For Monday, read the profile of LeBron James. Find one part of the article to match each of the three elements of a profile. Then, find 5-7 facts you have learned LeBron in this article.
Happy Thanksgiving!
-Mr. Donohue
Keys for a Sports Profile:
*A mix of current news and personal history.
*Quotes from others and the subject of the profile.
*Explain why the subject of story is unique.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL; Manchild Approaches The Promised Land
By MIKE WISE
On the lacquered wooden bleachers of the St. Vincent-St. Mary High School gymnasium, they all took their places. Gloria James, the mother. Eddie Jackson, the surrogate father. Good friends, family. Unpaid advisers. Even the old-school loner, the man who taught him to use his left hand in the backyard.
All the guardians of LeBron James's fading youth were out in force, watching the prodigy hold court.
James made fallaway 3-pointers from 25 feet and beyond, seven in a row during a taut scrimmage at the end of varsity basketball practice. He made the ball disappear in the crevices of the lane and then reappear in his teammates' hands. James, the nation's most celebrated high school basketball player, kept passing and shooting.
All net, all afternoon.
Watching James play basketball in high school may be akin to watching Bobby Fischer play checkers in the cafeteria at lunchtime or Dizzy Gillespie marching with the school band at halftime. Something seems terribly out of place.
Judging his readiness for the National Basketball Association is impossible. But Michael Jordan invited him to play several times when Jordan was preparing his most recent comeback last year, and James was invited to practice with the Cleveland Cavaliers (whose coach, John Lucas, was later fined for including an under-age player in an N.B.A. workout).
James, a 17-year-old high school senior, will be on his way to a man's world in no time, if he is not there already. Before the leap, though, the people who know him well make sure to gather round, to keep the outsiders away and themselves in, a protective shell around a gifted child.
''It's like when you take a piece of gold and you let all these people touch it and feel it, it loses its glare,'' said Maverick Carter, James's friend and former teammate. ''You got a piece of gold, you stand around it and don't let no one touch it. That's his circle.''
There is gold in LeBron James, millions in his jump shot and his peripheral vision. Next June, N.B.A. Commissioner David Stern is expected to introduce James as the No. 1 pick in the league's 2003 draft.
Several N.B.A. executives believe the lottery winner will inherit in James the scoring savvy of Kobe Bryant, the shooting stroke of Ray Allen and the court sense of a young Magic Johnson, compressed into a muscular, 6-foot-8, 240-pound frame.
But that is still seven months away. Today, as the most heralded schoolboy ever, James is simply America's largest wishbone, being pulled every which way.
Nike and Adidas tug hard, hoping James can swing the sneaker war in their favor. The news media want his time. Time Warner, too; for about $8 a household, the local cable affiliate will broadcast some of his games to 14 counties in northeastern Ohio. The demand for his talent is so great his team did not play in its own gym the past two seasons. St. Vincent-St. Mary's games were moved to a 6,000-seat arena at the University of Akron, where James outdraws the college team.
Big man on campus is putting it mildly. His high school had to put out a message in the school paper last month, asking students to refrain from asking for autographs or pictures during school hours.
''So much for most likely to succeed,'' Patrick Vassel, 17, the senior class vice president, said as he stood outside the St. Vincent-St. Mary gym. ''I'm not going to get $10 million next year. I'm not going to be the No. 1 pick in the draft. So I'm not going to vote for myself. I think LeBron is a shoo-in.''
All-Stars like Bryant and Kevin Garnett did not garner this kind of attention when they made the jump from high school to the N.B.A. in the mid-1990's. But the frenzy over James just keeps growing. He will play in three of America's most storied college basketball arenas this season: the Palestra in Philadelphia, U.C.L.A.'s Pauley Pavilion and the Dean E. Smith Center at the University of North Carolina.
ESPN2 will televise a game between St. Vincent-St. Mary and Oak Hill Academy of Virginia on Dec. 12. Bill Walton and Dick Vitale will call the game. A Web site is selling four of James's game tapes from last season for $49.99. David Letterman's producers have already called James's high school, asking when he can come on their show.
James's coach, Dru Joyce II, has an imposing task, trying to help a teenager trapped in a man's body negotiate the fine line between boredom and demolishing an overmatched, 5-foot-10 opponent's confidence. After all, there is still another Ohio state title to pursue.
''Bron is such a great talent, it's hard to keep him motivated,'' Joyce said. ''What we're trying to do is make him understand: all you got is right now. Let's take care of this moment. All of that other stuff will be there.''
The Extended Family
James spent his first years with his mother in an area of north Akron called the Boondocks, in the house in which Gloria James was raised by her mother and grandmother. ''We had what we needed and sometimes what we wanted,'' she said. ''Mad love, we had a lot of that.''
Her grandmother died in 1986, her mother in 1987. The house was eventually condemned and torn down by the city, and now there is only an empty lot where it stood.
Gloria James gave birth to LeBron when she was 16. She was on her own at 19. She declined to talk about LeBron's biological father, with whom he has never had a relationship.
Gloria began dating Eddie Jackson when LeBron was 8 months old. They went out for three years and remained friends. Jackson stayed involved in the child's life and says he has not missed a single game since LeBron was in seventh grade.
''Eddie is his dad,'' Gloria said. ''Always has been. He's been a great father and a great friend to me. LeBron loves him and trusts him.''
Gloria worked in accounting and retail jobs, but she said she could not save enough money to rent an apartment or move into a house. ''We moved from here to there after the house was torn down,'' she said. ''Finally, after a few years, I did get an apartment in public housing in north Akron. We did some more moving. It took me awhile to get stable.''
For nearly two years, while Gloria went through personal crises, LeBron lived with a youth coach and family friend, Frankie Walker, his wife, Pam, and their family. James remains close with the Walkers.
''He was better than the rest of the kids,'' said Walker, who showed James how to shoot with his left hand when he was 8 years old. ''But I never let him know that. I taught him how to share the ball, not be selfish.''
Gloria James said she always took care of her son financially. ''I gave him money, food stamps,'' she said. ''I did receive a couple years of welfare. I'm not afraid to say the assistance helped us survive. But wherever LeBron was, nobody had to pay his way.''
Jackson, who is a concert promoter and a real estate broker, pleaded guilty in August to state charges of mortgage fraud and is expected to be sentenced to three years in prison. Jackson also faces federal charges of bank fraud and mail fraud; federal prosecutors have accused him of stealing two checks worth $197,000 and of using fraudulent documents to obtain $100,000 in home loans.
Jackson, who served 26 months in prison in the early 1990's on a drug trafficking conviction, has worked with several social-service programs, including one that offers defendants drug treatment in lieu of prison.
''You do something in 1990 and now this thing, and it's like I haven't been doing anything good in LeBron's life the last 12 years,'' Jackson said. ''I made mistakes, but now everybody is saying Eddie Jackson shouldn't be around LeBron. I've done right by him, tried to have the best influence on him I can.''
James and his mother still live in subsidized housing, on a hill in west Akron. ''I think this game is what's kept me out of trouble,'' James said. ''Basketball has kept me off the streets. I was very close to that.''
He is guarded around reporters he does not know well. Like another basketball prodigy at a young age, Shaquille O'Neal, he speaks in concise sentences.
''I take it day by day,'' James said. ''I might not even wake up tomorrow, you know. I can't take things for granted. I have to take it second by second and live out these years I've got right now that God has given me.''
The Right Time and Place
On a gray, chilly Saturday, James's high school team drives to a suburban high school for the season's first scrimmage, a four-team round robin.
St. Vincent-St. Mary dominates the action against the host school, Stow High. In the traditional handshaking line afterward, James barely acknowledges the kids that his team has just drummed, slapping their hands nonchalantly, but not looking at any of the other players in the eye.
