Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
how sport influences society
how sport influences society
Sports influence on society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: how sport influences society
You Think you Know Bo, but you don't Know... Bo
Bo knows what it is like to be called one of the greatest athletes of all time. Vincent “Bo” Jackson had to overcome a lot as a child, he was the eighth of ten children that his mom took care of. His family was very poor, and not knowing his father very well did not help the cause. Jackson overcame poverty by working hard, excelling at multiple sports, and staying out of trouble.
Jackson worked extremely hard to get to his current position in life. He practiced non stop it seemed like. In high school, college, and throughout the pros, Jackson worked to get better at baseball, football, and track. He was able to work hard and become a star at all three. It helped that Jackson loved to be around the games, as a kid he and other neighborhood kids would play “stickball”, a form a baseball using a tree branch and a beat up tennis ball. As a teenager he would be working out or practicing constantly at his high school trying to get better (Jackson and Schaap 43).
Not only did Jackson work hard, he had great work ethic throughout his career. He was the kind of ballplayer who was the first one to the field, even before the coaches, and the last one to leave the field. Jackson was born with great athletic ability, but that can only go so far for an athlete. Jackson got the rest of his ability from his great work ethic. Every homerun, and touchdown he got, and every track race he won was earned through his work and dedication toward the game. He was not the great athlete who could just show up and score two touchdowns or hit a homerun (Jackson and Schaap 50). Jackson's coaches saw how hard he worked and the greatness he possessed because of it, and they knew he could make it far in the sp...
... middle of paper ...
...alf seconds. If Jackson did not change his view of life, work hard at everything he did, and excel at sports, who knows where he would be today. He could be sitting in a jail cell because he never changed his ways and lost his temper, or he could still be living in a small house in a small town. Jackson decided that he did not want to do that, and that he wanted his family to be free from a live full of poverty.
Works Cited
Benson, Alvin K. “Bo Jackson.” The Eighties in America. Ed. Berman Milton. 3 vols. Salem Press, 2008. Salem History.
Jackson, Bo and Dick Schaap. Bo Knows Bo: The Autobiography of a Ballplayer. New York: Doubleday, 1990. Print
“Jackson, Bo.” World Book Advanced. World Book, 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Ozanian, Mike. “Bo Jackson, Entrepreneur.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 1 Feb.14.Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Joseph Jefferson Jackson was born sixteen July 1887 in Pickens South Carolina. Growing up in a southern mill town; Jackson, like many of this era, forgone education to work in the mills. At the age of six years old he was working twelve hour shifts in the mills to help his family out. Life in the mills were tough; many of the other employees would end up losing limbs, or even their lives to the heavy unguarded machinery. Jackson brother Davey was maimed for life from and accident in the mill. During a measles outbreak at age ten, Jackson became very ill and nearly lost his life. He was in bed for two months, paralyzed while he was nursed back to health by his mother. At the age of thirteen Joe Jackson mother was asked if he could play for the mills baseball team. Playing for the team mean Jackson would get lighter duties in the mill and time off to practice with the team. It also came with the pay of two dollars and fifty cent for every game he played. Jackson who was originally slotted a...
