paper sack. It doesn't take an expert to figure out that its money. If I was an athletic football star, I wouldn't hesitate to take some one's money if it was offered to me. The article goes on to say that student athletes generate billions of dollars for universities and private companies while earning nothing for themselves. Is this a scandal? Sonny Vaccaro a Marketing agent for a corporation told a closed hearing at the Willard Hotel in Washington,D.C., in 2001, "I'm not hiding."  "We want to put our materials on the bodies of your athletes, and the best way to do that is buy your school. Or buy your coach." Soon the thought of an image from the Cartoon Network as Vaccaro dressed all in red with a red briefcase and two horns emerging from his head came to mind representing someone evil. Bryce Jordan, the president emeritus of Penn State asked Vaccaro a question. "Why, should a university be an advertising medium for your industry?" He represents all that is good about academia (Jordan) who has a halo above his head. Vaccaro did not blink and then responded. "They shouldn't, sir." he replied. " You sold your souls, and you're going to keep selling them. You can be very moral and righteous in asking me that question, sir," Vaccaro added with good cheer, " but there's not one of you in this room that's going to turn down any of our money. You're going to take it. I can only offer it." The silence in the audience fell silent. The halo above Bryce Jordans head went, "POOF", then disappeared. The truth of this matter back then is true today: corporations offer money so they can profit from the glory of student athletes, and colleges and universities grab it. It is big business, and big revenues for all who take part.

Gaming can Make a better World

   Jane McGonial was very passionate in her speech toward gaming. She did an excellent job of Marketing the gaming industry. She gave examples in her video that gamers have Urgent Optimism, Blissful Productivity, Epic Meaning, and are Super Powered Individuals. She said we invest three billion hours playing video games and there is a mass exodus to online gaming. She even went as far to go back in the past and show the audience ancient dice made of sheep knuckles. I play Xbox and I enjoy it to a certain extent. I must admit you can loose track of time playing Xbox. My favorite games are Madden NFL, Call of Duty and others. I agree with her that gaming is the wave of the future. Recently, while I was watching the Military Channel, Fighter Pilots and Tank Commander are trained in there field on video simulation machines. These is just a fancy word for an overpriced video game. She said that gamers strive to achieve an epic win maybe that is why people get so involved and addicted to video gaming. Well, this is good news for people who design and make games. It is a very profitable industry. At the end of her speech she tells the audience, " What happens next?" I guess the audience is left with a fill in the blank answer. I can relate this video to our English class by presenting many arguments pro and con.

The Rhetorial Precis

   In this chapter, "Making an Effective Argument" writing arguments in college is setting out a specific proposal or claim supported by reasons and evidence is at the heart of most college writing. State explicit claims in written arguments a thesis that isn't obvious. Claims must have reasons based on evidence in the form of facts, statistics, testimony from reliable sources, and direct observations. Readers have opposing positions on issues so consider them by accurately representing different viewpoints. Provide the reader with insight on what they read by providing in-depth analysis. In college writing argue responsibly but respectfully too. Make sure you understand and genuinely respect your readers position even if you think the position is ultimately wrong. If you recall in English 099 and 101 we learned ethos, pathos, and logos. You have to think about your credibility. To get your readers to take you seriously convince them they can trust you. Show that you are concerned, well informed, fair, and ethical. In summary, this information that I read and learned will help me write arguments more effective.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/19/reports-tebow-sustained-significant-injuries-in-playoff-game/


  I really like Tim Tebow. I think he is a special person to use football to spread christianity whether this is his intent or not. Many people think his Tebowing pose is blasphemous but I don't think so. It should be understood as something positive not bad. When he wins everybody in the media praises him but when he loses not so much at all. He really should have been pulled from the game when he sustained his injury. It was not Tebow's fault alone why Denver lost so bad, the Broncos defense were as much to blame as well. I still believe that he should remain the Broncos quarterback for next season.