Virginia Tech Football

The most exciting college football games take place in the mountains of Blacksburg, Va. This is the home of Lane Stadium and Virginia Tech football. One can expect almost every wild Hokie fan from the mountains of southwest Virginia to come storming into Blacksburg and raise bloody hell for their team. Visiting teams fear the wrath of Lane Stadium. Even the slightest mention of the word brings tears to their eyes. Many sports announcers have called Lane Stadium the biggest home field advantage in college football. That place gets loud.

I have been a huge Virginia Tech fan ever since I can remember. My father and grandfather went to school there so my whole family has a lot of pride in the school, but more importantly its football team. I went to my first Virginia Tech football game when I was 8 years old. I was shocked at how huge the stadium was and how loud the crowd roared. Even the old grandpas were screaming and high fiving each other. The whole scene truly amazed me. As I grew older, I continued to make the two hour drive up to Blacksburg to watch the Hokies play. I quickly developed a passion for Virginia Tech football. The atmosphere at Lane Stadium cannot be beat. The tailgates are amazing; there is always plenty of beer and fried chicken to go around. The fans are extremely friendly as well. You can’t walk more than a few feet without someone inviting you to join their tailgate. The whole Virginia Tech football experience is something I always look forward to.

This is how it all began. The Virginia Tech football program officially started in September of 1891. It took a lot of effort to get the program going and the process was very slow. The football program was finally put in place due to hard work of two college professors and two cadets. Professor Anderson, as he was known, played right tackle on the team. The rules for college football were obviously much different at the time because only students are allowed to play in games these days. The other professor, E.A. Smith, served as the team’s coach. The two cadets, H.B. Pratt and J.W. Stull, also served as players on the team. Getting a team together was a struggle for these four entrepreneurs. They had go into the dorms and beg players to come out to the field for practice and games. Those who did not make the starting roster almost always quit the team which made things very difficult. Despite all the troubles the four men experienced in their quest to start a football team, they managed to get a team together and play their first game just a year later. On October 21, 1892, Virginia Tech played its first football game against St. Albans from Radford. The game resulted in 14-10 victory for Virginia Tech. Professor Anderson scored the first ever touchdown for the team. Professor Smyth coached the first game in Tech history and would eventually become known as the father of modern football at Virginia Tech.

The Virginia Tech football program went on to be a great success, but it never could establish itself as a top program in the country. In fact, for most of the twentieth century the team was not very well respected at all. From the emergence of Virginia Tech football in 1892 to the 1987 football season, the team only managed to reach six bowl games. That is an extremely low number considering that the first bowl game was played in 1902 and they were played continuously from 1916. The success of the Virginia Tech football team was very low in all those years. The fans for Virginia Tech had long awaited a hero to emerge and lead their team to victory. Their hero finally came in 1987, when Frank Beamer signed on as the head coach for the team. None of them imagined that he would lead them to become a dominant college football program. Beamer was a former player at Virginia Tech and was thrilled to become the coach of his former team. Beamer played cornerback for Virginia Tech from 1966 to 1968. He played during probably the most successful years of Virginia Tech football. Over a span of 95 years, Virginia Tech only earned only six bids to bowl games. Beamer played in two of these games during only a three year period. He wanted to reestablish the respect for Virginia Tech football in which he had experienced as a player on the team.

Turning around the program was no easy task for Coach Beamer. He endured some long seasons of failure and defeat on his way to the top. In 1992, his team only won two games. The years after that season seemed to be a different story. In 1993, after five years of hard work, Beamer had finally put together a team that consisted of only players in which he had recruited. Working with some talented personnel is an important key to the success of a football coach. By the 1993 season, beamer no longer had to use the player recruited by previous coaches. He could now call the program entirely his own work.

