Monday, October 19, 2009

Comparison and Contrast Essay

Football vs. Basketball

The entertainment of sporting events bring fans far and wide. Some fans support their teams by wearing jerseys, hats, or holding up poster board signs with encouragement to root their favorite player. Other fans get very outrageous and recruit more fans to go topless and paint their torso one color and engrave a letter to spell out their team’s name or they may even spray paint their head and faces two different colors. The main sporting events to be discussed are football and basketball and their similarities as well as differences.
Football is a very physical sport. Women are not allowed to play, because some may fear they are not tough enough, although there are some women stronger than men. For athletes, it is a must to stay in shape, the gym and practice becomes second nature. In other parts of the world, football may be considered rugby or soccer. The players are very motivated with adrenaline flowing that when they run out on the playing field, they are disoriented by the crowd, the noise, and each other, they have to be guided back to reality before the game begins by coaches. Their uniforms, which is normally of two colors, include helmets, numbered jersey, jockeys, and cleats. Football is an outdoor sport, so according to the weather the players quickly adapt. They play on green turf labeled with white lines corresponded by numbers, representing yardage, counting by tens from each end meeting at the fifty line marked from each goal line. There are many rules and to ensure that they are enforced, referees are in place. The designated team scores at the end of the goal line with an oval shaped ball. The point system consists of six points when a touchdown is made with one additional point for the team to either punt through the goal or run into their end zone. There is also three points when punted through the goal, if a touchdown is unsuccessful prior to the fourth down.
Basketball is the opposite, this is not a physical sport and unnecessary contact will get you ejected from the game. Women are allowed to participate in this sport, women against women only. Athletic ability is required to endure practice as well as your opposing opponents. This event is largely known around the world as basketball. The player’s uniforms consist of sleeveless shirts, knee hi shorts, and mid or hi top basketball shoes. This is an indoor event, played on a court with hoops on each end for scoring with the round ball. Instead of running out on the basketball court, they exit from between the bleachers amongst the rowdy crowds. The point system consists of three numbers: three, two, and one. The basketball court is marked off to distinguish which point was awarded. The length of each game is dependent on the quarters played. There are four quarters per play with fifteen minutes intervals in football. All periods of regulation play in basketball are twelve minutes. Both events are capable of overtime. The team that scores and prevent their opponent from scoring wins when the allocated time elapse.
In conclusion, as with the many sporting events, basketball and football has been known to maintain the youth of the crowd as well as the players. The entertaining of cheerleaders, dance team, the band, or even the players. There is always some kind of significant encounter to capture the mind and embrace an individual’s past life when they were younger.

3 comments:

  1. I think you did a wonderful job comparing the differences and similarities of both sports! You really did good on this one in fact your point is clear and your not trying to insist either sport is better than the other(non argumentive) so the details were awesome!:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. i think it is a very good paper. you seemed to write it in more block or subject to subject format, instead of point by point. you compared football completly and then switched to basketball. instead of alternateing between the two. other than that i thought the paper was great. plenty of details. i loved the conclusion, expessially the last sentence. it may help to ask your teacher about point by point, to get a better understanding. over all great paper.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, I'm not a big fan of any sports, but your paper is well developed. Your ideas are very clear and you have great examples throughout the paper. Even though I'm not fan of sports I can relate to some of the things you have in your essay.

    ReplyDelete