Several minutes into the second scrimmage in an auxiliary gym, James takes two hard dribbles to the basket from the right wing and rises, also elevating his hands. As he slams the ball through the rim, the old metal fixture gives way and a loud pop pierces the gymnasium. The bolts come free from the backboard and the apparatus crashes down.
James has broken his first rim.
After a few moments of concern over whether James is all right -- he has bruised his neck -- a playful exchange ensues. Jackson picks up the rim. ''Who wants this rim?'' he asks. ''Can we have it? This is going in the trophy case.'' No deal, the school's athletic director said.
It was Chris Dennis, a family friend, who helped create this ruckus nearly three years ago. He walked into a hotel room in Indianapolis during the N.C.A.A. men's Final Four with a videotape and a short LeBron James biography that he had put together.
The tape -- grainy, black-and-white footage -- was of a regional playoff game from James's freshman year. Sonny Vaccaro, an Adidas basketball representative, was in the room, as were others connected with Adidas. Dennis was fortunate enough to have a decent audience that day.
''There were probably three, four coaches from top-25 schools,'' he said. ''I didn't give an introduction or anything. I just put the tape in. They were glued to the TV.''
Left-handed scoop shots, no-look passes in the open floor and, what caught most people's attention, composure.
''He was a freshman at the time, but he was so poised,'' Dennis said. ''He was looking at the referee, making sure he didn't get a five-second count. He looked at the clock to find out how much time was left. What 14-year-old does that?''
James showed up at Vaccaro's ABCD Camp in the summer of 2001 and secured his status as the best young player in the country. In time, Jordan would inquire about James's mother and O'Neal would attend one of James's games. The sneaker companies would begin their bidding war, and his name and likeness would become a commodity on the Internet.
Dennis tried to sum up the fuss by saying, ''The school, Sonny, Adidas, Nike, the coach, everyone -- eventually they all bow down to King James.''
The Plan for the Young Man
James has already honed the professional athlete's habit of referring to himself in the third person.
''These people around here respect my image, they respect LeBron James and our basketball team to a level that we don't have to be big-headed,'' he said after a recent practice.
Of the people in his life looking out for him, he said: ''Of course, every time you've got a positive background behind you and people that's just for LeBron, the person, instead of just LeBron, the basketball player, you know it's good to have a good trust and a good circle around you.''
He loves his mother and the game, in that order. ''Anything that's good and great, you could put my mother in that category,'' he said.
His coach worries that the adjustment to the N.B.A. is going to be tougher than people are telling James. ''What he needs to understand is, he's going to be playing against grown men,'' Joyce said. ''I just don't need more people coming around here and telling him how great he is. It's gotten out of control.''
Gloria James has a related set of concerns about her son. ''I didn't want someone ruining his life at a young age,'' she said. ''I remind him that there are those who will take advantage of his position. There are a lot of females who would love to hem him up with a baby. So, 'Just protect yourself; be smart,' I always tell him.''
Jackson, his surrogate father, noted that James's talent has produced major revenue for his school; if 4,000 people attend 10 home games, and the average ticket costs $10, he said, that comes to about $400,000 a season.
''Now, what's that over his high school career?'' Jackson said. ''I'm not against it, but let's just be straight up about it, O.K.?''
Jackson said he opposed the high school's agreement to broadcast some games on a pay-per-view basis. ''Donate that money to a cause or a scholarship, rather than the school and cable company benefit,'' he said.
St. Vincent-St. Mary officials said that all the revenue is used by the school for educational purposes.
Dennis, the family friend, put together a marketing plan for James when he was 14. Dennis said he has battled with Jackson over what James can accept and what he cannot.
''I would tell him, 'Nike can't do that, but this is what we can have Nike do for us,' '' Dennis said. '' 'Man, the money is going to come. But this is how we have to do it.' Sometimes, Eddie was like, 'It's there for the taking.' But we couldn't do it.''
Dennis, who describes himself as an unpaid adviser to the family, works for a nonprofit agency that provides after-school programs for children.
''I want to be part of the team that makes sure the right people are around him,'' Dennis said, when asked to explain his relationship with James. ''If it happens, great. If not, I'll just make sure my kids keep getting scholarships to college. If you're thinking LeBron is going to provide you with money at the end of the rainbow, you're not objective anymore.''
James's family and advisers put together a back-to-school giveaway at the Akron Urban League last August. Bookmarks bearing his likeness were given away, along with backpacks, folders and notebooks. The shoe companies courting James donated the supplies.
James's classmates tell of the day he showed up at school last spring with a bag of sneakers and sweats from Nike, Adidas and And1. He held a trivia contest at lunchtime, asking students to name halftime scores of playoff games, among other things. A correct answer won a pair of new sneakers, until all the items were gone.
''Last year he was driving a Navigator, he had a two-way pager and a cellphone on his belt,'' said Vassel, the senior class vice president. ''I was starting to get worried. But he's back to himself a little more now.''
Walking around school, James sometimes still seems in the late stages of adolescence, bobbing a classmate's ponytail or joking with friends.
''He's still a 17-year-old,'' said Carter, James's former teammate. ''He wants to be a 17-year-old. But it's kind of hard when people all want a piece of you. You have to become a little more leery of people, especially the ones that want to be hangers-on.''
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
HW # 4, Due Tuesday, November 25th!
For tomorrow, read "For Alberto Riveron, From Cuba to N.F.L.’s First Hispanic Referee" and locate 5-7 facts about Riveron from the article.
See you in class!
-Mr. Donohue
For Alberto Riveron, From Cuba to N.F.L.’s First Hispanic Referee
By JOHN BRANCH
MIAMI — Alberto Riveron was 5 when his mother, Irene Valdes, brought him here from Cuba, hoping for a better future that she could not quite imagine. Her first job was in a shoe factory, inserting insoles that read “Made in Italy.” But she spent most of the years supporting her only child by ironing and pressing at a dress factory.
That is just another reason Valdes does not seem to mind when Riveron, now 48, drops by on Wednesday nights to unload one item of dirty laundry: the white knickers he wears as an N.F.L. referee.
“Nobody gets them as clean as she does,” Riveron said, sitting beside her on the couch in her condominium. “And she puts a perfect crease on them.”
Among the countless immigration journeys, the one that Riveron and his mother began in January 1966 is original. This 5-year-old Cuban boy grew up to be the first Hispanic referee in the N.F.L., the most American of sports leagues. He was promoted to one of the 17 top positions this year.
Valdes will occasionally turn on the television for a glimpse of him and the sound of his voice. She cannot bear to watch for long. When Riveron played football in the neighborhood streets near the Orange Bowl as a boy — not soccer, like so many others in the neighborhood — she took to calling it el juego de los empujones, the game of pushing.
“I’m afraid something will happen to him,” she said. “Someone will push him and hurt him.”
The N.F.L. calls Riveron a trailblazer, although Hispanics, the nation’s largest ethnic minority, go back a long way in professional football. Tom Flores became professional football’s first Hispanic starting quarterback in 1960, for the Oakland Raiders, and Tom Fears the N.F.L.’s first Hispanic head coach in 1967, for the New Orleans Saints. Johnny Grier became the league’s first African-American referee in 1988.
Still, the N.F.L.’s marketing arm has had difficulty winning over Hispanic fans, particularly in households where Spanish is predominantly spoken — like the one in which Riveron was raised. There are only two dozen Hispanic players in the league, and Riveron is the only Hispanic among its 120 officials.
“He’s got a responsibility ahead of him,” Mike Pereira, the league’s vice president for officiating, said of Riveron. “I’m going to work with him and others about recruiting more Hispanic officials. We’re constantly trying to diversify our staff. It’s the makeup of our country.”