The 1993 season was Coach Beamer’s break out year. Rising from out of the ashes of the 1992 season, the 1993 team was a different story. The Hokies posted an 8-3 record and went on to defeat Indiana in the Liberty Bowl. It was this season that marked the emergence of greatness for the Virginia Tech football program. From this season on Virginia Tech would attend a bowl game every year. From the 1993 season until present, the Hokies have amassed a record of 17 straight bowl game appearances. Their record of 17 straight appearances ranks third among all college teams. Virginia Tech earned its most prestigious honor when it earned a spot in the 1999 national championship game. The Hokies went on to lose to Florida State, in that game. Despite the loss, the reaching of a national title game was a huge boost to the program and it has only led more success in the years after.

Rhetorical Analysis of "Animal Cruelty and Free Speech"

Freedom of speech has become a highly debated topic in the United States. The 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of speech. The amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”. The 1st Amendment, particularly its protection of freedom of speech, is high valued by Americans. Freedom of Speech protects the rights of Americans to publicize their anything in which they want to make known to the public.

Freedom of Speech has been has been an important part of American Society and has been positive for the most part. However, there are times when it has had a very negative effect, allowing publications of very offensive material. One of these situations is discussed in an editorial called Animal Cruelty and Free Speech. This editorial was published in the New York Times. It focuses on a Supreme Court case involving dog fighting videos. According to the author, who is unnamed, a man named Robert Stevens ran a business called “Dogs of Velvet and Steel” which sold videos of pit bulls engaging in dogfights and attacking other animals. He did not take part in the attacks personally, but was charged under a federal law that makes it illegal to sell depictions of acts of animal cruelty that are illegal in the state where the depiction is sold. Stevenson appealed his conviction. After reviewing his case, The United States Court of Appeals reversed his conviction. The court declared that the federal law in which Mr. Stevenson was charged under was unconstitutional. The law violated his freedom of speech rights outlined in the First Amendment. The author explains that this is not the only deeply offensive speech that is protected by the First Amendment. The author says “Nazis are allowed to march and racists are allowed to spew racism. I imagine that people from the Nazi party are allowed to march, but I know for a fact that federal laws prevent racial discrimination. Of course law does not prevent people say racists things, but there are many cases in which the law does not allow for racial discrimination. People who hire employees certainly are not permitted to “spew racism” at them. Federal law does not allow employer to choose an employee based on their race. Therefore, it would not be legal for a interviewer to say “I am not going to hire you because of I do not like people of your race”. I made this point in order to prove that the author had made an incorrect statement. The author’s choice of words has damaged their credibility with the reader. Since the author’s name is not given in the editorial, I can see why he or she was lax about making sure his or her statements were credible. Since the reader does not know the author’s name, the author does not lose any respect from those who might know him.

In my opinion, anyone who is sick enough to sell or purchase these videos should be punished. The author shares my negative opinion in saying “some of this material is truly stomach-churning.” While I can imagine that dog-fighting might be a little gory, I still wonder how the author can know for sure that the material is “stomach-churning”. The author expresses no account of actually watching the videos. This leads me to question his or her authority to discuss dog-fighting. The author goes on to say “There are people who enjoy watching animals be tortured or killed”. While this statement may be true, the author gives no explanation of it which makes her statement less convincing and meaningful. The author should add a specific example of people that enjoy dog-fighting.

The editorial explains that there is also a market for “crush videos”. These videos feature women trampling small animals with their bare feet or in high heels. Supposedly, some viewers find these types of videos sexually arousing. I’m not sure how a video like this could be sexually arousing, but I guess there are some people with some really messed up thought. I’m not sure what provoked the author to add this statement to the editorial, but he or she claims that it was part of a federal government brief. While this may be a legit fact, the statement draws the reader’s away from the argument at hand and puts a completely different thought into their head. The author should have refrained from including this because it lowered the quality of his or her work. The author then provides the reader with another somewhat random statement, saying that “videos are also sold showing hog-dogfights in which dogs attack and sometimes kill pigs”. While this is highly interesting and informative, it is also a distraction from what the editorial is focused on. The author says that if legislatures were allowed to disapprove certain parts of unpopular speech, a lot of expression could become illegal. This is a very good point and gives the reader a clear image of why the author feels like freedom of speech should be protected. I have come to the same conclusion; freedom of speech is too complicated for the government to outlaw certain forms of it.

