Q4 Ind Reading Reflective Letter

What I am trying to do with this project is stress the fact that there should be NO deaths of teenage boys from playing football.  I identify the main issues with the present situation being the excessive overworking of young men who are not phsically or mentally ready to take on a challenge so immense.  Most of the pressure put on the players is coming from Coaches and parents, and overall communities surrounding the team.  Especially in the South where climates tend to creep up a little higher and football is not see as a game but rather as away of life, steps need to be taken to ensure player safety such as: severe penalties to players who target (head-to-head contact), limited practice hours in the summer and in full contact drills, and frequnt evaluations of players' health.  My golden thread that i incorporated was HEAT.  Literal heat, as in the 100 degree days that are causing 16 year old boys to collapse with heat stroke, and the heat or pressure that is put on these kids to perform.

Jack Blanchard

AP English, Period 6

Ms. Romano

May 16, 2014

Underneath The Texas Sun

In the last twenty years, the average number of high school football players who have died from heatstroke and head injuries have tripled, according to the LA Times. Although recent measures have been taken in an effort to decrease these numbers, there is no reason why that number cannot be 0. Many believe that football should be banned, that it is not worth the price paid by innocent teenagers. However, football offers many troubled youths an outlet, and a way to channel their emotions. There is a way to make football a safer sport, and it all starts with organizations such as the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) stepping up and creating strict regulations pertaining to practice time, full contact practices, and headwear. Recently, high school football has become an enemy to parents nationwide, causing them stress and worry. This can all be combated with more rules concerning player safety.

With recent advances in the medical aspect surrounding football, the short term and long term effects that football has on a body (especially a young body) are magnified. Because a teenage brain is still developing, even slight trauma can cause brain damage, among other injuries. This is technology that was not available while H.G. Bissinger covered the Permian High School football team during their 1988 season. Bissinger explains that practices for the Panthers were almost always full contact, meaning head to head hits were allowed. Regulations need to be put in place across the country to reduce the amount of full contact drills allowed in practice, given that many of the concussions sustained by footballs players occur during practice. All efforts to protect players need to be focused around reducing the probability that a player can get hurt, meaning less time outside in 100 degree heat means a smaller probability that a players suffers a heatstroke. In addition, the less time a player spends participating in full contact drills, they are less likely to suffer a concussion.

300,000 concussions. According to momsteam.com, high school athletes suffer 300,000 every year, with football contributing an unnecessarily high amount. With 90% of concussions resulting from player-to-player contact, steps need to be taken regarding the effectiveness of helmets, especially at schools who do not have sufficient funds to purchase helmets with state of the art technology. As Bissinger explains in his book Friday Night Lights, many of the area teams were forced to use sub-par equipment due to lack of resources available to the football team (funding was not an issue at schools like Permian). It is up to the state, and organizations such as the NFHS to ensure that bottom-tier schools have standard equipment and that their players are as safe as players from wealthier schools.

In addition to equipment and regulations regarding practice time, youth coaches need to do a better job of teaching players how to tackle correctly. many injuries occur when players attempt to hit with the “crown” of their helmet. Hitting with the “crown” implies that a hitters’ head is down and they cannot see what they are aiming for, as well as possible head, neck, and spinal cord injuries to the hitter because of improper technique. According to weather.com, football has a fatality rate of .81 individuals per 100,000 participants. With over a million high school football participants across the US, that is on average eight deaths a year. Eight deaths a year for young men playing a sport is unacceptable. Fans, coaches, and players worldwide need to realize that the consequences for winning may be more severe than they think.

Texas Sun

 

Light bent around the aluminum grandstands

as heat from the turf radiated upwards.

Ice crackles as it is poured into mountanous

coolers lining the field.

They are untouchable.

"You must earn your water gentleman"

He struggled beneath the weight

of the oven protecting his head.

The Texas Sun

has them right where she wants them

His knees quiver

he looks over at the coolers.

"RUN THE PLAY AGAIN"

sweat cascades down the side

of his sunburnt face.

He hears a ringing in his ears.

A whistle? Water breal?

"BACK ON THE LINE"

He can't feel his legs

Everthing is goes dark.

 

 

"GET UP SON!"

 

His body lay motionless on the blistering turf.

Squeezed dry like a sponge by

The Texas Sun

"SOMEBODY CALL AN AMBULANCE"

Too late.

