Athlete: Dennis Rodman

If I were going to be an athlete, I would model myself after Dennis Rodman because it just seemed he did what we wanted to do always and always had fun. I remember when I was younger watching the Bulls go to the Finals in ’96 and my favorite player was always the one starting junk and playing great defense. Of course Jordan making all these impossible shots and effortless dunks filled the highlight reels but for me the temperamental “Worm” was always the man to me and growing into my teens and early 20’s I came to really appreciate his time with the “Bad Boys” in Detroit. Dennis Rodman was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 1986 and was the 27th pick overall. The legendary Chuck Daly coached this team hard and they were a defense oriented team that did not take any junk from anybody. Rodman played defense and his role was to rebound the ball which he did extremely well. He won two NBA titles with his fellow Bad Boys, Zeke, Dumars and Salley and Laimbeer. He was then traded to the San Antonio Spurs. He didn’t do much in San Antonio and then got traded to the Chicago Bulls and got paired up with Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen. That trio went on to win three more NBA titles. Rodman also got a little crazier personality wise and the way he dressed. I admire him for being himself and being who he wanted to be. If he wanted to dress all crazy he did, if he wanted to dye his hair all these crazy colors he did that too. I liked that Rodman played defense and that is what he was brought in for and he relished the opportunity to get under an opponents skin. He wasn’t much of a scorer but he didn’t need to be because of the way he played defense. He played with reckless abandon and lived life the same way, as for me I don’t think I could live that way but I can live vicariously through what he has done in his life. He played hard and lived even harder but he was himself through and through no matter how weird that may have been. But when he called it a career he played for 5 NBA teams, Pistons, Spurs, Bulls, Lakers and Mavericks. He won 4 NBA titles and has been inducted to the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Explorer: Ernest Shackleton

A very long time ago when I had braces I was sitting in a dentist’s office that did not have a tv, I picked up a National Geographic and started flipping through it and I got to a story about the Ernest Shackleton. I started reading and got very intrigued, it was probably the most amazing story I have ever read. That short excerpt was not enough for me, later I read the book, Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. Ernest Shackleton’s goal was to cross Antarctica. He picked his crew and started South on his ship the Endurance. But tragedy struck early, the ship was trapped in the pack ice in the Weddell Sea. The pack ice soon engulfed the ship and it was trapped and eventually sank. Now the crew was on trapped in Antarctica with no way to radio home and no one to come and save them, so it was up to their blindingly courageous Ernest Shackleton to get them out of this bind. By working together as a team and crew they got out of it and endured one of the greatest survival stories of all time. After the ship sank, they were stranded on the ice flows and had to figure out a plan. The expedition to cross the Antarctic continent was over. The nearest land was South Georgia island which they left earlier in the expedition. The crew was getting restless and Shackleton had to keep them in line to survive. After being at the ice flow they decided to make their way to Elephant Island on the three lifeboats. After a week at sea they made it, but it was not an easy trip the winds were cold and they had to little to eat and were exhausted. Realizing they could not just sit at the island, Shackleton decided he would set out in the lifeboat and sail 800 miles of open ocean. They reinforced the boat and the navigator had to be absolutely correct so they would not be lost in the open ocean. They made the perilous journey and landed on the South George island but unfortunately the wrong uninhabited side. They rested for a bit and Shackleton and his crew decided to cross the island by foot it was a setback but small compared to the 800 mile lifeboat journey. Shackleton and his crew made it to the whaling station and got help and picked up the rest of the crew. Amazingly no one died thanks to Shackleton leadership. Shackleton wanted to be remembered always for crossing Antarctica but he did not achieve that. Well I think that crossing Antarctica for the first time would have been impressive but I think the story of survival that they endured is far more impressive and memorable than crossing the Antarctica.

 

Actor: Denzel Washington

One actor I really admire for what he has done in his professional life and what he has done in his personal life is Denzel Washington. He has been in such famous movies like Glory, Training Day, American Gangster, Remember the Titans and many more. He has done a lot with his acting life and has played so many varied characters from the lovable but stern Coach Herman Boone in the Remember the Titans to escaped slave in Glory to the activist Malcolm X. He goes from the very good and lovable characters to the very bad evil characters and he does that with ease and when you watch him you really think he is a great guy or if he is playing an evil guy, you think he is really evil. I really like Remember the Titans because it was about a city coming together and playing some football but I also enjoyed Hurricane where he played the legendary boxer Ruben Carter, who Bob Dylan wrote a song about entitled “Hurricane.”  He embodies his characters very well but that is just one of the reasons I like him. I also admire Washington because of his personal beliefs and the work he does with charities. Being a rich and famous actor I’m sure some people forget where they came from not Denzel Washington. He is a spokesperson for the Boys and Girls Club of America, Honorary Chairperson of Save Africa’s Children, Lifetime Founding Member of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and he also donated a million dollars to Wiley College to restart their debate team but he has also donated to and supported to many other charities. He is also a very spiritual man and believe in God. I find that very admirable that even with his busy lifestyle he is thankful for all his opportunities. He made the most of his opportunities and an interesting fact that I learned in my research is that Washington graduated with a degree in journalism and he also became an actor. Maybe that is the route I will go down in my life well hopefully it is because that is what I would really like to do. Deznel Washington is a great actor and person who has done so much to help people and make the world a better place.

Team: The Philadelphia Flyers

One of my favorite sports teams of all time are the Philadelphia Flyers. I love this team for so many reasons it all started off because of my dad he is from Pennsylvania and he would tell me all the stories of what the Flyers did when they played other teams and the way they dominated and wouldn’t be pushed around. In high school the librarian of the school was Canadian and he renewed my interest in hockey and regaled me with stories of Dave “The Hammer” Schultz, Bobby Clarke and the Broad Street Bullies. So with my dad being from Pennsylvania and the way they played hockey this was to be my team. The Broad Street Bullies were the Flyers in the 70’s. They were an expansion team and were sort of pushovers until they drafted and got some players that would not be pushed over they would do the pushing. The Flyers played an international game with the Russians on January 11, 1976, the Russians had beaten NHL teams but the notoriously bruising Flyers were a little too physical for the Russians liking. The Flyers won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975. Bobby Clarke was one of the best Flyers during that time and he could score but was also a wild one. Bobby Clarke was referred as the “cold-blooded capo of the Flyers family” in a HBO documentary about the Broad Street Bullies because he was a good player but would antagonize other players because he was protected by his goons.  The Flyers were ruthless and toothless and I liked the way the played hockey in the 70’s and the way they would do things their way and impose their will on opponents. And in an episode of the show The Simpsons entitled “Tree House of Horror IV” the starting line up for the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers  are mentioned as members of the jury of the damned as a reference to the unforgiving violent but succesful way of playing hockey. And the Flyers as of late are doing pretty good they went to the Stanley Cup in 2010 but lost the series to the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2. And they traded my favorite player Daniel Carcillo to the Chicago Blackhawks so that was another blow for me. But I admire the Flyers because they are who they wanted to be, they didn’t take no guff but gave plenty and broke some rules and some bones and won some games including 2 Stanley Cups and endeared themselves to the City of Brotherly Love.