Blog Post #10: Reading and Writing Tasks

Reading and Writing Task #1:

           The article, "It was lightning and thunder" written by Will Grimsley, brings back one of, if not, the most controversial issue in boxing history. Nearly 50 years ago, Muhammad Ali defeated his opponent, Sonny Liston, in only the first round of their heavyweight championship match. As stated before, this match went down as one of the most controversial fights in the world of boxing. It was rumored that when Ali knocked Liston out after a single minute during the match, the referee blew the count. Liston said that he never heard a count, and after he got back up from being knocked out he thought they were still fighting. Joe Walcott (the referee), argued that he was trying to hold back Ali and thought the timekeeper (Francis McDonough) was counting the time. 

     Grimsley exposes the idea that this match was a huge dispute and many people believed that it was unfair and not properly arbitrated. Throughout the informative and disputatious article, Grimsley uses many news-writing strategies to pull the reader/s in. Along with reporters and boxing fans, Grimsley tends to address people concerned/interested with the controversy, boxing officials, and most importantly, fans of boxing. The author incorporated quotes from fans, referees, and even Sonny Liston. These quotes provided the reader with an idea of what it was like to be at the match and why it was so argumentative. Many rhetorical questions were being asked as a way to make the reader think and truly grasp their attention. It forced the readers to consider who or what was at fault for the massive controversy over this match. As you can see, Will Grimsley used many sports writing strategies such as the use of rhetorical questions, individual statistics for each opponent, and remained (for the most part) unbiased throughout the article. Overall, his strategies allowed him to present the controversy over the Muhammad Ali versus Sonny Liston heavyweight championship boxing match very distinctly.                                                                                                                                           Reading and Writing Task #2:

     In the article, "He's a show-stopper", by Mark Farinella of the Sun Chronicle Staff, news of the New England Patriots incoming defensive lineman, Malcom Brown, is introduced. This past Wednesday, on May 27th, Malcom Brown spoke to reporters at Gillette Stadium as he was welcomed to the New England Patriots organization. Throughout the informative and stimulating article, Farinella exposes not only the Patriots excitement for Brown joining their team to Patriots fans and representatives, but Brown's own excitement as well. Malcom Brown, being the Patriots first round pick as a defensive lineman, felt very honored to be welcomed by the Patriots and described how he is determined to work hard and be successful this season. To show this Farinella used many quotes from Brown describing what he hopes his journey will be like in becoming a great player. The author also uses player comparisons, to Brady specifically, to demonstrate Brown's sort of cocky side when saying he will be the best draft pick the Patriots will ever have, just like Brady said. Farinella seems to favor Brown joining the Patriots and his publicity as he provides no reasons as to why fans should not be excited for him to join the team. All things considered, Mark Farinella does a really good job incorporating his background knowledge on Malcom Brown and statistics/quotes concerning him to draw the readers in. His sports writing style remained consistent throughout the article and did not show any signs of commentary.