Journal #2 Revised: Who's got the Moneyball?

The cover of Moneyball DVD-http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210166/

        My favorite movie is Moneyball.  This movies shows what a general manager does in the MLB.  This is why I like the movie.  I have been a baseball fan for wuite some time and never got the chance to really know what a GM (general manager) does during the regular and off season.  Moneyball is about a former player for the Oakland Athletics, Billy Beane, who becomes the general manager of the team that he played for.  The Oakland Athletics have had their ups and downs with getting into the playoffs as well as having the money to compete with all of rich teams such as the Yankees, Phillies, and Cardinals.  I especially liked Moneyball because of the actors that the director chose as the main characters.  These actors are Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.  These two actors are probably two of my favorite actors in Hollywood.  These two work together to make a team based solely on statistics like batting average and on base percentage.  To me that is interesting because for one I like statistics and I have never heard of that method before.  They did not focus on how they play or how hard they can hit the ball.  The Oakland Athletics went to the playoffs and made it to the world series in the movie.  I liked how the director focused on a team that had a small budget that won a championship.  This shows money cannot buy everything.  This message is what I liked about the plot of the movie, Moneyball.  This movie is my favorite because of the information about what the general manager can do and the message that the movie gives.

Journal #4 Revised: An Upcoming Revolution in College Football?

Woman not approving of BCS computers.
 http://www.krossover.com/blog/2012/09/the-bcs-how-computers-watch-football/

I read the article "College Football's War on Math" by Brian Curtis.  I thought that this article was very interesting and educational.  It was educational because I had no idea the teams of the NCAA did not like the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) rankings done by a computer.  I thought this was interesting because the BCS is expected to be terminated in 2014.  Some of the things about the BCS rankings are very good. For one the process is a lot faster than if committees were doing all the ranking.  Secondly, computers do not come with certain biases.  Thirdly, some people may not be as educated in what the rankings are based upon.  I think that the computer system do the rankings is a lot better than having people do them just by the reasons of it is faster and there is no bias involved.  Sure there could be a number typed in wrong, but that can be fixed.  If a committee member makes the wrong decision based on his/her feelings then a lot of people are going to be mad and it cannot be fixed as easily because you cannot say "well I typed a wrong number into my computer of feelings."  So in my opinion, I think that the computer system is better just because it is faster and it has no bias involve.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/42108/college-footballs-war-on-math

Journal #3 Revised: Nothing Can Compare

Bill Snyder, Kansas State Wildcats Head Coach http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/stewart_mandel/09/26/bill-snyder-kansas-state/index.html

The article I read was called "Father Football" and was written by Michael Weinreb.  This article was about the Kansas State University Football head coach, Bill Snyder, who is miraculously still coaching at the ripe old age of 73.  I learned that Bill Snyder came into the Kansas State program in the mid-1980's and then left in 2005.  He then came back in 2009.  From the end of World War II to when Snyder came to the program the Kansas State Football team was so bad that the football team would go door to door selling tickets because no one would go to the games.  Then when Bill Snyder left the team in 2005, the team did not do well for the four years that he was gone.  I found this interesting because when Bill Snyder was with the Kansas State Wildcats, they succeeded and when he was gone the were horrible.  This means that nothing can compare to the coaching and the father figure that Bill Snyder is.  Kansas State is so far in the Midwest that the students and players are so far from home that he is the football players second father.  This is very interesting to me.  So if Bill Snyder decides to retire again do not expect the Kansas State Wildcats to be very successful.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8570686/kansas-state-head-coach-bill-snyder-heisman-trophy-candidate-collin-klein-led-their-team-8-0-season

Lenny Kravitz and movies?

