In the book “The Boys of Winter” by Wayne Coffey, shows the struggle of picking the twenty men to go to Lake Placid to play in the 1980 Olympics and compete for the gold medal. Throughout this book Wayne Coffey talks about three many points. The draft and training, the importance of the semi-final game, and the celebration of the gold medal by the support the team got when they got home.
A main part of this story is about picking the Olympic team and how they became as strong as they were. Before beginning the tryouts, coach Herb Brooks scouted every player that was trying out. He watched film on them, talked to old coaches, and in some cases watched them play in a game or practice. It is important that he did this because then he did not come in to the tryouts not knowing any player and it showed that he already had in mind who he wanted for his team. As tryouts approached all the players and coaches were preparing for a week long tryout. Herb Brooks sat by himself in a booth and watched the first day of tryouts and picked his team on the very first day. This stunned all the othe...
It took a disciplined mind, strategic, and vision to pull a team with this composition, these ego’s, to put aside their self-interest and egocentric tendencies to play as one, play for a nation. The term miracle on ice is one that will forever be linked to Her Brooks’ legacy, the fabled 1980 U.S. Olympic team which won the gold medal at Lake Placid, NY. According to Coach Brook’s, the team was mentally tough and goal-oriented. They came from all different walks of life, many having competed against one another, but they came together and grew to be a real close team. He pushed this team really hard. But they had the ability to answer the bell. (Herb Brooks Foundation, N.d.) Here Coach refers to the team or they, as the team they came together for a common goal. For anyone who has watched the movie or read the book it was obvious that it was his leadership was the cause of the team coming together to play as one. He addresses the team in a positive light and himself as the catalyst.
The most memorable moment in hockey history came thirty-four years ago with the 1980 Miracle on Ice. The Americans defeating the dominant Soviet team at the Olympics was not only an important triumph for USA Hockey, but for the entire nation. Contrary to popular belief, the underdog win was not only the result of a miracle; it was also the result of a hard-working team led by Coach Herb Brooks. With increasingly negative views on the position of the United States in the Cold War, the Miracle on Ice and the gold medal win lifted the spirits of the nation and brought hockey into the American spotlight.
That night, the people of Lake Placid went running and cheering through the streets. The next day, the victory made hockey the front-page of newspapers everywhere; the impact reached everywhere, and is still felt today. Since that victory, hockey has almost tripled in popularity in the US at both amateur and professional levels.
Beryl Markham’s West with the Night is a collection of anecdotes surrounding her early life growing up as a white girl in British imperialist Africa, leading up to and through her flight across the Atlantic Ocean from East to West, which made her the first woman to do so successfully. Throughout this memoir, Markham exhibits an ache for discovery, travel, and challenge. She never stays in one place for very long and cannot bear the boredom of a stagnant lifestyle. One of the most iconic statements that Beryl Markham makes in West with the Night is:
Hill, Christopher R. "The Cold War and the Olympic Movement." History Today. History Today, 1999. Web. 18 May 2014. .
‘A Man for All Seasons’ is a play written by Robert Bolt, previously for BBC Radio in 1954 before revising it on stage. It was premiered on the 1st of July 1960 at the Global Theatre in London.
The poem, “Field of Autumn”, by Laurie Lee exposes the languorous passage of time along with the unavoidability of closure, more precisely; death, by describing a shift of seasons. In six stanzas, with four sentences each, the author also contrasts two different branches of time; past and future. Death and slowness are the main motifs of this literary work, and are efficiently portrayed through the overall assonance of the letter “o”, which helps the reader understand the tranquility of the poem by creating an equally calmed atmosphere. This poem is to be analyzed by stanzas, one per paragraph, with the exception of the third and fourth stanzas, which will be analyzed as one for a better understanding of Lee’s poem.
The Olympic Games of 1972 and 1980 were games to remember for their surprising outcomes. The Cold War had been going on for since 1947 and the bitter rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union was at a peek. Both the United State’s basketball team and the Soviet Union’s hockey team remained undefeated until these games. During these Olympics, the superior team was beaten by the weaker one, and tensions between the two nations were affected. Each nation experienced extraordinary Olympic victories, but for very different reasons.
