FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME: Week of 5-12-14

Title: FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME
Author: Michael Jordan
Pages read: 77-(110)Finish
Pompt:• If you were the author, what would you change? Why?

If I was Michael Jordan the thing I would change would be to make the book a little more chronologically ordered. I would choose to change this because I felt like at some times in the book he would refer to something that would happen later. He also would talk about situations on earlier pages and then refer to them on later pages. I think for readers who don't know as much about Michael Jordan it would be easier for them if it was almost completely chronological. But I think Jordan did a great job explaining everything. Even if he would refer to a topic that was out of order on a timeline when he referred to it, it was to support a point. This is I think the first autobiography I have read on my own, meaning I chose to read this book.

This book was really good for me. I usually think about biographies or autobiographies as boring and lots of facts. Though after reading this I realize how interesting biographies and autobiographies can be. I think if I want to read these types of books I will have to choose books on people's whose lives I find interesting. At the end of the book Jordan tells about the teams struggles and positives. The main struggle for a while on the team before and after Jordan came back from retirement was that everyone thought they could do it themselves. Meaning that they thought they should have been the stars and what the offense would run through, which caused disruption to the team.

The reason Jordan came back an won another 3 titles was because of Phil Jackson. Jordan talks aout how all the players on the team liked him. Jackson really knew how to incorporate everyone in the offense so that it worked best for every player on the team. He also knew how to make every player better and improve their on court action. This book taught me a lot of lessons. A lot of the book are just lessons from Michael Jordan that he learned through his life. His life was a lot of havoc and confusion. During all this he learned lots of things. These lessons he reflects in this book and I will make sure to remember them. This was a great book.

40 Book Challenge

On your Blog discuss where you are in your 40 Book Challenge. Reflect on how your reading has progressed throughout your 7th grade year. If you have successfully completed the challenge or are about to, how did you make this happen? Based on your 6th grade year, how would you rate what you have read this year? Consider the amount of books you have read, as well as the caliber of the text. What are your thoughts about the 40 Book Challenge going in to 8th grade? Minimum requirement is 2 solid paragraphs!

     I did not accomplish the 40 book challenge this year. I think I am somewhere in the high teens or lower 20's if we are counting books over 350 pages, so I was around 20 books off.  However the 40 book challenge has made me a better reader and has allowed for me to read more book this year. The 40 book challenge along with the blog post every week has made me more obligated to read and has helped push me to read more books. I think compared to last year I made a great improvement. I also think the 40 book challenge has opened me to more types of genres that I could like. For example I was never interested in autobiographies or biographies. Then I found a Michael Jordan autobiography in my house that I had never seen before. I thought it may be kind of boring but I actually really liked it. I think that book will open me to several more biographies and autobiographies in the future.
      Last year we were not obligated to read as we are this year so I didn't really care to read or about reading as much. I don't know how many books I read last year but I'm sure it wasn't very close to how many I read this year. Also the level of reading and length of the book has improved this year. This year I read more complex and longer books, which was a large improvement from last year. I think as the years go on and I begin reading more and more I will eventually reach 40 books. For the 40 book challenge in 8th grade I think going in to 8th grade the 40 book challenge has helped me this year and will help me next year if we still have it. I do think that the types of books should change because I know I sort of stayed away from books or genres that were not appealing. When we do the 40 book challenge in 8th grade I am hoping to be able to read more books and that the skill level be higher. 

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME: Week of 5-5-14

Title: FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME
Author: Michael Jordan
Pages read: 50-77
Pompt:  • Make an interpretation of the passage – may be a picture, symbols, graphic

organizer.

I chose this image because all through Michael Jordan's life he was either being picked up or trying to help others. Also this shows how individuals care and trust each other. Michael Jordan had to put a lot of trust into others and had to be able to make sure others trusted him. I know most people would probably expect a basketball. But in the book Michael talks about when he became a man he realized how basketball opened his life for him and showed him how important all everything in his life was. The first example I have was when coach Phil Jackson first came to the team. He introduced a new offense that got the whole team involved. 

At first Jordan thought it wasn't going to go well. In fact the whole team thought that. But they had to trust their coach. When they ran through the offense teams had to worry about all the players because the offense allowed all their players to score. This led to more points for Jordan actually. This is because they couldn't double Jordan as easily and the offense improved him. I think the biggest friendship and "I got your back" idea in the book was his relationship with Magic Johnson. Magic Johnson ended up getting the HIV virus. Magic called Michael and told him everything. About how he was going to retire and fight the virus.

I felt this truly showed trust and help because Jordan talked about if that happened to him he wouldn't talk to anyone. So I think Magic told his true friends so that they could help him get through and so he would know he would have people behind him. I really like this book. I learn a lot of interesting facts about Michael Jordan. By reading this book I learned how much more of a hard worker and great player Michael Jordan was than I ever thought. After reading so far (and I'm not done) I find it hard how anyone can question whether Jordan was the Greatest Player Ever. In my perspective there is no question about it. This book is amazing because I get to learn about my favorite player ever.

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME: Week of 4-28-13

Title: FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME
Author: Michael Jordan
Pages read: 1-50
Pompt: Describe a character that you would like to meet (which doesn’t mean that you

think you would like the character, but that you think the character would be

interesting). List 4 questions that you would ask.

My book is an autobiography written by Michael Jordan himself. So of course he is the character I would like to meet. Before this book I already knew a lot about Michael before this book but now I know even more information. I like this book because he tells about what he went through specifically and tells about more specific details of his career. For example in the 84-85 season he was fined $5,000 dollars every time he wore his black and red Nike Air Jordan 1's because they did not specifically match the uniform of white and red.

I have also learned of some of his toughest moments in his career. In his 85-86 season he broke his navicular bone in his left foot. When Jordan felt he was healthy enough Jerry Krause and Jerry Reindorf didn't want him to play. He found out they were trying to lose games in order to get an early draft pick. Jordan was restricted to 7 minutes a half when he came back yet he was practicing for 2 hours. One game there was 32 seconds left and the game was tied but Jordan had already played his minutes. The coach was told if he played even a minute extra he would be fired. So all the fans began to boo the coach for benching Jordan.

If I met Michael Jordan I would probably be speechless and not be able to say a word. I would have millions of things to ask. If I had to choose for my first would be what was the best thing you ever did to up your game. The next question I would ask would be how he was able to come over his struggles and move on. I would also ask what techniques he used to get open on offense and to be one step ahead on defense. My last question would be how did it feel winning a sixth title and what was the most important thing you did to get there. If I had one more I would ask for a pair of shoes. I chose these questions because I would like to learn how the greatest ever was able to improve his basketball skills, get over injuries and stuggles, and how to become a better player. He is my favorite player ever so 4 questions is really hard to limit myself to.