The lack of information the author provides about him or herself prevents the reader from gaining critical knowledge that would help them to trust certain statements in the editorial. The author also refers to very few sources. The only ones that the author credits his or her information to are the federal government and of course, the Constitution. These are generally reliable sources, but much of the information has come from other places, more than likely the author’s own thoughts. While the author does not provide good credibility for his or her editorial, a good point is made about how wide-ranging freedom of speech can be. I believe that freedom of speech is very important and that is a good thing for the most part.

My Hometown

It seems hard to get very excited over just one day off from school. It would be nice to get another day or two, but I’m still looking forward to it. I’ll be going home this weekend for basically the first time. I stopped in my home town for a few hours on my way to the Virginia Tech – Alabama game, but I haven’t got a chance to actually go back and visit everyone yet. A lot of my friends have the same Fall Break as I do so I’m pretty pumped about seeing all of them. They all get two days off for their breaks which is somewhat unfair, but I’m trying not to cry over it.

Last summer was definitely the most fun I’ve ever had. Since I had graduated from high school, my parents were a lot more flexible about letting be me do certain things. I went out and chilled with my friends at least every other day. All my best friends live back home so it’s always a good time when I’m there.

My hometown is Bristol, VA and I take a lot of pride in it. The motto of the city is “A Great Place To Live” and I really feel like that’s true. There is a certain feeling around there that you just don’t get anywhere else. It’s the kind of place that you feel like you know everyone even though you actually don’t. Everyone is always willing to lend a helping hand. One unique thing about Bristol is that it’s in two states. One side is in Virginia and the other is in Tennessee. There is a road called State Street which divides the Bristol and Tennessee sides of town. The road goes right through middle of downtown so I am always walking back and forth between Virginia and Tennessee.

Since the city is located in two states, there are two separate high schools. One is called Virginia High and the other Tennessee High. There is a huge rival between these two schools. Anytime they play each other in sports it is a major event. Our newspaper, The Bristol Herald Courier, is always full of hype about the upcoming football game. Football is the focus of the rivalry, but it is by no means the only part. The rivalry was a very interesting experience for me because although I lived in Bristol, Virginia, I attended and played for Tennessee High. I lived about a block away from Virginia High, but I chose to attend Tennessee High because my uncle was the football coach there. When I chose to go to Tennessee high, all my friends and family from Virginia gave me a hard time, but they eventually came to accept it.

Another unique thing about Bristol is that it is “The Birthplace of Country Music”. The US Congress gave Bristol this title due to its contributions to early country music recordings and influence. In 1927 Ralph Peer of Victor Records began recording local musicians in Bristol to attempt to capture the local sound of traditional 'folk' music of the region. One of these local sounds was created by the Carter family. The Carter Family got their start on July 31, 1927, when A.P. Carter and his family journeyed from Maces Spring, Virginia, to Bristol, Tennessee, to audition for record producer Ralph Peer who was seeking new talent for the recording industry. They received fifty dollars for each song they recorded. I’m not a big fan of country music, but I still think it’s pretty cool that it started in my hometown.

Bristol is also home to a half-mile NASCAR track called Bristol Motor Speedway. NASCAR holds a stock car race twice each year. It’s always fun to go to the track on race weekend and check out all of the festivities. You can meet a drunk person on every corner. If you don’t see one a corner then you will probably see one riding their cooler down a hill. There is a whole lot more to the festivities than drunk people. There are all kinds of trailers that are set up with stores inside of them. Some of these are owned by big companies and others by local businesses. There is always a huge line of people in front of the Skoal trailer because they give out free tobacco products. Outside of the festivities, the race is a real pain. The traffic in Bristol is terrible and it’s almost impossible get out and go somewhere. Imagine a town that normally has 41,000 people and then add to that 200,000 more race fans. It gets really crowded.

