(#43) / John Elway: Armed and Dangerous / by Clay Latimer / (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

John Elway: Armed and Dangerous / by Clay Latimer

ISBN-10: 1-886110-53-0 / Addax Publishing Group

p. 240 / $14.95 (Retail)

1998

Body of Content

Summary: The book is a biographical look into the life and career of John Elway – the legendary quarterback for the Denver Broncos football team – predominately playing through the 1980s and 1990s.  The book starts with his personal life – noting his strong relationship with his father, a college football coach on a rival team.  The book goes through the NFL Draft and early Super Bowl losses.  As the book talks in more depth, Latimer walks readers through Elway’s style and talent under the coaches of Dan Reeves, Wade Phillips, and Mike Shanahan.  The book takes readers through the highs and lows of Elway’s storied career – filled with interviews and quotes.  The book is predominately narrative in themes and content, but it does include 20-30 pages worth of pictures of Elway in action.  

Critique: The book is largely narrative in form.  It does contain a few metaphors throughout its course.  One heavily emphasized simile was the comparison of John Elway to a “gunslinger”.  The imagery is used throughout – the book even devotes an entire chapter to his favorite weapon – “The Arm” – demonstrating the key to his NFL success (p. 10).  Elsewhere, the western simile continues to find resonance as the author notes that Elway was “John Wayne in cleats” (p. 18). Elsewhere, Elway is comparable to other quarterbacks who are fellow “gunslingers” – like Packers-great Brett Favre (p. 202).  The imagery helps produce a picture of Elway – of an independent, football-throwing player capable of wild-west ideals and miraculous fourth-quarter comebacks.  Elway was the face of the franchise for many years and continually carried mediocre teams deep into the playoffs with his gunslinger of an arm.      

Teaser: A storied quarterback’s humble beginnings to his Cinderella conclusion – the career of NFL-great John Elway.

Information about the Author: Currently, Latimer is a freelance writer, though he worked as a sports writer for the Rocky Mountain News for the better part of three decades.  While a newspaper writer, Latimer covered Nuggets basketball and Broncos football.  Education wise, he attended the University of Colorado (Linkedin, 2011).  

Latimer other works include biographies about the lives of Mia Hamm and Muhammad Ali, along with Special Delivery: The Amazing Basketball Career of Karl Malone.  Other topical books in sports include It’s 3^rd & Long So … : 101 Ways to Improve the Game of Football and VIP Pass to a Pro Basketball Game Day: From the Locker Room to the Press Box (and Everything in Between) (BookFinder, 2011).

Supplemental Material

Genre: Sports / Biography

Curriculum Ties: Math – statistics / Physical Education – football, game theory, coach-player dynamics

Booktalking Ideas: 1) Before Tim Tebow, there was one quarterback in Denver who held the sway over the hearts of all those within Colorado. 2) How many wide receivers can you name who caught a pass from John Elway? 

Reading Level: Male teens will likely generate more interest to this football title than female teens – best suited from all ages of high school (15-18).

Challenge Issues and Defense: The book is pretty clean – I would not expect any challenges – though some may come from Raiders fans – though those challenges are not based upon the book’s content, per se.

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I grew up watching the Broncos play.

Last Thoughts

References:

BookFinder. (2011). Clay Latimer [Webpage].Retrieved from http://www.bookfinder.com/

search/?st=xl&ac=qr&src=dir&author=Clay%20Latimer

Linkedin. (2011). Clay Latimer [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.linkedin.com/pub/clay-

latimer/10/687/245

Listening to (Music):

Artist – David Crowder Band / Album – “Church Music” 

(#10) / The Blind Side / (adapted from book) by Michael Lewis / (Movie)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

The Blind Side / (adapted from book) by Michael Lewis / 
(directed) by John Lee Hancock

OCLC Number: 501073267/ Alcon Entertainment / Warner Bros (DVD)  