Riveron, with thick arms and a few specks of gray in his dark hair, is married with two teenage sons. He sees his promotion less symbolically. He began officiating in youth games as a second job in 1977, when he attended a clinic for youth football officials. Besides, he hardly feels like a minority in Miami, a predominantly Hispanic city with a Cuban soul.
But his wife, Patricia, said he was privately proud of his distinction. It is telling that, while most friends call him Al, Riveron the referee wants to be known as Alberto.
“It is pretty neat, because of where I came from,” Riveron said over lunch at La Carreta, a bustling Cuban restaurant where men crowd an outside counter, engaged in lively discussions in Spanish while sipping from tiny cups of cafe Cubano.
Valdes and Riveron were among the roughly quarter of a million Cubans who arrived in the United States on freedom flights, sanctioned by the governments of both countries in the 1960s and early 1970s. Riveron’s father, also named Alberto, Valdes’s former husband, immigrated three years earlier. He now lives on the same block of well-kept ranch houses as his son, daughter-in-law and grandsons.
“I was afraid to get on the airplane, but I had to do it,” Valdes said. She called it, in retrospect, “a perfect decision.”
On Tuesday, she and her son traded stories of building lives together in a new country. They talked about hours spent sitting around the radio, and the excitement of getting a black-and-white television that barely worked. When Riveron was 10, he came home from school one day to find his mother had a surprise. He heard ringing. It was their first telephone.
“Now my kids both have cellphones,” Riveron said, another reminder of how times have changed for him.
He began officiating college games in 1990 and spent 15 seasons mostly in the Big East and Conference USA.
“He had the look and presence of a referee,” Pereira said.
The N.F.L. hired Riveron as a side judge in 2004. He worked under the referee Ed Hochuli for two seasons, then under Gerald Austin, whose retirement opened a spot for Riveron last spring.
N.F.L. officials are part-time employees, earning $2,500 to $8,400 a game, depending on their roles and years of service, Pereira said. As a referee and crew chief, Riveron works 35 to 40 hours each week in addition to his full-time job, selling hurricane shutters for Florida Storm Panels.
“If I’m meeting a Cuban customer, I’m going to wear a guayabera,” Riveron said, referring to the formal white linen shirt, usually with pockets and pleats, popular in tropical climates. “And I bring along Cuban pastries and a shot of coffee.”
He was not dressed that way last Tuesday.
“This morning, I was at a construction site,” he said. “I wear jeans, a polo shirt, tennis shoes. But I still bring the Cuban pastries.”
Riveron’s home office, the one room Patricia allowed him to decorate, is a giant scrapbook to his family and to officiating. One wall is crowded with family photographs. A bookcase holds footballs from various officiating milestones: first college game, first bowl game, first N.F.L. game.
Riveron often sits in a leather chair behind a large desk, remote control in hand, studying game films and calls on his television. In a typical week, he returns home late Sunday or early Monday with a DVD of the broadcast of the game he officiated.
On Monday and Tuesday, he trades calls and e-mail messages with other crew members to discuss erroneous or missed calls.
He anxiously awaits the report from an officiating supervisor analyzing every aspect of the crew’s performance, which arrives about 6 p.m. on Tuesday in an e-mail message. The crew discusses it on a conference call, and Riveron responds to the supervisor in writing.
“Then we hold our breath,” Riveron said.
Final grades from the game are issued on Wednesday, part of a season-long assessment to determine which crews will work the playoffs. Riveron, who has officiated in the postseason three times as a side judge, is not eligible this season because he is a rookie referee.
The weekly routine for officials includes training tapes and an exam issued by the N.F.L. The travel prevents him from spending any weekends with the family. This weekend, Riveron and his crew will meet in San Francisco, where the 49ers play the St. Louis Rams.
Riveron spends spare hours, usually late at night, watching himself on a DVD, often falling asleep in his chair. He studies his positioning on the field and rehearses his announcements.
“We’re the only sport where the game stops for an official to talk to you,” Riveron said. “You turn on your microphone and tell 50 million people what you decided, and why.”
Recently, for the first time, a stranger recognized him as an N.F.L. referee, he said.
On the wall behind the desk chair is a map of Cuba — Riveron and his mother have never returned. There is Cuban currency, framed, and other personal mementos of a country Riveron says he does not really remember.
Before a preseason game this summer, the broadcaster Al Michaels asked Riveron what he preferred to be called on the air.
“I asked him to call me Alberto,” Riveron said. “And I said: ‘Make sure you roll that r. You’ll make my mom very happy.’ ”
See you in class!
-Mr. Donohue
For Alberto Riveron, From Cuba to N.F.L.’s First Hispanic Referee
By JOHN BRANCH
MIAMI — Alberto Riveron was 5 when his mother, Irene Valdes, brought him here from Cuba, hoping for a better future that she could not quite imagine. Her first job was in a shoe factory, inserting insoles that read “Made in Italy.” But she spent most of the years supporting her only child by ironing and pressing at a dress factory.
That is just another reason Valdes does not seem to mind when Riveron, now 48, drops by on Wednesday nights to unload one item of dirty laundry: the white knickers he wears as an N.F.L. referee.
“Nobody gets them as clean as she does,” Riveron said, sitting beside her on the couch in her condominium. “And she puts a perfect crease on them.”
Among the countless immigration journeys, the one that Riveron and his mother began in January 1966 is original. This 5-year-old Cuban boy grew up to be the first Hispanic referee in the N.F.L., the most American of sports leagues. He was promoted to one of the 17 top positions this year.
Valdes will occasionally turn on the television for a glimpse of him and the sound of his voice. She cannot bear to watch for long. When Riveron played football in the neighborhood streets near the Orange Bowl as a boy — not soccer, like so many others in the neighborhood — she took to calling it el juego de los empujones, the game of pushing.
“I’m afraid something will happen to him,” she said. “Someone will push him and hurt him.”
The N.F.L. calls Riveron a trailblazer, although Hispanics, the nation’s largest ethnic minority, go back a long way in professional football. Tom Flores became professional football’s first Hispanic starting quarterback in 1960, for the Oakland Raiders, and Tom Fears the N.F.L.’s first Hispanic head coach in 1967, for the New Orleans Saints. Johnny Grier became the league’s first African-American referee in 1988.
Still, the N.F.L.’s marketing arm has had difficulty winning over Hispanic fans, particularly in households where Spanish is predominantly spoken — like the one in which Riveron was raised. There are only two dozen Hispanic players in the league, and Riveron is the only Hispanic among its 120 officials.
“He’s got a responsibility ahead of him,” Mike Pereira, the league’s vice president for officiating, said of Riveron. “I’m going to work with him and others about recruiting more Hispanic officials. We’re constantly trying to diversify our staff. It’s the makeup of our country.”
Riveron, with thick arms and a few specks of gray in his dark hair, is married with two teenage sons. He sees his promotion less symbolically. He began officiating in youth games as a second job in 1977, when he attended a clinic for youth football officials. Besides, he hardly feels like a minority in Miami, a predominantly Hispanic city with a Cuban soul.
But his wife, Patricia, said he was privately proud of his distinction. It is telling that, while most friends call him Al, Riveron the referee wants to be known as Alberto.
“It is pretty neat, because of where I came from,” Riveron said over lunch at La Carreta, a bustling Cuban restaurant where men crowd an outside counter, engaged in lively discussions in Spanish while sipping from tiny cups of cafe Cubano.
Valdes and Riveron were among the roughly quarter of a million Cubans who arrived in the United States on freedom flights, sanctioned by the governments of both countries in the 1960s and early 1970s. Riveron’s father, also named Alberto, Valdes’s former husband, immigrated three years earlier. He now lives on the same block of well-kept ranch houses as his son, daughter-in-law and grandsons.