My favorite place to hang out around Bristol is South Holston Lake. It is one of the largest man-made lakes in Tennessee, 16 miles in length. There are all kinds of fun stuff to do out there. Fishing is among my favorite thing to do there. The lake has been famed for its trout fishing and has been a location to many professional fishing tournaments. It’s always fun to go out there on a summer night and fish off the dock with some friends and listen to the banjo players. I have caught as many as five trout in one night which is a lot, no matter where you are fishing. Another one of my favorite activities out there is wakeboarding. A few of my friends have some really nice wakeboarding boats we spend a lot of time doing that. I also enjoy going camping out there. My friends and I would plan big trips out there where we had up to one hundred people at times. Camping with that many people gets pretty wild and there is a good story to tell afterward.

I have had a great time here in Blacksburg so far, but I’m still pumped for fall break and the chance to hang out with all my long time friends. I enjoy Bristol a lot, but I’m sure I’ll be eager to get back here when Sunday comes around.

Tennis

The Best Player... Ever

Fans of professional tennis have witnessed many exciting events this summer. The greatest of all was when Roger Federer broke the record for Grand Slam wins in July. After defeating Andy Roddick in the finals of Wimbledon, Federer earned his 15th Grand Slam title. The previous record was set by Pete Sampras in 2002.

Federer has dominated the professional tour over the past few years, but earning his 15th title was no easy chore. It was a dramatic match, the longest and arguably the greatest in Wimbledon history. Federer came into the match as a heavy favorite, but Roddick shocked the crowd by winning the first set 7-5. Federer barely won the next two sets, both in tiebreaks. When it looked as if Federer had control of the match, Roddick came out strong in the fourth set and posted a 6-3 win. Since the the format for the the tournament was the best three out of five sets, they would have to play out a fifth set to decide the winner. The unique thing about a fifth set at Wimbledon is that there are no tiebreakers in the fifth set. Someone must win the set by two. This rule would play a huge factor in the fifth set, as it lasted a long time, longer than in any other match in Wimbledon history. The fifth set was a battle, testing each man both physically and mentally. Anytime a fifth set comes into play, both competitors are usually very tired. Therefore, physical fitness plays a big role in who wins the match. Since Federer and Roddick are both in great shape, the fifth set went on forever. The fifth set lasted 95 minutes, the longest of any set ever played. At the end of the set, Federer was the champion, finally winning at a score of 16-14.

With the win at Wimbledon, Federer moved into first place for all time Grand Slam wins. A record like this gives him a strong argument to claim himself as the best player ever. And while Federer would never acknowledge this, many other players and fans would. Some of the greatest players in the history of the game were in the crowd at the finals of Wimbledon and watched Federer establish himself as the best player ever. Among these great players were Pete Sampras, the previous grand slam record holder. He sat in the Royal Box along with Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg to witness this great event. Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg are considered among best players in the history of professional tennis. After the match, Federer and the three other former champions got together for a picture and talked for a while. It was a great moment for tennis.

Tennis in America

While this was an amazing moment in professional tennis, it was also great for American tennis. The popularity of tennis in the United States has dropped a great deal in recent years. This is largely due to the lack of a great American player in the pros. Professional players play an important role in the success of a sport. They are in the spotlight and when they accomplish great things, it inspires young athletes to be like them. The sport of tennis was at its peak in the 1970’s. Back then, everyone was playing. People waited for hours just to get on a court and play. The extreme popularity of the sport in those days was largely due to the success of many American professional players. While the popularity of tennis declined slightly as the years passed, it still remained a very popular sport on through the 1990’s. As the turn of the century came around, the great champions from the U.S. began to retire and no one seemed to take their place. Pete Sampras retired in 2002 and he was the last great champion that the Americans have seen. The last American to win a major championship was Andy Roddick in 2003. While Roddick showed great promise with his first major title, he never managed to win another. Now Roddick has brought pride back to American tennis by taking the greatest player in history to 16-14 in the fifth set. Even though he lost, he gave Americans something to cheer for again. That is why this was such a great moment for American tennis.

