The Matter of One Call

Author's Note: I wanted to show a different perspective about the game that will always be remembered. Kentucky fans everywhere  still believe that Watford traveled before he shot the ball.

“Here we are in Bloomington Indiana for a great match up tonight”. “We’ve got #1 Kentucky and #15 Indiana”. “I’m Jeff Carl and I’m here with Dick Vitale”. “Let’s go down to center court for tip off and get ready for a crazy game”. In this intense and extremely close game, it came down to the last shot by Christian Watford, which most people think was clean and released before time expired. When watching this nerve racking game and seeing that last second shot, in my perspective I saw Christian Watford catch the ball, travel, then shoot the ball for the win. In this point of view piece I will show the view I had when watching this game.   

This was the one game all year I was just a little worried about because it was at Indiana, which according to www.BleacherReport.com is the forth toughest arena in NCAA basketball. Throughout the whole game each team would never fall far behind the other. At halftime it was 29 to 28, with Indiana on top. This game was going to be decided by defense and clearly both teams knew how play defense. Kentucky was coming into this game undefeated and with two future first and second draft picks to go into the NBA. It was so incredible how two freshmen would be the first and second draft picks.

It was a huge game to me, being a big Kentucky fan and also hating Indiana. My dad and I almost got tickets for the game, but were just a little too late. This was a game where you couldn’t take your eyes off the screen or even leave the room. Throughout the whole game it seemed as if my eyes were glued to the screen. As much faith as I had in my team, I was still very nervous and had a bad feeling that something terrible would happen this game.

With six minutes left in the game, Kentucky was playing excellent and turning stops into points. With three minutes left Indiana was down by seven and was forced to call a timeout. Kentucky Coach Calipari told his team they need to play defense and commit no stupid fouls. As time came down to 37 seconds it was a tie game and Kentucky’s ball. Kentucky wasted almost all the shot clock and got a layup and was up by two with 5.6 seconds left. Indiana called a quick timeout and got the ball on the other half of the court. Jordan Hull brought the ball up with great speed and passed it to Christian Watford to shoot at the last second. He caught the ball, stepped forward, then took two more steps and shot the ball and made the basket. Soon after, everyone stormed the court thinking they won. The referees had to fight their way to see the replay.

I’m shouting at the TV saying that he traveled. When the referee called the shot good, it made me furious. My team just got robbed from a win and would no longer be ranked number one overall. I believe the referees called the shot clean because every student that could fit on that floor was on it. If they called it a travel and Indiana lost, it would have turned into one huge fight and so many people might have been injured. Even though Kentucky won the National Championship that same year, Kentucky should have never lost that game.

Overcoming Problems

Author's Note: I wrote about Stanley figuring out how to fix problems and stand up for himself because i think a lot of kids need to make the decision help themselves and not get bullied. 

Before getting caught in the wrong place at the wrong time Stanley was bullied every single day of his life for being a nerd and overweight. In the book “Holes” by Louis Sachar, Stanley Yelnats, the main character learns how to stick up for himself and fix his problems. He Doesn’t want to be pushed around and stepped on from bullies anymore so he decides to help himself. 

While walking home from school one day out of nowhere shoes came flying out of the sky. After walking  with them for a while two cops drove by and picked Stanley up to go to jail. Stanley had no clue what just happened and why he was going to jail. He got a choice to either sit in jail or go Camp Green Lake. He thought it was the camps his mom offered to sign him up in the summer but was to afraid to get bullied there, but he decided it was better than jail so he went.

Getting to that camp was different what he thought it was going to be. There was no lake, no shade, no nothing. He was scared he would face the same bullying and torture he got every other day back in his home. The head guard told him that he needed dig a 5 by 5 hole every day.  Mr. Sir told him it will build character to make a better man. Stanley thought you could never get good character by digging a hole. After being there though he did build character and even stood up to a bully one day in the cafeteria when a bigger man tried to take his food.  

After him and his friend Zero tried to run away from the tortures camp they found a mountain named “God’s Thump, that was thought to be filled with water and a bunch of wild onions that would recuperate the young boys health. Before retrieving the wonderful water on top of the mountain he had to carry Zero up the mountain to recover and sustain health because he had been without water for much longer then Stanley. Over the month at Camp Green Lake he lost weight, became smarter, and knew how to deal and concur his problems.After being pushed around all those years Stanley was going to seek revenge and the people who have made his life miserable all the years.

In the beginning of the book Stanley and the Yelnats thought they were all cursed for a old ancestor, but at the end Stanley broke that curse by bringing a Zeroni family member which was Zero up God’s Thumb and let him drink the water. Before then Stanley would never have the courage or even the strength to do what he did. Right after he brought Zero up God's Thumb good things started to happen to Stanley such as finding the buried treasure, go home with Zero, and even got to adopt Zero into their family. Stanley changed through the book because he had a choice, either be picked on and bullied or become different and stand up for himself. He made the right choice by sticking up for himself and learning how to fix his problems.

Sad but Meaningful Ending

 Author's Note: I wrote the ending to the story touching but if you look behind that it really means a lot.

As the boy walked down the stairs confused on what just happened he went to go get his shoes he was craving for. When he walked through the doors of the shoe store he went to the corner of the store where the shoes laid and ask the clerk to buy these. Running out of the store with the biggest smile on his face he thought to himself that he needed to repay the women but he didn’t know what because he didn’t have any money. Walking back to the women’s house Rodger thought how he could repay the lady. As he approached the door he knocked on it, the lady came out in shock of seeing him. He said that he wanted to repay her by doing work, but the women wouldn’t let him. Rodger just wanted to do something for that lady. Two weeks past and Rodger still felt bad he didn’t repay her. When he finally went back to her house he notice that a sign said FORCLOSER. As the boy started to cry he felt a soft hand on his shoulder, it was the lady.

Standing Up For Yourself

 Author's Note: I wrote about Stanley Yelnats in the book "Holes". I wanted to show the readers how Stanley started to stick up for himself.

For my character analysis I analyzed Stanley Yelnats from the book Holes. After being blamed for steal a famous MLB player shoes he gets the choice to go to jail or Camp Green Lake. Stanley chose to go to the camp to dig a hole for two years. As the days went on he kept learning what the Warden was looking for and where it was. Throughout the book Stanley became more brave and learned how to stand up for himself. After him and his friend Zero tried to run away they came back to camp and stood up to all the guards and got the Warden arrested for running an illegal site. Threw the book Stanley came to the camp shy and chubby with no friends, but after his time digging holes he made some good friends and became strong and fit. After running away to God’s Thumb, where he found refuge he learned that he needs to stand up to bullies and in his case the warden.

The Golden Hook

Author’s Note: For my Prediction to the end of hook I wrote the ending to this story by Cody Miller stealing the hook. I wanted to make it seem like he was haunted by Mr. Clarence by taking the golden hook.

After Cody Miller laid Mr. Clarence Buchanan in his wooden coffin he thought about taking that nice gold hook. Taken that hook made Cody’s life no different. Cody thought it was right to take the hook so he put it in Clarence’s old house and lived there. After 10 years of living in that house with no one or anything Cody got sick of being so lonely. He moved back to the city with only the hook and the cloths on his back. Before moving into the city he set the old house on fire. Moving back did nothing everyone hated him and thought badly of him. After getting called every name he decided to bury himself with the hook to never see light again.