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My text set expresses the single story of jocks and athletes. I consider myself an athlete and can relate to most if not all athletes. While reading the novel Payback Time by Carl Deuker, I got to look at three different students who all wanted to be or were athletes in the past. Each athlete had a different skill, body type, and athletic ability. But this gives us a new look at jocks and athletes as a whole. This novel normalizes athletes not having to be super athletic or good at the sport, but rather athletes with a passion for the game.
Moving away from this novel, the other resources that I found also include the single story of athletes. One thing that the texts focus on is some of the outside factors that can impact their sport and training, such as drugs, gang violence, and school. All of these impact athletes around the world every day. Another thing that was being focused on in these texts was the physical factors that were limiting athletes from getting to the next level, such as athletic ability, size, and strength. Coaches will turn down athletes because they aren't big or strong enough even though they are gifted with talent, and this can ruin the careers of future great athletes. One thing that I take away from this text set is the passion that some people have for their athletics. The characters in these texts put so much effort and intensity into their training to be the best of the best, and they don't stop until they get there. This is a trait that every athlete should have because it will bring the best out of you in order to succeed.

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"Payback Time" by Carl Deuker is a novel where the main character Daniel "Mitch" True is a non-athletic, out-of-shape high school kid. He has always loved sports, especially football, and has tried to play them from time to time. But because of his athletic ability, he is nowhere near as good and well fit for the sport as the other kids. Hurst, the star quarterback, and ex-friend of Mitch is the opposite of him. Tall, fast, and strong, he beats Mitch in every category. We see his inability to compete during football tryouts. While Mitch was on the ground panting, the other boys were running routes and doing drills. Because he wasn't as athletic and fit as the others, he decided to join the school newspaper and make the stories about the sports rather than play them. Athletic ability doesn't determine whether you can be a jock and play sports at a high level, but rather push yourself to be the best you can be.

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The novel "Golden Arm" by Carl Deuker goes into the life of a high school baseball player hoping to make the state championship. Laz Weathers is a quiet and humble pitcher that just transferred schools because his old schools baseball program was cancelled. Unlike Laz, his coaches son and teammate Ian Thurman was not as quiet. Ian was one of the best players in the state, and liked to brag about it frequently. He was also one of the most popular kids in school. Because of this, his ego was insanely high. He thought he could do anything he wanted, including drinking and going out. He would do this on occasion and it would impact his ability to play. Laz would go on to become the star and eventually led them to the championship. But even though Ian was letting other things get the best of him, he still got college offers. This book highlights the bad things that can happen because of your ego, as well as the things that can cause them.

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This poem takes a deep dive into the rise and fall of a highschool football player. He is a star player that could easily get a college scholarship. He describes the feelings of different situations that could happen in a game, and how they make himself and the team feel. But then it gets into his ego, and how he thinks he is the best player on the field. The boy starts to slack off during practice and not listen to the coach. He doesn't realize that it is himself that is really hurting his future the most. He starts to focus on other things rather than himself and he starts to move down in the depth chart. His ego has gotten so big that he has blocked out the ones he used to let in. And just like that his football career was thrown out the door. Instead, he used drugs to clear his head. He wasn't a team player and he still wonders why he isn't going pro. He let his ego go out of control.

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Football Sports Poem, What Was Going Through Your Mind?

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I’m DJ Tanner, and I play football. It’s what I do. Most guys on my team wouldn’t even consider writing a poem in their spare time, but this morning our coach gave a speech that really said something to me. So I decided to write, and this is what I came up with.

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This children's book "The Boy Who Never Gave Up" by Anthony Curcio describes Stephen Curry's road to the NBA. Curry, a small guard out of Ohio who many thought would have no chance in the NBA because of his small stature and his athletic ability being below average. Most people would turn away and back down now, but Curry kept going. When he got to college, scouts kept saying he was too weak. But eventually, Curry got drafted by the Golden State Warriors and is a 2x MVP, 3x NBA Champion, and is a 7x All-Star. His story is very inspiring to young people because it shows that if you never give up and work hard that you can accomplish almost anything. This was incredible because of what Steph had to overcome. He didn't fit the image of what the scouts and people wanted but still became the best of the best because of his good work ethic.

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The article "Jock Stereotypes" by Harpreet Kalsi of the University of Michigan describes the life of a middle and high school athlete. He is the star soccer player on his middle school team and his hopes of playing in high school are through the roof. But as the tryouts went underway, he began to feel an unhealthy amount of pressure to perform well in front of his teammates and coaches. He realized he was at the bottom of his level and got cut. Jocks are based on ego and popularity, mostly from the sports they play. In this example, this boy's ego got out of control and made it so he was overwhelmingly confident. His confidence led to pressure about trying to play at a level that he was not at yet and he set himself up for failure. You don't need to be the best at a sport to play it and if your ego is too big, you can lose before you even started playing.