Tennis is a very popular sport in most countries, but in America it has shown a steep decline in recent years. Since tennis isn’t getting as much attention in the U.S., few people know much about it. Most Americans know the rules and how to keep score in popular sports such as football, basketball, baseball, and golf. Very few of them seem to know much at all about tennis. Being a tennis player myself, I can relate very well to this. I talk about sports a lot with my friends, but anytime I bring up tennis, they don’t seem to understand. I played tennis in high school and my friends would come to watch a lot of my matches. Most of them didn’t even know how to keep score so they would have to have someone explain to them if I was winning or not. Since the sport tends to be confusing for many people to follow, we rarely had a lot of fans at our matches. Football and Basketball games were much more exciting because people knew what was going on.

How to Keep Score

Tennis has a lot of rules, which makes it harder to understand than most sports. The most important thing in tennis is to know how to keep score. The three main terms used in scoring are point, game, and set. A game is made up of points. To keep it simple, a game is won by the player that gets four points first, but they must win by 2. For example, a player cannot win a game if the score is 4-3. They must win another point to make the score 5-3. That way they have won four points, but they have also won by 2. Each point in a game has a unique number or term. One point = 15, Two points = 30, and 3 points = 40. If a player wins four points then the game is over and so there is not a term for four points. However when both players are tied at 4, it is called deuce. In order to win the game a player must win two points in a row after the deuce point, making the score six to four. A set is the made up of games. The first player to win six games by two wins the set. A match is usually the best two out of three sets. Hopefully that cleared things up for you if you were unsure in how to keep score before, if not then you can at least understand why scoring in tennis is so complicated and hard to understand.

Division 1 College Football

The Playoff System

One of the most debated topics in college football is whether or not it should switch to a playoff system. As of right now only two college teams have the opportunity to play for the national championship. These two teams are chosen by a ranking system approved by the NCAA. The ranking system is called the Bowl Championship Series, more commonly referred to as the BCS. The system has been in place since 1998. The BCS rankings are determined by a combination of polls and computerized selection methods. There are factors that decide the ranking of each team: The Harris Interactive Poll, The Coaches Poll, and computer rankings. The The Harris Interactive Poll is made up of former players, coaches, administrators, and current and former media who submit votes for the top 25 teams each week. The Coaches Poll is voted on by The USA Today Board of Coaches which is made up of 61 head coaches at Division I FBS colleges. The Computerized rankings are based on a number of factors.

The current BCS system is sufficient for crowning a national champion. A playoff system needs to be put in place. Every year, at the end of the season, there are more than two teams that deserve a shot at the national title. An eight game playoff system would definitely allow for all the legitimate title contenders to get their chance at the national title. There have never been more than eight teams that deserved to be crowned champion so this system would put an end all of the controversy. At the end of the year, everyone would be sure of who the best team was. The fans of college football would never be left guessing anymore.

A playoff system is the only fair way to decide a champion. It is a disrespect to the players, the coaches, and the fans when their teams are good enough to be national champions, but don’t get the chance to be one. There are many examples of situations in which great teams have been excluded from the national championship game. In 2004, The Auburn Tigers went undefeated and did not get a berth in the national championship game. Considering that Auburn plays in the South Eastern Conference, which is considered the toughest in the nation, it is extremely unfair that they did not get to play for the title. How can a team go undefeated in the toughest conference in the national and not get a chance? It just doesn’t seem right, and that’s because it isn’t. Another fine example of extreme controversy over the national championship was in 2007. Prior to the last game of the season, LSU was ranked #7, but then they jumped all the way to the #2 spot when the final rankings came out. Two of the teams ahead of them lost, so a jump to the #5 spot would have been justified. A jump to the #2 spot just didn’t seem fair. Teams like #6 Virginia Tech, #5 Kansas, and #4 Georgia won their games in the final week also, but were passed up by LSU, who was favored by the media. Situations like this are why college football needs a playoff system. The current system is just not fair.