“I was afraid to get on the airplane, but I had to do it,” Valdes said. She called it, in retrospect, “a perfect decision.”
On Tuesday, she and her son traded stories of building lives together in a new country. They talked about hours spent sitting around the radio, and the excitement of getting a black-and-white television that barely worked. When Riveron was 10, he came home from school one day to find his mother had a surprise. He heard ringing. It was their first telephone.
“Now my kids both have cellphones,” Riveron said, another reminder of how times have changed for him.
He began officiating college games in 1990 and spent 15 seasons mostly in the Big East and Conference USA.
“He had the look and presence of a referee,” Pereira said.
The N.F.L. hired Riveron as a side judge in 2004. He worked under the referee Ed Hochuli for two seasons, then under Gerald Austin, whose retirement opened a spot for Riveron last spring.
N.F.L. officials are part-time employees, earning $2,500 to $8,400 a game, depending on their roles and years of service, Pereira said. As a referee and crew chief, Riveron works 35 to 40 hours each week in addition to his full-time job, selling hurricane shutters for Florida Storm Panels.
“If I’m meeting a Cuban customer, I’m going to wear a guayabera,” Riveron said, referring to the formal white linen shirt, usually with pockets and pleats, popular in tropical climates. “And I bring along Cuban pastries and a shot of coffee.”
He was not dressed that way last Tuesday.
“This morning, I was at a construction site,” he said. “I wear jeans, a polo shirt, tennis shoes. But I still bring the Cuban pastries.”
Riveron’s home office, the one room Patricia allowed him to decorate, is a giant scrapbook to his family and to officiating. One wall is crowded with family photographs. A bookcase holds footballs from various officiating milestones: first college game, first bowl game, first N.F.L. game.
Riveron often sits in a leather chair behind a large desk, remote control in hand, studying game films and calls on his television. In a typical week, he returns home late Sunday or early Monday with a DVD of the broadcast of the game he officiated.
On Monday and Tuesday, he trades calls and e-mail messages with other crew members to discuss erroneous or missed calls.
He anxiously awaits the report from an officiating supervisor analyzing every aspect of the crew’s performance, which arrives about 6 p.m. on Tuesday in an e-mail message. The crew discusses it on a conference call, and Riveron responds to the supervisor in writing.
“Then we hold our breath,” Riveron said.
Final grades from the game are issued on Wednesday, part of a season-long assessment to determine which crews will work the playoffs. Riveron, who has officiated in the postseason three times as a side judge, is not eligible this season because he is a rookie referee.
The weekly routine for officials includes training tapes and an exam issued by the N.F.L. The travel prevents him from spending any weekends with the family. This weekend, Riveron and his crew will meet in San Francisco, where the 49ers play the St. Louis Rams.
Riveron spends spare hours, usually late at night, watching himself on a DVD, often falling asleep in his chair. He studies his positioning on the field and rehearses his announcements.
“We’re the only sport where the game stops for an official to talk to you,” Riveron said. “You turn on your microphone and tell 50 million people what you decided, and why.”
Recently, for the first time, a stranger recognized him as an N.F.L. referee, he said.
On the wall behind the desk chair is a map of Cuba — Riveron and his mother have never returned. There is Cuban currency, framed, and other personal mementos of a country Riveron says he does not really remember.
Before a preseason game this summer, the broadcaster Al Michaels asked Riveron what he preferred to be called on the air.
“I asked him to call me Alberto,” Riveron said. “And I said: ‘Make sure you roll that r. You’ll make my mom very happy.’ ”
Friday, November 21, 2008
HW #3, Due Monday, November 24th!
For Monday read "US Wrestler Completes a Journey From Poverty" and answer the following three questions while using the R.E.A.D.S. strategy:
1) What challenges did Cejudo’s mother face in raising a family?
2) What role did Henry Cejudo’s brother, Angel, play in Henry’s success?
3) Why did the young wrestler, Jake Deitchler, decide to change schools and attend Colorado Springs?
Below you will find more information posted on the R.E.A.D.S. strategy as well as the article.
Please contact me at mr.donohue@gmail.com with any questions.
See you in class!
-Mr. Donohue
Sports Journalism: Profiles
Homework Assignment: Apply the R.E.A.D.S. strategy to the article titled: “U.S. Wrestler Completes a Journey From Poverty”.
Due: Monday, November 24th.
R.E.A.D.S.
Reading Comprehension Strategy
RE-state Re-state the initial question.
Answer Answer the question.
Details Give details to support your answer.
State Again State the question and the answer again.
Use R.E.A.D.S. to answer the following questions about “U.S. Wrestler Completes a Journey From Poverty”.
Provide your answers on a separate piece of paper.
Sample Question: Why was Henry Cejudo fighting back tears?
1) What challenges did Cejudo’s mother face in raising a family?
2) What role did Henry Cejudo’s brother, Angel, play in Henry’s success?
3) Why did the young wrestler, Jake Deitchler, decide to change schools and attend Colorado Springs?
Sample Answer: Why was Henry Cejudo fighting back tears? Cejudo was fighting back tears because he won the 121-pound freestyle wrestling gold medal at the 2008 summer Olympics. He defeated Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan, setting off a wild celebration amongst his family members in the audience. Tears swelled in Henry Cejudo’s eyes because he had won a gold medal.
US Wrestler Completes a Journey From Poverty
By GREG BISHOP
BEIJING — The American flag landed on the scorer’s table, launched by a family member with exceptional aim. Henry Cejudo grabbed it from his coach and draped it around his body. He stood there for the longest time, fighting back tears, the son of illegal immigrants wrapped in the Stars and Stripes.
After Cejudo had defeated Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan to win the 121-pound freestyle wrestling final on Tuesday, and after his family members had celebrated so loudly for so long that security threatened to kick them out, officials hung a gold medal around his neck. He said he might never remove it.
“I might just sleep with this,” Cejudo said. “It changed my life already.”
Fitting, because his is a story about change — for himself, for his family and maybe now for the USA Wrestling program, which trained the 21-year-old Cejudo to become the youngest gold medalist in United States wrestling history.
The gold medal, and his path to it, changed so many lives along the way.
Like his mother’s life. Nelly Rico, who came to the United States from Mexico as an illegal immigrant, raised seven children by herself and left Los Angeles with them in the middle of the night to escape the career criminal who was the father Cejudo never really knew.
Rico does not like flying, so she watched her son’s Olympic performances on a laptop in Colorado Springs. She vomited three times — one for each period her son lost in the three matches leading to the finals.
His right eye bruised and darkened, Cejudo talked of all the hours his mother had worked over the years, as a janitor and a construction worker, anything to put food on the table or to heat the house. He talked about all the times they moved, from Los Angeles to New Mexico to Phoenix to Colorado Springs, each time in search of a better life.
“I wish I could just give her the medal right now,” Cejudo said.
More lives changed, like those of all the people back in Phoenix. Frank Saenz, Cejudo’s coach at Maryvale High School, was the one who raised money for him to enter tournaments by knocking on doors and pleading for donations.
Tracy Greiff, another wrestling coach from the Phoenix area, was the one who had told Cejudo in seventh grade that he would win an Olympic gold. Greiff said he sold hundreds of tickets to travel here and sit in the rowdiest section this venue has seen.
Alonzo Cejudo, one of Henry’s older brothers, was the one who said that next to the birth of his children this ranked as the greatest moment of his life. He was the one who remembered how Rico called Henry her “little golden boy” from the moment of his birth. The one who listened to Angel, Henry’s brother and training partner, talk all week.
