In one of his many quotes, Lewis Lapham speaks about what he believes sports represent in America, how the fans pay to see, “a world in which time stops and all hope remains plausible” and how the games are about much more than just winning or losing. This is not evident in the behavior, observed by H.G Bissinger in Friday Night Lights, of the town of Odessa, Texas. I disagree with Lapham’s claim that sports are more than just winning or losing, but agree with his claim that the hope felt by the fans is an illusion. For the vast majority of people, sports in America solely represent winning or losing. Most avid fans go to every game they can and even travel with the team to see them play in other cities all across the United States.
“Our true nationality is mankind.” (HG Wells) The Washington Redskins are a football team. Their name is controversial because some people believe that it’s racist towards Native Americans, while others believe that the name should be left alone. Although it’s true that about 20% of Native Americans find the name racist, the other 80% of Native Americans don’t think it’s racist at all. The most powerful argument to protect the Redskins name is because most Native Americans are proud to be named after the football team in honor of their determination and integrity. An example to support this position is when in a letter to fans, the team’s owner, Don Syder defends his decision to not change the name when he says “it is a symbol of everything we stand for: strength, courage, pride, and respect.” (Crowe, 2013) This example shows that the name is simply showing the eminence of the Natives.
In this passage, the author describes how Harrison looks and his handicaps. “Scrap metal was hung all over him. Ordinarily, there was a certain symmetry, a military neatness to the handicaps issued to strong people but Harrison looked like a walking junkyard. In the race of life, Harrison carried three hundred pounds. And to offset his good looks, the H-G men required that he wear at all times a red rubber ball for a nose, keep his eyebrows shaved off, and cover his even white teeth with black caps at snaggletooth random.”This illustrates how the government took away uniqueness.
Key flat out says that Americans are undaunted which gives Americans a sense of gratification. He also mentioned “land of the free” which can be understood as Americans winning their independence which must have taken great strength to accomplish (Key).This line can also be interpreted today as the land of Opportunity and diversity. America now as many people would refer to as the melting pot gives people the opening to be what and who they want to be. In contrasts of America, The Beautiful the current National Anthem doesn’t overly indicate that Americans all believe in God. While The Star Spangled Banner merely mentions God once, its competition goes on to
American football is the most popular sport in America. But do you know it is similar to another famous sport called Rugby? Both sports originate from different place but one is only popular around the world than the other. The Equipment is also different in many ways. For example, in Rugby the players don’t wear protective equipment like helmets and padding.
The military draft was a very controversial topic during these times. Some people believed it violated a person’s inalienable rights while others argued it was a part of being an American to be honored to show your patriotism; however, if you refused to serve, you were shunned and beaten by local villagers (Greenberg). President at the time, “Lyndon Johnson, called the draft "a part of America, a part of the process of our democracy"” arguing that the draft was an honorable and patriotic sacrifice for young men to make for their country (Greenberg). With the major cultural difference between the the 1960’s and today, less young men are enlisting to serve in the military. According to the National Public Radio, an estimated 8.7 million men served during The Vietnam War while only 2.2 million men serve in today’s military.
But the answer to who is the most admirable within the novel will have to be Nick Carraway. The plot takes place in America following World War I. In this era, American citizens were concerned and only worried about material wealth, not moral wealth. This why none of the characters in “The Great Gatsby” are very admirable. But out of all the characters Nick Carraway is the most admirable for three main reasons, one he is truthful to those he is close with, does his best to help others and stays to himself.
Even though Ponyboy lives in a time of stereotyping he learns that all people may not be as others describe them. “I really didn’t see what Socs would have to sweat about, good grades, good cars, good girls… I know better now. “It was the black haired guy that did it I saw it. No, I had the switchblade”, Ponyboy said. Randy didn’t believe him because they both knew what happened.
Adrenaline, excitement, fans are just some of the things that people consider when thinking about football. People don't know the football field is 160 yards and is made of either real grass or turf the players only play on 100 of the yards. It takes a hard working determined person to play this game sometimes it takes away so much of your time but it can take you places you have never imagined. You can feel the adrenaline pumping through your body and can't feel the pain unless you get hurt bad even then you don't feel it until you get out of the game. During the game you lose track of time and when on the field all the screaming fans turn mute and invisible.
His character traits make him seem rude to Lennie, but he does it just to keep him in check. At times he can still open up his soft side. Before Lennie gets shot George says, “I never been mad, and that’s the thing I want ya to know.” (106). Even though he did not say much you could get a very big message just from that. He is saying I want you to know that I was not rude just to be mean I was rude so nothing like this happened.