Wow, that went by pretty quickly. I am already done with one year of college, and it just seems like yesterday that I was a little kid enjoying the fruits of life. It took me longer than usual to decide on where I was going to be attending school this year. Most of my friends had already decided and chosen classes for college. Here I was though, end of high school and not a clue. Golf was a big reason for this. At the end of high school, I was still trying to find someplace to play in college. I had explored a couple options, but nothing had seriously materialized yet. Finally, after searching, and a lot of thinking, I choose to attend GateWay Community College. It was a great relief to me. I could finally stop worrying about my future, at least for two years. The only reason that I choose to attend GateWay was to golf. If I wasn't golfing, I would be at some university studying, most likely ASU.
I am glad that I choose to come to GateWay though. I would do it again 100 times over. I was able meet new friends and continue to play the game of golf competitively in one of the hardest divisions in the country. I went through some struggles with my game this year, but they are only going to make me better and more focused for next year. I was disappointed in the way I played this year, mainly that I did not play in more tournaments. That was almost a blessing in disguise though. I was able to discover cracks in my game and problems that needed to be fixed. It will most certainly make me stronger for next year.
Now onto academics. Going to a community college helped me with the transition into college. I know that I would have been able to handle a university workload without a problem, but combining golf with college was tough at times. Golfs eats up a ton of free time and made it tough for some of my classes. I am very pleased with how my grades turned out for my first year too. Last semester I only got 1 B, and I should get straight A's this semester. Now if I could only figure out what I want to major in...
This has been a great year in my life, but I am ready for summer to begin so I can get ready for the next golf season!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Research Process
So far, my research has produced okay results about a college football playoff. Since my main argument for a playoff in college football spans over the past decade, I have had to do some digging for topics. I had did this digging before I started using the databases because I wanted to get a idea for what I wanted to this paper to be about. When I started using the databases my research became a little bit easier because the databases can access multiple sites at once. One of the main problems that I have had with my research process is finding credible sources. A playoff for college football is such a broad and opinionated topic, that it creates a lot of articles and other pieces of literature regarding it by non-professional writers. I have been able to weed out some of the non-credible sources so far, and I am very pleased with how my research is going.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
It's Bracket Time Again
It's now time to fill out those NCCA tournament brackets and get your annual office pool together again. March Maddess is about to start. People all around the country are now studying each game closely, looking for the cinderella team that they can ride to the top. The most important part of filling out a successful bracket, though, is picking the Final 4 correctly. Getting the Final 4 correct gives you major points in the standings against your opponents. Obviously, it helps to pick the winner of the National Championship correctly, but the Final 4 is were your run for the gold can start.
This years bracket has four very strong number 1 seeds. It is very possible that all four 1 seeds could make it to the Final 4, but upsets always happen. The 1 seeds that I could see losing before the Final 4 is Memphis. Memphis is a very solid team, but they might have the toughest 2 seed in their bracket in Texas. Texas plays teams very tough, and if they are able to keep it close, they could beat Memphis. Memphis is a deep and experienced squad, but they are poor free-throw shooters, and that could be their downfall in the tournament.
The number 1 seed that I don't have in my Final 4 is North Carolina. In my opinion, they have the toughest route to the Final 4 of the 1 seeds. In the second round they could face an Indiana team with one of the best freshman in the country, in Eric Gordon, on it. Then they would have to face Washington State or Notre Dame, followed by Louisville or Tennessee most likely. The team that I believe will be their downfall is Louisville. Louisville is maybe the best defensive team in the country and has one of the best coaches in Rick Petino.
My Final 4 is Louisville/Kansas and Memphis/UCLA. My National Champion pick was a tough decision between the winner of the Memphis/UCLA game. UCLA plays great team basketball, and Memphis has the star in Derrick Rose to win it all. In the end I choose Memphis as my National Champion to help me win my bracket pool.
This years bracket has four very strong number 1 seeds. It is very possible that all four 1 seeds could make it to the Final 4, but upsets always happen. The 1 seeds that I could see losing before the Final 4 is Memphis. Memphis is a very solid team, but they might have the toughest 2 seed in their bracket in Texas. Texas plays teams very tough, and if they are able to keep it close, they could beat Memphis. Memphis is a deep and experienced squad, but they are poor free-throw shooters, and that could be their downfall in the tournament.
