After school was out Philip waited on the bleachers behind the school for Joe’s football practice to be over. The Darby Gulch High football team wasn’t much to be envious over. The plays were sloppy and predictable, at least according to most of the players parents. Of course, also according to them, this was solely the coach's fault. Although, cutting Mr.Galindo some slack, have a mascot like ‘The Darby Gulch Seagulls’ doesn’t really pull fear out of our enemies. Basketball, baseball, Soccer, Volleyball, basically any other sport than football in Darby Gulch had a good team. Philip was suppose to play basketball next season, then soccer the season after that. At this point in his life he wasn’t sure. He had planned on quitting baseball before …show more content…
Then, out the corner of his eye he saw a small figure. Snapping his head to look at the opposite side of the bleachers he saw someone standing on the grass, too far away to see. “Dammit!” He cursed under his breath and squinted his eyes to try and get a better look. He took his time stepping down each bleacher to get a better vantage point. When he was about a quarter to the end the figure became clear. Philip’s face became pale, the familiar hollow feeling in his chest returned, and his hands were shaking almost uncontrollably. “Evelyn?” He whispered so horsley he could barely hear the words himself. There, standing at the end of the bleachers stood Evelyn in her homecoming dress, hair done up around an expressionless face. Philip’s breath hitched and Joe, noticing the shift in his best friend’s actions, called out to …show more content…
She was no longer wearing her homecoming dress. Instead she had on black jeans, a light pink and black striped shirt with a light pink cardigan, and her hair in two separate braids. She stood upright over his bed and as he slowly sat up, she slowly sat down on the chair next to his desk. “Yes, it is me, no need to whisper though.” She stated, playing around with the hem of her shirt. “I need to talk to you.” She said plainly and Philip kept blinking his eyes, wondering when she would vanish again. “This isn’t real, you’re dead.” He whispered again, shaking his head profusely. “This is real, I know I’m dead, and I already told you to stop whispering.” She uttered the last part more aggressively than the rest of her sentence. Philip was shocked, he was flabbergasted, he felt ready to pass out or call for his mother like he use to when he was afraid. “”How are you talking to me?” Was his first question, as well as the first thing he hadn’t whispered. “I don’t know, I’m not sure how this works either.” Her reply did not satisfy him, but he couldn’t think of how to go about telling a ghost (if that’s what she is) that they are
High school sports can have a tremendous effect on not only those who participate but the members of the community in which they participate. These effects can be positive, but they can also be negative. In the book Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger shows that they are often negative in communities where high school sports “keep the town alive” due to the social pressure. In this way, Friday Night Lights gives insight into the effects of high school football being the backbone of a community, revealing that the fate of the individual football players are inadvertently determined by the actions of the townspeople.
The warm summer evening. The butterflies in the stomach. The determination and desire to win. This is a moment that many young men experience - Little League Baseball. But, unfortunately, schools lacking funding are looking to cut costs by getting rid of youth sports. That is when Dick’s Sporting Goods, a company with resources to bring attention to this problem, steps up to bat. Their message is effective through the emotional and ethical tie it creates in the audience through the story of a young man who overcomes tragedy through succeeding on the baseball diamond. Relying heavily on pathos and ethos, this message touches the hearts of the audience, calling them to step up as well.
“Nick-” she reluctantly drew words. “-Did I ever tell you of the letter Myrtle sent Tom, back in Christmas, about three years ago?” I already knew I didn’t want to have this conversation. I wanted to sit and hold my breath like a toddler until I got my way and she withheld this talk with me.
The soccer field is the only place he is able to do this, not at school, not at home, and not in his community. Paul has to leave Lake Windsor to be able to play soccer in Tangerine. The kids in Lake Windsor are snotty, rich, and self-centered. But the kids in Tangerine are hard working, resourceful, and proud. During their first soccer game, Paul described the game as, “The Palmetto players got down and dirty right away, and their fans cheered them on.”
Daisy’s face was filled with fear as she slowly stood up and walked around the room. “She was…she was killed?” Daisy questioned in a trembling voice.
her that he died instantly and she doesn’t believe him, “You lie. I know better. I have felt
It was a sunny day with a sweet aroma of blooming tulips. The sunlight glittered on their faces as the breeze rattled the chestnut tree above. There was an occasional giggle as they talked, but there was also a hint of discomfort and awkwardness between them as they peeked at each other’s face and recoiled when the other looked up. When the bell rang twice, I saw them say goodbye and walk away from each other. In the darkness of the crowd, a glimmer flashed into my eyes from Hannah’s cheeks.
