- Jan 2019
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"Sometimes at practice one of the guys'll say, 'Let's just break, it's just one day,"' he said. "And I'll say: 'It's just a few more hours. You only got a couple more to go. It'll be worth it in the end."'
It's important to keep at it! The author uses this to help the readers get a better understanding of how important this is to them.
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"We fast so we can feel for the poor people, to know how they feel," said Khalil, 16, a junior. "I'm going through this hunger and thirst for 12, 13 hours. They're going through it for a lifetime."
I like how the author shows us a little bit about what this is about.
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He would go back to watching it on television like the 6-year-old he had been when he discovered this crashing competition, much to the consternation of his parents, refugees from the more lethal forms of competition practiced in the Lebanese civil war.
His childhood is mentioned. He mentions how his parents were alike in the way of watching the crashing competition on the television.
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He wore his letter jacket from the Dearborn High Pioneers, with an orange chevron on each shoulder for his two years on the varsity and the stitching on the back spelling out his nickname, Flea. From a pocket of his sweats he pulled out a few dollars for a Pepsi and the meat-and-cheese pie called lahma ma jibini.
This specific chunk helps build an image of Ali Ahmad. The use of imagery here helps draw in the readers because you have to wonder, why is this description important here?
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But the league has shown little interest in ending on-ice fighting. The message is decidedly mixed: outlaw an elbow to the head during play, but allow two combatants to stop the game and try to knock each other out with bare-knuckle punches to the head.
There were regulations put on fighting, but not enough to stop the serious injuries/fights.
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Derek Boogaard’s brothers stared at the giant body sprawled on the bed. On the dresser were framed photographs of their grandparents. There were pictures of former pets, including a bulldog named Trinity
Imagery is used here. It gives us, as readers, details of what was in the room with him.
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bobblehead
This one word is really descriptive on its own. Just thinking of it, I can imagine exactly what he's feeling like.
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Boogaard skated, expressionless, to the penalty box.
The simplicity of the sentence really stands out. It helps make the point of "hey, something feels different here."
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“It just dulls you right out,” he said. “Totally numbs everything. You don’t feel anything. You’re in no pain, but you’re not yourself. There’s no senses. Nothing. My wife was like: ‘This is creeping me out, man. You’ve got to stop taking those.’ And so I stopped.”
The use of imagery/description is impeccable here. It helps me, as the reader, visualize what it's like to take the drug.
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In the fall of 2009, a doctor asked Boogaard to name every word he could think of that began with the letter R. He could not come up with any.
The author uses a medical 'reference' to help emphasize how much brain damage he had succumbed to.
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And it was not because he had smashed someone’s face. It was because he could have.
It's scary to think this way. I could never imagine anything violent like this. Was his mother proud of him?
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The fight ends when a player falls or the action slows to a stall, like popcorn after all but the last kernels are popped.
The author uses a simile here to help the readers visual what its like during a Hockey fight.
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o avoid everywhere else in the dangerous, colorful and sometimes unhinged world of hockey enforcers.
The description used to interpret how feared Derek Boogaard is very insightful. If that makes sense. The use of bigger and bolder words helps emphasize just how feared Derek really was.
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He was hardly a bully. Paradoxically, he was picked on largely because he was so big.
This is where the author introduces Derek's past, this could be one of the factors of his aggressive tendencies.
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It meant
The repetition of "it meant" helps emphasize the peaceful aspects of Derek's life. Throughout the article, I noticed how the author consistently brings up Derek's past whether it was violent/aggressive memories or nice family bravados. The author incorporates the use of repetition in a very effective/impactful way to help build Derek's character.
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long
I noticed how the author casually places words like this to emphasize Derek's tall persona.
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www.si.com www.si.com
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They found Johnston again three weeks into the digging.Heffernan was there, and he helped carry his teammate out
As the article keeps switching between playing football and horrible past memories, I believe that the team was close and that they relied on each other. Although these are painful memories, they push through to commemorate their fallen friends/family.
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How do you replacethe men?
The author brings emotional questions into play. He plays with his words to tug at a deeper meaning
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WTC cough,which is what you get from digging week after week, up to 18hours a day, and inhaling dust, smoke, glass particles, asbestosand, indeed, microscopic remains of their fallen comrades.
So are they playing to commemorate their fallen loved ones/friends? Is it their tradition to band together and play football?
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John was among theBravest who died in the collapse of the World Trade Center
Rick Reilly builds Mike's character by mentioning his brother, John's, background information about how he died from the collapse of the world trade center. Despite the mentioned incident, the author keeps an uplifting mood by saying "we're playing." In a way, it kind of gives hope.
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Butthe firemen are playing. Hell, yes, they're playing.
I do believe that the author starts off with a positive attitude. It definitely piques my interest in continuing to read the article.
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