The number 1 seed that I don't have in my Final 4 is North Carolina. In my opinion, they have the toughest route to the Final 4 of the 1 seeds. In the second round they could face an Indiana team with one of the best freshman in the country, in Eric Gordon, on it. Then they would have to face Washington State or Notre Dame, followed by Louisville or Tennessee most likely. The team that I believe will be their downfall is Louisville. Louisville is maybe the best defensive team in the country and has one of the best coaches in Rick Petino.
My Final 4 is Louisville/Kansas and Memphis/UCLA. My National Champion pick was a tough decision between the winner of the Memphis/UCLA game. UCLA plays great team basketball, and Memphis has the star in Derrick Rose to win it all. In the end I choose Memphis as my National Champion to help me win my bracket pool.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Tiger Woods
In response to "Tiger: The best ever...in anything?" by Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic.
Mr. Bickley may be stretching it a little by stating that Tiger Woods is competing for the title of Most Dominant Athlete Ever. I only say this because the way golf is perceived in most people's eyes. Some people try to claim that golf isn't a sport or that golfer's are not athletes. I don't want to be the one to tell Tiger that though. So he may not be the most dominant athlete ever, but is he the best golfer of all time? Without out a doubt. And it's not even really a debate.
The ultimate record in all of golf is Jack Nicklaus' 18 major championships. Tiger has already captured 13, and he is only 32 years old. A lot of the talk this year is going to be if he can complete the Golf Grand Slam by winning all four majors in the same year. If that happens, Tiger would be in line to tie, or move ahead of jack Nicklaus' major record in 2009. Another record that Tiger is currently chasing is Byron Nelson's 11 straight PGA Tour victories. Currently, after his recent victory at the Accenture Match Play Championship, Tiger has won 5 PGA tournaments in a row, and 7 of his last 8. He has also moved into sole possession of 4th place on the career PGA Tour wins list with 63 in 12 short seasons.
One of the easiest way to look at Tiger's dominance is to look at his competition. With technology advancing, and more and more people starting to play golf, winning on the tour is harder than ever. Tiger Woods faces much stiffer and much more consistent competition than jack Nicklaus ever did. And he is still setting records left and right. I can attest to that, being a golfer myself. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, just to make it on tour, let alone stay on and win 63 times. Another part of Tiger's dominance is his mental game. Ask any golf on tour what part of Tiger's game they would want most, and the majority will easily say his mental game. Tiger's ability to slam the door shut is almost super human.
A sign of a great athlete is respect. Ask Tiger's peers about him, and you will find a lot of respect for him. Some players sit back in awe as they play with him. Right now, it is tough to make the argument that Tiger is the Most Dominant Athlete Ever, but that won't last forever. If Tiger ends his career with 20-25 major championships and 100+ career PGA Tour victories, it would be almost insane not to include Tiger with the Micheal Jordan's, Babe Ruth's, and Wayne Gretzky's as the Most Dominant Athletes Ever.
Mr. Bickley may be stretching it a little by stating that Tiger Woods is competing for the title of Most Dominant Athlete Ever. I only say this because the way golf is perceived in most people's eyes. Some people try to claim that golf isn't a sport or that golfer's are not athletes. I don't want to be the one to tell Tiger that though. So he may not be the most dominant athlete ever, but is he the best golfer of all time? Without out a doubt. And it's not even really a debate.
The ultimate record in all of golf is Jack Nicklaus' 18 major championships. Tiger has already captured 13, and he is only 32 years old. A lot of the talk this year is going to be if he can complete the Golf Grand Slam by winning all four majors in the same year. If that happens, Tiger would be in line to tie, or move ahead of jack Nicklaus' major record in 2009. Another record that Tiger is currently chasing is Byron Nelson's 11 straight PGA Tour victories. Currently, after his recent victory at the Accenture Match Play Championship, Tiger has won 5 PGA tournaments in a row, and 7 of his last 8. He has also moved into sole possession of 4th place on the career PGA Tour wins list with 63 in 12 short seasons.