Another positive impact of a playoff system would be giving smaller schools a chance. Teams that are part of "BCS Conferences" are more highly respected by voters and the computer system because they must play harder schedules. There are a few teams that dominate their own, smaller conferences, but they don't get the respect they deserve because they don't play as tough competition as the BCS schools do. Teams like Boise State and Utah have gone undefeated multiple times in the past decade, but never have been considered for a national championship. When they have been accepted into highly respected bowl games, they have beaten some really good BCS opponents. In 2006, Boise State defeated a highly favored Oklahoma team that was ranked #10 in the nation. In 2008, Utah defeated #4 Alabama who was a ten point favorite. Both Utah and Boise State finished their seasons without losing a game and were left to only wonder if they could have won the national title. These are just a few examples of how small schools get left out and do not get a chance.

I believe that the main reason why BCS officials refuse to switch to a playoff system is that they don’t want to lose money. It receives tons of money through sponsorship from various companies. The BCS currently hosts five “BCS Bowl Games”, which includes the national championship game. These five bowls are by far the best ones with the best teams. By playing five separate games at different locations, the BCS makes a lot more money. It has long standing contracts with different television providers that hold the rights to broadcast particular games. These bowl games have been established for a very long time and have become a huge tradition in college football. Bringing these games to an end would cause a lot of controversy and would cause drastic changes in many peoples’ live who are involved with them. The BCS committee also claims that a playoff system would add too many games to the season. They claim that college football players must play too many games in a season already and that adding a playoff would just be too much. In addition to that argument, they claim that playoff games would come at a time when they would interfere with the players’ college exams.

While the BCS committee poses a valid argument for not issuing a playoff system, I can issue a much better solution to their problems. They should have each of the four original BCS Bowl Games sponsor one of the final four bowl games in the playoffs. The BCS Bowls could rotate each year to prevent controversy on which gets to host the better games. They should also shorten the regular season from twelve games to ten in order to allow time for playoff games. The first two weeks of playoff games could be held during the original final two weeks of the regular season. The National Title Game could be held in January as usual.

Choosing a Major

When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a professional athlete. When someone would ask me what I wanted to be when I "grew up", I would say that I was going to be a professional tennis player. I played a bunch of different sports as a kid, tennis was my favorite, but i never took it seriously enough to make a career out of it. About the time I started my freshman year of high school, I came to the realization that I would not be going pro in sports. Even with that in mind I still played a bunch of sports in high school and I never really gave much thought to what kind career I wanted to pursue in college. Before I knew it, I was a senior in high school. Time had flown by. It was time to make some important college decisions. I had a lot of offers to play tennis for some good smaller schools, but I had always wanted to go to Virginia Tech. I was getting pretty burnt out on tennis by my senior year so I decided i didn't want to play in college. I decided to apply to Virginia Tech. While I was filling out my application, I came to a question in which I did not know the answer. The question was "what do you want to major in?" I could not decide on which one to pick. I had thought about lots of different jobs in high school, but I could never make up my mind on what I wanted to do.

Since I couldn't decide on a specific major, I chose University Studies. University Studies is the major people choose when they haven't decided what kind of career they want to pursue. It is also what some students are placed in if they are not accepted for a more competitive major. Virginia Tech allows students to stay in University Studies for about 2 years or until they have earned 60 credit hours. Students must apply for another major before they have reached the 60 credit hours limit. Students can apply as early as their second semester.

After I had finished my application, I realized that I needed to start thinking more about what I wanted to do for a career and more importantly, what I wanted to major in. I started looking up websites that helped you decide on what kind of job was best for you. I took a bunch of tests and most of them recommended that I should pursue a career in art or construction. I really like art so that sounded really good to me. I took all of the art classes that my high school offered. I intended on taking Art 4 and AP Art during my senior year, but my school got rid of those classes when we got new art teachers. On the other hand, I hadn't had much exposure to construction, but I do like to build things. So that sounded like a good idea too. I decided that I would focus on finding out more about careers that fell into these two categories.

