Moneyball Review

Was this a book about baseball? Was it about business? Was it about manipulation of athletes and their temperament? Moneyball is about all of the above and more. Author Michael Lewis gives us personal concepts that surround the career of one Billy Beane who managed the Oakland Athletics with undervalued players with various qualities, both hidden and obvious, and astonishes the baseball insiders with his methods, methods that are brought to him by non-insiders and computer nerds arriving on the baseball scene with non-traditional baseball skills.This has countered the tradition of scouting, what baseball is developed on. This book is so well written that many ‘insiders’ actually thought that Billy Beane was the author and not Michael Lewis.The computer delivers statistics for every possible event and outcome that can happen on the field of play; those stats, until Billy Beane put them to work had been the work of one Bill James who started keeping statistics while he watched over the assembly line and storage of Stokely Pork and Beans and their plant’s operations. His first book was a mimic document that sold 75 copies. Mr. James is the forerunner of all that Billy Beane and his Harvard graduates hold sacred. He writes in this baseball book, “In the early 1980’s, the US financial markets underwent and astonishing transformation. A combination of computing power and intellectual progress led to the creation of whole new markets in financial futures and options. Options and futures were really just fragments of stocks and bonds, but the fragments soon became so valued that Wall Street created a single word to describe them all: “derivatives.”” Lewis'  background helps with the brilliance  combined to make one of the best sport books of all time. The book was so good that it was recently produced as a movie starring Brad Pitt and won many prestigious awards. A person into business or sports will love this because it shows one how the money and the player stock have a huge value in any professional sport. People overlook that al the time, their not use to seeing what is behind the doors or lockers of teams. Finally, what makes this a great read is that it is based on a true story. Billy Beane should have been one of the best baseball players of all time. Instead, he was washed up from the start, but used his mind to create a winning team out of nobody. I highly recommend it.

The Real Ten Rules of Being Human

Then ten rules of being human have some good points but in my opinion, there should be no human rules to live by. Humans need to find their own path in life and embrace the difficulties of life. My favorite rule is number 8. Rule number 8 says "what you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours."This means that your in control of your life and what you do with it is up to you. Your life is what you make of it and ultimately, in the end, your happiness will determine how successful you are. I also will agree with rule number 9, "your answers lie within you. The answers to life's questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust." Humans need to be aware of their surroundings and make the best of them. The smallest thing that somebody is unaware of can make a huge impact in someones life. In my experience, I saw the most beautiful girl in my first class ever in high school. I didn't think about it that much, but 2 years later, she's been the best girlfriend a man could have. She's had a huge impact in my life and if i wouldn't have noticed that something was special with her, she wouldn't have been in my life. Experts always say the greatest things happen to people when they least expect it. Some rules I do not like on the list is lesson 3. "There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of process as the 0 that ultimately "work."Humans will always make mistakes. It is in our nature that we do. Nobody is perfect in our world. A human that makes a mistake will gain a greater meaning of the lesson instead of doing the "growth" process as mentioned above. Lastly, my advice to a junior would be to relax and have fun. In the end, what makes you happy and what you want to do is the most important thing a person can have.

Andrew Wiggins Journal #4

Andrew Wiggins! Andrew Wiggins was on front of the sports illustrated magazine last week. He might be one of the greatest basketball players we have ever seen. As you can tell by my blogs I am a huge basketball fanatic and stay up with the sports world as much as possible. I recently watched his highlight tape on youtube and it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. the kid has pure talent with more room to grow. Scouts are comparing him to the next Lebron James and we all know Lebron is the face of the NBA. Wiggins recently committed to University of Kansas and he was raised in Canada. Not a lot of basketball players come out from Canada, but the one's that do turn out to be great. My favorite team in the NBA are the Philadelphia 76ers and the whole city knows were going to have a dismal year. Hopefully, if we get the first overall pick, we can select Wiggins and build our franchise around him. This 18 year old has media all around him. Students are taking pictures of them in class with each other and blowing it up on twitter. Cameras are all around him, it is a new world for the young Canadian star, but his future has great expectations for him. I can't wait to see what he has in store and according the article, neither can the whole sports world. A kid like this doesn't come around often. He is 1 and million. A person that is not a basketball fan should even go see him play because he will fascinate anyone who is watching. He has the most speculator dunks a person can see at the college level. Scouts would be shocked if he doesn't get the College Player of Year Award. This award is a distinct honor because great NBA players have received this award. What is also great about Wiggins is that he puts Canada on the map for basketball. Canadians fans never were really interested into basketball. The Toronto Raptors , which is a professional basketball team, have not made any uproar since the begging on the 2000's. He bring a new style a new flavor the greatest game in the world. I am going to be a college baseball player, but I am not afraid to admit that basketball is hands down the most fun to watch. A person who doesn't like basketball can like it immediately. I have seen it in many of my friends who go out to their first game. Wiggins will change the game forever. He is only a few to make the cover of Sports Illustrated even before college ball. The ones who made it turned out to be great.