Angel told the family he had never seen Henry this strong, this focused, this tough or this prepared.
“Henry knew he was going to take it,” Alonzo said. “He just came to pick up what was already his.”
Angel’s life changed, too, for better and for worse. He was the first Cejudo brother to take to wrestling, the first to become a star. He won four state championships at Maryvale. He had a 150-0 record.
When he went to Colorado Springs, Henry, as always, tagged along. When Henry won more matches, more tournaments and more medals, Angel became his toughest critic and best friend. When Henry wrapped himself in that flag on Tuesday, Angel watched from the stands in tears.
“It’s not, oh, it should have been me,” said Angel, a world-class wrestler in his own right. “Because if it should have been me, I would have been out there. I’m not going to be jealous of my brother.”
More change looms on the horizon, but this time, with a wider reach. Tucked into the Cejudo cheering section was Jake Deitchler, an 18-year-old who wrestled in the Greco-Roman discipline at these Olympics. Deitchler had committed to the University of Minnesota but said on Tuesday that he would instead head to Colorado Springs.
“I want to go down the same path,” Deitchler said. “I want to be where he’s at, gold medal hanging around my neck.”
The victory was what Kevin Jackson, the national freestyle coach and a former gold medalist, had envisioned since Cejudo entered the program at the Olympic Training Center as a high school junior. Instead of going to college, where folk wrestling is the dominant style, Cejudo honed his considerable skills against the best freestyle wrestlers in the world.
The program pays for him to attend college if he wants. In the interim, Angel said, “the benefit is going up against world-class athletes.”
Jackson ranks Cejudo among the best young United States wrestlers ever, alongside names like John Smith, a world champion at 21, and Lee Kemp, a world champion at 22. Jackson hopes Cejudo’s success at these Olympics will prompt promising young wrestlers like Deitchler to follow the same path.
“He is the present, and he is the future,” Jackson said of Cejudo. “He has two more cycles in him. And he hasn’t come close to how good he can be.”
After the match, Jackson lifted Cejudo in the air, a freestyle wrestling tradition. Jackson watched Cejudo afterward and concluded he was the most emotional champion in recent memory.
Maybe that is because Cejudo’s medal meant so much to so many.
His family waited near the tunnel, and after Cejudo received his prize, he made wrestling’s version of the Lambeau Leap — right into the stands. His family members embraced him, tousled his hair and wrapped seven pairs of arms around him.
They all wore or waved American flags, an entire family decked in the Stars and Stripes. A family that started with illegal immigrants and advanced to right here, this moment, their very own gold medalist resting in their lap.
“Only in America,” Cejudo said.
1) What challenges did Cejudo’s mother face in raising a family?
2) What role did Henry Cejudo’s brother, Angel, play in Henry’s success?
3) Why did the young wrestler, Jake Deitchler, decide to change schools and attend Colorado Springs?
Below you will find more information posted on the R.E.A.D.S. strategy as well as the article.
Please contact me at mr.donohue@gmail.com with any questions.
See you in class!
-Mr. Donohue
Sports Journalism: Profiles
Homework Assignment: Apply the R.E.A.D.S. strategy to the article titled: “U.S. Wrestler Completes a Journey From Poverty”.
Due: Monday, November 24th.
R.E.A.D.S.
Reading Comprehension Strategy
RE-state Re-state the initial question.
Answer Answer the question.
Details Give details to support your answer.
State Again State the question and the answer again.
Use R.E.A.D.S. to answer the following questions about “U.S. Wrestler Completes a Journey From Poverty”.
Provide your answers on a separate piece of paper.
Sample Question: Why was Henry Cejudo fighting back tears?
1) What challenges did Cejudo’s mother face in raising a family?
2) What role did Henry Cejudo’s brother, Angel, play in Henry’s success?
3) Why did the young wrestler, Jake Deitchler, decide to change schools and attend Colorado Springs?
Sample Answer: Why was Henry Cejudo fighting back tears? Cejudo was fighting back tears because he won the 121-pound freestyle wrestling gold medal at the 2008 summer Olympics. He defeated Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan, setting off a wild celebration amongst his family members in the audience. Tears swelled in Henry Cejudo’s eyes because he had won a gold medal.
US Wrestler Completes a Journey From Poverty
By GREG BISHOP
BEIJING — The American flag landed on the scorer’s table, launched by a family member with exceptional aim. Henry Cejudo grabbed it from his coach and draped it around his body. He stood there for the longest time, fighting back tears, the son of illegal immigrants wrapped in the Stars and Stripes.
After Cejudo had defeated Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan to win the 121-pound freestyle wrestling final on Tuesday, and after his family members had celebrated so loudly for so long that security threatened to kick them out, officials hung a gold medal around his neck. He said he might never remove it.
“I might just sleep with this,” Cejudo said. “It changed my life already.”
Fitting, because his is a story about change — for himself, for his family and maybe now for the USA Wrestling program, which trained the 21-year-old Cejudo to become the youngest gold medalist in United States wrestling history.
The gold medal, and his path to it, changed so many lives along the way.
Like his mother’s life. Nelly Rico, who came to the United States from Mexico as an illegal immigrant, raised seven children by herself and left Los Angeles with them in the middle of the night to escape the career criminal who was the father Cejudo never really knew.
Rico does not like flying, so she watched her son’s Olympic performances on a laptop in Colorado Springs. She vomited three times — one for each period her son lost in the three matches leading to the finals.
His right eye bruised and darkened, Cejudo talked of all the hours his mother had worked over the years, as a janitor and a construction worker, anything to put food on the table or to heat the house. He talked about all the times they moved, from Los Angeles to New Mexico to Phoenix to Colorado Springs, each time in search of a better life.
“I wish I could just give her the medal right now,” Cejudo said.
More lives changed, like those of all the people back in Phoenix. Frank Saenz, Cejudo’s coach at Maryvale High School, was the one who raised money for him to enter tournaments by knocking on doors and pleading for donations.
Tracy Greiff, another wrestling coach from the Phoenix area, was the one who had told Cejudo in seventh grade that he would win an Olympic gold. Greiff said he sold hundreds of tickets to travel here and sit in the rowdiest section this venue has seen.
Alonzo Cejudo, one of Henry’s older brothers, was the one who said that next to the birth of his children this ranked as the greatest moment of his life. He was the one who remembered how Rico called Henry her “little golden boy” from the moment of his birth. The one who listened to Angel, Henry’s brother and training partner, talk all week.
Angel told the family he had never seen Henry this strong, this focused, this tough or this prepared.
“Henry knew he was going to take it,” Alonzo said. “He just came to pick up what was already his.”
Angel’s life changed, too, for better and for worse. He was the first Cejudo brother to take to wrestling, the first to become a star. He won four state championships at Maryvale. He had a 150-0 record.
When he went to Colorado Springs, Henry, as always, tagged along. When Henry won more matches, more tournaments and more medals, Angel became his toughest critic and best friend. When Henry wrapped himself in that flag on Tuesday, Angel watched from the stands in tears.
“It’s not, oh, it should have been me,” said Angel, a world-class wrestler in his own right. “Because if it should have been me, I would have been out there. I’m not going to be jealous of my brother.”
More change looms on the horizon, but this time, with a wider reach. Tucked into the Cejudo cheering section was Jake Deitchler, an 18-year-old who wrestled in the Greco-Roman discipline at these Olympics. Deitchler had committed to the University of Minnesota but said on Tuesday that he would instead head to Colorado Springs.
“I want to go down the same path,” Deitchler said. “I want to be where he’s at, gold medal hanging around my neck.”
The victory was what Kevin Jackson, the national freestyle coach and a former gold medalist, had envisioned since Cejudo entered the program at the Olympic Training Center as a high school junior. Instead of going to college, where folk wrestling is the dominant style, Cejudo honed his considerable skills against the best freestyle wrestlers in the world.
