Larry Bird Essays - Boston Celtics, Free Essays, Term Papers

Larry Bird Essays - Boston Celtics, Free Essays, Term Papers Larry Bird One of the greatest basketball players of all time emerged from the small town of French Lick, Indiana. With a population of 2,059 people, around 1,600 of them came to watch the Valley High basketball games, especially the blond-haired shooting whiz with a funny smile named Larry Joe Bird. Following a sophomore season that was shortened by a broken ankle, Bird erupted as a junior. Springs Valley went 19-2 and young Larry became a local celebrity. Generous fans always seemed to be willing to give a ride to Bird's parents, who couldn't afford a car of their own. As a senior Bird became the school's all-time scoring champion. About 4,000 people attended his final home game. When Bird went on to college, he found life very difficult. He started out as an Indiana Hoosier, but later left Bobby Knight?s team. In 1976 Bird enrolled at Indiana State, which had a 12-14 record for the 2 previous years. Home- game attendance hovered around 3,100 when he arrived, but as he had done in Springs Valley, Bird single-handedly packed the house and propelled his team to respectability. He averaged better than 30 points and 10 rebounds for the Sycamores during his first campaign. Season-ticket sales tripled. TV stations showed film clips of Bird instead of commercials. Students skipped class to line up for tickets eight hours before tip-off. "Larry Bird Ball" was the most popular sport in Terre Haute. The Sycamores went undefeated and reached No. 1 in Bird's senior year-that is, until a Michigan State team featuring a 6-foot-9 guard named Earvin "Magic" Johnson knocked them off in the 1979 NCAA Championship Game. Bird was ! named the 1978-79 College Player of the Year and left ISU as the fifth- highest scorer in NCAA history. The Sycamores had gone 81-13 during Bird's three-year career. Then In 1978 the Boston Celtics selected him in the NBA Draft, hoping that he would skip his senior season. Bird decided to stay one more year at Indiana. The Celtics? record that year was 29-53. Then in ?79-80, Bird finally came to Boston and sparked one of the greatest single-season turnarounds in NBA history. The 1979-80 Celtics improved by 32 games to 61-21 and returned to the top of their division. Playing in all 82 games, Bird led the team in scoring (21.3 ppg), rebounding (10.4 rpg), steals (143), and minutes played (2,955) and was second in assists (4.5 apg) and three-pointers (58). Bird was named NBA Rookie of the Year and made the first of his 12 trips to the NBA All-Star Game. The next year the Boston Celtics drafted Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. That year the Celtics took the championship by defeating the Houston Rockets. Bird once again led the team in points (21.2 ppg), rebounds (10.9 rpg), steals (161), and minutes (3,239). In 1981-82 Bird made the first of his three consecutive appearances on the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. He finished runner-up to Moses Malone for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. Bird scored 19 points in the 1982 NBA All-Star Game, including 12 of the East's last 15, earned him the game's MVP trophy. It wasn't until 1983-84, however, that the Celtics returned to the NBA Finals. By that time Bird's scoring average had reached the mid-20s, and he was averaging upwards of 7 assists, and making nearly 90 percent of his free-throw attempts. Coming off the first of his three consecutive MVP seasons, Bird helped the Celtics to a seven-game victory against the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1984 NBA Finals. It was Bird's first postseason meeting with Magic Johnson since the 1979 NCAA title. In Game 5, with the temperature inside Boston Garden soaring to 97 degrees, Bird pumped in 34 points, leading the Celtics to a 121-103 victory. In Game 7 a record TV basketball audience watched Bird score 20 points and gather 12 rebounds in Boston's 111-102 win. With series averages of 27.4 points and 14.0 rebounds, Bird was named Finals MVP. Bird's scoring average soared to 28.7 points in 1984-85, the second highest mark in the league and the second highest of his career. He boosted that average with a career-best 60 points against Atlanta on March 12.

Symbols and Motifs in Literature

Symbols and Motifs in Literature When you read a book, you might notice recurring themes within the text, which usually influence the storyline and provide clues into the plot or conflict occurring. In order to build and explain the theme, the author will use symbols and motifs. Many readers fully understand what a symbol is, but not everyone is as familiar with motifs. While they are similar and both serve to help us understand the material at hand, these two types of language arent the same. Both are crucial parts of creating a strong storyline that will draw in the reader and hold his attention. What is a symbol? A symbol is an object that represents something else, and in fact, are a part of your daily life, not just a piece of literature. You may not realize it, but you  encounter millions of symbols in your everyday life, such as: Traffic lights: Red light means stop, green means go, and yellow means cautionThe arrow means this wayA cross represents religion, or more specifically, ChristianityLight bulb means new ideaNumerals 1 and 0, put together, mean tenA heart means loveLogos represent brands, like the Nike swoosh or Macs AppleEven our names are symbols that represent us as individual humans Symbols can hold unexpected meaning, but upon further investigation, can make a lot of sense. For example, if you read a scene that involves a skunk lurking in the background, you might wonder what that animal could signify. But, if  theres something that foul in the works of your story, like a breakup or a bit of bad luck, the skunk begins to bring up imagery of something that is less than pleasant to experience. Thus, the symbolism.   To better understand symbolism, you might  ask yourself to consider what a variety of everyday objects might stand for if they were used in a piece of literation. For example, think about emotions or thoughts that come to mind when you see the following: Flowers (represent nature, birth, growth, femininity, beauty)Lightening bolt  (represents speed, strength, power, electricity)  Spider web (represents entanglement, entrapment, mystery) What is a motif? While a symbol might occur once in literature to signify an idea or an emotion, a motif can be an element or idea that repeats throughout that piece of literature. It is closely related to a theme but is more of a supporting role to the theme than a theme itself. It is within the pattern of repetition that the power and impact of a motif are found. A motif could, in fact, be expressed by a collection of related symbols. How do symbols and motifs work together? Since multiple symbols can be used to explain a motif, lets break down a few examples. Lets say we have a story about a family struggling to stay together, parents considering divorce. We might encounter a motif of fragmentation that could come from several symbols that appear in a book: Shattered glassA runaway (pet, teen, car)An explosionA scattered puzzle Sometimes a motif can also be a study on contrast, like the theme of good versus evil, or light and dark. A series of symbols that could represent this motif might be: Moon shadows (shades of darkness)A candle (a light in the darkness)Storm clouds (temporary darkness)A ray of sunshine (emerging from darkness)A tunnel (through the darkness) The symbols and motifs you discover in your reading will lead to the understanding of an overall theme of your book. To find the theme of a book, you should look for an overall message or lesson. If you do encounter the motif of light and dark in a book, you should think about a message that the author is trying to send about life. The light and dark of a story might tell us: Love survives deathLife renews itselfKnowledge conquers fear Tip: if you see a series of symbols or a collection of motifs, but you cant come up with a theme, try inserting a verb to describe the object.  If you see a lot of references to fire, for example, you can ask yourself what action we might associate with fire. Fire burnsFire destroysFire warms Consider which of these behaviors make sense in the context of the novel or story you are reading.