Prof. Milne
Eng 101-25
29 February 2012
Respect Athletic
Sports have come a long way since basketball was played with milk crates and flat balls in the alleys of the poor and rich alike. One may ask, why should I be concerned with the senseless sweating and hours of practice of those who enjoy sports? The answer is one that will open your eyes to the fulfillment sports can bring whether recreational or competitive. Sport activities offer a variety of lifelong qualities and provide those who participate a sense of happiness like no other. Jennie Yabroff the author of “In Defense of Cheering”sheds light to her audience on why Cheering should be taken as seriously as any other sport. In contrast Felisa Rogers the …show more content…
In the next paragraph after speeding through some of the things she has heard from her husband about the Packers she informs us that “After a while my eyes would glaze over and I’d find myself thinking about Thursday’s dinner plans or perhaps Alexander Hamilton” (529). Rogers dignifies the ignoring of her husband’s rants about football by simply asserting to him “You’re talking about football!” (529) Dismissing her husband, Rogers exemplifies first the doubt and ignorance towards football she has and second shows the beginning phase of her liking of football which improves her ethos throughout her argument. “The team is in bad shape. One member has a broken rib. The other, a possible concussion from a nasty fall” (524). These are the first two sentences of Yabroff’s essay. With these descriptive words Yarbroff paints a vivid picture in the minds of her readers, also telling a story. The team has been practicing all night Yabroff goes to explain. How could you not respect such hard work and dedication? Usually what encourages a team to work harder are cheerleaders, the ones whose job is to raise spirits. The only problem with this solution in Yabroff’s illustration of the fatigued team, is that the team is a team of cheerleaders. This story proves that cheering has the qualities of any other sports team in terms of the strain, perserverance and hardwork it requires. Emotion or pathos is a tool utilized by both authors to make the readers more engaged in their