Osterman

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

Sports are a way to burn out frustrations and stress that accumulates throughout the day. They allow you to excercise and by doing so release endorphins and improve your mood. Personally I don't usually watch sports because I find them boring to watch. I prefer to participate, but when I do watch it is more of a social experience or a way of supporting my favorite teams in championships.
 * What do sports mean to you as an athlete and as a fan? **

What has been your experience with youth sports? Describe your best and worst experiences. I have jumped around between multiple sports, and have only played tennis for the longest amount of time. My first sports were tennis, baseball, and basketball. Baseball was to boring so I started to play lacrosse. I grew tired of basketball so I started fencing. I stopped playing tennis to play soccer, only to return back to tennis in my later years. My worst experience with sports so far has been in tennis. The coach that I had was not a very good coach, and he would yell at our team even though we were doing the best we could. He would have us run sprints and constantly yelled at us saying that he has never coached a losing team. However my best experience with sports was a fencing tournament that I participated in in 7th grade, where I beat every opponent and only received 4 touches (we played 3 touches to loss, there were 20 participants, double elimination).

Do athletes make good role models? Identify one or two professional athletes to make your case. It all depends on the athlete. Like other celebrities, athletes are in public and almost all of their actions viewed by fans. There are some athletes that make good role models, like Ray Allen, a family man who works hard during practice and tries to play to the best of his ability. Other athletes on the other hand do not really make good role models. Would you want your kid to worship somebody in WWE, or what if your child wanted to be just like Michael Vick? Just because somebody is famous does not mean they make a good role model. Naturally celebrities and professional athletes are role models, but whether all of them deserve to be role models is a completely different question.

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)? My favorite teams to follow are the Irish National Rugby team and the Scottish National Rugby team. Sports do not really take up a lot of my time unless Six Nations (a rugby tournament involving Ireland, Scotland, England, Italy, France, and Wales), or the Rugby World Cup. When Six Nations or the World Cup is occurring I check the fixtures each week or every day, and watch the Ireland or Scotland matches.

What sports-related issues would you be disappointed //not// to cover in this class? Why? Anabolic steriods and sports, Sports related injuries (ie: concussions, spinal/neck injuries etc) and the measures being taken to combat and prevent them