One of the easiest way to look at Tiger's dominance is to look at his competition. With technology advancing, and more and more people starting to play golf, winning on the tour is harder than ever. Tiger Woods faces much stiffer and much more consistent competition than jack Nicklaus ever did. And he is still setting records left and right. I can attest to that, being a golfer myself. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, just to make it on tour, let alone stay on and win 63 times. Another part of Tiger's dominance is his mental game. Ask any golf on tour what part of Tiger's game they would want most, and the majority will easily say his mental game. Tiger's ability to slam the door shut is almost super human.
A sign of a great athlete is respect. Ask Tiger's peers about him, and you will find a lot of respect for him. Some players sit back in awe as they play with him. Right now, it is tough to make the argument that Tiger is the Most Dominant Athlete Ever, but that won't last forever. If Tiger ends his career with 20-25 major championships and 100+ career PGA Tour victories, it would be almost insane not to include Tiger with the Micheal Jordan's, Babe Ruth's, and Wayne Gretzky's as the Most Dominant Athletes Ever.
Re: Some Hopes and Concerns
I believe that blogging is going to be a great exercise for the class. It allows for us to be more expressive than normal. Students may be more willing to express there thoughts over a computer screen than in front of an entire classroom. I just hope that we use it as a class to communicate to each other, at times, and not just fulfil the requirements. I have found myself falling guilty of this already, seeing how it's March and I'm just now responding to Mr. Jolly's post. It will probably take some time for everyone to get use to using a blog, and that is understandable.
Technology is advancing faster and faster as days go by. The Internet has become a something most people can't live without because of this. Our blogs may feel like a needle in a haystack, just lying there, waiting for some outside person to find them. It is very likely that no one outside our class will read our blogs. If we really want someone to, it would be rather easy. E-mailing the link to your blog to family members, or friends is a good way to get the blog out there. Or, like Mr. Jolly suggested, be ambitious, and find another random blog to partner up with.
In the end, I just hope that, as a class, we enjoy this new opportunity. Blogging is something that could grow on me, and I hope that, when I'm done with this class, I continue to blog about the inner workings of me.
Technology is advancing faster and faster as days go by. The Internet has become a something most people can't live without because of this. Our blogs may feel like a needle in a haystack, just lying there, waiting for some outside person to find them. It is very likely that no one outside our class will read our blogs. If we really want someone to, it would be rather easy. E-mailing the link to your blog to family members, or friends is a good way to get the blog out there. Or, like Mr. Jolly suggested, be ambitious, and find another random blog to partner up with.
In the end, I just hope that, as a class, we enjoy this new opportunity. Blogging is something that could grow on me, and I hope that, when I'm done with this class, I continue to blog about the inner workings of me.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Assignment One: Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor:
Super Bowl Tax
Regarding “Tax funds called key to 2012 Super Bowl”, Feb. 5: Organizers trying to get another Super Bowl in Arizona want taxpayer dollars to help support the massive cost of running the Super Bowl. The Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee and other leaders want public dollars to finance the bulk of the cost. I have no problem with taxpayers supporting some of the cost, but to ask them to support the majority of the cost is outrageous. This years Host Committee spent about 17 million dollars to put on the weeklong event. Most of that money came from private sector. 17 million dollars is a lot of money to raise for one event, but it is wrong to ask taxpayers to support the bulk of the cost for an event that is considered a luxury by most cities.
The Super Bowl can be considered the biggest game in of all sports. Where is all the money going that the Super Bowl is supposed bring in though? Projections have been made that the Super Bowl created more than 400 million dollars in spending. Organizers are trying to tell me that they can’t find money to use from that figure? With the thousands that come to see the Super Bowl, organizers should be able to fund the fundraising they need. The private sectors and the state raised enough money this year, why can’t they do it again?
What about the NFL too? The NFL is a multimillion dollar organization and the most popular professional sport in this country. The NFL should be able to help out host cities by fronting some of the costs for their own event. Asking taxpayers to help pay for the Super Bowl turns a great event into something most people may not want back now.
Casey O’Neill
Ahwatukee
Reflection:
With the Super Bowl fresh in my mind, I thought it would be a good idea to write my letter to the editor on the impact that it had on the state of Arizona. As I was browsing through the Arizona Republic, an article about taxpayers and the Super Bowl caught my eye. I knew that I had finally found the perfect article to write about when I saw it. Taxes are something that everyone dislikes. So, when this article stated that officials wanted taxpayer money as they try to secure another Super Bowl, I thought that it was a little outrageous. My point was that no one wants to pay tax dollars an event that is supposed to be a bonus, or a luxury to the city and state.
