My Blog

Gators Upcoming Weeks

jtcraft — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:09:56 +0000

Last Saturday the Florida Gators hit the road for a challenging road game against the University of South Carolina, which is coached by former Gator head coaching legend Steve Spurrier. Once again the Gators did not play particularly well but pulled out a 24-14 win. The Gators, still undefeated, close out there regular season with a home game against long time in state rival Florida State and can be seen on CBS on November 28 at 2:30 p.m.. Florida is still the number one ranked team in the country and have already clinched a spot in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta, Georgia against the number two tanked team Alabama. The winner of the SEC Championship game will most certainly play for the national championship in January so the next two weeks are huge for the Florida Gators football program, the university, and Gators fans everywhere.

Monday November 16

jtcraft — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:57:00 +0000

Today during class in the library I did research for my essay #3 topic. I looked up information on pyramids, ancient Greece, and bi-polar disorder and how it is diagnosed and treated. I found the information on bi-polar disorder very interesting becuase there is a person in my life which I believe may in fact be bi-polar. I learned information about the extreme manic episodes people diagonosed with this disorder experience as well as the sever depressive stages they undergo. I also began researching genetics as well as environmental influences on this disease.

GET IT!?!? BIPOLAR HAHA

“In Your Face…All Over The Place”

jtcraft — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:18:02 +0000

In this excerpt from the book Deadly Persuasion written by Jean Kilborne, the author is trying to get across to the readers that we are purchasing the label or popularity of a product. Advertising has influenced Americans an so many ways that we are spending more money and going out of our ways in a sense to own what “is in” or in all, what is portrayed as being the best product out there. Kilborne is sharing information that argues people are more concerned about the label or tag on an item rather than the item itself.

Tough Play

jtcraft — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:52:41 +0000

Yesterday the Florida Gators, plagued by injury, struggled pulling out a win against SEC conference opponent Mississippi State at Starkeville. Some would look at this as Florida being in trouble coming down the homestrech of the season, being a Gator fan I look at it as promising to see them play sub-par football and still pull out victories over other SEC teams (Mississippi St & Arkansas). The number two team in the country behind Florida is University of Alabama, also in the SEC, realistically should have lost there game against unranked Tennessee. This just shows the power of the Southeastern Conference, no game is a given. Even if Alabama would have lost to Tennessee they probably would have still played Florida in the SEC championship. I am very excited about this potential, almost certain match up for the championship, mostly because my roommate is a die hard Crimson Tide fan! When and if these two teams play in the SEC championship it will feature two of the biggest names in college football this year with two Heisman contenders in Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Alabama runningback Mark Ingram.

The Big Scare

jtcraft — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:18:35 +0000

Last Saturday Florida Quarterback, two time national championship quarterback and 2007 Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow was injured in one heart stopping second. Late in the third quarter against SEC opponent Kentucky Tebow dropped back to pass and has completely taken out from an unblocked defender. With no contact being made with the defender he had a clear lane to give Tebow the hit of a lifetime. Laying motionless on the field, Gator teammates tug on his jersey to bring some sort of movement or life out of him. Tebow was assisted off the field by trainers where he was later taken to the hospital by ambulance. Tim Tebow was diagnosed with a concussion. You never want to see an athlete injured during a game like that, but it seemed more intense because of who actually was the injured Gator. Not only is he the center of the entire offense and arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the college football, but he represents what real scholar-athlete should be. Tim Tebow is an academic all-american and attends multiple religous events and charity gatherings. In the summer of 2008 Tebow also traveled to third world countries working with a missionary group. It is obvious that no one likes to see a kid injured in a sporting event, but when a guy like Tebow takes a scare like that it seems to be more gut wrenching because of the type of mentor he has been for kids and what he has represented for not only University of Florida football but college football as a whole.

Florida had an bye week this week but play SEC powerhouse LSU, who just beat Georgia yesterday, next saturday in Baton Rouge.

See the hit Tim Tebow took in the game against Kentucky

Florida Gator football

jtcraft — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:21:22 +0000

University of Florida head football coach Urban Meyer was recognized today as Sporting News magazines college football coach of the decade. In four seasons, Meyer has guided the Gators to a pair of national championships, two Southeastern Conference Championships and has posted the best record in the SEC during the last four years (24-8). He has led the Gators to 35 wins during the last three seasons, tied for the best victory total in the nation during that time. His 44-9 mark during the last four seasons is the tied for the third-best total in the nation during that time span. Meyer, who has 23 years of coaching experience, including eight as a head coach, became the only coach in school history to post seven-consecutive wins against UF’s traditional rivals – Tennessee, Georgia and Florida State. Overall, Meyer has won 11 of 12 against the trio.

GO GATORS!

Refutation Essay

jtcraft — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:14:39 +0000

This refutation essay is having me do a little more researching than I thought I was going to do. When I first started searching for information to support my paper, I was finding more articles in support of the orginal author. I chose to do my paper arguing the points made by David Relin in his article, “Who’s Killing Kids’ Sports” because I believed what he stressed could be argued either way, and I was interested in what people on the opposite end of the spectrum would have to say about the subject. Most articles I have read so far are in support that parents and coaches alike put unnecessary pressure on young athletes. I have come across some radical viewpoints made by people on each side of the debate, and I believe some of these ideas will make a good foundation for my paper.

Gordon Gee, “My Plan to Put College Back in College Sports”

jtcraft — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 06:12:14 +0000

In Gordon Gee’s article, he does not provide statistics, because he uses personal knowledge from being involved with universities known for their academics as well as athletics. Gee was active on many boards and commissions as well as former president at four other universities involved in NCAA Division 1 athletics. Gordon Gee is expecting his readers to know about the many problems in college with athletic personnel as well as student athletes. Gee mentions general examples such as academic fraud and coaches behaving badly, but there are no specific stories or encounters about situations universities have faced. This would make readers more knowledgeable about the subject at hand. Not providing statistics may also allow Gee to engage interest from a larger audience, because readers can use personal siutuations to draw their own evidence and conclusion.

Frank Deford, “Solving the Title IX Problem”

jtcraft — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:50:08 +0000

In Frank Deford’s article in Time magazine, “Solving the Title IX Problem,” Deford states the solution to the problems caused by Title IX would simply be to cut mens’ football out of the athletic department. Deford comments that the growing number of women athletes and womens’ athletic programs are causing many mens’ athletics to be cut such as mens tennis, gymnastics, and track and field to name a few. Deford supports the growth of women in sports, but is against cutting the sports mentioned above that are “intended primarily to be played by students, not watched by ticket buyers.” According to Deford cutting football would be the simple solution to the problems caused by Title IX, more specific, the dropping of other athletic programs. “Football is primarily a spectator sport. It’s show-biz,” Dalton writes. Dalton realizes that football unifies students and alumni, but believes for men and women in sports to be equal that the sport should be cut from the athletic department. By cutting football schools could keep sports built for the athlete and not so much for the fans.

David Relin, “Who’s Killing Kids’ Sports?”

jtcraft — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:31:32 +0000

In the article, “Who’s Killing Kids’ Sports” the author David Relin comments about the pressure put on kids by their coaches and parents to compete at high levels instead of competing for fun and love of the game. As opposed to teaching kids about the importance of having a great time enjoying the sports they love, parents and coaches alike are teaching kids that ”if you ain’t first your last,” as quoted by Rickey Bobby in the movie Talladega Nights. Relin’s strongest claim of the article is in the fifth paragraph when he states, “…parents and coaches are conspiring to run youth sports leagues like incubators for future professional athletes.” Relin goes on to say, “…the simple pleasure of playing sports is being buried beneath cutthroat competition.”