Whether it is because of the obligation, out of love, pity or kindness, Jane believes she visit Mrs. Reed and fulfill her last wishes. “Forgive me for my passionate language; I was a child then; eight, nine years have passed since that day.” (253) Putting the hardships behind her Jane gives her full apologies to Mrs.
All of a sudden, he was running for his life. At least, that’s what it had felt like to him. After all, lacrosse was his life. He was playing for his future tonight. The second the ball went into play, he felt the familiar and almost comforting rush of adrenaline seeping into his veins. He chased after the ball like it was the only thing in the world that mattered, and right then, it was. Scouts from three different National Lacrosse League teams were here tonight in this stadium, all watching this game. His game. Tonight was his best and maybe only chance to prove that he was worth something, that he was more than just a nobody with anger issues and an attitude problem.
Bissinger creates empathy in the reader by narrating the lives of once Permian heros. Charlie Billingsley, a Permian football player, “was somewhere at the top” while he was playing. It was hard for the football town of Odessa to forget “how that son of a bitch played the game in the late sixties”(80). While in Odessa, Permian players receive praise unmatched by even professional football. This unmatchable praise becomes something Permian players like Billingsley become accustomed to, and when he “found out that...you were a lot more expendable in college(80). This lack of appreciation that is equivalent to the one that they have received their whole life makes them go from “a hero one day to a broken down nobody the next”(81). With the realization of this reality, Billingsley becomes one of the many to spend life as a wastrel, living in his memory of playing for the Permian Panthers. The reader becomes empathetic towards how the once likely to succeed Billingsley, becomes another Odessan wastrel due to the over emphasis and extreme praise the Odessan football team receives. Bissinger does not stop with a classic riches to rags story to spur the reader’s empathy but talks about the effect the Odessan attitude toward football has on the health of its players. Just like in many parts of the world, in Odessa, sports equates to manliness and manliness equates to not showing signs of pain. Philip, an eighth grade boy aspiring to one day be a Permian Panther is lauded by his stepfather as he “broke his arm during the first demonstrative series of a game ...[but] managed to set it back in” and continued playing for the rest of the game. It is noted that Philip’s arm “swelled considerably, to the point the forearm pads...had to be cut off”(43). By adding details such as these, Bissinger
By displaying two types of coaches, Crutcher demands accountability from those responsible for leading sports teams. Coach Benson and Coach Roundtree are displayed negatively because their coaching styles are based on yelling and humiliation. Meanwhile, Coach Simet and Icko display compassion in their coaching. Simet repeats the sentiment “I’ve never coached a team like this before. There isn’t a kid out there who doesn’t deserve a letter” (211) several times over the course of Whale Talk. The Mermen aren’t the most competitively successful team, but that doesn’t matter to Simet. Contrarily, all Coach Benson seems to care about is competitive success and upholding the high standards of Cutter High School athletics through the symbol of the
“You’re very different.” He spoke in a quiet voice his face eye level with her waist. Her hair fluttered with her nodding head, her lips smashed together knowing she should protest or run or scream, but her body was frozen. The air around them felt very thick, like everything was in slow motion.
As we run towards the field, I can hear the echoes of the enormous crowd roaring down on the player’s entrance to the Texan’s Stadium. My team gallops behind me like wild horses that are ready for a stampede. I move them forward to reach their destination. Just as I reach the entrance into the dome, where the fog rises up to give that more dramatic feeling, I think back and wonder, “What got me here today?” “What made me who I am today?”
“Hi, Cee,” she mumbles, half smiling to herself for using his nickname. “I know you don’t want to hear or see me at all, but I have so much to say and even more questions to ask,” she speaks quietly, almost whispering. Chelsea nervously tucks a strand of
"Okay, everybody." It was obvious that the words leaving him had not been rehearsed and to James he appeared almost sickened by his own shaky voice. "You are all being sent home early. I'm afraid one of your classmates has met with a terrible accident... of some sort. Philip, has been taken to a nearby medical facility, where he has regrettably been pronounced dead, following an accident in the