The concept of a two-sport or multi-sport athlete enormously filters the list of great athletes throughout history and, if used as a measuring rod, leaves us with the best of all time: Bo Jackson. “Bo Jackson is not known in Spain, despite starring in Bo Knows Nike brand campaign that remains today, the most successful of the multinational” (Williams). “In these famous ads, which have Jackson first playing football and baseball, two sports that are professional, he then tries his luck at basketball with Michael Jordan, tennis with John McEnroe, ice hockey with Wayne Gretzky and track and field with Sea and Decker” (Williams). The first ad was so successful that Nike decided to produce more ads featuring Bo Jackson as the “all-star athlete”. These new ads featured him playing and participating in cycling, football with Welshman Ian Rush, who are professional athletes, cricket, surfing, weightlifting, and horse riding. Nike used Bo Jackson’s athletic abilities to form a gold mine “The first athlete in history to be selected as an All Star in two different sports” (Askew). Bo Jackson’s work as America’s greatest athlete of all time shows him to be a representative of American culture because he changed both the American past times of baseball and football, he helps Alabamians with fundraisers that benefit tornado victims, he represents American strength along with persistence, and he set a new height to sports that still haven’t been achieved today by any other athlete. According to Martin:
Although Jackie Robinson was not the best African-American baseball player of his time, his attitude and ability to handle racist harassment led the way for the rest of his race to play Major League Baseball, amongst other sports. Being accepted into professional sports also helped African-Americans become more easily accepted into other aspects of life. Jackie's impact in the world for the black population is enormous.
Jackson was a self-centered, violent, and ruthless man who paid no attention to what was morally correct, only what he believed in. This man was a notorious gambler who was known to fight at the drop of a hat, and then drop the hat himself! And because he shut down the Central Bank, we entered into the Panic of 1837. Ironically, the same man who opposed paper money ended up on the 20-dollar bill! He completely ignored the Constitution, and the Supreme court on many occasions. And when he was elected into office, he replaced many smart able-bodied officials for unintelligent Jacksonian supporters. This was the kind of man that Jackson was. A man who made more than 4,000 Native Americans die on the Trail of Tears. Jackson was just an unintelligent common-man who managed to win the Presidency. And with it, he brought damage and death to many other people through his
Growing up on the North/South Carolina border, Jackson’s exact state of birth is debatable. Unlike most historians, Jacksons ascertained that he was from South Carolina. Wherever he actually grew up, it is unequivocal that it was a truculent and violent place to be raised. During his childhood, Jackson became accustomed to the social imperatives of the land; hard work, and military spirit. Specifically, in his hometown, one used “[their ]military spirit to defend yourself, and [their] hands to pull something out of the soil”. Here, Meachem believes the constant exhaustion and threat of violence was “one of the many reasons Jackson became a man who was so prone to violence. He grew up with it, he didn’t know anything else”.
Jackie Robinson grew up with sports all around him. Jackie’s older brother Matthew was an Olympic sprinter in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin; he came in second in the 200 meter dash behind Jesse Owens. “Matthew inspired Jackie to pursue his talent and love for athletics (Robinson)”. Jackie continued his love for sports at the University of California, Los Angeles. Robinson became the university’s first four sport letterman. He excelled in track, baseball, football and basketball. If it was not for his brother Robinson might not have continued his love for sports, thus never playing in the major leagues and the integration of the United States might have taken longer. He was easi...
He played baseball, football, and ran track. He was highly recruited out of high school because of his ridiculous athletic ability at such an early age. He was recruited by the New York Yankees out of high school but, he ended turning them down to go play football and baseball at the University of Auburn. He was very successful at Auburn, leading his baseball team to victories, leading his football team to a Sugar Bowl victory and being named MVP, and also qualifying for the men’s US Olympic track and field team. By the time Jackson graduated Auburn University he owned almost every single Auburn rushing record. Most of Jackson’s records still stand today as the best all time at Auburn. He is the all time leading rusher, he has the highest yards per carry, and he owns the record for most yards per game. He is also second all time in touchdowns scored, only behind Cadillac Williams. There is no doubt that he is the best Auburn running back ever. Just look a the statistics. He was virtually unstoppable as he lead his team to a Sugar Bowl victory. To top it all off he also won the Heisman Trophy, which goes to the most outstanding college football player in the United
Jesse Jackson had a hard but ultimately successful early life. He was born on October 8, 1941 to Helen Burns and her married neighbor, Noah Robinson. Jesse was taunted as a child for being "a nobody who had no daddy” (notablebiographies.com). While Jesse was originally named Jesse Louis Burns, at age fifteen he took on the name of his stepfather, Charles Jackson, who had adopted him earlier. Jesse attended Sterling High School in South Carolina, where he “was elected president of his class, the honor society, and the student council, was named state officer of the Future Teachers of America, finished tenth in his class, and lettered in football, basketball, and baseball (Ryan, encyclopedia.com). Jesse’s athletic success in high school earned him a football scholarship to the University of Illinois, which he left South Carolina to attend in 1959. Then, during his freshmen year there, Jesse became displeased with football and the way he was treated on campus, and transferred to the “predominantly black Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina in Greensboro and received a B.A. in sociology in 1964” (Ency...
