Sports Illustrated: Mad Max's $144 Million Bet

So in a recent Sports Illustrated from the end of April, the cover story was about Detroit Tiger's star pitcher Max Scherzer. In recent years, he has turned into one of the best pitchers in the game, and also won the Cy Young last year as the best pitcher in the American League. In this past offseason, he turned down a six year, $144 million dollar extension from the Tigers, as he thought he could make more than that after another stellar season. Isn't it just crazy to think that athletes in professional sports make so much money? He turned down $24 million a year because he thought he could get even more money when he becomes a free agent. Imagine yourself being offered the chance to make $24 million- can you even process the thought of turning that offer down? It just shows how athletes make way too much money.

What if Scherzer gets hurt? What if he ends up having a bad season? Did he just make one of the worst decisions of his life? We will just have to wait until this offseason. In my opinion, I think Scherzer should've agreed to the contract extension- not just because I am a Tigers fan though, because there are many other reasons. One quote from the article, written by Albert Chen, that proves this idea is, "How could a pitcher fast approaching 30 who until last year had never reached 200 innings, never had a full-season ERA below 3.50 and never even made an All-Star team walk away from $144 million for a bigger pay-day that wasn't guaranteed?" The fact that he is almost 30 is very important because a team isn't likely to give him more than 6 years, like the Tigers were offering. I also think he should've agreed to the extension because he could suffer a serious injury and teams could just let go their interests in him. With so many pitchers having to undergo Tommy John surgery, you never know what could happen.

Opinion on Divergent

Happy Star Wars Day! May the 4th be with you!

So far, I think Divergent is a pretty decent book. I don't think it's as good as The Hunger Games or Harry Potter, but it is definitely a good book. There have been many surprises so far in the book, which is part of the reason it's been a good book. One of the surprises in the book is that Beatrice left the Abnegation faction, and chose to be a part of the Dauntless faction. Her brother, Caleb, also left Abnegation and joined Erudite. Another surprising event is that Beatrice decided to change her name and just go by Tris during the Initiation process. We also learned that Tris's mother actually grew up in the Dauntless faction.

The book is also very well written by the author, Veronica Roth. She describes the scenes, setting, and characters very well and gives us a good idea of the events happening in the book. Roth's writing makes the book have a very fast moving pace. Considering I'm not a big reader, I'm surprised that I actually like this book. Usually I don't like main characters that are girls because I can't connect to them as well, but this book is still pretty good. I have heard that the movie is okay from my family, do you guys have any input on the movie? Rate 1-10?

Donald Sterling

So I have decided to take a break from Divergent, and blog about a recent topic from the sports world. So I'm sure most of you guys have heard of Donald Sterling, the now infamous owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. About a week ago, a video leaked that had himself saying racist comments to his girlfriend. It immediately went viral, and people were calling for his punishment even before additional evidence was released. Overall, this case ended pretty quickly, with the new NBA commissioner Adam Silver dropping the hammer after only a couple days. He banned the LA Clippers owner from the NBA for life, and also fined him $2.5 million dollars. He also forced a sell of the team, but it must be approved by 3/4 of the rest of the owners.

In my opinion, I think this was a great move by Silver. In only his 3rd month as commissioner, he immediately made it know that racism will not be tolerated. He acted immediately after the research was given, and people across America have applauded him for his actions. There is no room for Donald Sterling in the NBA, and it is good that he will be gone for good. However, I think the fine is not even close to enough. When he sells the team, the price could be close to 1 billion dollars because of the location of the team in Los Angeles. If you do the math, that would be less than one percent of his earnings! It would only be .25% of the billion he could make.

Even with the minor fine, it was still a great move by the NBA. They got rid of this man from the NBA, and it also sends a message that racism will not be tolerated in the NBA, or in society in general.

More on the banning of Donald Sterling

Divergent Update

        So in my recent readings, there have been many developments in the plot. Beatrice went with her brother Caleb to school where they would take the faction aptitude test. This test would help them figure out which faction they should choose during the Choosing Ceremony. The test gives the teenager a couple of difficult scenarios, including what to do with a dangerous dog. The test is supposed to give a clear indication of what faction suits you best- Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. However, the test doesn't show which one is best for her; it instead gives back Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite as possibilities. Then we get to the title, Divergent, which is what Beatrice is now called. I think she will pick something other than Abnegation because she has wanted to be different from her Abnegation family.

       In a way, the faction aptitude tests are sort of like the Sorting Hat from the Harry Potter series. They are similar because they both help decide what the following years in your life are going to be like. They are also different though because the Sorting Hat picks one house and that's the one your in, but the faction aptitude test just gives you a suggestion. The faction aptitude tests would be better to have though because it only gives you advice on a choice, but the Sorting Hat doesn't let you choose your fate. Divergent seems to have many connections to many other books, including The Hunger Games and Harry Potter. We'll see if this book lives up to its hype, and if it can contend with those two books.