Lenny Kravtiz in "The Hunger Games"
         http://www.bravenewhollywood.com/lenny-kravitz-ponders-the-chance-of-a-real-life-%E2%80%98hunger-games%E2%80%99/

In the article, "Lenny Kravitz Is Starring in a Marvin Gaye Biopic, But Can He Act?" by Amos Barshad, it talks about how Lenny Kravitz landed his first big role in a movie.  Lenny Kravitz has played minor roles in other movies such as "Hunger Games" and "Precious," but has never landed a large role.  I think that he will do very well in the movie because it is about when soul singer Marvin Gaye was in Europe and Lenny Kravitz is a singer.  The author of the article talks about all kinds of good acting techniques that Lenny Kravitz uses in "The Hunger Games" and "Precious," but I don't think good acting techniques are what defines an actor or actress.  In my opinion, how good at acting an actor or actress is depends on how the actor/actress perceives the character that is presented before them.  So do I think Lenny Kravitz is a good fit to be in movies?  The answer is yes because he has shown in previous films, even though they were not large parts, that he is a wonderful actor.

An Upcoming Revolution In College Football?

Woman not approving of BCS computers.
 http://www.krossover.com/blog/2012/09/the-bcs-how-computers-watch-football/

I read the article "College Football's War on Math" by Brian Curtis.  I thought that this article was very interesting and educational.  It was educational because I had no idea the teams of the NCAA did not like the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) rankings done by a computer.  I thought this was interesting because the BCS is expected to be terminated in 2014.  Some of the things about the BCS rankings are very good. For one the process is a lot faster than if committees were doing all the ranking.  Secondly, computers do not come with certain biases.  Thirdly, some people may not be as educated in what the rankings are based upon.  I think that the computer system do the rankings is a lot better than having people do them just by the reasons of it is faster and there is no bias involved.  Sure there could be a number typed in wrong, but that can be fixed.  If a committee member makes the wrong decision based on his/her feelings then a lot of people are going to be mad and it cannot be fixed as easily because you cannot say "well I typed a wrong number into my computer of feelings."  So in my opinion, I think that the computer system is better just because it is faster and it has no bias involved.

Nothing Can Compare

Bill Snyder, Kansas State Wildcats Head Coach http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/stewart_mandel/09/26/bill-snyder-kansas-state/index.html

The article I read was called "Father Football" and was written by Michael Weinreb.  This article was about the Kansas State University Football head coach, Bill Snyder, who is miraculously still coaching at the ripe old age of 73.  I learned that Bill Snyder came into the Kansas State program in the mid-1980's and then left in 2005.  He then came back in 2009.  From the end of World War II to when Snyder came to the program the Kansas State Football team was so bad that the football team would go door to door selling tickets because no one would go to the games.  Then when Bill Snyder left the team in 2005, the team did not do well for the four years that he was gone.  I found this interesting because when Bill Snyder was with the Kansas State Wildcats, they succeeded and when he was gone the were horrible.  This means that nothing can compare to the coaching and the father figure that Bill Snyder is.  Kansas State is so far in the Midwest that the students and players are so far from home that he is the football players second father.  This is very interesting to me.  So if Bill Snyder decides to retire again do not expect the Kansas State Wildcats to be very successful.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8570686/kansas-state-head-coach-bill-snyder-heisman-trophy-candidate-collin-klein-led-their-team-8-0-season

All Respect is Earned

Cogburn in a standoff with Lucky Ned and his boys.
 http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2011/01/31/the-kings-speech-true-grit-and-black-swan-box-office-stories-of-2010/

   The scene I chose to evaluate from the movie True Grit starts at 1:29.24.  This scene is right after LaBeouf saves Maddie from being killed and now Cogburn is in a standoff with Lucky Ned and his crew.  In this scene the viewer finds out that Cogburn had made up a plan with LaBeouf.  After Maddie is safe Cogburn goes after Lucky Ned.  Lucky Ned’s crew consists of a doctor, and two brothers.  Cogburn says that he has not interest in [them] today,” Which says that the only thing that Cogburn wants to do is kill Lucky Ned.  All the while LaBeouf and Maddie are sitting up on the ridge waiting for Cogburn’s signal.  When Cogburn takes off after Lucky Ned and his crew LaBeouf is taking aim, but they are moving too fast, so at this point the scene is building suspense.  Cogburn’s horse is shot and falls on top of him and this allows Lucky Ned to get a free shot at the well-known Marshall Cogburn.  As Lucky Ned is about to shoot Cogburn, Labeouf shoots Lucky Ned from the ridge to save Cogburn’s life.  After Lucky Ned gets shot LaBeouf gets hit over the head with a huge rock.  Cheney and Maddie pull for the gun, but Maddie overcomes and says “stand up Tom Cheney.”  Maddie finally avenged her father’s death because she shot Tom Cheney off the ridge.  I think this whole scene is important because it shows that LaBeouf finally respects Maddie to come after her and save her life.  I also think this scene is important because LaBeouf and Cogburn never got along during the movie and then in this scene LaBeouf saves Cogburn’s life by shooting Lucky Ned.  This shows that Cogburn and LaBeouf finally got along.

