In life, when there’s an opportunity to take a shot, take it. This is exactly what nineteen-year-old Jason McElwain did, and this shot had the power to change his life. At birth, a severe form of autism took over McElwain’s life, but he was not diagnosed with high functioning autism until the age of two. Since that moment, basketball became his escape and his biggest passion. Though too small to make the junior varsity high school team, he held his head high and excitedly became the manager for varsity. For his last home game, the coach let him wear the uniform and surprised McElwain by letting him play for the last four minutes of the game. Those four minutes changed his life and transformed him from an ordinary kid with a simple dream to …show more content…
McElwain did not understand why he always got cut, but according to Dr. Jeff Robinson, “Since autism impairs social and communication skills, individual sports may be the ticket” (Shrewsbury). Basketball may not have been the best sport for his circumstances, but he fell in love with it and followed his dreams. His coach made him the manager, so he took stats, helped with drills, and prepared the guys for game time. He did all these jobs with a smile on his face, and it all paid off on February 15, 2006, which was the day that changed his life forever. This was the night of the last home game, and his coach finally put his name on the roster and gave him a jersey. With four minutes left in the game, McElwain ran on the court and the crowd went crazy with posters and chanted “J-Mac”. Within the four minutes that he was on the court, he scored twenty points and they won the game. The crowd stormed the court towards “J-Mac” and they made him feel like a true champion. His dream came true in those four minutes, and all of his hard work, love, and dedication for the sport became worth his time. McElwain really did successfully take his shot, and from that moment on, he was seen as a
After a few hours he arrived there he went onto the field to practice with his teammates. He was practicing with Tom Brady. When he was done practicing he went into the locker room to change into his jersey.
He got bored of this so the following season he went to become the Washington Redskins head coach. He was a great coach for them and gave them the first winning season in 14 years. This only lasted a year, then he quit because he got
Matthew, I agree with you that Coach McElwain’s press conference was effective because he was upfront about Will’s making a mistake, but most importantly in the press conference, Coach McElwain made it known that he along with the team would continue to support Will. In addition, I also agree with you about the Penn State crisis. Consequently, a crisis of that magnitude is unlikely to recover from. I believe that no matter how much the school and the Athletic department do to try to distance itself from the crisis that it will always be connected to the school. Great Post!
NC State came back, and went on a run of extremely close games to win the ACC, players recall- now it looks like practice, we’re cutting down the net, they can now see what Valvano had been seeing all along, they believed. The NC State team went into the NCAA, and made it to the final where they were complete underdogs, they won by 2 points in the final second-true NC fashion, and achieved the ‘dream’ through nothing but belief, mental toughness, and
When you think of friday the 13th you think horror movie, scary, supertistion, and some other think it's bad luck to be outside after dark. It's all based on a serial killer we all know as Jason he also can be a little kid nightmare if they really knew he actually wasn't a real serial killer. If you ever heard the name Jason you would know he has tons of movies based on his life and how he tries to keep people away from what we know his home Crystal Lake. He's heartless and roofless to others he doesn't speak all he shows is a act of violence. Jason to some could be a misunderstood character to some if you don't know his background story.
After playing a tough semifinal they were able to qualify against an amazing team, who consisted of a player almost as talented as CJ and he came in 6’10”. The game had been fast paced. The crowd was in awe as they witnesses two of the best players in the state play an astounding game of basketball. They maintained a tied game until the last few minutes where the game would depend on whoever held position of the ball at the end, it was that close. Only eight seconds before the timer went out the opposing team managed to put in a three- point shot.
Now my thing is what’s the odds of getting hurt in college basketball and not being able to play in the NBA? You worked your whole life to be on the top of the world and now you 're going down hill, all because of a injury. That 's my whole point, if you just could have entered the draft straight out of high school, probably none of this never would have happened. Now you’re thinking “all my recruiters are gone” and my chances of living the perfect dream is dead now. The odds of getting injured and not being able to play basketball is a good 50 percent because either you can get hurt and not go through therapy because it’s difficult or don’t give up and come back even stronger.
He was a very humble dude and he never bragged about stuff. An example is in high school when they had won the championship and he stated that it was a team effort but he kinda carried the team is my understanding. Another example is when he saw the twin towers crumble with his own eyes and in his mind he knew he had to do something about it. If he wasn't modest I don't think he would have done anything to change his life. Last example is when he went to college and started on special teams and finally got to be starting on defense.
That year the team went 0-8. The following season he got the start because the freshman starter quarterback quit. After his senior year his was offered to play at a college in California and would have been the first string quarterback. Also he was offered to play at Michigan but would have to work for the starter position. He chose Michigan because he was someone who like the competition.
I was quivering--though not from the chilling winter breeze that enveloped me as I approached entrance door of the gymnasium, but rather from the prospect of interacting with an unfamiliar group of people. During the winter of last year, headed to my first Special Olympics Basketball practice of many, I did little to conceal my anxiety; an obvious display of concern patterned my face as I confronted a bombardment of second-thoughts. At the time, my perception of the special-needs community had been laced with the unfortunate stereotypes common of many people today. I had presumed that they would be hard to teach, that they would be unpredictable, and that they would be overwhelmingly awkward.
You never fully realize what the consequences of your actions are going to be, how the decisions you are making in this moment are going to affect your future. We all make choices based on our knowledge, our background and previous experiences we have had. Coming from a background of hardship, Lenny Kooke made several choices that affected his life greatly. Thinking he had everything it took to make it to the NBA, he chose to take the money he was being offered and skip college; this decision altered the way his whole life played out. Nothing happened the way he was expecting it to, he didn’t get drafted for the NBA and ended up not playing basketball professionally at all.
Although he finally makes it in school, there are many challenges he goes through. His brother’s autism condition weighs hard on him. The condition, though not directly impacting him personally, it affects his day to day
Beginning the season without much success, I knew that I had to make a change. I realized that my maximum effort and personal commitment to perfection were necessary for our team’s success. Also, my integrity on the court in practice and games had to grow this season: I had to be the example for my teammates. I learned to lead by example and words, regardless of how I felt or the scoreboard. Most importantly, along with striving to be my best, I worked to help others become better players and leaders.
As the others and I got on the field, Coach Robbie held me back and reminded me in encouraging words, “ Be a leader out there.” I nodded to show I understood and jogged back on the field, “Let’s go guys!”. In 25 minutes out of the 30 minutes of the half we had tied USAI 1-1 giving our team the final burst of energy to win the game. I had loved every second of it, the grass making me see green everywhere, the yells of my parents on the sideline, but most of all the competition.
I love basketball because I am terrible at it. Despite my 6’ 0” stature, it seems that my brother stole any natural ability I might have had. Every morsel of skill I have has been worked and paid for with each drop of sweat spilt during the fourth rebound drill, each painful bruise I collect after being caught with a flying elbow, and each ragged breath I take trying to outsprint my teammate. Basketball, for me, is a challenge.