Craig Sager Receiving the Jimmy V Award

In 2016, Craig Sager won the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the ESPYS. For those who don't know; the award recognizes legendary North Carolina State basketball coach Jimmy Valvano, and the battle he faced with cancer during that time. He became the awards raison d'être at the 1993 ESPYS, and during his acceptance speech he said "Don't give up...Don't ever give up!" These words are still impactful to this day; and shine a light on the image Jimmy left when he passed away two months later. Craig Sager, who was a popular American sports reporter since 1981, also faced a battle of his own when he got diagnosed with Leukemia in 2014. Even with his health issues and chemotherapy treatments, Sager continued to work the NBA playoff games; qualifying him as the perfect recipient for the Jimmy V award in 2016. If his work didn't show perseverance enough, it was his speech that truly displayed the qualities in which the award represents. During his whole speech, he only highlighted the positive outlooks on life. He stated how thankful he is for everyone who is a part of his life, how he is able to look at the glass as "half-full," and how he is excited to continue watching all the accomplishments the athletes make. In order to persevere, the most important thing for someone to understand is outlook, and Craig Sager knew exactly what outlook to have. He added that when he got diagnosed with Leukemia, his perception of time changed. He said, "Time is something that cannot be bought,  it can not be wagered with God, and it is not in endless supply. Time is simply how you live your life." I think what he meant by this is that people fail to realize that time isn't the issue; and that the issue is that people aren't valuing the time they are given. Everyone only has so much time to live for, and it's their choice to choose if they're going to use that time or not. I think perseverance is best shown by people who don't let time affect the way they choose to live their life, and I think Craig Sager did just that.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/07/craig-sager-espys-jimmy-v-award-speech

Carr and Shirky

Nicholas Carr's article "Is Google Making us Stupid" emphasizes the effect of media on our thinking and learning skills. He argues that this form of technology, specifically the internet takes away the aspect of clinical and cognitive concentration. Another author by the name of Clay Shirky responded to Carr's article in a negative way. Even though they both agree that media affects thoughts, Shirky believes the article doesn't focus on thinking or learning, but culture. He explains that the article focuses the effect of media on each generation. An example is when he says how many more people are reading these days due to more access of info compared to the generation of people reading in the 1970's. It is this type of media technology that impacts the ways we live our life.  

Stuart Scoot Espy speech 2014

  Stuart Scoot's a journalist from ESPN. Giving the espy award to a journalists presents that sports is not just about those stars and athletes, but the whole industry as well. Journalist is a great part of sports on how they broadcast and presents sports to all over the world. Those people has won our respect as well as the athletes, as did they for espy awards. They had became a great part of sports culture and contributed greatly to it. Stuart Scoot’s been doing amazing jobs on broadcasting all these years, even after he got a cancer—he chose to fight rather to bent. He still worked out a lot and worked hard on his program. He lived the best way a man can and had been positive on finding a way to regain healthy. He encouraged people all around the world a lot and his impact are still emerging. The event of he’s getting the award was selected as one of the greatest event in 2014 by google. In his speech, he’s still being humorous and positive. He mentioned “never give up” for many times. I think that’s really important value in our society. It emphasis on live the best we can and never give up, while working together on this with other people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOWM_VuxxQ0

Craig Sager's ESPY speech

Craig Sager was a NBA sports broadcaster for TNT, and TBS. If you have ever watched a primetime NBA game you would see a man in a bizarre colored blazer that would be interviewing players and coaches at the end of half, and the end of the game. He was diagnosed with leukemia in the fall of 2014. The ESPY award that he received was the Jimmy V Perseverance award. Cancer did not stop his love for the game of basketball, and broadcasting it. His "never give up" and "do what you love" mentality really inspired a lot of people including me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01BMPwDUO74

Sport Post

For our discussion of gender, sport, nationalism, and the rhetoric of sports. While you watch, think about how Jenner frames her experiences in terms of the language of sports. Can you connect the vocabulary and ideas presented in lecture to Jenner's speech? How does she seek to persuade and connect to her audience? Pay particular attention to the various aspects:

·      Sport as a common language

·      Sport as a diversion and escape

·      Sporting subcultural practices

·      Sport as a business 

·      Teamwork

·      Building character and confidence

·      Fairness (fair play, being a “good sport”)

·      Strategic planning

·      Maneuvering

·      Stratification of sports is decided in economic terms and therefore social status

·      Athletes are commodities

·      Encourages hard work to get ahead and achieve monetarily

·      Encourages conspicuous consumption

·      Is a vehicle to advertise goods and commodities

·      Embodies the rhetoric of winning or losing

·      Creates imagined opponents

·      It creates dramatic conflicts that are resolved, which people can vicariously live through

·      It acts as a cultural resource to connect to other people

·      Vicarious involvement  

     Ritual and pageantry

·      Fans take “sides”

·      Patriotism and nationalism is inflected into the practices of the game

·      Sport teams are (often) segregated in terms of gender

·      Sport is a site of common ground across ethnicities and cultures

·      Sport is a site of gender indoctrination

·      Athletes are often seen as role models

 

ESPY Speech of Caitlyn Jenner:


 http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/espy-awards-caitlyn-jenner-accepts-arthur-ashe-courage-32482615

Josh Sweeney 2015

In 2015 Josh Sweeney wins the first ever Pat Tillman Award for service and selflessness. Sweeney who has no legs below the waist was an Olympic Gold Medalist in 2014 during the Paralympics and Purple Heart Recipient. In 2009 he was deployed in Afghanistan, which is where he got injured. On October 28, 2009, he stepped on an IED which is what severed both of his legs, while injuring his left hand and arm. During his speech he recognized the many troops fighting for our country. Other nonprofit organizations like Operation Comfort, and Home for our Troops were also recognized by Sweeney during his speech. Those organizations help out people like him who have been injured while taking part in the war, so those types of organizations have a special place in his heart because he understands where the other troops are coming from.


http://www.espn.com/espys/2015/

Jim Valvano's Espy Speech

In 1993 Jim Valvano accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage Award and gave one of the most impactful powerful speech's in the history of the Espy's. Valvano, who was fighting cancer at the time and used this speech to do two of the most powerful things that one can do in speech. He first inspired everyone with his advice of what one should do. He said that everyday people should do three things. They should laugh, they should think and they should cry. He talked about how everyone should live each day to the fullest and he would use whatever remaining days he has to enjoy his family and all the people around him. Finally he announced the creation of the Jimmy V foundation to raise money for cancer research. Cancer research was being severely under researched at the time. Since it's founding the Jimmy V foundation has raised over $170 million for Cancer research. This is the power that sports have. If Jim Valvano was a normal person, he and his foundation would never be able to have that kind of fundraising power, but he is a sports figure so he is able to do so


.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E&t=12s