Who's got the Moneyball?

The cover of Moneyball DVD-http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210166/

        My favorite movie is Moneyball.  This movies shows what a general manager does in the MLB.  This is why I like the movie.  I have been a baseball fan for wuite some time and never got the chance to really know what a GM (general manager) does during the regular and off season.  Moneyball is about a former player for the Oakland Athletics, Billy Beane, who becomes the general manager of the team that he played for.  The Oakland Athletics have had their ups and downs with getting into the playoffs as well as having the money to compete with all of rich teams such as the Yankees, Phillies, and Cardinals.  I especially liked Moneyball because of the actors that the director chose as the main characters.  These actors are Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.  These two actors are probably two of my favorite actors in Hollywood.  These two work together to make a team based solely on statistics like batting average and on base percentage.  To me that is interesting because for one I like statistics and I have never heard of that method before.  They did not focus on how they play or how hard they can hit the ball.  The Oakland Athletics went to the playoffs and made it to the world series in the movie.  I liked how the director focused on a team that had a small budget that won a championship.  This shows money cannot buy everything.  This message is what I liked about the plot of the movie, Moneyball.  This movie is my favorite because of the information about what the general manager can do and the message that the movie gives.

“Winning Actually Isn’t the Only Thing” By David Maraniss

A clear catch by Jennings

David Maraniss’ argument was about the Packer vs. Seahawks on Monday, September 24, 2012.  He describes his opinion on the final call of the game, which was called a touchdown and an interception by two different refs.  He also describes how people may have reacted a little too strongly towards the refs and did not realize that football is just a game.  Another thing he touches on is the reaction of the head coach and quarterback of the other team.

             

          I completely disagree with David Maraniss’ opinion on the last call of the game.  Maraniss says that when Russell Wilson said “tough call” in his post game interview that it was not a tough call at all when it was probably the toughest call any of those refs have had to make in their careers.  The refs are from Division III schools, so for them to all of a sudden come and ref NFL football games is like playing middle school football and then going straight to the NFL and not having a choice.  Not to mention that everyone around you hates every play you make.  I do agree, however, on the part about how football is just a game.  This is a very valid statement because that is actually what football is.  I also don’t find his argument to be very credible because of the fact that he is a Packer fan, which makes his argument highly unconvincing. 

The Believing Game: Part B

        People say swimming is a sport.  I agree completely that swimming is a sport for the simple reason that it is no different than football or lacrosse, in the sense of the words "team sport."  Sure swimming is different because every event takes place in water, but there are still practices and meets (which are like games).  In meets a swimmer can only participate in four events out of the twelve which means that one person cannot compete with themselves, entirely.  Swimmers swim against other swimmers.  There are also relays which contain four swimmers in one race, so there is a team effort involved.  So in my opinion swimming is a sport.   

The Believing Game: Part A

         People say swimming is not a sport.  I strongly disagree due to the fact that it is a team effort in each event.  Swimmers compete with themselves and against other opponents.  Swimmers say that their practices are hard; well I consider swimming upwards of two and a half miles every practice is quite hard.  I think football practices are like a vacation compared to a swim practice.  In football it is a team effort for the whole game and in order to win everyone needs to do their part.  A football practice is hard because there is hitting, running, jumping, and many more physical activities.  So in my opinion, I do not agree with the statement ‘Swimming is not a sport’ because it is a team effort and puts tons of strain on your body.

Test Video Post

Lenny Kravitz- Fly Away

Test Post

Jellyfish swimming along in the water. (Courtesy Microsoft)

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