Ninth Inning Baseball Poem
Walking up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with no outs
One can feel the hecklers blackening his heart
Something is going through the batters head
It is something that is only understood in baseball
There is a rush on both sides of the field
The fans are standing on their feet
Then you can hear the pitch is coming
It is a fastball 101 MPH and the batter fouled it off
And then strike one and the crowd is silenced almost instantly
Then they realize that there all star hitter has 2 more strikes left
So the catcher throws the ball back to the pitcher
Even though the pitcher grabbed the momentum right out of the at bat
The batter feels he has something to prove
He smells the ball going over the ivy on the left field fence
So with the slow curveball coming he is way out front and hits a groundball to second base
But he hustles to first and the second baseman makes an error so he makes it safe
The next batter comes up and he gets down in the count 0 balls to 2 strikes
Next he hears the count to 3 balls to 2 strikes from the hecklers yells
And the patience of a good hitter gave him a walk
So they have runners on first and second with no outs
With the cleanup hitter coming up he is felling pretty confident
During the first pitch which was a ball the runners steal 2nd and 3rd base
Over the next 2 pitches the pitcher gets extremely wild throwing one of the pitches over the catchers head but the pitcher covered home and the 2 of them got the 1st out
While all of that happened the runner on second base was able to get to third
So with the score all tied up at 0 with one out and the count 3 balls to 0 strikes the batter takes the pitch which was a strike to get the first strike of the at bat
So the count is 3 balls to 1 strike
On the following pitch the batter does a perfect suicide squeeze
And the run scores from third to win the game, the series, and the championship
After the game when asked about the bunt the batter said I would have rather swung away but I did it for the team
With ivy on the wall they celebrated with the champagne and goggles
It was a once in a lifetime deal for some, and it had already happened
But the joy on their` faces could be seen though and through
Backup Quarterbacks
Backup Quarterbacks
Quarterbacks are the most valid player in football and perhaps in sports. The ways that they must use their brain to think in all of these ways is extraordinary. Then they must have the physical strength to make an accurate throw for the first down or touchdown. They must be thinking of many things at all time on the field. One might be that they need to know the playbook better than any other player which also means on pass plays they need to know the blocking scheme, where the receivers are and if there is nobody open where to go with the ball. In many eyes being a backup quarterback is almost just as hard as being a starting quarterback.
Although they do not play as much as the starting quarterback they must be ready throughout the entire game in case the starter gets injured in which then he must leave the game. When he leaves the game he must know what will happen in a pressure packed situation. Then be good enough to make the plays. In recent weeks of the NFL there have been several different quarterback’s stepping up and making plays. One being two weeks ago when Aaron Rodger’s had a concussion the week before versus the Detroit Lion’s so matt Flynn had to step in and boy did he have the game of his life against the top team which was from New England named the Patriot’s. The Packer’s lost that game by three but if it wasn’t for the stellar performance by Matt Flynn the Packer’s may have lost by a lot more.
In the book Second Stringer Kevin learns that because Rob, the star quarterback got hurt Kevin needs to take control of the game and season but he is kind of shy cause he doesn’t have his teammates on his back. When you are playing a crucial position such as quarterback you must have all of your teammates on your back. Otherwise you cannot do your job to the fullest. That would be like 1 cat versus 11 mean dogs since you are pretty much alone versus the other team who wants to hit you hard and to win in that scenario would almost be impossible. But for Kevin all that mattered was that his coach was behind him then he was ok. After that Kevin won the championship for his team and league MVP.
It is also like how last season Donovan McNabb of the Eagle’s now with the Redskin’s got hurt and Kevin Kolb the Eagle’s backup got his chance and made the most of his one opportunity. He did by passing for 400 yards per game and leading his team to two crucial wins in the playoff race. Having a reliable backup is key to having a good team. Even though he may not play as much he is a viable force if the starter gets hurt since the team must trust his abilities and he must trust his team’s abilities.
Playing for a whole game is a little easier because you are able to prepare the whole week of practice. Also the QB is able to warm up properly and possibly he is able to get into a groove and make multiple good throws in a row, where as when he would come into the game on the fly he may still not be warmed up. That happened for the Seahawk’s last week since Matt Hasselback had a hip strain so Charlie Whitehurst had to play for the chance to play in the playoffs. He played the whole weeks practices which helped him out in the game even though he has played with the first string guys on the field he may have never practiced the play’s with them because the starter would be but getting a feel for what your wide receivers are going to do.
Lastly one of the better showings in recent weeks was Joe Webb of the Minnesota Viking’s who took the Viking’s to Philadelphia and went on a terror. Sometimes when the quarterback plays well the defense takes that momentum onto the field; that is exactly what they did. He led the team to the 24 to 14 win over the number 2 seed, Eagle’s, and the defense played their best game of the season. Joe went 17 for 26, 195 yards passing and a rushing touchdown. That could possibly be why the defense was good. Since the offense can change the momentum and affect how the defense plays and vice versa.
Being a quarterback is one of the hardest positions to play even if you are the backup and it even may be harder. To use your brain in that many ways at a time is extraordinary even for an athlete of this type of caliber. These are just a couple of reasons ESPN has named 2011 the year of the quarterback to honor these fine athletes.
Speak
What might it feel like if your whole school was laughing at you? What if they thought of you as the thing in the corner. One might be thinking “What did I do”? Another possibly could say why they did what they did right then and there. Personally I would have ran and hid. Speak shows how it is very hard to tell the truth and the longer you wait to do so it only gets worse.
Think about the emotions Melinda was having while she was raped and how she didn’t know when or how to tell people. One knew she wanted to tell her parents earlier in the story but she just couldn’t. She wasn’t ready. Finally in the end of the book she tells everyone and she gets all of her old friends back. Rachel even wants to catch up on what they missed together all because she didn’t tell someone right away. Telling the truth is one thing, but telling the truth right after the incident is another. Vividly the incident is remembered in one’s mind when people are closest in time to the scene. It has happened to me before and most likely many others because at first thought you have it in your mind but five seconds later you are thinking about what you were going to say. It is like taking notes on a story; you should always write down what you were thinking when you read that sentence so that you don’t forget.
In this particular story Melinda’s life got worse and worse as it went along. It got worse in the way of she still had no friends except for Heather who thought that she needed to join a group which is fine but then she left Melinda. Melinda’s parents also kept pushing their relationship farther and farther apart. If she would have told them they might have felt sorry and tried to work out the differences between the two of them. Parents always disagree about things because they are not perfect. When they disagree and fight this much it is bringing Melinda down since she knows she has no control over what is going on. The only thing she could do would be to tell them how she feels. Telling someone how you are feeling inside is very hard to do. There is no reasoning why it is hard; it just is. For Melinda it must be extra hard to tell her parents she was raped since that will lead her to thinking about her and IT(Andy Evans).
Eloquently and clearly shown is why you need to tell someone if something bad happens to you right away in this book, a New York Times and Publisher Weekly bestseller Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. The message that Mrs. Anderson was trying to show in Speak was that you need to speak up and everything will be ok.