The program pays for him to attend college if he wants. In the interim, Angel said, “the benefit is going up against world-class athletes.”
Jackson ranks Cejudo among the best young United States wrestlers ever, alongside names like John Smith, a world champion at 21, and Lee Kemp, a world champion at 22. Jackson hopes Cejudo’s success at these Olympics will prompt promising young wrestlers like Deitchler to follow the same path.
“He is the present, and he is the future,” Jackson said of Cejudo. “He has two more cycles in him. And he hasn’t come close to how good he can be.”
After the match, Jackson lifted Cejudo in the air, a freestyle wrestling tradition. Jackson watched Cejudo afterward and concluded he was the most emotional champion in recent memory.
Maybe that is because Cejudo’s medal meant so much to so many.
His family waited near the tunnel, and after Cejudo received his prize, he made wrestling’s version of the Lambeau Leap — right into the stands. His family members embraced him, tousled his hair and wrapped seven pairs of arms around him.
They all wore or waved American flags, an entire family decked in the Stars and Stripes. A family that started with illegal immigrants and advanced to right here, this moment, their very own gold medalist resting in their lap.
“Only in America,” Cejudo said.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Homework for Monday, November 17th-Thursday, November 20th
This week, you must be ready to present your Sports Scandal Report with your partner on Thursday. The assignment is below with your options for scandals following.
Please contact me with any questions: mr.donohue@gmail.com
See you in class!
-Mr. Donohue
Sports Scandal Assignment:
End Goal: You and your partner will present a 4-6 minute Powerpoint presentation in which you will fully explain the details surrounding a famous sports scandal. A list of ten is available under a desktop document titled “Top 10 Strange Sports Scandals”.
Rubric: You will be graded in the following areas on a scale of 1-5 for a total of 25 points:
1) You have fully explained the events surrounding the scandal and have provided background information. (Who were the people involved and what was their background? What were the events leading up to the scandal? What was the motivation of the characters involved?)
2) A well-developed Powerpoint presentation with a minimum of 4 photos and 7 slides.
3) Verbal presentation (the clarity of your message, your charisma and overall style).
4) Your presentation lands between 4 and 6 minutes.
5) Listening and feedback. You must respectfully watch other presentations and offer feedback on how each pair preformed.
Suggested Resources:
Google the person’s name: www.google.com
Also try visiting:
www.ESPN.com
www.wikipedia.com
Saved Material: Be sure to keep track of which computer you and your partner are using. If you need to save any material, please create a folder for yourself on the desktop of the computer and note which user you are logged in under.
Internet Abuse/Computer Abuse Policy: Although most students are usually busy doing the work necessary to complete their assignment, a few choose to stray off task. If you are caught visiting websites not relevant to your project, playing MP3s from a jump drive or playing games on the computer, you will first receive a warning and then a point off your MARKING PERIOD grade for every following infraction.
Number 10
Flockton Grey - Ringer 'Round the Rosie
Money won is much sweeter than money earned, but when Flockton Grey, a British racehorse, won a race at Leicester racecourse in 1982 by an unconscionable 20 lengths, the mood around the track was more sour than sweet. The margin of victory provoked suspicion of fraud and an investigation ensued. It was uncovered that the horse's owner, Ken Richardson, had switched the two-year-old Flockton Grey for a seasoned three-year-old ringer. Furthermore, Richardson and trainer Stephen Wiles had backed the horse with 20,000 pounds dispersed over several betting outlets. They were both convicted of conspiracy to defraud, fined 20,000 pounds and received long bans from horse racing.
What makes it stranger: Richardson would become the chairman of a football club, which he later conspired to burn down in order to collect on insurance money. He was convicted of attempted arson and spent four years in jail.
Number 9
Spanish Paralympians - How Low Can You Go?
Pretending to be stupid generally has minimal benefits, but the Spanish Paralympic Committee saw otherwise. They produced fake documents for 10 of the 12 members on their 2000 Paralympics basketball team, falsely claiming that they had IQs below 85. With an amazing performance, their intellectually able team captured the gold medal in a tournament for the intellectually disabled. It was soon discovered that the majority of their team members had no mental deficiencies to speak of and their medals were stripped.
What makes it stranger: The story was brought to light by a Spanish journalist who joined the basketball team to uncover the scandal. To make the roster, it was not required of him to complete any medical or psychological tests; all he had to do was complete six sit-ups and a blood pressure test.
Number 8
Kobe Bryant - One-Night Stand
A night to remember took on a new meaning for basketball superstar Kobe Bryant after a sojourn at The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera Hotel in Edwards, Colorado. The Los Angeles Lakers guard was charged with sexual assault after a 19-year-old woman accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room. A couple of days later, Bryant held a press conference, claiming that he did have sexual relations with her, but that the sex was consensual. When the trial began, Bryant's lawyers focused their efforts on sullying the credibility of the accuser, and with minimal tangible evidence, the case was dismissed.
What makes it stranger: The young female complainant received several death threats from Bryant fans, including one from a Swiss bodybuilder named Patrick Graber, who offered to commit murder for a $3 million fee. He was caught in a sting operation by the FBI and was sentenced to three years in jail.
Number 7
Rosie Ruiz - A Rat Raced
The simple things in life can be completed without breaking a sweat, but not a 26.2-mile race. When 23-year-old Rosie Ruiz crossed the finish line of the 1980 Boston Marathon with the third-fastest time ever for a female runner while barely glistening, speculation started to mount. That wariness was justified when a few onlookers communicated that they saw Ruiz join the race in the final mile, where she sprinted to the finish line. She was stripped of her olive wreath and the rightful winner, Jacqueline Gareau, was crowned.
What makes it stranger: Two years later, Ruiz was imprisoned for stealing $60,000 in cash and checks from a Manhattan real estate firm, and 19 months after that, she was arrested again for trying to facilitate a cocaine deal to undercover FBI agents in Florida.
Number 6
Danny Almonte - Being 12 Again
The advantages of a fake ID are usually to ameliorate the opportunities for underage drinking and clubbing, not to play in Little League Baseball. In 2001, Danny Almonte led his Bronx, New York team all the way to third place in the Little League World Series when he pitched the first perfect game since 1957, but a conflicting birth certificate surfaced during his team's run. His family's copy stated that he was born in 1989, but his Dominican home town's official copy stated he was born in 1987, making him two years too old for eligibility. His pitching feats were erased from the record books and the Rolando Paulino All-Stars were forced to part with their accolades.
What makes it stranger: Danny's father, Felipe de Jesus Almonte, appeared on Good Morning America to defend his son. Investigations by the Little League determined that his father had registered Danny's birth twice.
Number 5
Jamie Sale and David Pelletier - Skategate
Canadian figure-skating pair Jamie Sale and David Pelletier performed a near-perfect program only to receive ordinary ordinals from the judges in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. They tried to just smile it off, but they remained puzzled, along with pundits and skating aficionados worldwide. A probe ensued, exposing collusion between Russian and French judges, who agreed to swap votes in a sordid deal. Eventually, the Canadian duo was awarded gold medals and received a share of first place.
What makes it stranger: As the investigation continued, there were allegations that implicated a famous Russian mobster as one of the masterminds behind the scandal.
Number 4
BALCO - Perfect Strangers
Steroids and performance-enhancing drugs have always been the elephant in the room that nobody wants to address, but when the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative -- a sports nutrition center in California -- was exposed in 2004 for mass producing and distributing illegal anabolic steroids, the topic of drugs in sports became a hot one. BALCO's founder Victor Conte was quick to drag sports icons down with him, as he incriminated baseball legend Barry Bonds and American track star Marion Jones for steroid use. It wasn't long after that American Congress invited the executives of the four major sports leagues in for an interrogation and forced them all to beef up their drug policies.
