The book “The Sports Gene” was not only a very good read but also it was also extremely intriguing. While reading, some of the main points were clearly stated in the form of “theories” or studies that scientists or students conducted to clearly determine if there is a “sports gene” in humans. Some of the questions you ask yourself is how can that person run so fast or how can that person jump so high. How the book was laid out was in short somewhat stories of a pro athlete or someone that conducted an experiment to determine how that person became a pro. An example of this is when the book talks about the 10000 hour rule. Its crazy to think that if someone practices any sport for 10000 hours that they may possibly become a pro and there is no specific gene that ties pros and non-pros together. The book also talks many times on how there is a significant difference between pros and non pros just …show more content…
When looking at the quality and style of the book we notice a few things that are a lot different from other books that I have read. In the book the main content was solely bases on interviews with pro athletes, Olympic medalists and scientists that either have proved people wrong with their extremely fast softball pitch or someone that is known worldwide like the Jamaican runners in the Olympics. The author clumped the stories of many of these athletes and added physiologically evidence to back up the stories. He also really related the stories to questions that an everyday person would ask themselves, for example “Why didn’t I get that gene to be able to run that fast or have that fast of reflexes?” and when reading all these questions were answered with scientific physiological reasoning which I thought was really interesting. The quality of the book was excellent and to my surprise it was a great
...very good read. It’s easy to see why Sports Illustrated included it in its collection of the top 100 sports books of all time.
To start off my interpretation analysis of the first two chapters in their book, I will begin by stating a classification I have personally received. In the beginning pages of chapter number one, the authors go on in explaining the misclassification of how the skin color, physical attributes, or origin of a person decide how good they are in physical activity; being Latino, most specifically coming from a Dominican background, people always assumed I was or had to be good in Baseball. This classification always bothered me; one, simply because I hate baseball, to me personally is one of the most boring sports in the planet, and second because my strong physical ability still to this point in life is running. Throughout my High School years, people always seemed shocked when they found out I belonged to the track team instead of the baseball team. There was one occasion, where someone said I was a disgrace to the Dominican Republic, simply because I was not good at striking a ball with a baseball bat. As I reflect on this idea and personal experience, I have found this to be one of the strongest points in chapter one of “Racial Domination, Racial Progress: The Sociology of Race in America”. This is due to in part, because perhaps I can relate to it personally, and because in the world of sports is one of the most frequent things commentators will rely on to explain a team’s or individual success. Apart from the point of sports and physical attributes, the authors also go on in elaborating how this belief of how a person looks, has resulted in dangerous practices in the medical field. This is particularly shocking to
Epstein's Sport Genes is more about how a boy named Thomas was born with a bigger Achilles tendon and Epstein thinks that the tendon does all of the work(Epstein,7). As you can see theses both are very complex option. However, even over all this Gladwell does provide more evidence. In Outliers Gladwell states that there were three classes and each one of them practiced different hours, and they saw a real change(Gladwell,12). The one that seemed to practiced more the more they accelerated in class and better they got at playing violin. Forthwith, this is factual evidence from a real-life story which proves practice makes it possible to actually improve your performance. In Sport Gene it talks about a boy named Thomas which was born with an enhanced achilleas tendon which allowed him to jump higher than most of the team(Epstein,6). He went on to compete, barley winning coming close to second although a trained jumper about beat him. This proves that training can allow you to surpass a prodigy because if he trained a little more he would have been able to surpass a person like
In the beginning of the book he talks about what the book was not going to be about and gave good guidelines overall. He was able to give good information about the topic with some other credible books and was also able to put some of his own insight towards the book. The audience that he seems to be targeting are college students and above because of how he went about talking about sections and the discussions he brought up. Being a high school student, there were some spots that would be hard to understand or areas that were slow and hard to keep attention towards. Though overall it was a good read and I would recommended to anyone that would be interested in genes and how they are passed down.
