Book 4: Reflection

 

The book I had the pleasure of reading for book four was A Memoir of Hope by Hope Solo. As Hope being the narrator of this book, every word she wrote continued to show us as the reader that she is very outspoken and doesn't hold anything back. One of the most likeable characteristics about Hope is that she is brutally honest. As a trait of hers, in 2007 in the World Cup staged in China, Hope was exiled by her teammates. Prior to the first World Cup game her father ends up passing away in his sleep due to heart complications. As this was very difficult for Hope to overcome, she only took a couple days off from training with her team to honor her father’s death, the one man she loved more than anything and suffered the most emotions from. Although she returned home to Seattle, while she was away from her team in China, she was still training on her own. Returning back to China after those days Greg Ryan, the head coach of the USWNT at the time, had been giving Hope a ton of attitude. So much to the point to where even her teammate began to ask why he was being so harsh. After developing such a powerful why to win the World Cup to honor her father’s death, Greg never once acknowledged the fact what she was dealing with. Greg was about to enter the first phase of what it meant to be the head coach, a leader, of this team. Yet despite his title, he never rose to the occasion, but he continued to take his aggression out on Hope. Two of Hopes teammates, Abby Wambach and Brandi Chastine, both mentioned to Greg Ryan that they felt as if Hope wasn't prepared enough to play in the game against Brazil. In 2004, goal keeper Briana Scurry had made the save to win the game against Brazil, the same team the US was scheduled to play. As that had been 2004, that was three years ago. In the three year difference, Hope had been our starting goal keeper and had all the talent and fitness to show that she was. Greg brought Hope into his hotel room to talk to Hope about this decision of having Bri start in goal in the game that Hope was going to continue the journey to honor her father’s death.  During the whole tournament Hope had three shut outs and the US had not lost a game. Hope walks out of the room to go find Abby and Brandi. First approaching Brandi when asked why she says to Hope, "It doesn't matter who is in goal", which in return Hope lost all respect for Brandi in response to say, "Yeah it actually does, I've been your starting goal keeper for 3 years". Next, it was time to find Abby. "Hope she's better". That's what Abby has to say and Hope had nothing left to say. After having talked to Greg Ryan, Hope informed him of yes he is the head coach and what he decides is final, but when asked about his decision she would make it clear that she didn't agree and that it was the wrong one. As result, it was marked down in history as the worst loss that the US has ever seen. Losing 4-0 which Bri in goal, at the end of the game as Hope is on her way to thank her family for still coming and supporting the team, Abby says to her "Hope I was wrong", and Hope continued to her family. After the game Hope gave an interview that she didn't expect to blow up around the world. "It's the worst decision in US soccer history and anyone who understands this game knows that," spoke Solo "and I know I would've made all four of those saves and that's it". Not speaking to hurt a teammate, she was speaking straight to Greg Ryan. After all the controversy that had gone on, as a result Hope was excluded from team dinners, she had to fly home on a flight without any of her teammates, she was hated by almost every person on the team and they almost didn't give her a medal. The head of US Soccer was on Hope's side and when Hope boarded her plane, everyone supported what she had said. Hope's flight home was with many American fans also on their way back to the United States. The best news that Hope could've received was when her agent Rich told her that Greg had been fired. Hope is our starting goal keeper and Greg is out of a job, coincidence? After all that being said I just adore Hope and all the courage she had to speak about how she felt. Many people are intimidated and don't say much but not Hope. She has an opinion and it will always be heard. Also when she was talking to the head of US Soccer I loved it when she said that she was sorry for always making things difficult and he just laughed and said, "Hope it wouldn't be you if you didn't and we all love you". I love Hope Solo more though, she's my hero.

Post 10: Reading Wishlist

Wishlist:

No Limits: The Will To Succeed by Michael Phelps

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis

Friday Night Lights by Brian Bissinger

Money Ball by Michael Lewis

My Losing Season by Pat Conroy

The Sweet Science by A.J Liebling



For book 5 I would probably read The Blind Side

Post 9: Book 2 Trailer

Post 8: Book Talk

Book 3 Project

Book 3 Project

What really goes on inside the glade, is it considered a new world? When Thomas wakes up inside the Glade the only thing he knows to be true is his name. Also, he begins to question and wonder who all these people that are surrounding him are. There was a time when Alby thought that one of the beetles that they saw had actually been a spying tactic, almost as if it we’re the person who sent them there watching them. That too also proposes a very strong argument to which whoever is sending these people here, what is the point? It’s like Thomas is sent to them as a blessing to figure the way out of the Glades.