What makes it stranger: In an interview with ABC's 20/20, Conte claimed to not only have supplied five-time Olympic medalist Marion Jones with illegal steroids and human growth hormone, but also to have sat right beside her while she injected the drugs into her thigh. She has since struggled in track and field competitions.
Number 3
Mike Danton - The Blues Lagoon
In 2004, Mike Danton, a former St. Louis Blues player, enlisted the help of a 19-year-old girl to hire a hit man, who was actually a police dispatcher. The FBI was quickly alerted and Danton was convicted of plotting to commit murder, with the exact target still unknown. The details were muddy and the suspected motives were varied. Some believed Danton was trying to remove a gay lover threatening to out him, while others claimed he was attempting to end a miserable relationship with his svengali-like, mind-controlling agent, David Frost. People close to the situation came forward and disclosed how Frost manipulated Danton to the point where he became his hand puppet, even forcing Danton to sever his relationship with his parents. Given these strange details, the common hypothesis was that Frost was the target.
What makes it stranger: Frost's influence over Danton was frequently discussed but remained indistinct until the transcript of a prison telephone call was revealed to the public after Danton's arrest. At the end of the phone call, Frost asked Danton, "Do you love me?" and pressed him to reinforce his positive response twice.
Number 2
Patrick Dennehy - The Basketball Diaries
The story started when Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy was reported missing in June 2003. A month later, after teammate Carlton Dotson was charged for murder, Dennehy's dead body was found in chest-high weeds. The police had been tipped off after Dotson told a cousin of his that he shot and killed Dennehy during an argument.
But the black eye didn't end there for Baylor University's basketball program, as Dennehy's girlfriend reported violations to the NCAA. Investigations revealed that head coach Dave Bliss had been improperly paying for Dennehy's tuition, had not reported players' failed drug tests, and had told players and coaches to lie to authorities by claiming that Dennehy had been dealing drugs. The school is now under probation until 2010.
What makes it stranger: In October 2004, Dotson was deemed to be psychologically incompetent and was sent to a mental hospital where he was evaluated. He was returned to jail after doctors doubted his accounts of hallucinations, and a week before his trial was to begin, with no plea bargain in hand, Dotson pleaded guilty in the death of Patrick Dennehy. He is currently serving a 35-year jail sentence.
Number 1
Tonya Harding - Knee-High Goodbye
The leg bone is connected to the knee bone, and knowing that, American figure skater Tonya Harding calculated that it would be more difficult for her rival to compete if she hired a man to take out her knee. Harding hired Shane Stant to put fellow American Nancy Kerrigan out of commission at the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, paving the way for Harding's victory. Soon after, her ex-husband cut a plea bargain deal in which he spilled the beans of their scheme to implicate Harding. When her time came, she had no choice but to plead guilty and received three years of probation, a $160,000 fine, a ban from U.S. figure skating, and was stripped of her 1994 title.
What makes it stranger: Tonya Harding didn't just climb into a grimy cave and disappear after the scandal, though, as she kept her face in the limelight with a pornographic sex tape, of which stills were posted in Penthouse magazine. She also had a brief boxing career that included a celebrity bout with well-known Paula Jones, and ran into the law on several occasions for drunk driving and domestic violence.
Please contact me with any questions: mr.donohue@gmail.com
See you in class!
-Mr. Donohue
Sports Scandal Assignment:
End Goal: You and your partner will present a 4-6 minute Powerpoint presentation in which you will fully explain the details surrounding a famous sports scandal. A list of ten is available under a desktop document titled “Top 10 Strange Sports Scandals”.
Rubric: You will be graded in the following areas on a scale of 1-5 for a total of 25 points:
1) You have fully explained the events surrounding the scandal and have provided background information. (Who were the people involved and what was their background? What were the events leading up to the scandal? What was the motivation of the characters involved?)
2) A well-developed Powerpoint presentation with a minimum of 4 photos and 7 slides.
3) Verbal presentation (the clarity of your message, your charisma and overall style).
4) Your presentation lands between 4 and 6 minutes.
5) Listening and feedback. You must respectfully watch other presentations and offer feedback on how each pair preformed.
Suggested Resources:
Google the person’s name: www.google.com
Also try visiting:
www.ESPN.com
www.wikipedia.com
Saved Material: Be sure to keep track of which computer you and your partner are using. If you need to save any material, please create a folder for yourself on the desktop of the computer and note which user you are logged in under.
Internet Abuse/Computer Abuse Policy: Although most students are usually busy doing the work necessary to complete their assignment, a few choose to stray off task. If you are caught visiting websites not relevant to your project, playing MP3s from a jump drive or playing games on the computer, you will first receive a warning and then a point off your MARKING PERIOD grade for every following infraction.
Number 10
Flockton Grey - Ringer 'Round the Rosie
Money won is much sweeter than money earned, but when Flockton Grey, a British racehorse, won a race at Leicester racecourse in 1982 by an unconscionable 20 lengths, the mood around the track was more sour than sweet. The margin of victory provoked suspicion of fraud and an investigation ensued. It was uncovered that the horse's owner, Ken Richardson, had switched the two-year-old Flockton Grey for a seasoned three-year-old ringer. Furthermore, Richardson and trainer Stephen Wiles had backed the horse with 20,000 pounds dispersed over several betting outlets. They were both convicted of conspiracy to defraud, fined 20,000 pounds and received long bans from horse racing.
What makes it stranger: Richardson would become the chairman of a football club, which he later conspired to burn down in order to collect on insurance money. He was convicted of attempted arson and spent four years in jail.
Number 9
Spanish Paralympians - How Low Can You Go?
Pretending to be stupid generally has minimal benefits, but the Spanish Paralympic Committee saw otherwise. They produced fake documents for 10 of the 12 members on their 2000 Paralympics basketball team, falsely claiming that they had IQs below 85. With an amazing performance, their intellectually able team captured the gold medal in a tournament for the intellectually disabled. It was soon discovered that the majority of their team members had no mental deficiencies to speak of and their medals were stripped.
What makes it stranger: The story was brought to light by a Spanish journalist who joined the basketball team to uncover the scandal. To make the roster, it was not required of him to complete any medical or psychological tests; all he had to do was complete six sit-ups and a blood pressure test.
Number 8
Kobe Bryant - One-Night Stand
A night to remember took on a new meaning for basketball superstar Kobe Bryant after a sojourn at The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera Hotel in Edwards, Colorado. The Los Angeles Lakers guard was charged with sexual assault after a 19-year-old woman accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room. A couple of days later, Bryant held a press conference, claiming that he did have sexual relations with her, but that the sex was consensual. When the trial began, Bryant's lawyers focused their efforts on sullying the credibility of the accuser, and with minimal tangible evidence, the case was dismissed.
What makes it stranger: The young female complainant received several death threats from Bryant fans, including one from a Swiss bodybuilder named Patrick Graber, who offered to commit murder for a $3 million fee. He was caught in a sting operation by the FBI and was sentenced to three years in jail.
Number 7
Rosie Ruiz - A Rat Raced
The simple things in life can be completed without breaking a sweat, but not a 26.2-mile race. When 23-year-old Rosie Ruiz crossed the finish line of the 1980 Boston Marathon with the third-fastest time ever for a female runner while barely glistening, speculation started to mount. That wariness was justified when a few onlookers communicated that they saw Ruiz join the race in the final mile, where she sprinted to the finish line. She was stripped of her olive wreath and the rightful winner, Jacqueline Gareau, was crowned.
