Oswald

** A Pre-Game Warm-up **
 * Winter/Spring 2012 Mr. Dunne **

What do sports mean to you as an athlete and as a fan? As an athlete sports plays a major role in my life. I've played a number of different sports starting from ballet to ice hockey, lacrosse, field hockey, and finally settling on tennis and surfing. Sports have always served as a way to escape reality so to speak. It's a way to just let all your energy out for however many hours, and after you feel refreshed, relaxed, and re-centered. As a fan you feel the victories just as much as you feel the defeats. You just want your favorite team or athlete to succeed because they represent your town, region or country, and you want to prove yourself vicariously through the sports team or athlete.

What has been your experience with youth sports? Describe your best and worst experiences. I have had so many great experiences with youth sports. It first started with my brother-- I thought he was the coolest person in the entire world. He was my role model, and I wanted to do everything he did. So I played ice hockey and lacrosse, just like he did, and I would always play in the backyard or street hockey with him to get a little bit better. I wanted to impress him and show him how hard I worked while playing the sports I love. The greatest moment when I was really little was during one of my hockey games that my brother went to and I scored a hat-trick. That feeling has stuck with me to today even though I don't play hockey anymore. That feeling has been expanded with tennis, a sport that I have a real passion for. My greatest memory was last year during my match against St. George's. It came down to my match, lasted 3+ hours, in order to clinch the ISL title. Even though I lost feeling in my arms and legs I kept fighting through the 3 set match. Each set ended in a tie breaker, I lost the first, won in my second, and finally won the third tie breaker to win the ISL for my teammates. Once again I had that feeling of pride. All those hours of lessons, clinics, and matches had paid off. As for the worst experience-- I'd probably say when I was playing in a tournament at Harvard. I lost the match in a double tiebreaker, and I had been winning the entire match. I had never felt so disappointed in myself, especially because my brother had been watching and cheering me on. However, he still was proud of the way I fought through the match and told me to not beat myself up because you can't win every single match.

Do athletes make good role models? Identify one or two professional athletes to make your case. I think it depends on the athlete. There are both good influences and bad influences in sports and even on teams. For example, Derek Jeter. He is a leader to the younger guys on the team because he takes each game seriously, but also knows how to have fun while playing. When he's on the field you can just tell that he is enjoying himself and loves being on the team. He also teaches baseball to inner city kids, and started a youth baseball foundation. He deserves to have the title as a captain. Then there is Alex Rodrigues. It has been reported that A-Rod has taken steroids (aka cheating baseball), he goes out to clubs and bars every night even if there is a game, and has his own "clique" within the team. He just doesn't seem like a real leader and that he just plays the game for money.

What sports/teams do you pay attention to the most? How much time do sports occupy in your life? How do you spend that time (attending, watching, reading, talking, participating)? Well since my family is originally from New York we are a huge New York sports team fans. I am a huge Yankees, Rangers, and Giants fan. I can't give an accurate description for how much time occupies my life because my life revolves around sports. Even when I was little my life revolved around sports whether I was playing or watching my brother on the field or on the ice. I made sure that I went to every single one of his hockey, baseball, and lacrosse games. Even still, I attend sports as often as I can whether it is professional or not. I always watch games with my family as well as talk about sports whenever I'm not watching, attending, or playing. I play tennis four times a week to every day of the week depending on the season.

What sports-related issues would you be disappointed //not// to cover in this class? Why? I wish to know why players decide it's right to cheat whatever sport their playing.