Dwayne Wade Father First Journal #3

This book is very interesting because it portrays all of Dwayne Wade's troubles he had with his ex wife. It must have been very hard for a celebrity to publish his personal issues. He was battling this case for years and it all ended when his lawyer sent him an email "its over." According to the book, his wife had taken the children and nobody knew where they were. She could not be contacted and this was a troubling experience for him. To add more drama, it was the day before the big championship game. He needed to focus on bringing home another ring to Miami. This was nearly impossible because the love of his life was missing. If a person you truly care about goes that if your first priority and that was his. His ex wife is an unstable woman which elevated the situation. They later found the children at his mother-in-law's house and his ex was arrested for abduction of the children. Dwayne was going through some hard times during the most important time of his life. He couldn't have any possible more distractions, but it end, he overcomes everything just as it seems the end. He finds his children and wins the championship. He wouldn't of been able to do this with the faith of God. Dwayne is a heavy God believer and says that whatever you do have the faith of God beside you and everything will be alright. With this attitude, Dwayne has opened up many new charity foundations for helping little kids. He doesn't want to see any kid go through the hard times he did. He has also opened up a church for his mother. He is reconnected with her and builded up a strong relationship with her that she is know many years clean of any type of drug addiction. She said that any of these opportunities wouldn't of been for my strong boy Dwayne. Many sons who have turned out to be famous or live the high life do not reconnect with their parent. They think they are to good to go back and help the person that didn't give them any help. But not Dwayne, he wanted his mother to have her life back and move on as he did. He wanted to build a future. Dwayne Wade will always put his family before anything else. Many people can learn his fantastic caring ways by reading his book. I advise many people to read this and learn how this man came through his life.

Dwayne Wade Father First Journal #2

I got bored with the Prey book so I switched over to what I love. Sports is my passion and I'm currently reading the book A Father first Dwayne Wade. Dwayne Wade is a famous basketball player who plays for the Miami Heat. The Heat are nationals champions for two years straight and don't look like their slowing down. The fame of professional basketball players over look how they care and tend for their families. That is why I love this book because it shows how Wade is dedicated to his family first with his busy schedule. Dwayne grew up in a poor background and with his parents divorced. Dwayne Wade Senior lived separately from Dwayne and his sister. Their mother abused cocaine so growing up he never had a parent figure to look up too. The book is very inspirational because he beat all the odds and became one of the greatest basketball players in history. He also made a promise to himself that he would never let his own kids grow up as he did. After a long custody battle with his ex wife. The children are under his care and he plans to take the best for them. The children are growing up well and they will always be his first priority. He is an inspiration to my life because his hard works proved that a person can make it somewhere if they are determined. He fought and fought for his kids rights and finally overcame the battle. Dwayne Wade is a person who never gives up or stops fighting for what he believes in. That is whatever it is off or on the court. He is the type of person that never looked back on his past and only had one gear to go forward. People are not built like that these days and dwell on the past for many years and even decades. He is one of the most respected athletes in the professional world and he one of my favorites. He gets a lot of criticism for his on the court play, but you cant critique how hard he works. People are saying his prime is over and he is getting old. The knees on him are bad, achy, and not looking any better. He shut up all the critiques in the championship game right after he found his kids. He had 24 points and 7 rebounds which is very good for basketball. I will always remember that moment and probably talk about it around my grandchildren when Im older. lol

Prey Beginning Journal #1

I have been reading the Prey and its a very interesting, mysterious book. It starts out with cheating between a married couple which I already captures my interest. The wife comes home with clothes she normally doesn't where to work and her "sexy boots". The husband seems suspicious, but does not say anything because his wife had a long day. The wife is working on a project at work that can make a huge cultural impact very quickly. She seems to be sharing her ideas openly to her husband. She usually does not share her ideas so the husband gains more suspicion of her change. The book gets really technical of what her plans are and how everything goes wrong. I started to loose interest when the nanorobot start to take over the world. I love action books, but this is not the kind of action I was looking for. I am more of a war guy or a dangerous assassin on a mission to kill people on his/her hit list. The Prey would be a good book for a person who is into science. A science geek would be very interested into this story line because it portray how a wrong experiment could take over the world. For example, in the book Frankenstein, the scientist creates a  living person that went terribly wrong. It turned out to be a monster and ruin his life. The wife control unit spiraled out of control and damaged the whole society as a result. To be honest, I stopped liking the book after a while and put it down, but I'm going to pick it back up and see if the action starts to pick up a little bit. I like explicit action that is constant throughout the novel. I would like for it to have some comic relief, but the more action the  better. The movie that recently came out Olympus Has Fallen is a perfect example of what I like. It is a story about the White House getting taken over by the Koreans and they hold the President in hostage. It was a very gruesome story, but I personally think that is better. The Prey was soft in my opinion and didn't have the guns or fights that make up a good action book. The beginning of it was excellent. It caught my attention right of the bat and I was intrigued. Unfortunately, it just keep going into detail and detail about the new technology they are discovering and lost my interest. I wouldn't advise a teenage reader to read this book unless they are into science taking over the world. I am going to keep reading this book, but for now, I am going to move away from it.

Hey its my first blog post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!