$9.49 (Amazon) / 129 minutes

Release date: 2009 / Rating: PG-13

Body of Content

Summary: The inspirational movie tells the story of a homeless, teenage boy by the name Michael Oher.  Coming from a broken home, Oher bounces around living dynamics – between foster homes and friend’s houses.  Ultimately, a friend’s family can no longer afford to provide for him and Oher becomes homeless.  The previous family manages to enroll him in a private school – given his athletic prowess in both basketball and football – and that is how Oher’s life intersects with another family from the school – the Touhys.  When the Touhys find out that Oher sleeps in the school’s gymnasium at night, they offer to “put him up for a night”.  As days become weeks, the question becomes how permanent is this arrangement?  The story centers on Oher – who is a shy, African-American, teenage boy – with Mrs. Touhy as the direct opposite – a talkative, white, middle-age, woman.  In a moving narrative, The Blind Side provides the story based on the real-life story of Baltimore Ravens starting left tackle.     

Critique: Thematically, the movie is about charity as much as it is about football.  The movie depicts two individuals – Oher and Mrs. Touhy – whose lives, under any other circumstances, would likely never cross. 

The Touhys take Oher into their household and treat him just like any other member of the family.  Many of the students at school refer to Oher as “Big Mike”.  Mrs. Touhy detects his aversion to the nickname and decides to call him “Michael”.  When, as an under-experienced driver, Oher is involved in a car accident with the Touhys’ youngest child, the parents do not blame Michael for the accident, but instead, praise him for instinctively protecting S.J. with his free arm.  On more than one occasion, Mrs. Touhy defends Michael – as “her son” – whether it is in front of parents from rival football programs, well-intentioned but judgmental lady friends, or a case worker trying to follow the letter of the law. 

Bullock’s performance clearly was recognized by the Academy because of her strong ability to communicate subtle items of charity to Michael.  But the story is, as Mrs. Touhy expresses, not about how much Michael learns from the Touhys, but about “how much he [Michael] is teaching me”.  I did not find the movie cliché – and overall, I’m not one for inspirational films.  However, I found that the kernel contained in Michael Lewis’ book became a well-designed adaption on the big screen.      

Teaser: How could a homeless teen ever become the starting left tackle for a professional football team?

Information about the Author: Michael Lewis specializes in writing stories which revolve around finance and/or sports.  The one-time beat writer for the Oakland Athletics eventually penned the book Moneyball – which, in itself, recently received a film adaption.

John Lee Hancock is primarily a film director and screenwriter – with some work experience in movie production.  His other well-known films include the inspirational tale My Dog Skip and another sports-inspired movie The Rookie (Wikipedia, 2011a).  His next film is one titled The Goree Girls – which is a musical set in the 1940s about a group of inmates who form a country band (Wikipedia, 2011b).    

Supplemental Material

Genre: Drama / Sports

Curriculum Ties: Sociology – race relations, homelessness, class warfare, private schools

Booktalking Ideas: 1) Where would you go – if you were homeless?  Who could you turn to? 2) Why is the left tackle position so important in football?

Reading Level: The film is rated PG-13 – with some adult themes – namely, “for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references” (Worldcat, 2011).  This film is viewable for grades 7 and up – easily.  But the lead character is a high-school student – and interest in the film is easily transferrable and appropriate for high-school-aged teens.

Challenge Issues and Defense: Anytime that a film/book represents racial issues (cf. To Kill a Mockingbird), there exists the possibility of challenges on a wide range of objections.  Still, the film deals with the issues well – and the film produced some awards, including Bullock’s performance – which received an Oscar for “Best Actress”. 

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I have read some other works by Michael Lewis and loved his interviews on shows like The Daily Show.  This film presented itself as an opportunity to work him into the blog project.  

Last Thoughts

References:

Wikipedia. (2011a). John Lee Hancock [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

John_Lee_Hancock

Wikipedia. (2011b). The Goree girls [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

The_Goree_Girls

Worldcat. (2011). The blind side [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.worldcat.org/title/blind-

side/oclc/501073267&referer=brief_results

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Hillsong (Live)/ Album – “A Beautiful Exchange”   

(#8) / MLB 2K10 / by Nintendo / (Video Game)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

MLB 2K10 / by Nintendo

ASIN: B002VB0XCQ / OCLC Number: 732328103

Format: Nintendo Wii

Release date: 2010 / $17.15 (Amazon)