I wanted to find out more about careers in art and construction so I started out by researching them on the internet. I started out by looking up careers in art. There were many different possibilities. The careers that interested me were illustration, animation, fine art, graphic design, art education, industrial design, and architecture. After I had made a list of possible careers, I started to research them individually. All of them seemed really interesting, but I was able to rule a lot of them out when I saw how much money they made. I decided that only architecture, industrial design, and graphic design would make good careers. I looked up a bunch of careers in construction as well, but none of those seemed very interesting. I decided that I would focus on the three careers that I had founds in the arts category.

Now that I had found three good possible jobs, I decided to try and find out more about them in hopes of deciding on one of them. I found out quickly that doing research on the internet would only get me so far. I realized that the best way to find out more was to actually go and experience the job first hand. I needed to meet with people who already had these jobs and let them show me what their job is like.

It’s not always easy to find someone who is willing to take a lot of time away from their job just to show you what they do. Many people are glad to help out students who are interested in their careers, but they only have so much time they can spend away from their work. I wasn’t sure how to go about finding the right people in these careers to help me out. I had a talk with my uncle one day and he asked me if I had decided on what I wanted to major in yet. I told him that I hadn’t made up my mind, but I was interested in architecture, industrial design, and graphic design. He doesn’t have any kids so he is always more than willing to help me out. When I told him that I was interested in these careers, he immediately offered to take me to visit some friends of his that had worked in these jobs for a long time. I readily accepted this great opportunity.

My uncle first took me down to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to meet on of his friends that was an architect. It was a great experience. It turned out that he had also gone to Virginia Tech which was an even bigger help for me. After this visit, I felt like becoming an architect was a good possibility.

Even though I felt good about my visit with the architect, I accepted another offer from my uncle to visit a graphic designer in Charlottesville, Virginia. The graphic designer owned his own company and I was very impressed with everything they did there. While I was very impressed with graphic design, I was still more intrigued by architecture. As of right now, I plan on applying for the architecture major this spring with hopes of becoming an architect in the future.

The Michael Vick Story

Michael Vick is arguably the most exciting player in the history of football. He played college ball at Virginia Tech. He was the starting quarterback his freshman year and he led his team to the national title game in 1999. He entered the NFL draft in 2001 and went on to play for the Atlanta Falcons. He became a star in Atlanta and took the team to the NFC title game in 2004. Two years later, in 2006, he had his best season ever. He used his electrifying speed and athleticism to accomplish something that no other NFL quarter back has. He became the first quarterback ever to record over 1,000 yards in both passing and rushing. Michael Vick was living a dream and everything seemed to be going great for him. Soon things would change. Not long after the 2006 season ended, his life was turned totally upside down. He was faced with allegations of funding a dog fighting operation and eventually he found himself in prison, where he would stay for the next two years.

Michael Vick grew up in Newports News, Virginia. The coastal city was going through tough times and was well known for its high crime rate. At the time Michael entered the world, it was notorious for producing drug dealers and gang members. Michael's mother was just 16 years old when he was born. His father was just one year older. This is not exactly an ideal situation to be born into, actually its a terrible one. His parents went on to have two more daughters and a son named Marcus, who followed in his brother's footsteps and also played for Virginia Tech. Michael's parents did not marry until five years after his birth. His father was hardly ever at home. He spent three years in the army and then went through many jobs there after until he finally found steady work at a shipyard in Newport News. He worked from early in the morning until late at night so he got to spend little time with Michael and the rest of his family. With his father hard at work, Michael's mother was left with the responsibility of raising him and his three siblings. She worked at K-mart, and spent all the money she could on her children. The family lived in the Ridley Circle housing project and Michael's mother did her best to keep their crowded three-bedroom apartment in order.

While he was at home, Michael's father spent a lot of time teaching him the game of football. When he was just three years old, his father began teaching him how to throw a football. His father was amazed when Michael first tried to throw left-hand handed because he did everything else with his right hand. His father had been given the nickname "Bullet" because of the blinding speed that he displayed back in his high school football days. Michael took after his father in his passion for the game and in his extreme talent that he showed on the field.

