Here is a video to make you go, WHAT?!?! I love what human beings are capable of. Thanks goes out to SuperForester Donald for sending this my way!
Happy Tuesday, SuperForest!
Tag Archive for 'sports'
I know it’s December and everyone is excited to snuggle up and watch their favorite holiday movie (Elf!), but how about an amazing sports movie instead? I love sports movies almost as much as I love sports itself. These movies roll all the ups and downs and drama of a full season in just 2 hours. Without fail, every sports movies I’ve seen has made me cry, laugh, and yell in frustration – no matter how many times I’ve seen it. Sports movies do it all and that’s why I love them. I have a lot of favorites and I tried to come up with a top 10 or top 5 list, but it was just too hard. It’s way too difficult to order them all. That being said, there’s one sports movie that easily takes the number one spot – Friday Night Lights.
The movie Friday Night Lights is based off a book which is based on a true story and has spawned a TV show as well. That’s a mouthful. The book is a non-fiction story that follows the 1988 Permian High School Panthers football team from Odessa, Texas. For those of you who don’t know, high school football is absolutely huge in Texas and Odessa is no different. Sports Illustrated named Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream as the 4th greatest sports book ever written, so you know it’s a good story.
The movie starts with preseason practice and new coach Gary Gaines and other star players being interviewed by local media. You meet the main characters – quarterback Mike Winchell, fullback Don Billingsley, running back James “Boobie” Miles, safety Brian Chavez, among others. You start to see just how important football is in this community and to these players. For some of these players, football scholarships are there only way out of their little town. The coach carries an extreme amount of pressure as well – if he doesn’t get the team to the playoffs, he’ll lose his job. Coach Gaines captures this feeling perfectly by stating, “Gentlemen, the hopes and dreams of an entire town are riding on your shoulders.” Talk about pressure.
During the first game of the season, an unthinkable event happens that shakes up the future of the team and the coach. The team must learn how to overcome their personal struggles in order to create success for each other and their town on the playing field.
It’s an emotional movie, made even more emotional with Explosions in the Sky’s beautiful instrumental tracks in the background. The movie doesn’t lack inspirational moments, either. At halftime of a very important game, Coach Gary Gaines gives one of the best speeches I have heard. Ever. It is extremely moving and brings tears to my eyes practically every time I watch the movie. Fun story: one time, I watched the movie for at least the 8th time with my roommate who had never seen it before. While watching the movie, our other roommate came home and heard me gasping and cheering and asked, “Afshawn, I thought you’ve seen this movie before?” That’s how good it is, folks.
(note: this video contains some spoilers)
I can’t even properly explain how much I love this movie and how great it is. The characters feel real and make you empathize with their various plights. You ache for Coach Gaines when the town attacks him after a loss, you want to console Billingsley and tell him everything will be okay when his father gets on his case, and you want to do everything in your power to make Winchell smile. I’m no expert on cinematography but I can tell you this movie is extremely well made.
Please take 118 minutes out of your day to watch this movie – I guarantee that you will not be disappointed. If you find yourself aching for more FNL after you watch, then don’t worry! There are 5 seasons of Friday Night Lights the TV show. The TV show changes some things up – the characters, the school, and the town (you know, minor stuff! ha), but the essence of the movie is still there. Peter Berg, the director of the film, is the executive producer of the show so the elements that make the movie so good remain in the show. I have to give a shout out to my friend Henderson for making me watch the show. I was a bit hesitant because I didn’t want to ruin the movie, but after watching the first episode (it’s all available online via Netflix instant streaming), I proceeded to watch the entire first season in one week (which happened to overlap with finals, whoops!). I just could not stop. The TV show is just as addicting as the movie.
If you’ve seen FNL or decide to watch it, share your thoughts in the replies. Or, if you think there’s a, ahem, better sports movie, do tell! I’m always looking for new movies to watch!
Happy watching! And remember: be perfect.
Afshawn
This summer, the basketball world was shaken up like never before. LeBron James, a strong contender for the title of greatest basketball player ever lived, and many other players, entered the free agency. This means their contracts had expired with their current teams and they could shop themselves around. Many teams approached LeBron – the Cleveland Cavaliers (his current team), the New Jersey Nets, the Chicago Bulls, the Miami Heat, the New York Knicks, etc. No one knew where LeBron was going and everyone was dying to find out. Would he stay with the Cavs, the team he had been on for 7 years and promised a championship title too? Would he go the the Bulls and try to follow Michael Jordan’s footsteps? Would he go to the Knicks and take over New York City? Or would he go down to Miami where his friend Dwyane Wade (also a free agent at the time) may be staying? It was all the basketball world could talk about. It got so big that LeBron (or his agent) decided to hold an one-hour special on ESPN called “The Decision.” Proceeds would go to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and LeBron would finally let the world know where he was going to play ball. The show aired and LeBron told the world he was going to “take his talents to South Beach.” He, along with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh (another notable free agent) were all going to play for the Miami Heat.