Before I started to write my letter to the editor, I had considered the genre of the letters that are written to the Arizona Republic. Most of the letters written to the Arizona Republic dealt with politics, the government, or local issues. My letter deals with a local government issue because of the taxes, so it fits the genre perfectly. Next I looked at the average length of the letters to the editor in the Arizona Republic. The letters were anywhere from 50 words, to just over 300, with most being around 200. My letter is 298 words, just barely fitting the requirements. After considering these two things, I needed to take a look at the audience that I was writing to. First is the editor of the paper. The Arizona Republic tends to have a slight tilt toward the conservative side. I needed to take this into account, along with the fact that the readers of the Arizona Republic are going to be fairly up to date and educated on events. With these points in mind, I was ready to start writing my letter.
I felt that credibility would be one of my most important tools in writing this letter. Letting my audience know that I am educated on the topic will allow them to take my opinion seriously and consider all of arguments. The first way that I established my credibility was by stating the name of the article that I was referring to in my letter. This lets my audience know that I have read the article in question, and that I am at least educated on the situation. Another way that I established credibility for my self was by using facts. Since my letter is about the cost of the Super Bowl, using that figure was a critical part of my argument. This stat also educates the reader on the topic, allowing them to ponder on my argument longer. One thing that I didn’t get to mention, due to the word count, was that I am a taxpayer myself. I felt that this would have further built my credibility, but it was something that I could survive without.
In persuasive writing there are three audiences; resistant, neutral, and sympathetic. I felt that I did a good job in appealing to all three audiences in my letter. I wanted to be aggressive in my tone, but I had to make sure that I didn’t alienate the resistant audience. To do this I conceded the fact that taxpayers should help pay for the Super Bowl a little bit. I wanted to show the resistant audience that I care about the struggles that the Host Committee had raising the money. I also stated how fundraising 17 million dollars can be tough to do. By conceding a little on these two issues, I should have appeased the resistant audience enough to allow them to consider what I was saying. To capture the sympathetic audience, I wanted to use raw emotion, or pathos. As my letter goes along, it progressively gets angrier and angrier. By doing this I am, in a sense, trying to round up my troops, get them excited to fight for my cause. I was hoping that my credibility would convince the neutral audience. I presented facts and appealed to both sides of the issue, insuring that that would not be put off either way.
My tone in this letter is very important. I start off with a serious tone in order not to offend any audience right off the bat. After I have presented some of my argument, I let some emotion start to appear in hopes of beginning to convince the reader that my view is the proper one. As I get to the end of my letter, I get angrier about the fact that we have to pay taxes to host the Super Bowl. I attack the deep pocketed NFL in hopes of convincing the reader that the money is out there for the taking. Most importantly, my tone fits the publication, being both serious and emotional. I read many letters in the Arizona Republic that were both serious and emotional on their specific topics.
Writing on a subject that I find interesting and that I enjoy, really helped me to write a successful letter. I believe that my letter would have the possibility of getting published if I had sent it to the Arizona Republic in the days after the article was printed. As I was looking through the Republic’s letters, I noticed that most of them were about articles written the day before. Sending it in a week after the article was printed will probably hurt my chances, but with any luck, it could get published.
Super Bowl Tax
Regarding “Tax funds called key to 2012 Super Bowl”, Feb. 5: Organizers trying to get another Super Bowl in Arizona want taxpayer dollars to help support the massive cost of running the Super Bowl. The Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee and other leaders want public dollars to finance the bulk of the cost. I have no problem with taxpayers supporting some of the cost, but to ask them to support the majority of the cost is outrageous. This years Host Committee spent about 17 million dollars to put on the weeklong event. Most of that money came from private sector. 17 million dollars is a lot of money to raise for one event, but it is wrong to ask taxpayers to support the bulk of the cost for an event that is considered a luxury by most cities.
The Super Bowl can be considered the biggest game in of all sports. Where is all the money going that the Super Bowl is supposed bring in though? Projections have been made that the Super Bowl created more than 400 million dollars in spending. Organizers are trying to tell me that they can’t find money to use from that figure? With the thousands that come to see the Super Bowl, organizers should be able to fund the fundraising they need. The private sectors and the state raised enough money this year, why can’t they do it again?