The language is very different.

When Thomas first comes to the Glade and doesn’t really know anything other than his name, you would think that he’d still recognize what other people are saying, yet he does not. It’s almost like he’s in a new world but soon he begins to pick up on the language and talk with it. One of the funniest things about this though, is the main words that they made up are replacement curse words.

The amount of change in the Glade.

Living inside the Glade you begin to live a different way, ways that most people couldn’t. With gusts of wind silencing a whole community of people you’d be amazed by such power.  Characteristics as silence in the Glade moves people to be dumbfounded, but they still tried to make sense of it.

How easy can Thomas really adapt?

After being at the Glade for so long Thomas starts living as if everything is back to normal, but he just can’t seem to figure out why he was brought here. Chuck keeps explaining to Thomas that if he doesn’t start acting normal that things will only get worse for him. To make things even worse for himself Thomas started hearing voices inside his head and he needed to rely on Chuck to get himself together.

How is Thomas living?

Thomas is really learning how hard it actually is to live in the glade and what kind of affect it is having on him. Thomas is trying to act like he’s okay but things are starting to get him depressed and he can’t handle things. Throughout the whole book Thomas really started to develop as a character and the way he moved around the Maze was amazing.

What is Thomas’s real name?

Thomas made it a point to everyone in the Glade that they may never know what their real names are. What happens in the Glade stays in the Glade I suppose, but who knows if they make it out or no, that’s up to you to find out.  Thomas has made plenty of great impacts to the Glade and he had an interesting journey.

It’s pretty interesting to see what adventures Thomas went through but I guess I’ll get to see the rest of them through the other books.

Post #5

I mean I really don't care about what's true or not in a story, but some people do and I can't understand why. The only time I'd really care if someone changed up a story is when athletes that I look up change the struggles and life stories that they've gone through. When it's a story that is told just to be fun and interesting I feel like the author has more freedom because people are just trying to enjoy what they're reading. On the other hand I'd actually get really upset if an athlete changed their life story because that's where I find inspiration and the day I tell my own I hope that people find strength in mine. Jillian Michaels, Hope Solo and Derek Jeter have wrote some of the best non- fiction books I've ever had the honor to read and it really would change my opinion of them if they had changed what actually happened to them just to make the story sound better. I really don't care what people who write novels do because those are written to entertain and not to inform. The topics that they write about are non-fiction but some things they say are fiction and not lies, but that's still considered to be non-fiction. I really just think that we need to label everything from text books, dictionaries, biographies and then everything else. It's kind've like the internet, not everything you read is the truth.

Blog Post #4

Big Fish has already been made into a film, but Big Fish created into a TV show would be so much better. The major overview of the plot is Edward Bloom and his extreme exaggeration for his life events that he's lived through. Each story though has a unique twist to it that makes it more interesting then the story itself, but also there is more to it. Edward Bloom tells the story as a younger version of himself. You're introduced to the old Edward but then the rest of the show would be young Edward living out his life of fairy tales. The best part about the TV show is that each episode would relate to a new story of Edwards, so no two episodes would be the exact same. I personally don't really like when creating a book into a visual display that people can watch, change dramatically. Casting out the roles a see Edward be a very suburban type of man, very scrawny, with more mental strength. The biggest scene that would stick out to me to keep the same is the day that Edward was born. It's really the beginning to all this madness but also I feel like this was the part that I felt was best described. Obviously this would have to be the first episode, but on a good note the attention of the audience would be huge. The actor I'd like to see play Edward would be Jake T. Austin because he's a great portrayal of what the character is imagined to be. After having a role in Wizards of Waverly Place I feel like Jake embodies what the character of Edward is. Ashley Tisdale in my head is the perfect casting role for the character Rosemary. When I hear the name Rosemary I just think of a pretty blonde girl and with the characteristics described for her fit the characteration perfectly. I'm not a supporter of the kind of person who changes the setting or the story at all but I feel like Ashland is too boring of a place for the story to take place at unless we created the back drops and props for the overall theme. Some characters I feel like we'd have to take out because in a TV show you don't want the boring parts to care over to a boring story line. Unlike a movie, in a book you have to read the boring parts no matter how lame it may be so that you can fully understand what you're reading because no one really likes to skip pages. Over all Big Fish is a build story line to deal within itself but definitely as a TV show I feel like how could ratings not go up?