Connie Sallquist is a quick-witted, ornery, seventy-eight year old woman who grew up on a small farm outside of Volga, South Dakota. While attending a small kindergarten through twelfth grade school house for education, Connie picked up the habit of smoking at the age of fifteen. Sports consume her life. Her eldest daughter was a cheerleader for South Dakota State University. She spent years watching her daughter play basketball in high school and at Vanderbilt University. Now she attends her granddaughters’ volleyball and basketball games on a regular basis or watches them online. Her down time is spent watching college basketball, Nascar,, baseball, and even golf. “My favorite athlete was Jeff Gordon, but since he retired I switch to Jordan …show more content…
Her particularly favorite sport was basketball. She remembers, “We don’t play like you do now. It was three on three. You either played offense or defense. I was defense. I was good, very scrappy,” Connie describes. Now-a-days she enjoys yelling at referees from the stands and giving her two cents on coaches. She has even gotten in a few fights with opposing teams’ parents in the stands. Even with her quirks, Connie Sallquist may seem like an average midwestern, sports-loving woman, but she is far from it. Facing odds that no one thought she could defeat, she proceeded to prove everyone wrong. And unlike most patients, Connie was able to walk out of hospice alive and healthy. She is a true miracle. While her life may not be back to the normal it was a year and a half ago, she’s aspired to a living condition that didn’t seem possible. Connie is loved by everyone she meets. All of her granddaughters friends refer to her as grandma. “Everyone calls me Grandma Connie. I’m everyone’s grandma,” Connie explains. Last year when her granddaughter’s volleyball team found out about Connie’s condition, the entire team donated money towards a bouquet a flowers and a card to send to Connie’s room. A few weeks later, Connie was able to attend her first volleyball game of the season. After the game, every player on the volleyball team came up and talked to her. She knew each and everyone of them, but each of them knew …show more content…
This is an infection rooted from the same virus that causes cold sores from within the body. Herpes encephalitis is a brain infection caused by the immune system that basically eats away at a portion of the brain. It is usually found in cases involving young infants. the symptoms include fever, headache, seizures, focal weakness, and on rare occasions memory loss. If caught in time, this infection is curable. The doctors thought that they had caught her infection in time, but things seemed spiral downwards after she was diagnosed. After the hallucinations, Connie began to forget crucial pieces of information. She still believed she was living on her farm in Volga. She couldn’t identify one of her granddaughter who had come to see her. Some days she didn't have the ability to speak. Soon another symptom of the infection arose. Connie would receive seizures. After a week in the hospital receiving treatment and medication, nothing seemed to be working. Connie could barely wake up for more than a few minutes at time and when she did those moments were filled with confusion and drowsiness. After much deliberation, her family decided to transport her to hospice. Once moved to hospice, Connie stopped receiving medication for her infection. She was taken off of her food tube and was left to feed herself if and when possible. Many people came to visit her to say their goodbyes. Friends she hadn’t
Blood pressure rising and testosterone dropping are good symptoms (that is, to someone who is a sports enthusiast); nail biting, heart pounding, and barn burning games are bread and butter to sports enthusiasts such as me. Rivalry, unity, and relaxation help me bond with other individuals who share a common interest as I do. Within the article “Are Sports Fans Happier?”, author Sid Kirchheimer gives his bias reasoning over sports and its social, health, and psychological effects on sports enthusiasts, which elaborates and aligns concisely to why I passionately enjoy lacrosse and soccer. Fundamentally speaking, sports initially bequeath an array of positive benefits besides good health and mental stability; sports allow individuals to indulge
Joes High School’s total enrollment consisted of sixteen girls, and twenty boys. Ten of the boys that had enrolled there played basketball. All of the boys were over six feet tall. Lane Sullivan, the new coach of the basketball team, had never even touched a basketball before he started coaching. Sullivan had never coached anything at all before he started coaching the Joes basketball team. In order to gain knowledge about the sport, he got a book about it. He started coaching in 1927, but before the 1928 basketball season, Joes High School didn’t even have a gym. Instead, they’d practice outside on a dirt court, and two times a week they’d take a bus to the nearest gym, which was ten miles away. In order to play home games, the boys had to play in the local dance hall. The “court” was nowhere near regulation size, and the ceiling was so short that the boys couldn’t shoot an arched shot. The people who attended these basketball games had no place to sit and watch the game, the all stood around the edges of the court and on the small stage. Joes High School finally got their own gym around Christmas time because the people of Joes donated their time and material in order to make it happen.
