Blog post #10: Deflate Gate

The past year in the NFL there was an issue with footballs, this issue was called the Deflate Gate. The Deflate Gate was when the New Englamd Patriots deflated the footballs below the legalized PSI level. They do this because it is easy to catch balls, throw the balls, and for the players to not fumble on compact. This gave the Patriots an advantage for the time being, no one knows how long the franchise did this or if it was a mistake, but players are facing major consequences. So far, Tom Brady has a four game suspension, the team has a fine of a million dollars and they lost two draft picks. The Deflate gate is a big issue in the NFL Right now and everyone is being questioned I a, portraying the Brady is guilty, that Tom Brady is facing the right punishments, and that there should be rule changes going further.

I believe that quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots is guilty. There is no doubt in my mind that he was the one to bring this idea up. The footballs are how the quarter back liked them, just like when the scandal of the Green Bay Packers where they over flayed their balls because that's how the quarterback Aaron Rogers liked them. The balls had to be approved by the head man, Tom Brady. The quarterback makes all the calls and I believe that Tom Brady liked his footballs less deflated to make a more precise and better throw. My intention is that Brady didn't mean to violate the league rules and cause an uproar but just to make it more comfortable and easier on him.

The punishment for Tom Brady I think is perfect, because it is not to much but it is not to little. I believe that it is right for him to be the only one to get a suspension because the footballs are up to him. In any state of football the quarterback always will have the last say on the balls the game is played with no matter what. Tom Brady felt most comfortable with his footballs with a little less air the league rules, and sadly this cost him a four game suspension. During these four games the Patriots will struggle immensely without their biggest weapon.

A way the NFL can revise this from happening again is to check balls as the teams are coming on to the field under the lights. If a league official does this and checked the balls right before the game there will be no more problems, there is no way for teams to get around this and de flare their balls. This will solve all of their problems related to the footballs so that everyone in the league is playing fair. Who knows how long the Patriots have been doing this or if this contributed to all of their success in the past couple of years. I agree with the punishment that the New England Patriots faced for next season, I think this is the right path and the league needs to come up with a solution so nothing like this happens again.

Blog Post #9: Teaching Geopolitics SOAPSTone and Rhetorical Precis and summary

S: Someone who believes that Fantasy Football and other sports phenomenons are influencing our culture and education immensely
O: Teacher Eric Nelson figures out a new way he can use the idea of Fantasy Football to educate his students Geopolitics
A: Teachers, School Administration, parents, and students
P: To show a new perspective on Fantasy Football by using world countries
S: Toppo inserted many quotes and statistics to show how effective Nelson's teaching style was
T: Informative, Exciting,the author is excited about this idea and thinks that sports can continue to impact our culture and education
o
n
e

Rhetorical Precis

In Greg Toppo news article "Teaching Geopolitics: Fantasy Football as a Learning Game"  his purpose is to show a new perspective on Fantasy Football by using the world countries to educate his students. The author first displays this by showing how strategically Nelson chooses his players in his own real Fantasy Football league, he then shows how you have to go deep into detail to choose the countries to get the most points, and to conclude he portrays that the students learn more from this activity and are more likely to participate in a fun manner. His purpose is to show how you can you use a system linked to sports in order to teach children at all levels. He seems to have a persuasive and informative audience in mind because he shows how he turned fantasy football into a teaching activity.


Summary and Analyze:

The general argument made by the author of fantasy football helping teach geopolitics in his work
"Teaching Geopolitics: Fantasy Football as a Learning Game", is that students can still learn but have fun at the same time. He writes that using specific strategy of choosing your countries and doing research just like you would when choosing players will help you win the most points. In this article, Greg Toppo suggest that if you can incorporate something that the children are intrigued by learning will be more fun and easy for the children. All of the children in Mr. Nelson's class would teach the class almost with all of their individual research that they found. In conclusion, Toppo's belief is that Nelson uses a great strategy to teach his high school students about Geopolitics.


In my view Toppo's is right because I agree that if you incorporate something the children are interested in and can link to the activity it will make it easier for them to have the motivation to carry on. More specifically, I believe that using this system was a great idea because it keeps the students in the game the more they learn making them want to learn more. I maintain that Nelson used a great strategy to teach the students about history and geography through such an intense game, which made the students strive to learn the most. Therefore, I conclude that using Fantasy football as a learning system could influence many children to stay active in the class room and participate more than usual now that they are linked to something they like.