A Fantasy League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Fantasy football. It has redefined how football fans all over the world now look at the game we all love to watch every Sunday afternoon. With football being the most watched sport in America, it is clear we have a love affair with the game which dominates the ratings of any other sport. Americans love to watch football because it's exciting, violent, adrenaline-pumping and it is an excuse to get together with friends and family and enjoy some beer and simply relax, or go nuts, whatever your into. Fantasy football however has transformed the game into something more. Football is no longer simply a game that is played between two opposing teams with fans on both sides rooting against one-another for fun and friendly competition. No, now, it is a game of individual players, being relied on by fans to dominate the field and rack up as many stats as they can in order to benefit the fantasy world of some fans fantasy team in some fantasy league. One can argue that this new craze ruins the sanctity of the game, however I believe it makes it better and more enjoyable to watch.

Fantasy football works as so: Individuals must join a league with others and then create teams either by drafts or other means filled with REAL professional football players in their rosters. They then set lineups of the best players on their roster to "start" against ones opponent for the week. Based on how well, or badly, one's player preforms on the actual gridiron on Sunday, determines how one's fantasy team does. It expands the realm of competition among football fans. Now a fan isn't forced to simply root for one team and dwell on said teams success or lack-thereof, but has the option if necessary to have other means of entertainment during football season. If one's favorite team is preforming poorly, there is nothing they can do about it, yet fantasy football opens the door to a secondary form of football influenced entertainment and allows one to be in total and utter control over their teams success or failure. This also forces one to focus more on every player, and not just those on their favorite team. It has aroused the average fans knowledge of more players, teams, and the game itself. More fans will watch more games to follow their players and see how they are doing. This has undoubtedly sparked an increase in ratings as wells as ticket sales as the popularity of the game has increased. Fantasy football has unlocked a new door to how one can follow the game, and revitalized an already divine sport that all Americans love.

adbuster

 

These pictures combined represent my idea to visualize the importance of religion in sports, more specifically in Tim Tebow's case.

Got Jesus?

I'm sure we've all seen the milk ads portraying various celebrities of all sorts holding a tall glass of silk white milk standing there looking all famous with a dark background enhancing their features, always topped off with the iconic white mustache and an ad slogan reading, "Got Milk?". These ads have always drawn the attention of many for their mixture of pop culture, rebelliousness, and of course, everyone's love of milk. While thinking of an idea for a different kind of ad however, the type of ad that sort of makes fun of familiar ads yet also highlights issues of some sort in the world or in media at the same time, I found that this "Got Milk" ad would serve as the perfect frame for my idea to highlight the medias obsession with New York Jets 2nd string QB Tim Tebow. It's the same idea as the original ad with some tweaks however. Instead of portraying Tim Tebow with a glass of milk campaigning the idea that getting your vitamin D is what the celebrities do, so in fact you should do it as well, I am going to show Tebow posing in his famous "Tebow" pose with the same format of the original ad. Instead of the ad slogan reading "Got Milk?", it will say "Got Jesus?". The idea is to highlight the obsessions the media has with Tebow and to pinpoint whether or not it has to do with his religious antics.

The reason I find this to be such an interesting topic is because as a Jets fan, I've noticed that 80% of their media coverage is on Tim Tebow, a player who doesn't even play. During training camp this was even more evident. This seems to always have been the case since Tebow was in college at Florida. What is it about him that draws so much attention? It definitely isn't his game. I am going to explore the medias obsession with Tebow and figure out what exactly it is about his personality, his traits, his facade, and his general attitude that makes people either utterly love him, or hate him. This is a question that has been bothering me ever since he came to my beloved Jets.

When Sports Stars Sellout Both Stadiums and Themselves

This weekend while watching Sunday football, I was suddenly shocked at the sight of yet another one of Aaron Rodgers State-farm commercials. Usually somewhat entertaining, providing a cheap laugh in situations when I'm commonly fuming in anger due to the Jets lack of ability to play football, this latest addition was different. It featured Aaron Rodgers, the star quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, going head-to-head against pop boy-band One Direction in a competition to see who can make a crowd louder. As the two separate parties displayed their talents in crowd control, the scene suddenly takes an awful turn. Aaron Rodgers is suddenly displayed wearing "hipster" clothing on stage with the Britney Spears wanna-be's and proceeds to act and sing like them. I mean, I understand taking promotions as an athlete bolsters an already fat bank statement, but there is a time when dignity should take moneys place when it comes to priority. This commercial was disappointing as a football fan, but most importantly as a man to watch. Aaron Rodgers not only sells out crowds at stadiums due to his undeniable talents, but this time, also sold himself out.

