Travel Team: 8-17-14

Title: Game Changers
Author: Mike Lupica
Pages Read: 0-274 (Finish)
Prompt: Characters

The three characters I will describe are Danny, Richie, and Ty. Danny is small. He is only 5 foot 6 inches. He is very passionate about basketball. He has a kind of giver upper attitude at the beginning. He is heartbroken when he gets cut from his travel basketball team. His father makes a new team for him and all the other kids who have been told they weren't good or big enough. Danny has always been sad about his parents divorce and that their family was never a full family. When his dad comes back they get as close to being a family as ever. His best friend is Ty Ross, who ends up joining their team. Danny is a point guard. He is a very passing point guard like Chris Paul. Danny has been working on his double crossover a lot. In their first playoff game he performs it on the play they would win the game on.

Richie Walker is Danny's father. Richie used to be the star player of their Middletown travel team when they were little. He won the championship for their town so he was an absolute star. He went on to have a great college career. He was even drafted in the first round by the Golden State Warriors. One night he was drunk and got into a car accident that almost killed him. The accident ended his career. He divorced and never was in Danny's life. He always felt sorry for himself. Then one day he decided to stop feeling sorry for himself and be part of Danny's life. He coached their team. He got into another car accident but this time he wasn't drinking, and he had to stop coaching. He came back to watch his team win their first playoff game.

Ty is Danny's best friend. He is a very nice and hard working kid. He is tall but very athletic. He is a scoring machine, because of his size, speed, and knowledge. He is the best player in all of Middletown. He does not enjoy being part of his father's team because he doesn't have fun. Well one game he broke his wrist after getting bumped into after a rebound that was Danny's fault. He decided one day to help Danny coach his team and feels like he belongs, but he is still committed to the Vikings. Until his dad yells at him for helping Danny and quits the team. He comes back and helps the Warriors. He makes the game willing layup and Middletown Warriors win the game.

Travel Team: 8-17-14

Title: Travel Team
Author: Mike Lupica
Pages Read: 0-274 (Finish)
Prompt: Summary

Just like the previous Mike Lupica I read the main character is small, and his name is Danny. His parents are divorced and this plays a big role in the book. Danny gets cut from the Travel team he had been playing with for the past two years. The reason was because Mr. Ross despised Danny's father because Danny's father had always been the star of the town. This was because he was the best player on their team when they were kids, and went on to play in the NBA. But his career ended early in a car accident. Anyway Danny's dad was never a big role in Danny's life after the accident. Even though Mr. Ross, and Danny's father were enemies their sons clicked on the court. Mr Ross's son name was Ty. They did amazing plays together like Stockton and Malone (Basketball Reference).

Well Danny's father, Richie decided to become part of Danny's life and help him form their own travel team. Danny was so excited. Their team was pretty bad. They recruited a girl named Colby who is really good. Their team name was the Warriors. Danny's dad promised to stop drinking and was now a better guy then he used to be.They decided to scrimmage the Vikings, which is the team that cut Danny. In this one play Danny was mad at one player and shoved him, but the player bumped into Ty, Danny's friend and Ty broke his wrist. Ty would not be back until the playoffs. Danny felt really bad. The Warriors started getting better and began to win games. Then when they went for pizza one day Richie (Danny's dad) was in another car accident. There were no parents to coach so Danny had to coach his own team with the help of his mom.

One game Ty decided to go and watch. Danny said for him to sit on the bench and help him coach this hard team. With Ty helping to coach  Danny they began to come back. When the game was over Mr Ross came and grabbed Ty and yelled at him. When playoffs came, Ty decided he didn't want to play for his father but join Danny's team. The Warriors would play the Vikings. Danny's dad came from the hospital to go watch the game. In the middle of the game Mr. Ross realized what he had to do. He handed his clipboard over and went and sat next to Richie, to cheer on his son. In my opinion, a very good first step in his apology. Ty hit the game winning shot to win the game off of a great pass from Danny. Game over, happy ending.

Game Changers 8/5/14

Title: Game Changers
Author: Mike Lupica
Pages Read: 0-207 (Finish)
Prompt: Summary

     Ben McBain is small in size, but has a big heart. He is a team first type player and does whatever he can to make the team better. His favorite position is quarterback but his size plays a disadvantage. So again the starting quarterback is Shawn O'Brien, who's dad happens to used to be a pro quarterback and is now the coach of the team. Shawn struggles a lot so Ben decides to help him, because its best for the team. Ben's best friends Sam and Coop disagree with him helping shawn but that doesn't matter to Ben. Well even after Ben helping Shawn, Shawn decides to still be a jerk. So Ben stops helping him.
     Well Shawn has a horrible game and Ben earns the starting position after an amazing performance. Shawn is very upset. But Ben doesn't understand why, because Shawn never wanted to be the starting QB anyways. But Ben figures out he did it all for his dad. So Ben discusses this with his other best friend Lily who helps him better understand. So Ben feels a bit guilty but figures out his plan. He goes and talks to Shawn and tells him he must tell his dad that he just wants to play wide receiver. Shawn at first refuses but eventually lets up.
     Shawn tell his father and it couldn't have worked out any better. Ben saw the both of them smiling and having fun as Shawn's dad would throw to Shawn. Then it was the championship. It was back and forth scoring and it could be anyones game. The other team scored with very little time left. It would take a miracle for Ben's team to win. When it looked like there was no hope Ben made the play that his favorite small QB made when he was in college. Ben would throw the game winning pass on that play. Everyone was happy and Shawn became part of the friends.

Game Changers 8/5/14

Title: Game Changers
Author: Mike Lupica
Pages Read: 0-207 (Finish)
Prompt: Characters

     Then main character in the story is Ben McBain. He is one of the nicest characters in a book that I have read about. He is always about the team and helping others. In other words he is very humble. But Ben is short for his age, and all his life he has wanted to be a quarterback. But he has never gotten the job because he was too small. So this year he loses again to Shawn O'Brien who's father is coaching. He tries to help Shawn with his game because he slacks being consistent. Ben helps him because he knows it would help the team. Eventually Shawn is still a jerk and Ben earns the starting position. Shawn is very upset. But the whole time he never really wanted to be quarterback. Ben helps him explain that to Shawn's dad who was a pro quarterback. Ben saves the day in the championship game and everyone is happy.
     The next character is Shawn. His father as I earlier said was a pro quarterback. So Shawn feels the pressure to not only play quarterback but has to live up to the expectation that he will be better than his Dad. Shawn never really wanted to play quarterback, he just does it for his father. Shawn doesn't have the best attitude. He is a bad teammate and doesn't appreciate others help. He loses the starting job for QB and is a total jerk to Ben. But Ben still cares so Shawn goes to his father and tells him he wants to and would have more fun playing wide receiver. They win the championship game and Shawn becomes friends with the rest of the team.
     The next three minor characters are part of Ben's crew or clique. They are Lily, Sam, and Coop. Sam and Coop both are on the football team. Lily is Ben's friend from when they were little. They called themselves the core four. Lily was the brains. She knew what to say and when to say it. She knew everything about anything and knew how to make someone feel better. Coop was the very talkative one. He was always talking. Sam was more quiet then the rest but would pick on Coop. But they were all great friends. Ben the entire time is always trying to show them to help and be a good teammate. And in the end Shawn becomes part of the team too.