In David Foster Wallace’s essay, “How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart,” he argues that the true talent of star athletes is to completely engross themselves in playing the game. While worshipping the “abstractions like power and grace and control” of Tracy Austin, he notes the contradicting quality, her inability to articulate such abstracts (143). He continues by writing, as people’s expectation while reading the autobiography of a successful athlete is to take a peek at the secrets of their god given gifts, whereas the expectations are rarely met, making spectators, such as himself, disappointed. As a matter of fact, Wallace suspects that the exceptional talent of athletes may be brought out by their apathetic and ignorant nature when it
In this statement "Where Girls Are Missing Out on High-School Sports", Alia Wong, writer and editor from Boston, suggests that women don't participate in as many sports because they are not given the opportunity and because of discrimination of race. She supports this claim by first providing evidence about women not getting the opportunity or is discriminated because of race. Then, she provides information about the number of women who play sports and gets scholarships for sports compared to men. Wong's purpose is to have people recognize that women are missing out on sports because of gender inequality in order to impact the lives of her readers and to make a difference with gender equality in sports. She establishes an inspiring tone for
Basketball is a chart-topping sport that is loved by many fans. It’s been a hit since 1891 when it began, starting in Springfield, Massachusetts. It grew rapidly in popularity and spread around the world. Many people found it comforting to play, such as Pat Conroy. Pat Conroy was an outstanding basketball player, who was committed in going far with his teammates. Although he seemed superb, he had a troubled life growing up at his family home. His parents were abusive and uncaring towards him, therefore he used basketball as an alternative. In My Losing Season, Pat was able to obliterate the thought of his abusive parents. His comfort was playing basketball with a team he will never fail to remember. The outcomes Pat acquired were admirable,
Rick Reilly, in his ESPN column (2007), contends that sports competitions are more than simple games, instead, they are events capable of bringing people together in unique ways. He reinforces his contention by integrating inspirational anecdotal evidence, bold syntax, and unvarnished diction. Reilly’s purpose is to point out the importance and humanity of sports in order to convince a college professor and readers of sports magazines that sports writing is indeed an advanced and valuable profession. He assumes a humorous tone (“...most important- sports is the place where beer tastes best”) for an audience of sports magazine readers, but more specifically, a professor that told him that he was “better than sports.”
On an excruciatingly hot summer day of 2016, my softball team was headed to the “Willoughby Starzz Tournament” Championship game. The day had consisted of three prior games, which included a semi-final game which Kendall did not play in. While walking out of the dugout our team felt the tension and could see Kendall’s mom, Kathy, jump up to confront our coach. Quickly, she got up in his face and started yelling. Trying to calm her down, Coach Mike Starkey said, “can we please discuss this calmly after our game?” However, Kathy had her own plan in mind. She followed him to the next field yelling and screaming about how her daughter deserved to play. At this point, our coach became angry and told her that she was wrong for yelling at him like
Amelia, another protagonist, is an athlete who plays soccer every fall. The rest of the year, she satisfies her desire to exercise by running and lifting weights. As Kristi's best friend, she knows that Kristi is suffering and wants to help. She has a disposition that is markedly different from that of Kristi: she is not afraid to yell at friends w...
In sports, there is no shortage of black success stories. Meanwhile, two black men of prominence in Odessa (who are not athletes) fell from grace. Willie Hammond Jr. (the first black city councilor and county commissioner) and Laurence Hurd (a minister and desegregation supporter) were glimmers of hope for the black community that were both snuffed out. Hammond was arrested on charges of arson conspiracy and perjury and Hurd is in prison for burglary and robbery, leaving a hole in the morale of the black community that was not repaired. These losses, combined the with negative news of black people circulated via media, made the possibility of succeeding in a white man’s world inconceivable. Yet, there is no shortage of black success stories in sports, like Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson; in every area that is not a “rich man’s sport”, black athletes dominate. To the poor children on the Southside, there is something very alluring about the “Cinderella stories” of men from poor black neighborhoods rising to prominence through sports. Based on these examples, there seem to only be two paths for a black teen to take: criminal or athlete. Many of these teens aspire to be sports stars and depend on nothing else because there is nothing else. Some may become the superstars they hope to be or they fall into ruin as Boobie Miles, Derric Evans, and Gary Edwards
...ennis, basketball, soccer, and martial arts—have come from the days of cheerleading and synchronized swimming when she was growing up in the ’70s.” Disparities in media coverage and over-sexualized female athletes on magazine covers is something that needs to come to an end because of its effects on both male and female viewers, young and old, athletes and non-athletes. Both female and male athletics influence young people and shape their personality and morals as they mature. Retired WNBA player, Lisa Leslie credits her participation in basketball with shaping her character, as well as her career. “Sports can also help teenagers during an awkward time in their development.” (“Women’s Athletics: A Battle For Respect”). The solution is to come together as a society and identify how to balance the respect for female and male athletes in the media.
Gatz, Margaret, Michael A. Messner, and Sandra Rokeach. Paradoxes of youth and sport. Albany: State University of New York, 2002.. 12-13.
mother had died of ‘Inflammation of the Brain’– perhaps meningitis or a stroke – at the age of
High school athletics leave a major impact on everybody that is involved with them. It also can even leave a mark on people who aren’t associated with them. There are many conflicting opinions on whether high school sports are a positive or negative influence on a student’s life. Athletics in high school can have an effect on the community as a whole. In H.G. Bisssinger’s highly regarded Friday Night Lights, high school football is accurately portrayed as the most important thing in Texas; it receives much more attention than academics. Football players are often treated like celebrities; yielding confidence, and at the same time creating pressure.
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.
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.