Another very influential person in Michael's life was his cousin, Aaron Brooks. Aaron played for the University of Virginia and then went on be a starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints. Aaron was four years older and Michael really looked up to him. He followed him just about everywhere he went, including the Boys and Girls Club. Michael played on a football team there. In his middle school years, he often called his coach, James Johnson, asking him if he would work out with him one on one to help him improve his fundamentals. Johnson knew Michael had lots of potential. He helped Michael get into a weight lifting program before he went into highschool. Michael was fairly small and he knew that he needed to add some muscle to his frame. He credits his intense leg workouts for turning him into such an amazing runner.

Despite growing up in the ghetto, Michael was a very upbeat, polite, and focused child. He was really passionate about football and he was always looking for ways to become a better player. He was extemely competitive as a kid and he still is today. He had that burning desire inside of him to be the best.

In elementary school, Michael also showed great promise in basketball and baseball. His future was looking bright and his focus seemed to be unwavering. When he reached his middle school years, however, he became a problem with his teachers and he found himself in trouble quite often. His mother encouraged him to become involved in some after-school activities to keep him out of trouble and off the streets. He gave up baseball and basketball after middle school and chose to focus on football.

He went to on to highschool in 1994. He tried out for the football team and though his coach was very impressed with his talent, his coach decided to place him on the junior varsity as a freshman. In Michael's first six games he threw 20 touchdown passes. In the mean time, the varsity squad was really struggling and its coach felt it needed a change. Coach Reamon decided to move their current quarterback to wide receiver and move Michael up to the varsity. In just his second game, Michael shocked everyone. He threw for an amazing 433 yards on just 13 completions. Vick's reputation continued to grow and improve over the next 3 years. Coach Reamon sent him to football camps every summer and worked with him privately. The offensive line was not very strong, so Coach Reamon encouraged him to improvise with his running ability. That is how Michael developed his unique style of running the ball almost as much as he passed it.

After high school, Michael Vick went on to play two years at Virginia Tech. He led his team all the way to the national title game when he was only a freshman. Virginia Tech lost that game and they finished 2nd in the nation that year. After stepping into the national spotlight, Vick became highly respected quarterback. He was forced to deal with the media on a regular basis. Different broadcasting companies were always calling because they wanted to do another interview. It was not an easy thing for Michael to handle.

He went on to have another impressive season his sophomore year until he got hurt right before the Pittsburgh game. Without Michael Vick in the game, the Virginia Tech team was not the same and they lost the game and their hopes of a national title. After his sophopmore year, Michael chose to enter the NFL draft where he was selected by the Atlanta Falcons. He became a huge star in Atlanta and also became the highest paid player in the NFL. He amazed fans with his extreme speed and his mind boggling ability to elude tacklers. He led Atlanta to the NFC championship in 2004 and set a great record in 2006, becoming the first quarterback ever to record over 1,000 yards in both passing and rushing.

After the 2006 season, Michael was charged for his involvment in a professional dogfighting operation. He was senteced to two years in prison. He had everything going for him and he threw it all away with some really bad decisions. As soon as he was thrown in prison, he came to the realize just how bad the things were that he had done. He was filled with disgust. Michael cried many nights as he layed in his prison bunk. He cried because of the regret for the terrible things he did, for all the people he let down, for all the dogs that he let suffer, and because he did nothing to stop any of it.

Now he is finally out of prison. He has been signed by a new team and is looking to bounce back. He wants to make up for what he's done by working to end dogfighting. He wants to help more dogs than he has hurt. He has been very humbled by his experiences of late and is now looking to make a positive impact on society. He has already given many speeches to high school kids in which he encouraged then to respect there animals. He also advised them about making other good decisions thta he failed to make when he was their age.

Michael Vick is back in the National Football League. He is now a changed man. He is on his way achieving greatness both on and off the field in the future.