The basketball world exploded. Cleveland suffered a national break-up and fans felt like they were stabbed in the back. How could LeBron, a boy who grew up in Ohio, do that to them? LeBron hadn’t told ANYONE he wouldn’t be staying in Cleveland: not the coaches, his fellow players, the president – nobody. They all found out together with the rest of us. Those fans and the franchise were heartbroken. For those of you who don’t know, Cleveland has a sports curse and it’s so bad that each curse has its own name. LeBron was their only chance to bring a NBA championship to their city. And he ended that, publically and without remorse. Even now, many months later, LeBron won’t completely apologize for how he handle his decision. (There are a lot of other reasons why people were upset that LeBron chose to go to Miami. People thought he may be taking the easy way out to get a championship ring or that he may not be as competitive as we all thought. Both those issues are outside the scope of this post)
Sports fan everywhere felt this blow. Like I wrote about in my first post, fandom is a crazy thing. Us fans are loyal to the bitter end and we hate to see our star franchise player leave. But we understand that it happens. Sports is a business as well as entertainment. But never before had a player as big as LeBron anger an entire city, an entire state, an entire country before. No player had ever made his decision to switch teams as public or as personal as LebBron. People who were LeBron fans before are no longer LeBron fans now. People love to hate him now. Before, he was everyone’s favorite player. Now, he’s hated by all. The entire NBA finally has an evil team to rally around. If the Miami Heat came out this season and dominated like everyone thought they would (because they had 2 star players and another really really good one), everyone would have hate them. Instead, the Heat came out and “struggled” (they’re 12-8 right now. The defending NBA champions, the Lakers, are 14-6), and everyone still hates them. No matter what the outcome of this season is, the Heat will be the enemy.
On Thursday night, the Heat were scheduled to play the Cavaliers…in Cleveland. It was a huge game. LeBron would be returning home. The arena prohibited anyone from wearing LeBron shirts or jerseys, sold all drinks in paper cups (so they couldn’t hurt anyone), and increased security. 20,000 angry and pissed off Cavalier fans showed up with signs that said “Quitness” and t-shirts that said “betrayed” and even chanted “Akron hates you.” The crowd booed loudly whenever LeBron touched the ball. When the Heat announced their starting line-up, Darth Vader’s theme song was playing in the stadium. It was brutal. The fans were trying to extract revenge on LeBron. They were trying to make him pay for what he did to them. He would suffer like they did all summer.
And what happened? The Heat won by 28. LeBron finally played like his old self and scored a season high 38 points. He crushed those fans even more.
I, a huge basketball fan, never formulated a hard opinion on LeBron and his decision. I decided to see what happened and how the season played out. Yes, the Heat have been struggling (having 2 leaders who play the same position creates a difficult team dynamic), but are they really as evil and bad as everyone is making them out to be? Was LeBron really so wrong to want to go to sunny Miami and play basketball with his friends and share the pressure he faces with others?
Watching the game on Thursday night, Reggie Miller (a commentator and former basketball great) said something along the lines of “Get over it Cleveland. Move on.” While I can completely understand why Cleveland fans are so upset…I also feel like they need to get over it. The Cavaliers team that came out on Thursday night did not play good basketball. And I think that’s because those fans came out to bash LeBron and not to support their team. Yes, sure, I know they wanted their team crush the Heat. But I, in my non-expert opinion, think they were so focused on making LeBron and the Heat suffer that they forgot to cheer their team on. And that’s not right. Their boos and chants just fueled LeBron’s fire and made him play better.
So, I pose the question: should we forgive LeBron? I won’t lie – as a sports fan, it’s not easy to get over painful events right away. It takes time. It takes success of your current team. But I have a very strong feeling that Cleveland may NEVER forgive LeBron. I don’t think LeBron apologizing at this point would even help the situation. Cleveland is far too hurt. But what about non-Cleveland fans? They weren’t betrayed by LeBron. He didn’t leave their team. But people still hate him and still want to see him fail. He’s the enemy now, and if you try to say otherwise, you’re entering a firey debate. Should us NBA fans be the bigger man and say “You know what LeBron, you messed up. But we’re over it. We don’t care anymore. So please, go out and play basketball like you used to. That’s what we care about and that’s what we want to see.”?
I say yes. What about you?
Hi SuperForest,
It’s with extreme pleasure that I present to you a series of posts that has been in the making for several months now. It’s called “This is SportsForest” (an allusion to the classic ESPN slogan) and it is going to be presented to us by our very own SuperForester Afshawn (who by the way, is one of the main people you should thank for consistently sharing music on the SuperForest Soundtrack)! This series is not just going to be covering sports in the “you should go out there and exercise” sense, it’s going to be having a special focus on shedding light on the positive in the world of professional sports.