Mondays

I wake up on a monday morning and the first thing that goes through my still half asleep mind is how badly i don't want to go to work today, however i get up anyways, disregarding my natural instincts to jusy blow it off and sleep another few hours. I search for some clean clothes but of course my girl friend forgot to do another laundry so im forced to scrape together an outfit barely suitable for a substitute teaching job. "This is going to be a good day", i say to myself as i open the shades of my window and stare out into the world being torn apart by thick rain. To add to this perfect start to a monday morning, there's no food in the fridge. I need a new girl friend. On my way to work the traffic is heavy due to the rain. I even almost get into an accident by some jerk-off trying to cut me off. So now not only is it a monday morning which is nobody's favorite thing in the slightest, but I look like i bought my outfit from goodwill, the weather is horrible, I'm cranky from an empty stomach, and my anxiety level just shot up a few notches from the near-death experience moments ago. I finally get to work where it takes me 10 minutes just to find a parking spot and once this seemingly impossible task is complete, i realize i forgot my umbrella in the midst of all my frustration during the pre-work rituals. Im about ready to blow as i trudge through puddles with nothing but a magazine to cover me from the rain. I get into my cozy 6 by 6 foot cupicle where im interupted by my bosses secretary who tells me im needed in her office. this is never a good thing so im pre emptively trying to calm myself down cause at this point anymore stress might cause a brain hemorage. I sit down and my boss looks at me and says without any emotion "your services are no longer needed here, here's your last weeks pay" as she hands me an envelope probably containing enough money to buy my girl friend a nice break-up present. I walk out calm, yet inside im a volcano ready to explode. I dont remember the car ride home because i am too engulfed with rage. I get home and turn on the t.v. and sure enough ESPN is on. The best player on my favorite team is out for the season.....Im going back to sleep. Fuck mondays.

Good Will Hunting

In the film Good Will Hunting the plot follows the story of a troubled young man from a tough neighborhood in Boston. He starts out as a janitor at the prestigious MIT where he secretly solves impossible math theorums that professors at the highly acclaimed school with a base focus in math couldn't even solve. After secretly solving one of these problems on a white board in the hallway, he is eventually discovered as the "secret genious". After being arrested for assault and threatened with jail time, the professor who put up the math problem seeks to mentor him, and use his genious for his own personal gain. The professor strikes a deal with the judge allowing Will, the main character, to stay out of prison if he became the professors apprentice and saw a psychologist weekly. After trying numerous psychologists, all of whom could not handle Will's tough exterior, Robin William's character finally proves to be the doctor who can relate most to Will having experienced similar hardships as a child which you learn about later. The rest of the film follows Will's constant struggle with keeping a relationship with a girl he met, due to the abuse he suffered as a child. As a result of this abuse, Will had refused to allow anyone to love him, and vise-versa, for fear of losing that person down the road. He also never pursued any long-term career or "real" goals with his gift of intellegence for he was taught at a young age that he was worthless. Robin Williams, after weeks of getting to know Will, finally breaks down his barriors and lets him know that "it's ok", and that "it's not his fault", leading Will to finally pursue the girl in the end and not think so low of himself.

This film has a few archetypes that we see in many other films. Will, the main character represents the common troubled character with an edge, yet also a soft side, who we all wish good things for by the end of the film. This cliche takes its natural course as this happens and Will succeeds in the end. Also Robin William's character acts as the role of the old mentor figure with wisdom who helps the main character by guiding him through his through his troubles with advice and friendship.

School Ties

School Ties is a film that covers the complexities of both class identifictation/segregation as well as religious identification/segregation. It is a movie that outlines the lives of boys in a prestegious catholic prep school and how everythings seems to go so well until they discover that one of their teammates, their starting quarterback, is not like them. He is not only Jewish, which contradicts everything the school is about, but he is also lower to middle class which differs from the socio-economic backgrounds of the other kids around him. This bring about an interesting dilemna. We notice that once the main characters religious and economic identity is discovered, he is instantly cast out as a heretic, regardless of being the guy everyone loved before this knowledge surfaced. Even the girl he was dating, who went to a neighboring all-girl prep school nearby cast him out when she found out "who he really was". She felt betrayed and stupid for having had feelings for a poor jew. Nothing else mattered to these people excpet for class and religion. If you weren't like them, then you weren't wanted, almost as if they were afraid to confront the diversities of other people, for then they would have to look at themselves and realize how horrible they really were.

We see a few common archetypes in this film which relate to characters we see in many other films. The main character played by Brendan Fraser is a jewish athlete recruited by the prep school for his athletic ability. The school is aware of his religion and urges him to hide it, just to keep things on an even keel. He agrees, but being the good, moral character he is, he still wheres his star, and practices his customs in secret. This is so the audience respects him and therefore roots for him in the end as the common good guy who comes out on top. The antagonist is played by Matt Damon who also attends the school. He is the opposite of the main character. He is catholic, from a wealthy family, and is left in the shadow of the main characters success. One can already predict this will lead to the cliche clashing of these two characters which it inevitably does.