weblog 7

I may use a weblog in the future to post information for the class that I will teach.  It might be helpful for students and parents if there was a place where they could go to ask questions or just comment on the class.

Weblog #6

When I started the quarter, I was scared to death and looking at the syllabus did nothing to change my mind.  There were many terms that were listed in the syllabus that I had never heard of when I went to school years ago.  However, as the quarter progressed I realized that learning the different terms and different ways of writing were actually fun.  I enjoyed the writing process for the analytical research paper, and found it very helpful in getting to the final draft.  The digital composition was something I had never done before.  I don’t have a my space account, and although I am online everyday I have never posted a comment or designed any kind of website.  Therefore, I was a little worried about being able to figure it out.  However, the group presentations and the instructions that were given were very helpful.  The opinion editorial was probably the hardest assignment for me to write, because I was having a hard time finding a way to make it relevant to my research topic but also timely.  All in all, I have enjoyed this class.

Weblog #5

This opinion editorial is trying to convince the American public that it would be disastrous to allow the big three auto makers to file bankruptcy.  Therefore, the rules and conventions for this op-ed are geared more toward an academic audience because it takes thought and understanding to get the big picture in this situation.  Whereas, if they were writing for a popular audience they might “dumb it down.”

Zips take on Buckeye’s–revised

The Akron Zips Men Soccer team, won the Mid-American Conference(MAC) Tournament which they hosted.  Since they were ranked 1st in the MAC, they received a first round bye, and played Hartwick who they beat after a double over time finishing with penalty shots, on November 14th.  The Akron keeper, was outstanding stopping the 1st three attempts by Hartwick while the Zips put their first three shots into the net, advancing them to the MAC Finals where they would face Northern Illinois.  Akron defeated Illinois 1-0, scoring in the 104th minute of play.  Sunday’s win grants the Zips an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Akron also maintained its No. 5 standing in the last RPI index, released by the NCAA on Nov. 10. The rating system is based 50 percent on the team’s win-loss percentage, 25 percent on the team’s strength of schedule and 25 percent on the strength of schedule of the team’s opponents. The RPI was the primary gauge used to determine seeding for the NCAA Tournament.

Akron Zips Mens Soccer Team ranked 5th in NCAA, are set to host OSU Tuesday November 25th at 7:30 pm.  The Zips have just come off of winning their second consecutive  Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament title, Akron was awarded their school best 5th seed in the championships and a first round bye.  Akron’s record is 16-1-4 while  Ohio State’s is 9-8-3, which should make for an exciting game. The game Tuesday with Akron will be a re-match of the regular-season finale for both sides.  The Zips came away with the 4-3 win after the Buckeyes gave them their toughest match of the season. The Zips have never won the National Championship, and find themselves just 4 games away from winning it for the first time ever, but first they must make it past the Buckeyes!

Both teams have had fairly good seasons, and are both looking for the win to move on in the tournament.  Akron is favored to win, since they already beat the Buckeyes once this season already, however you can never count the Buckeye’s out.   Whichever team wins, it should be a tough, exciting, down to the wire game with a lot of fan support from both sides.

After watching the Zips play in the game against Hartwick, a couple of weeks ago, I know that their fans will be out in force.  However, I also believe that OSU will have a large number of fans that attend the game too.

The game was as great as I predicted, even after being postponed due to weather and moved to another location.  Akron came out ahead, which I believe was the right ending to the match.  Akron had a better season, meaning a better record, and they had already beat Ohio State in regular season making it more likely that they would win a second match.  The Zips didn’t disappoint, the game was a hard fought win going into double overtime where the match culminate with a header off of a free-kick.  Akron’s soccer program is outstanding and they deserved to win!

U.S. Automakers deserve a bailout

Although there is much discussion on the big three automakers, most people would agree that something needs to be done.  The question is what should be done, and how should it be done?

Flunking the Electoral College

This op-ed is timely because the election just ended and it is the perfect time to reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of the electoral college.  The author uses an emotional plea based on the fact that the electoral college disenfranchises voters, because although they are voting they do not actually determine who is elected.  This has been proven in past elections when the popular vote was different than the electoral college results.

Academic versus popular audiences

The difference between writing for academic versus popular audiences comes down to the structure of the paper.  The academic audience is looking for a more formal, structured paper.  However, the popular audience is looking for something easy to read and interesting to them.

Brian McBride

This article caught my attention, because hopefully his return will create more interest in American Soccer.

Soccer

I wrote my research paper on soccer which is one of the most popular sports at the youth level, but loses popularity in the adult market. The middle class enjoys soccer because it is very inexpensive to play, and it is one of the earliest organized team sports children can play. Adults don’t fully understand the game of soccer, unless they grew up with it or played it themselves.  Therefore, until adults have a better understanding of soccer it will never be as popular to watch as football, baseball or basketball.  Soccer is an aggressive, action packed sport that with understanding comes respect. The success of soccer at the youth level can be attributed to some of the following: it starts at a young age, it doesn’t cost a lot to play, it’s easy to set the fields up and it encourages team play.  However, as children become older peer pressure as well as pressure from adults contribute to the decline in the number of middle school and high school students that continue to play soccer.  I feel that once the children that are playing soccer now become adults, as well as Major League Soccer continuing to grow, soccer will gain popularity in America.