Rhetorical Activities 1 & 4

1.) I reviewed the articles in two famous sports related magazines. Sports Illustrated and ESPN Magazine both contain articles covering numerous issues in the world of sports. These issues can range from predicting which team will win to the environment in China during the Olympics. This assignment allowed me to look at these two publications in a way I had not to this point. Instead of just reading or quickly scanning through to compare my predictions with professional sports writers or to review a particular writer depicts the struggle of certain a athlete I dissected the articles to see how each writer reported the story.

One major topics in the recent additions of both magazines was the Olympics. This years Olympics was filled with great triumph like Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals to break Mark Spitz's record and great controversy like the Chinese women's gymnastics teams age scandal. Both ESPN and Sports Illustrated covered these issues multiple times. I noticed that ESPN gave a more in depth look at the whole picture and how it truly affected everyone involved. By this I mean they did not hesitate as much to focus in on the negative. The ESPN writers offered their opinions and never went off path when trying to uncover the story. They wanted to find the truth discover what the age of the gymnasts were and how that scandal affected the other athletes and the rest of the games. ESPN also included interviews and opinions from both the American and Chinese sides. In contrast Sports Illustrated focused almost entirely on the positives. They spent multiple issues on Phelps and his achievements as well as the return of the men's basketball teams gold medal win. SI wanted its readers to learn about the Phelps family and what went on behind the scenes. They told of his loving relationship with his mother and the intense training he has gone through to get to this point. Mark Spitz's opinion of his record being broken and a comparison of the two Olympians was added. There only was a small blurb in one edition about the gymnastic age scandal. This blurb also was done in a humorous way. It seemed that ESPN was more willing to go head first at the tough stories while SI aimed to please and wanted to depict a more sunshine and rainbows type environment of these Olympics when clearly not everything that went on was all positive.

4.) I decided to focus on a story about the life and recent death of NFL Players Representative Gene Upshaw. This is an important article for any NFL fan to read as he truly was one of the most influential figures in the sports history. This also seemed important since I am an avid sports fan trying to make a career out of covering the world of sports. The NFL is the most popular sport and its fans need to be aware of its important figures. Upshaw is probably known by all football fans as the long time hard nose Players Rep. Most fans may know him from several stories telling of the battles he would have with the commissioner on issues regarding the league. However, he was not just a jerk who wanted to make the players more money. Gene Upshaw truly cared about his job. He worked to establish a union in the NFL and worked to make it one of the strongest in the country. During his time in office Upshaw fought for the players rights. Even though he is not noted for this Upshaw even was able to actually increase the players pension plan and give long time retired men the money that had been owed to them for decades. This was all not only done because it was his job but because he first was a player himself. Upshaw was also not your average player he was a Hall of Fame guard for many years. He spent his entire career with the Raiders organization. While with the Raiders Upshaw powered a line that was one of the most feared in NFL history. Gene Upshaw won 2 Super Bowl championships, made it to 7 Pro Bowls, and was an 11 time All-Pro selection through out his career. The Raiders even retired his jersey number of 63 after his retirement. For his achievements on the field Upshaw was named as a both a member of the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1970's as well as being placed on the leagues 75th Anniversary All-Time Team. His hard working attitude and power were attributes that many current guards incorporate in their careers. The numbers on the field earned him enshrinement into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1987 but his tenure as Player Rep. will do nothing but increase his legacy. Gene Upshaw may now be gone but certainly should never be forgotten by any fan of the National Football League.

Gene Upshaw 1945-2008 R.I.P.