TOW #7: Pick a Side. Nets or Knicks? Scott Cacciola

The Nets and Knicks rivalry has never been very competitive. When ever the Knicks were talented and competitive, the Nets were in a rebuilding phase. The teams switched between these two roles on and off throughout recent years. Now that the Nets have moved to Brooklyn and acquired new players, for the first time the two teams are competing to be the best. Scott Cacciola, a sports writer for the New York Times, wrote Pick a Side. Nets or Knicks? to share his and many other sports analysts’ opinions on what makes a fan either a Knicks or Nets fan. Cacciola and the other analysts use statistics and appeal to the fans emotions to show what makes a Nets or Knicks fan.

The Nets’ move to Brooklyn last year resulted in many fans abandoning their old teams to pick a new favorite. Cacciola and Kenny Smith, a TNT NBA analyst, share the facts about the new fans for the Nets. Smith describes Knicks fans to be more “wine and cheese”. The Knicks are New York’s original team, and the older, true basketball fans in New York can not switch away from the classy team that they have loved their whole lives. Due to this, the majority of Nets fans are younger and less extravagant, and do not share the history with the Knicks that the older fans have their entire lives, so they have the ability to form a love for a new team.

Every sports fan wishes to see their favorite team win a championship. In New York, fans have a choice between the two teams. With Carmelo in his prime for the Knicks, and the acquisition of old superstars for the Nets, New York fans have a chance to see either team win a championship. This is why fans’ connections to the teams plays a large role in deciding which to root for. As Howard Beck, the NBA Bleacher Report columnist states, “Having stolen the headlines and the Knicks thunder, the Nets are poised to steal the title as New York’s best basketball team.” The signing of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry along with the hiring of head coach Jason Kidd are projected to mold perfectly with the superstars already present in Brooklyn. It is difficult for many to not jump on the Nets bandwagon as they are the newest team and projected to be one of the best teams this NBA season.

TOW #6: The United States of Texas, Why the Lone Star State is America's Future, Tyler Cowen

Davy Crockett’s saying, “Gone to Texas” is becoming very popular for many Americans. Many Americans are leaving their stressful lives in states like California and New York to move to the Lone stare State, Texas. Unlike the people in the 1800’s who were fleeing to Texas to escape debt or the law, many are now fleeing to Texas in search of a chance to start over economically. Tyler Cowen wrote The United States of Texas in Time Magazine to explain the popularity of many Americans moving to Texas, and how other states could mimic Texas’s qualities. Tyler achieves this purpose by sharing personal accounts of people who have followed this trend, and by providing statistics of why people feel that they have a higher chance of success in Texas.
Tyler’s use of personal accounts gives insight of why so many people are moving to Texas and escaping their stressful lives in other states. Tyler tells the story of Tara Connolly. She moved from Brooklyn to Texas in 2005 and has since got a job. She pays a mortgage for a house that is half the cost of what the rent of her Brooklyn apartment used to be. Tyler tells this story to help prove his point of why people are moving to Texas. He uses Tara as a perfect example of someone who left their stressful life and moved to Texas, where they now have a job and a larger property for less of a price than their property in the state that they came from. By using personal accounts, Tyler appeals to pathos. He connects to other people’s lives by telling stories like Tara’s to show how people can benefit from all that Texas has to offer. 

The use of statistics helps show what other states lack and could learn from Texas. Tyler shares the poverty rate, home prices, tax rate and many other statistics to show why Texas is attractive to so many Americans. Tyler shares that in the last 12 months 274,700 new jobs were created, that is 12% of the total number of jobs created in all of America last year. By sharing this statistic, Tyler shows that many Americans are moving to Texas to find job opportunities because the states that they currently live in do not have as many. Tyler shares statistics to appeal to logos to explain why many people are moving to Texas, and what other states can improve on.

Tyler’s use of sharing personal accounts and use of statistics appeal to both pathos and logos. These rhetorical devices help Tyler show why there is a popular trend of moving to Texas, and what other states could do to mimic qualities of Texas.

TOW #5: What Brotherly Love Truly Means

The Philadelphia Eagles struck gold with their newest commercial. The commercial is located on flyeaglesfly.com, a website owned by the team. The marketing team of the Eagles made this commercial to excite the Eagles‘ fans and encourage the fans to support the Eagles in anyway possible. The commercial achieves this goal by the retelling of stories, repetition, and by creating a exciting tone. The commercial connects to the audience by retelling plays and games that every fan can relate. Whether its 44 to 6 against the Cowboys, 4th and 26 against the Packers, or both of the Miracles at the Meadowlands every fan can relate to the joy that they felt during these events. The retelling of stories appeals to pathos, and allows the fans to feel the emotion they possess when the Eagles play well. This leads the fans to expect a great season from the Eagles and share their support for the team so these emotions can be felt again. 

The commercial also connects to the fans by using the repetition of we, us and our. The fans feel connected to the team when the commercial mentions that Philadelphia and the Eagles are ours. The commercial states that we wear our hearts on our sleeves for the Eagles. By saying we in this statement and all of the other times we is mentioned, the fans feel that the commercial is about them and that they have a whole city with them when rooting for the Eagles. The repetition of possession words appeals to pathos, as it connects to the fans emotions by reminding them that the Eagles are their team, and that the history of the Eagles is their history as well.

The commercial attracts the audience by using an exciting tone. The commercial gains the exciting tone by the music that the commercial uses. By using slow music at first, and then fast music, intensity builds up while famous plays are being shown. The fast pace music, with the exciting plays creates an entire tone of excitement. This excitement, as well as the connection that the fans feel convince them that their is a great season ahead and that their support is well needed.

TOW #4: Athletic Art: 3 Acts And 3 Points, Bill Pennington

A field goal from start to finish takes approximately 1.2 seconds, but is one of the most difficult acts in all of football. Bill Pennington wrote Athletic Art: 3 Acts And 3 points in the New York Times to describe how the 1.2 seconds of a field goal are an intricate production. Pennington uses interviews with the Giants’ members of the field goal team, many analogies, and statistics to help the football fan understand the stress and intricacy that goes into every field goal and extra point. The three main components of the Giants’ field goal unit are the snapper, Zak DeOssie; the holder, Steve Weatherford; and the kicker, Jake Brown. 

Zak DeOssie has snapped the ball over 25,000 times to prepare for his job. By use of repetition, Zak learned that the ball must rotate two and a half times in order for the laces to be facing the sky when the ball reaches the holder. Zak describes the defenders across from him as menacing; but he makes sure the ball has two and a half revolutions every time in order to make the job for the holder and kicker easier. Steve Weatherford is the punter, as well as the holder for the field goal unit. He has the task of catching the ball from the snapper and setting it up perfectly for Jake to kick. Steve has been the holder for a few pro-bowl kickers, so he has plenty of expertise. Although Steve has a lot of experience, he claims that you do not have to be that athletic to be a holder. He relates his job to shooting free throws. Steve uses this analogy to prove that anyone could do his job with a lot of practice and repetition. Jake Brown is the final component to the field goal unit. As the kicker, he has the most stress, because he is the one that finishes off the three points. He describes the players and fans trying to distract him from making his routine successful. Pennington effectively shows the intricacy of the 1.2 seconds that it takes to make a field goal. He explains the stress and viewpoints of the players to show all that is involved with every field goal and extra point.