Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Design

Our discussion showed me that the possibilities for our project are endless. I've been having a hard time trying to decide how I should go about presenting my idea and after talking to a couple people I think I got a pretty good idea of what to do. I'm planning on bringing in a couple pieces of physical therapy equipment and just giving a run down on what they do, how the design is effective for that purpose, and how it is used.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Resource of the day: What to look for in sprinter spikes

For the last 8 years I've been running track and field as a sprinter and occasionally a jumper. One of the most important aspects of equipment in track is your running spikes. So as a sprinter, I look for certain qualities in each spike because it's important to make sure what ever you're wearing is best suited for you when in a full sprint. There are many different designs and shapes of track spikes that are for different event types, foot shapes, etc. Sprinter spikes all have a very curved plastic plate on the bottom with removable metal spikes that force the sprinter to run on there toes. In the years I've done track I've found Adidas and Asics to be the best fitting brands for me but there are other brands out there like Nike and Puma that have different designs. They are wider fits for me and have some of the lightest spikes out there. In my opinion, the Adidas Sprintstar 4's and the Asics Japan lite-ning 4's are among the best track spikes you can possibly get due to the amazing quality you get for such a low price. If you are new to buying tack spikes here's a good link to get you started on what to look for.

http://www.holabirdsports.com/blog/what-to-look-for-in-track-spikes-field-shoes/

LAQ: The Blindside: Evolution of a Gameby Michael Lewis

1) This story is a true story about an African American teenager named Michael Oher. He struggled in everything in life from his family situation to school. He was finally taken in by a man in the community that saw his athletic ability. After being placed in high school and being taken in by a white family, he began playing football and was quickly noticed by everyone around the country. The story shows that anyone can become successful with support from others.

2) This story was written by Lewis in different ways. Part of it was to tell the amazing story of a teen that was saved by the community, other parts questions if this chance would have happened if Michael wasn't as athletically gifted, and how the way Oher played the offensive line revolutionized the game of football that would later be know as protecting the quarterback's "blindside".

3) Once again, this is another novel that has been produced as a movie as well as a novel. I'm into the sports novels because they are much more appealing to me than anything else and watching the movie made me want to read the book as well. What's appealing is that in a way, it relates to our course. These people saw potential and gave Oher the chance to make something for himself and mentored him along the way.

4) I find this book realistic because you heard of things like this happening all the time where there's a kid that has a hard life but is very talented and all they need is for someone to come help them. I know of two situations where this is true and the kids are very talented athletes and have people helping them out and watching out for them. One of them is someone I watch out for because it became more of a brotherly thing that developed when we became teammates.


1) In this case, it is true that the author does make the characters as he believes fit when he observes the story. Because it wasn't a first had account and if it wasn't first had, that's how stories normally get there own twists to them. What you really do pull from this is the question of what happens for kids like Michael is really fare. It's more in the fact of will people give this chance to someone who isn't gifted in someway? Because the stories of these kids getting support usually happen when people see that they are gifted in some way.

2) There's the main protagonist, Michael Oher, who is considered to be a freak of nature. He is a giant compared to everyone else and is partly the main reason he was noticed for the potential he could become. Coming from a hard life, he doesn't really know much about life other than what he has learned from living on the streets.
Then there's Oher's adoptive mom Leigh Anne Tuohy. She has two children and her family is wealthy. She invests a lot of time into Michael to help him realize his potential. She supports Michael as her own but doesn't just hand things over to help him realize that you need to work for success.

3) Like I said before, the story reminds me of our course we take now. People assume the worst about people and don't give chances because of this. Although everyone saw Michael's potential in football because of his size, people looked past him because he was a homeless African American teen that teachers thought couldn't be taught. It wasn't till one of his teachers realized that Michael learn much better verbally than written. It just goes to show to reach people, there's always a different way to go about it and not to judge people by appearances or stereotypes.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

S'wonderful

Well it may sound stupid but the powder puff game is next week and we are so excited for it. Me am other friends from the football team are coaching again and we get really competitive and serious. It's so much fun to just step back from being a player to actually trying to teach someone what to do because you can see the best of both worlds. The coaches and players are having a great time and we plan on beating the juniors pretty badly next Friday night.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Resource of the day: When should you stretch?

So we've all heard that stretching is very important to do before any physical activity to avoid injury, but have you ever felt that stretching doesn't help right away? I've noticed that doing a bike ride or jogging for a little it gets me limber and afterwards, I feel like the stretching I do actually helps me. All people are different so find out what works best for you. Hears a source on when the best time is to stretch.

http://www.fitnessforlife.org/updates/updates/when-is-the-best-time-to-do-stretching-exercises-to-improve-flexibility

Preview of Upcoming Attractions

Well after talking with students in my class, I heard a wide variety on how to present our projects. Each idea works with some but not with everyones. Like hearing people say they would do a photo album or presentation seemed cool for them but I'm not sure thats best for my project.