What about the NFL too? The NFL is a multimillion dollar organization and the most popular professional sport in this country. The NFL should be able to help out host cities by fronting some of the costs for their own event. Asking taxpayers to help pay for the Super Bowl turns a great event into something most people may not want back now.
Casey O’Neill
Ahwatukee
Reflection:
With the Super Bowl fresh in my mind, I thought it would be a good idea to write my letter to the editor on the impact that it had on the state of Arizona. As I was browsing through the Arizona Republic, an article about taxpayers and the Super Bowl caught my eye. I knew that I had finally found the perfect article to write about when I saw it. Taxes are something that everyone dislikes. So, when this article stated that officials wanted taxpayer money as they try to secure another Super Bowl, I thought that it was a little outrageous. My point was that no one wants to pay tax dollars an event that is supposed to be a bonus, or a luxury to the city and state.
Before I started to write my letter to the editor, I had considered the genre of the letters that are written to the Arizona Republic. Most of the letters written to the Arizona Republic dealt with politics, the government, or local issues. My letter deals with a local government issue because of the taxes, so it fits the genre perfectly. Next I looked at the average length of the letters to the editor in the Arizona Republic. The letters were anywhere from 50 words, to just over 300, with most being around 200. My letter is 298 words, just barely fitting the requirements. After considering these two things, I needed to take a look at the audience that I was writing to. First is the editor of the paper. The Arizona Republic tends to have a slight tilt toward the conservative side. I needed to take this into account, along with the fact that the readers of the Arizona Republic are going to be fairly up to date and educated on events. With these points in mind, I was ready to start writing my letter.
I felt that credibility would be one of my most important tools in writing this letter. Letting my audience know that I am educated on the topic will allow them to take my opinion seriously and consider all of arguments. The first way that I established my credibility was by stating the name of the article that I was referring to in my letter. This lets my audience know that I have read the article in question, and that I am at least educated on the situation. Another way that I established credibility for my self was by using facts. Since my letter is about the cost of the Super Bowl, using that figure was a critical part of my argument. This stat also educates the reader on the topic, allowing them to ponder on my argument longer. One thing that I didn’t get to mention, due to the word count, was that I am a taxpayer myself. I felt that this would have further built my credibility, but it was something that I could survive without.
In persuasive writing there are three audiences; resistant, neutral, and sympathetic. I felt that I did a good job in appealing to all three audiences in my letter. I wanted to be aggressive in my tone, but I had to make sure that I didn’t alienate the resistant audience. To do this I conceded the fact that taxpayers should help pay for the Super Bowl a little bit. I wanted to show the resistant audience that I care about the struggles that the Host Committee had raising the money. I also stated how fundraising 17 million dollars can be tough to do. By conceding a little on these two issues, I should have appeased the resistant audience enough to allow them to consider what I was saying. To capture the sympathetic audience, I wanted to use raw emotion, or pathos. As my letter goes along, it progressively gets angrier and angrier. By doing this I am, in a sense, trying to round up my troops, get them excited to fight for my cause. I was hoping that my credibility would convince the neutral audience. I presented facts and appealed to both sides of the issue, insuring that that would not be put off either way.
My tone in this letter is very important. I start off with a serious tone in order not to offend any audience right off the bat. After I have presented some of my argument, I let some emotion start to appear in hopes of beginning to convince the reader that my view is the proper one. As I get to the end of my letter, I get angrier about the fact that we have to pay taxes to host the Super Bowl. I attack the deep pocketed NFL in hopes of convincing the reader that the money is out there for the taking. Most importantly, my tone fits the publication, being both serious and emotional. I read many letters in the Arizona Republic that were both serious and emotional on their specific topics.
Writing on a subject that I find interesting and that I enjoy, really helped me to write a successful letter. I believe that my letter would have the possibility of getting published if I had sent it to the Arizona Republic in the days after the article was printed. As I was looking through the Republic’s letters, I noticed that most of them were about articles written the day before. Sending it in a week after the article was printed will probably hurt my chances, but with any luck, it could get published.
Monday, January 28, 2008
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