 

 

 

 

Q4 Ind Reading Genres- Poem

His Last Breath

I'm tired Coach                                                                           I'm tired
                                                                                                      of your excuses son
My head hurts                                                                            My head hurts
                                                                                                      from all your complaining
I can't do this much longer                                                        I can't do this much longer
I want to win                                                                             I want to win
   but it's taking its toll on me
I can't                                                                                        I can't
                                                                                                     win a state championship
                                                                                                     with players like you
This is ridiculous                                                                      This is ridiculous
It's just a game                                                                          It's not just a game
                                                                                                     our town needs this
YOU need this
My head hurts
I can't do this much longer                                                       I can't do this much longer
I can't take the heat                                                                  If you can't take the heat
                                                                                                     I'll kick your ass off this team
My dad would
Kill me                                                                                     Kill you
Think about me for once                                                         Think about me for once
This is my life                                                                         This is my life
I'm scared
                                                                                                Man up
It's hot
                                                                                                Be tough
It't not fun anymore                                                                It's not fun anymore
to play the game I once loved                                                   to babysit kids like you
I'm done
I quit
This is bigger than you and me                                              This is bigger than you and me
My head hurts
                                                                                                Man up
It's just a game                                                                        It's not just a game

Q4 Ind Reading Genre- Book of Qualities

Pain is a bully. He’s one of those guys that will punch you for no better reason other than because it makes him feel better. He’s clever though, and understands the mental aspect of bullying as well. He gets inside your body, and pries at you from every angle.  he's unescapable.  But what sets Pain apart from other bullies is the fact that he doesn’t go easy on the younger guys, he actually enjoys making them suffer more than usual. Pain has only lost one fight in his whole entire life, to a guy from another town named Moderation. Now Moderation is an interesting guy, he’ll fight someone, but only when necessary. He knows when to be mean and when to be nice, when to hard and when to cool down. Just last year Moderation pushed a kid out of the way of a speeding car, saving his life. However, Moderation isn’t very welcome around these parts.  The locals say they don't need Moderation.  They see him as a nobody, too blinded by their individual needs to see how much positive impact some quality time with Moderation would do for them. 

Q4 Ind. Reading Genre- Obituary

David Patrick McInally passed away at approximately 2:17 PM on Tuesday August 11th, 2017 at Todd Hospital in Allen, Texas as a result of a heat stroke sustained at football practice. He was a Junior at Allen High School. David was born on August 12th, 1999. Son of James and Mary McInally and loving brother of Michael (15), Lucy (13), Kate (9), and George (5). David was an all-state linebacker and a volunteer at the local elementary school, he was committed to play football and study psychology at Stanford University. David enjoyed fishing and spent the majority of his free time in 100 degree heat at Lavon Lake fishing with his teammates or girlfriend. His service will take place at 1:00 PM on Saturday, September 5 at 2300 Odessa Road.

“Take it easy, be a sport. Just remember life is short”

Friday Night Lights #2 - Jack Blanchard

He was a senior in high school, it was the first round of the Arizona state football playoffs, and it was the last game Charles Youvella would ever play.  After catching a pass and receiving a blow to the back of his head, Youvella collapsed on the field.  Two days later he was pronounced dead in a nearby hospital (azfamily.com).  Tragedies such as this one are becoming all too common, especially in the United States, where student athletes are forced to their mental and physical limits in order to fulfill the massive demands placed upon them by their coaches, fans, and community.  In Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger, the stress of competing on a Texas high school football team is magnified.  Many student-athletes see their grades slip, relationships struggle, and bodies take enormous physical toll, all to win football games.

Over the past ten years, twenty-five high school football players have died as a result of injuries sustained on the football field (deadspin.com).  Some deaths are brain-related, others pulmonary, nevertheless steps need to be taken to extinguish these events.  What are the reasons for these sudden deaths?  Some of the culprits include: poor coaching, poor helmets, and overworking.  But Bissinger illuminates a new culprit that may be behind all of these attacks, pressure.  Many kids play football for the love of the game, others play for the glory or because their parents want them to.  However, no matter the reason for athletes' involvement in the game of football, pressure is what causes these injuries.  Student-athletes feel the need to succeed as a result of all the pressure and expectations put on themselves by parents, community, and most of all, themselves.  When a player is out on the field with a heightened amount of adrenaline and testosterone, it is a recipe for disaster.  They can easily injure themselves or others.  In Friday Night Lights, Bissinger shows how serious the external pressure on football players can be.  For example, one player was told by his father that if he fumbles the ball one more time he will be forced to sleep outside.  As a juvenile athlete, nothing is scarier that disappointment, it is what motivates many athletes to practice so hard and push themselves to their limits.  Many players don't want to be good for themselves, they want to be good so they can make their parents proud, and get all the girls, when in fact they may be hurting themselves.

So what can we do to help?  Relax, it is just a game.  No, in no way am I saying that we should stop playing football, that would be a crime.  But there are ways that we as a country can enjoy the game while protecting the lives of the players.  Too many bright young lives have been cut short because of a game.