Jesse Owens, also known as “The Buckeye Bullet,” was known for being one of the greatest track and field, African American runners in the 20th century. Jesse was sick a lot when he was a child, but he still had to work to help his family. When Jesse was 9 years old, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio and found out there was a difference between how he was being treated in Ohio and how he was treated where he lived down south. Jesse attended the Ohio State University and went on to break many
Whenever someone talks about Jackson's ability they say, “It’s like Bo was touched by God”(ESPN). This made it seem like he could do anything, and he could. He could hunt, play baseball, football, and run faster than anyone. This made him seem supernatural. Nike asked Bo Jackson to be their company’s next campaign. The campaign launched that “Bo Knows..” about any skill there is out there. Which seems extremely crazy, but they do consider him inhumane. When Jackson picked up the sport of baseball at the pro level, people saw Bo as a major league player on a little league field, he was that good. In a past baseball game, Bo also caught a ball and referred him to Superman, as he flew to catch it. As he kept getting older Bo Jackson’s ability to do anything just continued to grow, making him seem
It is evident that Jesse Owens proved to the world what no one at the time believed could be achieved. At a time when Blacks were not equal, there was no appreciation possible in the eyes of the Americans until the civil rights movement following after the cold war. Jesse Owens dealt with much more than any African American could ever imagine. Regardless of his immense achievements, Owens did not receive recognition for such important winnings until several years after the 1936 Olympics. Despite the hate that Owens received, he was able to surpass such negativity by being involved in other organizations and through this, Owens was victorious not only on the track but also as normal human being.
Athletes come and go, but there are a great few that are remembered for having made a bigger impact than normal on the sporting world. A few of those athletes names are Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, and Bo Jackson. Many people don’t know very much about Bo. This is because he wasn’t playing for very long. Although his career came to an abrupt end, Bo Jackson is still considered one of the best athletes ever because of the impact he was able to make while he was healthy. Knowing what he accomplished in his short time in professional sports makes many wonder, what more could he have done?
First, he became the first artist to have obtained a total of eight Grammys at one night during the twenty-sixth Annual Grammy Awards, (Grammys). The thing that is remarkable about this is it very hard just receive one Grammy, but to receive eight you need to be someone very special. Not only did he receive eight Grammys on one night he was also, one out of fifteen individuals to have received the, "prestigious Grammy Legend Award.", (Grammys). Since there was only a total of fifteen awards overall that means only fifteen of the most special or best singers can have received that award, and basically that can be used to conclude that Jackson was one of the most
Owens attended Ohio State University after graduating from high school and managed to balance between jobs. Having many responsibilities, Owens made time in his busy schedule for track. While attending Ohio State, Owens experienced many racial hardships because he was an African American. These circumstances “only served to motivate Owens even more” (“Jesse Owens” UXL 1)
Michael was pretty much a Tiger, just playing a different sport. The thing about Michael is unique though, he wasn’t always a guy who could run circles around everybody, in fact Michael was cut from his high school varsity team. The thing different about Michael though from other people is he was so determined the next year in high school to blow everyone away, he did so much work that the next year he was the best on the team. Then, Michael went to college just one year before he entered the NBA draft. He was selected by the Bulls and he went through his NBA career dominating, because he just had the will and determination that he wanted to beat everyone on the court that he put tons and tons of work