You could also see a little comparison between the factions in Divergent and the houses in Harry Potter. They both stress certain things, and help define you a little. This book fan had an interesting take on the comparison.

Locking into the Magic of Legos- Krista Ramsey

 Locking into the Magic of Legos

       Ramsey writes about the wonders of legos- how they are actually beneficial to kids, and how parents will do extraordinary things to get them for their children. The legos teach kids about creativity and 3D visualization.


 "That's because kids are off the clock with Legos. They're in a world beyond learning objectives and select soccer, safely out of reach of arranged play dates and online language programs. Legos let them claim the two things adults don't even realize they need: space and silence."

       I think this is a good line and is helpful to the reader because it uses four connections from the world, and a lot of people can relate to most of them. We don't like learning objectives or online language programs, and we get tired of select soccer or arranged play dates. Ramsey is trying to say that the kids get to go to a world away from the normalities of life. I also liked the syntactic strategy of using a colon near the end of the sentence, which is used to create emphasis on space and silence. She could've said "which are space and silence" , but that just doesn't flow or sound right. I also like the line 'kids are off the clock with legos" because it is a better way of saying that kids are in love with legos.

       Ramsey's style of writing seems to have some persuasion in it as she tries to raise awareness, and then she often ends with an important line or saying; something for the reader to think about. In the lego column she explains the benefits of legos, in the outdoor column she believes that kids should get outdoors more, and thinks that people should dress nicely in the Super Bowl QB's column.

       At the end of the lego column she says "With Legos, kids build sturdy little creations – which, in turn, build sturdy kids." It's an interesting line because we typically don't think about legos building up good kids, we just see them as another toy.

       "What all kids need is more training in three dimensions,” Clark says. “Life is not two-dimensional.” The ending line of this story is trying to build up the vision of seeing your life through all the lenses and angles.

       The second column ends with "If we need inspiration, we have only to watch Wilson or Manning as they board the plane to head home from the Super Bowl. Whatever the score of the game, they’ll both look like winners." She ends the column with a thought, and it is a little ironic because she is talking about their clothing and not the actual game.


For how long have you wanted to be a writer?
Does the writing ever get boring for you, or is it fun every time you make a column?
How have your past experiences influenced your writing today?
      

Divergent and Hunger Games Comparison

So I recently started Divergent by Veronica Roth, and it seems like it'll be a good book based on the first few chapters. It does seem like it is sort of similar to The Hunger Games in multiple ways. One of the reasons is that both books take place in a dystopian society. The societies that Beatrice and Katniss live in are nothing like the society that we live in today. Right from the beginning, we can see that Divergent is a dystopian society: "The other factions celebrate birthdays, but we don't. It would be self-induldent." (Roth 2) They have strict rules, such as only being able to look in the mirror on the second day of every third month, which is a rule in Beatrice's society. Katniss's district, which is like a society, can only begin their district specialty when they turn 18. Both of the books take place somewhere in the future, and the societies are both worse than what we have today. The people in the books might think they are utopian, but in reality they are actually dystopian.

Another way that they are similar is that the main characters are both girls, and very courageous girls at that. Beatrice might make a very brave move in Divergent, because she could chose to leave her family faction Abnegation, and join the Dauntless faction. When these sixteen year olds leave their family faction, they have a chance of never speaking to them again. In the end, however, Beatrice will know she made the right decision. In The Hunger Games, Katniss also did many brave and courageous things. One of those things was volunteering as tribute when her sister Primrose was selected to compete in the games. Can you even imagine doing this in our world today? What if you were in this situation? Volunteering herself to join these games nearly pushed her to the brink of the death, but she was brave and loving enough to protect her sister.

In addition to the previous connections, Divergent and The Hunger Games can also relate to each other because they both have a serious choosing day which can decide the characters' fates. In Divergent, there is the Choosing Ceremony, where the teenage citizens decide their future by selecting from one of the 5 factions. Their choice can make or break their connection with family for years. The important event in The Hunger Games is the reaping. This is the part where one boy and one girl from each district are chosen to compete in the games where everyone but one dies. It's where the clouds in Katniss's life had begun to darken. Both of these days are essential details to the development of each story.

Another thought on the similarities

Divergent

I chose to read this book because I needed a book for English class and I was able to find this in my closet. I think it will be an interesting book because I know a lot of people that have read it and they say that it was a great book, and they can't wait to see the movie. I have heard that the book is just like The Hunger Games, so I assume that it will be a good book because I really liked The Hunger Games, and I typically do not like reading. It seems to be the next biggest hit after The Hunger Games

Are the comparisons fair? What are some of the things that make them similar? Any responses are welcome. By looking at the summary, it looks like the main character will be a girl, just like The Hunger Games. I also know that both these books have movies for them, and both of them were/are pretty hyped. I thought The Hunger Games movie was pretty good, but I don't plan on seeing the Divergent movie until I finish the book. I would assume the book will be better because that is typically the case, but we'll see.