Prompt 3

     The author of this text discusses the difficulty of playing sports at higher levels of competition.  I was able to witness this first hand, and completely agree with the author's position on this point.  I played baseball since I was four years old.  As I got older I began to excel, and made a travel team.  After years of playing on this team, and traveling all around the nation with my parents, I left this team to play high school baseball.  I made my high school baseball team, although many of the kids that I played with on my travel team did not make their high school baseball team.  This was very surprising to me considering many of these kids were good baseball players and athletes.  While in high school, many of my friends attempted to be recruited by colleges.  Many of them spent thousands of dollars in order to be recruited by these schools.  They traveled to different college camps, and showcases around the entire nation.  Even though they put immense time and effort into this venture, only a hand full of my friends received offers to play at the collegiate level.  Going through this experience made me realize that in order to play at the highest level of competition, a person must put enormous time and effort into making this dream a reality.

     Another thing I agree with in this reading is the statement that most people who play a sport are more likely to watch the sport and have a connection to the players who are playing the sport.  Every time I sit down to watch a baseball game I watch very closely, knowing that one pitch or one at-bat could have a decisive impact on the games outcome.  I can feel the emotions of the players, and I can assume what they are thinking during each at-bat or before throwing each pitch.  After playing hundreds of baseball games, it is almost as though it is a sixth sense.  But, when I go to watch other sports, it almost seems foreign.  Since I have never been in their shoes I seem to have no clue what they are thinking, or how they are feeling.  When I watch those games I don't watch as intently.  Most of the time I will just glance at the scoreboard and see how the teams are doing, but after a certain amount of time I begin to lose interest.  I can use this connection that the author describes in my paper, because the connection that I have with baseball made me fall in love with the game.  Also, the author's use of facts to back up his argument may help me in writing my first paper.  Instead of just simply stating an idea, the author uses reliable data to support his argument.  This adds a formal touch to the reading and makes it much easier to accept the author's argument.