GSW 1110-162L Awesome Course Blog

I enjoyed reading the articles about the sports teams because it kept my attention.

These readings showed a different side to arguing and how to do it the right way. Overall it was interesting.

the readings were very interesting, they made me think about my life.

i hope to read more of them soon

I definitely think that sports are taken too seriously at a young age. As a child some sports were incredibly competitive. P

I enjoyed the readings. They were very interesting.

I really liked the readings.  I wish we had more of them.  Reading.  Re

The biggest part of this essay that grabbed my attention was when the author stated how a parent set the opposing teams jersey on fire on the pitchers mound hoping to intimidate them. I think parents with their kids on sports teams are crazy, especially if their team is not winning. I related to this point in the essay because one time I was at a tournament for my volleyball team when I was fourteen or so. I was the libero, which is the defensive specialist in the backrow. I made  maybe two mistakes in a row, and this grandma stands up screaming at how number 2 (me) needs to be put on the bench and started cursing at me. I was so ashamed of myself I subbed myself out and cried on the bench. Come to find out at the end of the game that lady was the grandma to one of my teammates. Basically, I think some adults take games way to seriously, and sucks the fun out of sports for the kids.

I think that the two articles provided a good example on how to write an argument. “Children Need to Play, Not Compete” demonstrated a good way to show the side you take. She had a lot of credible sources that made her story seem legitimate. The “Stick and Stones and Sports Team Names” at first made me feel bad because I’m from Cleveland! haha. But, I believe that it demonstrated how to take a stand while also recognizing the other side of the argument which is something that I need help in.

I thought that the arguments were interesting. All though I did not agree with the arguments I thought that the arguments were very good and well written. When I read the first paragraph of each I just thought that it was dumb but as I kept reading I had to think about it a little more.

GSW 270-279

Reading the essay “Children Need to Play, Not Compete” was really a blast from the past for me. In High School I played every major competitive sport, Baseball, Basketball, and Football. I completely understand how the author says that it can sometimes become like a job because I got that same feeling. It was so repetitive and the was starting to become not fun. The main issue, as pointed out in the essay, is that adults take it way too seriously. I was just wanting to have fun and not care what the end result was. In reading the article about the Native American names of sports teams i could not get her perspective of how the names were so wrong. I only one that is obviously racist is the Redskins, but the others i saw no problem with.

AWR 128-129

By reading this I learned that before taking a position on a topic you must first understand the issue. Also I learned that you have to write arguments with an open mind. A good thesis is very important when stating your position. You present reasons with evidence and refuting opposing ideas.

After reading “Children should play,not compete” I realized  from the article I found myself looking back onto my childhood life. I played football and my coaches were really competitive and wanted to win. I tried really hard to get better and found myself with a broken arm. People do not look into children’s sports like the article suggest. Many kids and teens do have multiple injuries from their pewee sports. The part of growing up is to have fun and enjoy life, not to sit the bench and watch others win the game for you.

I found both articles very interesting; however I took a particular liking to the reading entitled, “Children Need to Play, Not Compete”. I have a very sport oriented family, so naturally my brother and I grew up playing if not attempting just about everything. As well as my brother and I being a part of the team, so were my parents. My mom and dad were both the coaches for our basketball teams and our track team. The best part about having my parents as my coaches was that they always treated everyone fairly, encouraged all the players, and never took the game too seriously. Of course winning is always fun, but it is not everything. A persons most vulnerable point is in their early developing stages, and if those years are filled with stress and maturity levels beyond them, then that may very well be carried on to the rest of their lives. When thinking of another person, you must always put yourself in their shoes. For example, would you want to deal with that stress at such a young age? Would you want your own children to deal with it? Sometimes we don’t always remember how to treat people, if we have not been treated the same way. I believe the main lesson to be extracted from this article is to think before we act, and take into consideration how our actions may affect other people.

I started playing baseball when I was 5 years old. From the start of playing ball I believed that winning was the only thing that mattered and I often related sports with nothing but fighting and controversy. I had these feelings because it was drilled into my head that it was important for me to be good. With pressures like that it becomes hard to just play and enjoy the game. Many children grow up with pressures to be perfect from parents and coaches which cause them to resent sports. I believe the competition aspect of sports shouldn’t be a major focus until a later age, possibly 12 years old. If a child isn’t able to learn and just enjoy the game before he or she has to worry about the pressures of competition many children will grow up to hate sports.

Welcome to blogs.bgsu.edu by COBL. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Welcome to our GSW 1110-162L Course Blog!  I hope you will find this an easy and useful tool during the semester.  This blog belongs to all of us, so please be respectfully interactive on by sharing your own posts and commenting on other posts.  You will have assignments to post responses to your readings on the blog, and to read and comment on your colleagues response posts.  But feel free to post on your own if the mood strikes you! Please share posts that are relevant to what we are doing in the course and what you are working on for the course.  I hope you use this as a prewriting, brainstorming, question answering/asking space.  And PS–it IS writing!