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Harpreet Kalsi: University of Michigan

The "jock" is one of the most infamous high school stereotypes, yet it is not far from reality for many high schoolers that play sports. Egos driven from making the team, hearing stadiums cheer their name (even though they are really cheering on the team), and the unavoidable spotlight often make way for an athlete to sometimes become a "jock". This can happen because of the difference between jocks and athletes; Jocks are associated with ego, popularity, arrogance, and narcissism while athletes connotate drive, determination, humility, and selflessness. So while both play side by side, their characters have grown to be quite different. This is how sports hough high school have influenced me; they have helped me grow and learn humility and purpose.
When I was in eighth grade i was the star of my recreational soccer league, so going into highschool I was not only expecting great things, but I was expected by others to do great things. My coaches, my teammates, and my friends all knew me as a great player which put a lot of pressure on me walking into high school tryouts. I did not know anyone there but I quickly saw that the level of skill I was competing with was something that I had never experienced before. With that I went from being the best player in the league to not making the team my freshman year. A lot of people would have taken this one of two ways: some would have used it as a reason to quit and...show more content...
It has extensions everywhere, including my career and my family. Sports did not have a direct influence on my passion for business, but it did have a major role in helping find that passion. Sports unleashed my love of competition. My competitive drive pushed me to compete in many competitions off the field, on of which was DECA a marketing competition. It was through this competition that I found business was the one thing I really enjoyed other than

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Harpreet Kalsi: University of Michigan The "jock" is one of the most infamous high school stereotypes, yet it is not far from reality for many high schoolers that play sports. Egos driven from making the team, hearing stadiums cheer their name (even though they are really cheering on the team), and the unavoidable spotlight often make way for an athlete to sometimes become a "jock".

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This book review of Payback Time by Carl Deuker really allows me to connect more with Angel Martial and his life. The author talks about how he himself feels connected to him because they have been in similar situations, as well as Angel's leadership. I also have been in similar situations as Angel, and I know how he feels. It allows you to feel like you are in the character's shoes. You can start to realize how much the characters change throughout the book. The author talks about Mitch and how he has used self-motivation to change his life and get healthier. This theme of self-motivation helps you feel for the characters because you can also relate to them.

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This book is primarily about sports but not fully. This book is also about uncovering a secret and making a great story out of that secret. The main character in this book Daniel (Mitch) True is getting ready to go college and plans on uncovering the biggest story of his life in his senior year of high school. This book PAYBACK TIME received a one star review from Booklist that said " Definitely one for the top shelf ". The book PAYBACK TIME received A JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION.

The book PAYBACK TIME is a book about a high school journalist named Daniel (Mitch) True who wants to be the editor of his school newspaper and he wants go to Columbia University to study journalism. An important character in the book is Kimi Yon. She is the sports photographer for the school newspaper and is Mitch's newspaper partner. Mitch and Kimi worked on the sports section of the newspaper together throughout the school year. Another important character in this book is Angel Marchial. Angel is a football player who is a new kid at Lincoln High school and new to the football team at the school. The conflict in this story is Mitch and Kimi are trying to uncover a secret about Angel Marchial who transferred from a different high school. My favorite character in this book is Daniel (Mitch) True. The reason being is Mitch grew throughout the book. Mitch did not have things go his way all of the time but that did not stop him from continuing to try to uncover this story. Furthermore Mitch had a weight problem and throughout the book he lost a lot of weight because he did not give up or let anyone stop him. I believe that readers should take self motivation away from this book. I believe that this book gives good examples about self motivation. Furthermore readers should take away hope from this book. The reason being is that Mitch did not always have the answer to all of the questions that he had about Angel but he knew that at the end of the football season he would have some information to write a story.

I could relate to Angel Marichal. One reason is I have been in his situation about starting on the bench and eventually starting in the starting lineup. The second way I could relate to Angel is because of his quiet leadership. I understand at first why he did not want to be one that talked a lot. Furthermore I can relate to Angel being the one to sit at the end of the bench and not be getting into the game. The mindset that Angel had was remarkable because he played well but he only played a little and would not be warmed up when he was put into the game. This gave him a disadvantage because he was not warmed up and was not prepared to be in the games.

I did like the book. The book was great and had very interesting themes. One strength of the book was the imagery. When I was reading the book I could imagine the football field and I could imagine the energy from the sports fans in the stadium. Another strength from the book was the action in the book. This book had a lot of football play by play detail and kept the reader interested throughout the book. One weakness from this book was the ending. The ending did not close the book properly. The ending could have been better. Another weakness in this book was the detail of certain places in the book. For example where Mitch had gone running was not described well and was hard to imagine what it would look like in real life. I would change the ending of the book. The reason being is the ending was not what I expected and could have closed the book better. The author left it up to the readers imagination but I would have liked to have a clear ending at the end of the book.

I would recommend this book to other people. I believe that this book is

for everyone and that probably could take something away from this book. I

definitely recommend this book to sports fans. This book has great play by

play detail and really makes the reader feel like they are at the game. Another

thing that this book has is a theme about self motivation. In this book the main

character Daniel (Mitch) True deals with a weight problem and he tells

himself that he must get into better shape so he could be healthy. At first

Mitch was losing weight to impress Kimi Yon but at the end he realizes that

he was doing it for himself.

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This book is primarily about sports but not fully. This book is also about uncovering a secret and making a great story out of that secret. The main character in this book Daniel (Mitch) True is getting ready to go college and plans on uncovering the biggest story of his life in his senior year of high school.