Body of Content

Summary: This baseball game contains all the expectations of a baseball video game.  The gamer primarily plays as the batter (when on offense) and the pitcher (when on defense) – controlling base runners and fielders when appropriate.  From the dugout, the gamer also controls lineup and bullpen decisions.  Gamers can play as any official Major League Baseball team, within any stadium, and have access to all professional ballplayers – though the extent of minor league players is limited.  Franchise and season modes represent the core of the game; but gamers can also play a homerun derby or tournament mode.  The game includes announcers – and a decent amount of interesting camera angles when showing replays.  There are four levels of difficulty – the harder levels, in particular, make it difficult to outpitch and outsmart the computer opponents.  Given that the game is a Wii game, the Wii controller is part of the gameplay.  Swinging and moving it, the gamer uses it for batting swings and pitching throws (though not for defensive throws).     

Critique: Personally, the most enjoyable portion of the game is the drafting process – when starting a franchise mode.  A team starts with an empty bench – and over 30 rounds – the gamer drafts his team – one player at a time.  Because this is a franchise mode selection, the players (if you decide to re-sign them when their contracts expire) have the possibility of staying on your team for the entirety of their careers.  Particularly for the first five rounds, a gamer’s decisions form the core of their team for the next 10 seasons of baseball.  

Personally, I know that there is a dirge of talent (historically) at four key positions – in the order of hardest to secure offense-minded players – shortstop, second base, catcher, and centerfield.  Personally, I have performed these types of drafts a few times – and I try to vie for these positions – finding players who are younger.  In one draft, I selected Chase Utley (2B), Jose Reyes (SS), Brian McCann (C), and Mark Reynolds (3B) with my first four picks.  In another draft, with several players not available at my spot(s) in the draft, I drafted Troy Tulowitski (SS), Kevin Youkilis (3B), (Victor Martinez (C), and Dan Uggla (2B). 

Given the free-agent market at the conclusion of each season, over the next three to five seasons, I proceeded, then, to sign better outfielders and starting pitchers – to make my team more competitive.  In summary, if a gamer knows the players in the draft, and knows the depth of each position, and what trends occur over seasons regarding the availability of players, then the gamer should have the capacity for a success draft.

One of the shortcuts – which is not necessarily a cheat code – but still feels like one – is when the gamer knows this bit of information: the team salary is determined by the total salary of all players.  So, if you draft high salary contracts in the franchise mode, then your team salary after season one treats that amount as the budgeted amount available for each successive season.  Thus, if a gamer drafts expensive players in rounds 20-30 – to fill out their roster – with the intent of waiving them after one season – then the gamer has secured a large amount of money to sign pricey (and competent) players in the free-agent market.  For that reason, I drafted players at the end of their careers in the last couple of rounds – players like Jason Giambi (1B) and Bobby Crosby (SS) – who fetch millions of dollars.  At the conclusion of the season, when their contracts expired, I used the free money to pursue better players like Albert Pujois (1B).  

Teaser: You’ve started a franchise mode game – and with the first overall fantasy draft pick – which player will you select?  

Information about the Author: (See entry #7 – for information regarding Nintendo)

Supplemental Material

Genre: Sports / Baseball / Multiplayer   

Curriculum Ties: Mathematics – statistical analysis, sabermetrics, percentages

Booktalking Ideas: 1) You’re an AL team who made it to the World Series – but which of your star players do you bench without the DH rule when you play in a NL park? 2) It’s only a video game, but if sabermetrics tells us that a 70% success rate is needed for a positive impact – would you still attempt to steal bases often?

Reading Level: Sports games in general have a wide demographic – though mostly among males.  This game is easily playable for grade 5 and up.  With so few baseball games to select from – particularly on the Wii console – high school boys would still turn to such a title.  Interest level for this game could easily fall between ages 10-30.

Challenge Issues and Defense: With the E-rating, it would prove difficult to challenge.  The players do not even chew tobacco in this game.

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I played Little League once upon a time – and I am avid fan of a more hardcore, analytic simulation game called Nostalgia Baseball.

Last Thoughts

References: n/a

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Skillet / Album – “Comatose”