Now, I know some of you might be thinking positivity and professional sports are two things that don’t really mix, and at some level, I can definitely agree with you in saying that most athletes are overpaid and that you don’t have to dig really far to find overwhelming evidence that a lot of the said overpaid athletes are anything but role models. But as a lover of most sports, I can whole-heartedly say that some of my happiest and most thrilling memories have to do with watching these sports stars demonstrate their mind blowing talent on the court or field.
It’s an amazing thing, focusing all your attention and energy on a team as the seconds of a game wind down and your heart begins to race. And based off of my own experience, spending time supporting a team or watching any sport in general is almost always worth it. Especially come playoff or Grand Slam time, I’m pretty sure there’s scientific evidence that backs a positive correlation between happiness and sports (Just ask San Francisco baseball fans).
With all of this in mind, I figured it definitely makes sense for SuperForest to give a shout out to the sports world every now and then, and based on our record, it’s a subject that isn’t covered half as much as it should on SuperForest. After a discussion with my awesome cousin SuperForester Afshawn one evening, we decided it was time to change that. And thus, SportsForest was born. And trust me SuperForesters, it’s going to be really great. Mostly because it’s going to be Afshawn that will be bringing this series to you. Because when it comes to sports fans and radiantly positive and all around sweet people, I don’t think you can find a better example than her. In the following post, she describes her love of sports and how they’ve provided her with a constant source of inspiration and joy. You’ll learn about the inspirations behind this series and whether you’re a sports fan or not, I think you’ll find yourself agreeing with most of her observations and find that you can apply them to almost any of your current obsessions. :)
With lots of love,
Carla
I have been an admirer of SuperForest for a while now and I am pleased to have the opportunity to write about a topic that I am extremely passionate about: sports.
I’ve been involved in sports in some way or another since I was a little girl. When I was 5, I started a 12 year career in basketball. A couple years later, I went to my first San Jose Sharks game and someone gave me a free signed hockey puck. Growing up, I watched countless hours of football and basketball with my father and brother, learning all the rules and players. I remember thinking Troy Aikman of the Dallas Cowboys was the coolest guy in the world and pretending to be Grant Hill while playing Nerf basketball with my brother. While I had other interests – like art, playing on the computer, riding bikes, making up weird games with my friends – sports was always a part of me. Once I went to college and met others who had the same passion for sports as I did, I became obsessed. I spend countless hours on ESPN, I lose my voice watching San Diego Chargers games on TV, I watch baseball (which is new for me), and my new career goal is to work for ESPN or a sports team.
What I love most about the sports world is that it creates its own special community. To me, loving sports is like loving music. Some people love a band so much they go to every concert, buy all their albums, decorate their room with posters, and maybe even get a song lyric tattooed on them. It’s the same with sports. Walk into my apartment and you will see an entire San Diego Chargers shrine around the TV. Look into my closet and you’ll see a Chargers jersey, Santa hat, and two shirts. Not to mention a Padres jersey, a Golden State Warriors shirt, and a Spain soccer jersey. Being at the stadium watching my favorite team play is like watching my favorite band in concert. Being surrounded by people who are cheering for the same team as you is an unbelievable feeling. Seeing people of all walks of life who all want the same thing as you do (for your team to win) is amazing. It doesn’t matter what age, gender, ethnicity, or political affiliation you are. For 3 hours, you are all in it together. We all cheer and jump when our team does well and we all scream in agony when our team messes up. Sports, even when you’re just a fan, make you feel a part of something and make you feel connected with others. It’s an instant connection that isn’t questioned.
And that connection is still made when you meet someone who roots on another team as you. Sure, when I see a construction worker wearing a Chargers hard hat (true story) or see another student in my class watching a Warriors game on their laptop (another true story – I definitely sat behind him to watch along), you can bet I make some sort of “Yeah Chargers!” or “I noticed you were watching the Warriors game – that’s awesome” comment. I want to share my appreciation of my teams with fellow fans. But at the same time, if I see some guy walking down the street in a New England Patriots jersey, I may not fully support his sports affiliation, but I can definitely respect the fact that he loves his team as much as I love mine. I know I could walk up to him and talk to him about football for a few minutes, if not hours. Sure, we’ll disagree on some finer points (like Tom Brady), but we can still get along.