When Finny trains Gene for the 1944 Olympics, Gene becomes more mature. Through Finny's coaching of Gene, Gene acquires many characteristics of the already grown-up Fi...
Is society too egotistical? In Hunters in the Snow, Tobias Wolfe gives an illustration of the selfishness and self-centeredness of humankind through the actions of his characters. The story opens up with three friends going on their habitual hunting routine; their names are Frank, Kenny, and Tub. In the course of the story, there are several moments of tension and arguments that, in essence, exposes the faults of each man: they are all narcissistic. Through his writing in Hunters in the Snow, Wolfe is conveying that the ultimate fault of mankind is egotism and the lack of consideration given to others.
Video games bring a sense of the reality to most people, especially if you are a hardcore gamer. They bring reality by essentially creating a virtual world that feels as if you are living in the real world. Lucky Wander Boy by D.B. Weiss is transmitting a certain message to a certain audience. The novel is intended to enthrall an audience consisted of video game enthusiasts around their late twenties and thirties. Lucky Wander Boy is sending a message to the audience, the message is experiencing living the real life through a video game; just like they may have experienced before. The book is fundamentally illustrating the thoughts and experiences this group of people might have gone through during the golden age of video game. The book does this by showing us the narrative of Adam Pennyman, the protagonist of the book coping with his struggles through a video game. Video games revive Adams actual life to some extent; without the game he would not find any point in his life because of all the struggles and negativity he has been through. The book Lucky Wander Boy by W.B. Weiss is about a man named Adam Pennyman during the golden age of video games trying to find the perfect game. Throughout the book Adam Pennyman is creating an encyclopedia of every game he has created. The encyclopedia is called Catalogue of Obsolete Entertainments and in it he has referenced video games such as Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, and many others. The encyclopedia ends up becoming more personal instead of reviewing the games. Later in the novel Adam begins to lose interest in the encyclopedia because he wants to find out how the game, Lucky Wander Boy, that he played for hours on end as a kid ended. Adam eventually ends up getting a job as a copywrite...
Human history reckons unethical behaviour as one of the worst sins that can be committed by a human. Even though mankind has always considered corrupt behaviour as unacceptable, it can be justified under adverse situations. The play A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt provides an excellent example of characters that display Machiavellian behaviour for their own benefits. The play is about Thomas More, a man with a conscience, who refuses to affirm against his beliefs in favour of King Henry VIII, and as a result he gets conspired on the path of his death. Other pragmatic characters in the play that mould themselves according to the situation ensure their immunity. Bolt includes the character of the Common Man to send a direct message to the
"C'mon, Chris, you get in the shower first," Taylor ordered from the other bed. "You're already up." Chris conceded and worked his way to the shower. Everyone in the room knew it too, due to his grunting and whining under his breath. Soon enough he was out of the shower and so were Taylor, Anders, and I. We ate breakfast with the rest of the team downstairs in the hotel in silence. It was too early to talk or chat. Everyone knew that one thing was going to be on their minds: winning. It was not worth discussing, either. Everyone knew that our varsity eight was possibly the strongest that McCallie had ever had, and that we had a good chance of winning some gold medals that day, if not a great chance. We loaded on the bus like ants, noiselessly flowing into one little opening. The bus ride was silent all of the way over as well. Everyone's heads, looking intently forward, were slightly jostling along with the bumps in the road. Some tried to sleep, but the tension and excitement was too much for most of them to be successful.
Father and Son by Bernard McLaverty 'Father and Son' by Bernard McLaverty is a short story which is set in
"A laotong relationship is made by choice for the purpose of emotional companionship and eternal fidelity" (See 56). A friendship comes with many challenges, but with a strong bond between one another, friends can overcome the obstacles they are faced with together. In the book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, Lily and Snow Flower are laotongs who face obstacles throughout their lives. Throughout the novel, the two girls have to follow the strict cultural practices to please Chinese Society. They are faced with the pain of foot binding, and the everyday chores women have to do. Together, the girls face big and small obstacles that make the theme of the novel about the bond between women.