Epstein really thought through his evidence and his work reflects off in the editorial as it is very convincing. But to make it exceptional, Epstein can include the advantages of sport specialization to show the readers both sides of the argument. When an author presents both sides of an argument and presents their side, it will more over reflect author's maturity and increase the article's reliability. Especially when talking to a wide range of audience that can disagree with your standing, it is more advantageous to ease into the argument by recognizing both sides of the argument. Adding on, he can also use personal accounts of kids who either hyperspecialized and caused detrimental effects or how kids who diversified and had much success in their lives. These stories and counterarguments make Epstein's claim that sport specialization leads to many health injuries and no real benefit in skills or technique more connected and
When the social science of game developed as a sub-teach in the fields of sociology and physical training throughout the 1960s, race and racial relations pulled in immediate attention from researchers and social activists. Two researchers’ publications in the early 1960s focused on the sociological progress underlying the integration of professional baseball; however the most provocative discussions of race and game were distributed in the late 1960s and early 1970s by sociologist-dissident Harry Edwards, coordinator of the boycott by black U.S. athletes of the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City. Edwards' book, The Revolt of the black Athlete, published in 1969, obviously depicted the prohibition and abuse of blacks in games and challenged popular suspicions that games were free of prejudice and provided African Americans with chances for upward social versatility and social acceptance in the public arena at large. Edwards' work was complimented by the composition of other researcher activists and created further in his Human science of Sport (1973), the first textbook in the field. Edwards (1971) likewise was the most noticeable humanist to scrutinize a widely-read article in Sports Illustrated, a real week by week sport magazine, in which a sports writer contended that blacks were physiologically better than whites and that the victory of blacks in specific sports was due their natural abilities as athletes.
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.
Hult, J. S. (1994). The story of women's athletics: Manipulating a dream 1890-1985. In D. M. Costa & S. R. Gurthrie (Eds.), Women and sport: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 83-106). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
As Miller and Wilson revealed, athleticism is not always analogous with success. Willy regarded Biff highly because he observed Biff’s presence and athleticism, and he believed these qualities would result in immediate success. Today many parents associate sports with success and therefore pressure their children to excel in sports. In today’s society it is very rare that fears of discrimination would cause children to not pursue a lucrative career in sports. Both Miller and Wilson knew the impact of sports on family dynamics, and how sports have evolved from a leisure time activity to a full-time commitment. Clearly, many of the qualitative aspects of sports--competition, teamwork and physical dexterity can contribute to being a success in almost any career.
Murray, Thomas H. “Sports Enhancement,” in From Birth to Death and Bench to Clinic: The Hastings Center Bioethics Briefing Book for Journalists, Policymakers, and Campaigns, ed. Mary Crowley (Garrison, NY: The Hastings Center, 2008), 153-158.
Thompson, Christie. "Life of an athlete: balancing sports and academics." Stetson Reporter. N.p., 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
Sports psychology is the study of how psychology influences sports, athletic performance, exercise and physical activity. Some sports psychologists work with professional athletes and coaches to improve performance and increase motivation. Other professionals use exercise and sports to enhance people’s lives and well-being. While finding ways to help athletes is certainly an important part of sports psychology, the application of exercise and physical activity for improving the lives of non-athletes is also a major focus.
Davids, K., & Baker, J. (2007). Genes, environment and sport performance: why the nature-nurture dualism is no longer relevant. Sports Med, 37(11), 961-980.
At least when he referenced Sports Illustrated he had personal experiences to tie back into the writing. His choices of examples feel very out of place because he only mentions them once, leaving the reader slightly confused as to the meaning of choosing those literary works. Graff puts too much emphasis on sports as a substitute for actual school learning and doesn’t give good reasons as to why this is the case. The author spends a long time trying to explain why he stunted himself to fit in with schoolkids near him, but doesn’t spend long linking this to the other topics in his article. Graff tries to pawn off talking about sports as being the same as a deep discussion about Socrates’ or Shakespeare’s writings. Equating those two things together might work for him, but not everyone believes this, so Graff comes off as heavily in favor of “street smarts” types of activities. Not only that, but he doesn’t refute any counterarguments the reader might have, which leaves Graff’s article weaker than it could have
These types of sports teaches athletes to hold their composure and be mature when there is conflict, and will use these techniques later in life in numerous group settings. As athletes gain their social skills their cognitive intuition starts to kick in. Participating in sports also helps with athletes thought process. Ganz and Hasset believes “athletes learn on the ball field or in the gym that effort and success are connected”. For instance in sports there are key strategies athletes need to comprehend in order to do well in their sport, so athletes are involved physically and mentally. The people believe that “ the coach’s role is to focus on sportsmanship, effort, and excellence “. So that leaves a huge job for the athletes like football and basketball players to memorize the plays that the coaches strategized for them. Athletes practice these plays so at game time they have the potential of winning. Once these key factors come together it is impossible to stop or slow the team down. However most pro athletes take their sport seriously and will do whatever it takes to stay in good shape and that includes taking illegal drugs. Recently Borman, Kai C., et al. discovered “past