In fact, my brother and his friend are perfect examples of this. My brother is a die hard San Diego Chargers and Los Angeles Lakers fan. His friend, who grew up in Boston, is a die hard New England Patriots and Boston Celtics fan. For those of you who don’t know, the Chargers and Patriots are rivals and the Lakers and Celtics have probably the biggest rivalry in the history of sports. But they don’t let that get between them! They watch games together and make silly bets, like if the Lakers beat the Celtics, then my brother’s friend has to wear a Kobe jersey, take a picture in it, and make it his Facebook profile picture for a certain amount of time. I’m sure in some ways, the rivalry just made them better friends. That’s why I love sports. The loyalty, the friendship, the community, the pain, the happiness, the pride. There’s nothing else quite like it.
I went to a LA Lakers/Phoenix Suns game in LA last year with my roommate and her family. While I’m a Warriors fan first and foremost, I’m a Suns fan second so I was there to cheer the Suns on. Obviously, I was surrounded by Lakers fans, and the adults next to me were giving me a hard time about liking the Suns. But once they realized that A. I knew about basketball and B. I would tease them back, they liked me and we had a fun time at the game together. Am I ever going to see those people again? Nope. But I like to think they’ll tell their friends about “this crazy girl who liked the Suns” one day.
I have had this post half written for a while now, but my Chargers kept losing, putting me in a sad state. But despite the fact that the Chargers are 4-5 and keep shooting themselves in the foot week after week, I still put my jersey on every Sunday morning and watch the game. I have to.
My number one motto when it comes to sports (and life) is “optimism is key” and that motto is in full force this season. Even when the Chargers are losing by 20, I keep the faith and hope they’ll come through in the end. Because on those days they do…man, it’s a great feeling. And if not, there’s always next week.
A week ago the Olympic Winter Games began. A big ‘yes!’ for sports freaks since all their favorite disciplines will come by within the coming weeks. To me though the Olympics are about more than ‘just sports’ because whenever I read the paper or watch the evening news I hear about China not liking Obama anymore because he receives the Dalai Lama, I hear about an ever growing mess in the middle east and recently I even heard about a priest who refused to give a homosexual Christian the Holy Communion. But whenever one of our beloved Dutch ice skaters enters the Olympic Oval the entire country seems one, gays seem accepted. And even better; when Mark Tuitert won the 1500 meters there wasn’t a sign of war on the front page of the newspaper.
The Olympics do more than confiscate the front page though. Every time I tune in to watch – I don’t really care what’s on, whether it is speed skating, figure skating, biathlon, alpine skiing or freestyle snowboard – I find it extremely beautiful in a way that’s pretty hard to describe; I’m gonna try to do though.
Probably the best example of extrinsic beauty at the Olympics is figure skating. At the time of writing two Americans are giving me the goose bumps with their dancing on ice. They’re performing the craziest stunts I wouldn’t even dare to dream about while wearing beautiful clothes covered with small shiny stones; it’s ballet on ice.
So far for the obvious beauty, there’s much more aesthetics to figure skating. Look close and you’ll see the clothes waving in the wind generated by the momentum, you’ll see the guy lifting the woman before his head and – without sight – carry her from the one side of the arena to the other. If you’ll look beyond the outer appearances there’s even more. You’ll see a beautiful ‘dance’ between man (two ice skaters) and nature (frozen water leading to almost no friction, making such artistic expressions possible). And if you look close enough you’ll see all these aspects in a certain variety in all sports.
Another good example is freestyle snowboarding, with the U.S. hero Shaun White. I hadn’t heard of him until I read about his new trick at The New Yorker. It appears that he can manage to do the Double McTwist 12 – this is a crazy trick can hardly be described with words, it would be two screws around his vertical and three around his horizontal axis. I think you can better have a look for yourself; the fun starts at 0:28.
So this is what the Olympics are for me, a perfect ballet between people, countries and nature. And if you look close enough you’ll see all.
The few times I exercise in a gym on fitness machines (I prefer the outdoors for sporting purposes) there’s always the display function that shows how many watts I’m generating. But where does all that power go? Indeed, into nowhere. (My indoor rower is an exception, it uses some of the generated current to power it’s display. But that’s still just a fraction of what’s generated).
Now, some very bright guy living in Portland, Oregon, also thought about this loss of energy. And he came up with a solution! The Green Microgym is the answer. How great is that. The gym has got a diverse range of equipment, which all contributes to a greener world in some way.
For example the Team Dynamo (above), created by Human Dynamo the installation is an entirely new way of group fitness. And more importantly, the installation generates enough power for a television or a radio. Which can be plugged in while working out.
Another great piece of equipment in the Green Microgym is the EcoPwr treadmill. Treadmills, unlike other fitness machines, need an external power supply to get you running. So it isn’t possible to generate human electricity here. Though the founder of the Green Microgym managed to get up with something that made the treadmill ‘green’. The EcoPwr uses 30% less energy then any regular treadmill and as an addition, in the Portland gym, it’s powered by solar panels.
At this very moment I think it’s too bad I don’t live in Portland. Such an awesome gym is just an experience.
-jdh
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