We measure our lives out by annual media events, kind of like Prufrock and his coffee spoons.
Strap Yourself In: A New Year in Media Has Begun
By on January 2, 2013
Exploration and Recreation: Sports | Series Made Simple Fall 2012
By on November 1, 2012 Leave a Comment
Reading about recreational activities (not to be confused with “recreational reading,” though there can be overlap) is no substitute for actually getting outdoors or onto the field or court.
Muck City
By on October 29, 2012
Bryan Mealer’s exploration of football and poverty in one small Florida town brings to mind other books about high school sports, such as Friday Night Lights and Michael D’Orso’s Eagle Blue.
You probably know Mealer’s previous work, even if you don’t recognize the name. He wrote The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind with William Kamkwamba, a [...]
On the Radar: Top Picks from the Editors at Junior Library Guild: Sports Books Score Touchdowns
By on September 17, 2012 Leave a Comment
With the onset of September comes the roar of the crowd—the football crowd. From Pop Warner leagues to professional sports, there are plenty of games to attend or watch. Whether on the bleachers, in the field, or cheering from the living room couch, here are some new titles to fill in the gap during half-time.
Why Being ‘Anti-Sports’ is Anti-Intellectual
By on September 12, 2012
Pick of the Day: Jim Thorpe: The World’s Greatest Athlete (DVD)
By on September 4, 2012 1 Comment
Jim Thorpe: The World’s Greatest Athlete. DVD. 85 min./56 min. with tchr’s. guide. Moira Prods. 2009, 2012 release. ISBN 978-0-97710379-9. $85.
Gr 6 Up–Jim Thorpe’s many accomplishments as well as his shortcomings are described in this remarkable film. Born in a one-room cabin in Oklahoma’s Indian Territory in 1887, Thorpe overcame the many stigmas and hardships associated with being a Native American at that time. Even though he resisted being sent to schools intended to minimize his ethnicity, it was just [...]
Mighty, Mighty Mythology: Everyday—and Olympian Level— Branding
By on July 27, 2012
The subject of branding is one way an educator can connect media literacy, the humanities (classical mythology), a fannish interest in sports, and the current events story that is the Olympics.
Presidential Elections, the Media Literacy Way: A Conversation with Frank W. Baker (3)
By on July 6, 2012
The Game’s the Thing | This Season’s Winners
By on May 1, 2012 Leave a Comment
Storytellers venturing into the mines of Metaphor frequently fill their literary hoppers with Sports to enhance the thematic underpinnings of their tales. There is probably no richer ore. Not even Heroic Fantasy—though generally played for higher stakes and offering a comparably glittering variety of challenges, situations, and opportunities—can match it for direct, everyday parallels with the actual lives and experiences of readers.