What makes it stranger: Two years later, Ruiz was imprisoned for stealing $60,000 in cash and checks from a Manhattan real estate firm, and 19 months after that, she was arrested again for trying to facilitate a cocaine deal to undercover FBI agents in Florida.
Number 6
Danny Almonte - Being 12 Again
The advantages of a fake ID are usually to ameliorate the opportunities for underage drinking and clubbing, not to play in Little League Baseball. In 2001, Danny Almonte led his Bronx, New York team all the way to third place in the Little League World Series when he pitched the first perfect game since 1957, but a conflicting birth certificate surfaced during his team's run. His family's copy stated that he was born in 1989, but his Dominican home town's official copy stated he was born in 1987, making him two years too old for eligibility. His pitching feats were erased from the record books and the Rolando Paulino All-Stars were forced to part with their accolades.
What makes it stranger: Danny's father, Felipe de Jesus Almonte, appeared on Good Morning America to defend his son. Investigations by the Little League determined that his father had registered Danny's birth twice.
Number 5
Jamie Sale and David Pelletier - Skategate
Canadian figure-skating pair Jamie Sale and David Pelletier performed a near-perfect program only to receive ordinary ordinals from the judges in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. They tried to just smile it off, but they remained puzzled, along with pundits and skating aficionados worldwide. A probe ensued, exposing collusion between Russian and French judges, who agreed to swap votes in a sordid deal. Eventually, the Canadian duo was awarded gold medals and received a share of first place.
What makes it stranger: As the investigation continued, there were allegations that implicated a famous Russian mobster as one of the masterminds behind the scandal.
Number 4
BALCO - Perfect Strangers
Steroids and performance-enhancing drugs have always been the elephant in the room that nobody wants to address, but when the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative -- a sports nutrition center in California -- was exposed in 2004 for mass producing and distributing illegal anabolic steroids, the topic of drugs in sports became a hot one. BALCO's founder Victor Conte was quick to drag sports icons down with him, as he incriminated baseball legend Barry Bonds and American track star Marion Jones for steroid use. It wasn't long after that American Congress invited the executives of the four major sports leagues in for an interrogation and forced them all to beef up their drug policies.
What makes it stranger: In an interview with ABC's 20/20, Conte claimed to not only have supplied five-time Olympic medalist Marion Jones with illegal steroids and human growth hormone, but also to have sat right beside her while she injected the drugs into her thigh. She has since struggled in track and field competitions.
Number 3
Mike Danton - The Blues Lagoon
In 2004, Mike Danton, a former St. Louis Blues player, enlisted the help of a 19-year-old girl to hire a hit man, who was actually a police dispatcher. The FBI was quickly alerted and Danton was convicted of plotting to commit murder, with the exact target still unknown. The details were muddy and the suspected motives were varied. Some believed Danton was trying to remove a gay lover threatening to out him, while others claimed he was attempting to end a miserable relationship with his svengali-like, mind-controlling agent, David Frost. People close to the situation came forward and disclosed how Frost manipulated Danton to the point where he became his hand puppet, even forcing Danton to sever his relationship with his parents. Given these strange details, the common hypothesis was that Frost was the target.
What makes it stranger: Frost's influence over Danton was frequently discussed but remained indistinct until the transcript of a prison telephone call was revealed to the public after Danton's arrest. At the end of the phone call, Frost asked Danton, "Do you love me?" and pressed him to reinforce his positive response twice.
Number 2
Patrick Dennehy - The Basketball Diaries
The story started when Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy was reported missing in June 2003. A month later, after teammate Carlton Dotson was charged for murder, Dennehy's dead body was found in chest-high weeds. The police had been tipped off after Dotson told a cousin of his that he shot and killed Dennehy during an argument.
But the black eye didn't end there for Baylor University's basketball program, as Dennehy's girlfriend reported violations to the NCAA. Investigations revealed that head coach Dave Bliss had been improperly paying for Dennehy's tuition, had not reported players' failed drug tests, and had told players and coaches to lie to authorities by claiming that Dennehy had been dealing drugs. The school is now under probation until 2010.
What makes it stranger: In October 2004, Dotson was deemed to be psychologically incompetent and was sent to a mental hospital where he was evaluated. He was returned to jail after doctors doubted his accounts of hallucinations, and a week before his trial was to begin, with no plea bargain in hand, Dotson pleaded guilty in the death of Patrick Dennehy. He is currently serving a 35-year jail sentence.
Number 1
Tonya Harding - Knee-High Goodbye
The leg bone is connected to the knee bone, and knowing that, American figure skater Tonya Harding calculated that it would be more difficult for her rival to compete if she hired a man to take out her knee. Harding hired Shane Stant to put fellow American Nancy Kerrigan out of commission at the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, paving the way for Harding's victory. Soon after, her ex-husband cut a plea bargain deal in which he spilled the beans of their scheme to implicate Harding. When her time came, she had no choice but to plead guilty and received three years of probation, a $160,000 fine, a ban from U.S. figure skating, and was stripped of her 1994 title.
What makes it stranger: Tonya Harding didn't just climb into a grimy cave and disappear after the scandal, though, as she kept her face in the limelight with a pornographic sex tape, of which stills were posted in Penthouse magazine. She also had a brief boxing career that included a celebrity bout with well-known Paula Jones, and ran into the law on several occasions for drunk driving and domestic violence.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Homework For Friday, November 14th!
For tomorrow, prepare for your sports prediction presentation. The rubric and the elements for a sports prediction are pasted below.
Good luck!
-Mr. Donohue
Rubric: You will be graded in the following areas on a scale of 1-5 for a total of 25 points:
1) You have covered ALL of the elements of a sports prediction (below).
2) You have told us about your team’s main competition (either a rival or a team that would prevent them from winning a championship). Who is this team? What is the history between teams? What may make them tough to defeat?
3) Presentation (the clarity of your message, your charisma and overall style).
4) Your presentation lands between 2 and 3 minutes.
5) Listening and feedback. You must respectfully watch other presentations and offer feedback on how each pair preformed.
Elements for a Sports Prediction:
*Clearly stated prediction
*Who are the stars?
*Who else is on the team – their strengths and weaknesses
*Coaching – will it help or hurt?
*Team strengths and weaknesses
*What are the team’s “intangibles”?
Good luck!
-Mr. Donohue
Rubric: You will be graded in the following areas on a scale of 1-5 for a total of 25 points:
1) You have covered ALL of the elements of a sports prediction (below).
2) You have told us about your team’s main competition (either a rival or a team that would prevent them from winning a championship). Who is this team? What is the history between teams? What may make them tough to defeat?
3) Presentation (the clarity of your message, your charisma and overall style).
4) Your presentation lands between 2 and 3 minutes.
5) Listening and feedback. You must respectfully watch other presentations and offer feedback on how each pair preformed.
Elements for a Sports Prediction:
*Clearly stated prediction
*Who are the stars?
*Who else is on the team – their strengths and weaknesses
*Coaching – will it help or hurt?
*Team strengths and weaknesses
*What are the team’s “intangibles”?
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
HW #2, Due Thursday, November 13th!
For Thursday, work on your prediction presentation with your partner. Bring an outline featuring what you have learned so far. Your work will be checked for credit, but you will hold on to it in order to complete the assignment.
See you in class!
-Mr. Donohue
See you in class!
-Mr. Donohue
Monday, November 10, 2008
HW #1, Due Wednesday, November 12th!
For Wednesday, select a team you want to do a season/game prediction on with your partner. Explain your selection in 3-5 sentences.
Be ready to discuss on Wednesday.
See you in class!
-Mr. Donohue
Be ready to discuss on Wednesday.
See you in class!
-Mr. Donohue
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
