Motivations Post

In the article "Why We Play Games" the author uses storytelling as a motivation that brings people together who share common beliefs. It is often interpreted as entertainment, aka video games and film. Jane Mcgonigal's TED talk she explains how she is a game dev and created a game entitled "SuperBetter." She created the game because it helped her through a very difficult brain injury she was facing at the time. So instead of feeling crappy during a rough time in her life the game SuperBetter helps get her mind off of things by simply interacting with people, it encourages those with disabilities to get up and start moving to keep them preoccupied. SuperBetter spread through Jane and has gone on to help many people with disabilities such as cancer and depression.
The second motivation Jane talks about is self-empowerment, this is defined as when people feel like they have control in the world they live in. A lot of people have problems with self-empowerment and feel the exact opposite. Jane has helped solve this with the creation of SuperBetter, the game has helped people feel better about themselves and helps them release their better qualities. This is amazing because it is helping change how people act in life in a very positive way. It helps people in pain during hard times of their life ignore it and feel more concerned for the world around them.

Compare/Contrast of Male and Women's Bodies In Media

The media has proven to stretch the truth and set unreal expectations for women. but men too? Yes, the media markets men as strong, muscular, manly, tough guys. But their bodies have been proven to be unrealistic, in order to achieve the perfect "rock hard" bod you would have to choose working out as a career. It is very hard to achieve a body like that, but the media has controlled the male body to define a symbol of manliness. This is also true for women when you see the size of runway and fashion models, their petite size is almost unrealistic to reach, but women will still try to achieve the perfect "runway" model waistline. One thing that is different about the media setting unreal expectations for men is that is is not thought about as frequently and can be overlooked when compared to women's sometimes overly flashy sexually objectified advertisements

The True Costs of Participating in High School Football

After watching the video "Football High", it brought up a lot of issues that high school football players deal with. The main problem is the players safety, and brain damage that can occur later in life due to participating in the sport. At one point in the video a player named "Garrett" gets hit very hard in the head during a play, he is slow to get up but when he runs off the field to the athletic trainer the first thing he says is "I remember everything." Garrett saying that is a great example of CORFing, he is trying to avoid that fact that he is concusst which is a REAL injury. All the player cares about it playing the sport he loves, all he is focused on is the next play which he should not be participating in since he is injured.
You could also argue that Garrett is showing BIRGing by his drive and enthusiasm to play when he is injured. He see's his team almost like a family, if he is injured and cannot play he feels like he is letting everyone down. He feels the need for the team to succeed, and if they win Garrett will feel a sense of success. Another great example of CORFing comes from the coach of Garrett's team (Shilo.) When the team goes all the way to the championship round they are crushed when they lose to the better team. The coach of Shilo's team gathers the team in a huddle after the game, he goes on to basically say how the other team wanted the win more. During this post-game huddle speech he refers to the team as "they" as in every single person as a whole, blaming everyone for the lack of success during such an important game.

The Purpose of Sports

Early on in life everyone in introduced to sports, for example some kids are born into households whose parents are Hawkeye fans. Eventually when kids grow older they become interested in participating in sports. This stage of childhood is very interesting because you find out what sports you may be good at, and some you may just be terrible at. Sports are made for people who enjoy competition and pushing themselves very hard to reach goals. In the U.S. sports are huge and it seems like every parent wants to see their kid go pro in whatever sport they are good at.
This has lead to parents and coaches pushing athletes too hard, or expecting too much. Sometimes this can turn athletes off to a sport altogether, our current system with sports provides great athletes; but with a cost. There needs to be additional protection for athletes and resources like an athletic trainer. Additional safety precautions should be enacted, but fans and coaches would disagree.