Extreme Sports

Josh Pinneo
Mr. Gowans
Language Arts 12
1/16/2013

Extreme Sports

    Have you ever wondered why anyone in their right mind would participate in any sport that they could potentially die in? Well, there is no simple explanation. Even after years of these sports becoming, somewhat, mainstream there has been little to no research to explain the want to participate in such a sport. What I’m going to cover in this paper is the main reason why people participate in these sports and why we like to watch them.
    To get started we need to understand the term extreme sports. Although the term “extreme sport” is used to describe a bunch of different activities, its true meaning is hardly ever understood. “Extreme sport” is a term that is not easily defined because it is not an exact term and the sports that it refers to is debatable. However there is several characteristics that are common to most extreme sports. They involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion, and highly specialized gear. They differ from non-risk sports due to a higher number of uncontrollable events, which presents a major challenge that seems to motivate some to try and overcome these challenges. Some commonly considered extreme sports are: motorcross, skydiving, BASE jumping, and so on. So, basically “extreme sport” refers to any sport that requires a certain amount of risk on top of the physical exertion that comes with sports. The sports that are considered to be an extreme sport is up to your interpretation of the term, depending on what you feel is “extreme.”
    Most people consider these sports to be too dangerous, but with the addition of technology they are safer than ever. Football is actually at the top of the list of the most dangerous sports today with an approximate 275,000 head injuries, 145,000 shoulder injuries, 88,000 lower arm injuries, and 88,000 lower leg injuries according to. Basketball came in second with 2,560,000 injuries total. Approximately 258,000 of those were ankle injuries, 198,000 of those were finger/hand injuries, 175,500 of those were knee injuries, and 190,000 of those were face and cheek injuries. Motorsports came in third on that list, although the injury rate was not figured on the table it did say that motorsports has a high number of injuries, although it was behind football and basketball, but for what it is it would have a lot more, thanks to the new technology the injury rate was a lot less than it would be. (11 Most Dangerous Sports). With all of the new technology today and all the specialized gear that is required to wear while participating in these sports is the main reason that extreme sports is safer than they appear, and with new technology there are new ways to push the limits of any extreme sport, which makes for more excitement and a more enjoyable time, which makes people want to come back and try again.
    What kind of personality does it take to participate in extreme sports? Well Tanj et al. decided they would compare a few personality traits of people that participated in high-risk sports, people that participated in non-risk sports, and non-athletes. They stated that the want to participate in these sports with the apparent danger involved is a sign of insanity and yet people still want to do them. But, they found that participants in high-risk sports scored highest in emotional stability, followed by non-athletes, with the lowest score going to non-athletes. The same was true for the next two categories, conscientiousness and energy. But in the openness category high-risk athletes scored the lowest. The study also showed that high-risk athletes are more likely to teach the sport to someone else than a non-risk athlete, which could explain the large growth rate in extreme sports.
    These sports have become almost mainstream and why is that? Why are there so many people that would risk it all just for some rush? Well according to Young Ko there are more spectators and participants coming into the high-risk sports, a 10% increase in the last decade, whereas there has been a decline in spectators in the non-risk sports. But why is this? It’s because these sports show a rebellious and individualistic side that cannot be expressed otherwise.
    So, why is it that anyone would want to watch these sports? Why is it that anyone wants to watch any sport? Because it brings some sense of enjoyment and the upredicitability of sports keep us waiting to see how it will end, but in extreme sports the excitement is raised to another level because of the risk involved in performing them. One of the main reasons for watching any sport is that we tend to identify ourselves with the winners, which is why we get upset when the team or person you wanted to win didn’t.
    One major thing about extreme sports is they take a lot of effort to accomplish. Training and practice are a given but it requires a lot more attention than most sports because of the risk involved. It takes a lot of practice and training to be good at these sports, but for many it is worth the time, risk, and effort.
    The challenging nature of an extreme sport is another motivator for the participants. To overcome some of the challenges that these sports present is one of the top driving factors to participate, it is these challenges however that present the major injuries that the sports see. But with the advancement of technology there has been a significant reduction in the resulting injuries, mainly with the development of new specialized gear. In any sport however there is an injury rate that comes with participating in it, that is something that the new developments are trying to prevent but in any case it happens.
    There is a certain limitation to sports in general, which is one of the driving forces for people to participate in extreme sports, because by participating in extreme sports there is a way to push those limitations to as far as you are willing to take them. In fact, being able to push limitations is one of the most definitive reasons to participate in extreme sports, behind self-realization and enjoyment. Self-realization is simply getting to know your limitations and how far you are willing to push yourself in such a sport.
    Another reason people participate in these sports is to increase skill level in those areas. Because these sports are fairly challenging it takes quite a bit of skill to even participate in them, and with mastery of a sport comes the showing off, which is why so many people try to emulate the participants of these sports, which could explain the large growth rate in the last decade.
    According to Hetland et al. there are two main motivating forces, the desire for challenges and to increase mastery and skill. The other is quite simply the feeling of joy they feel from doing so. This does explain why someone would want to try something of this nature, but does it make it worth the risk? In my opinion it does, but that is something you have to decide.

Work Cited

“11 Most Dangerous Sports.” Totalprosports. n.d. n.p. Web. Jan. 19 2013.
Hetland, Auden. Vitterso, Joar. “The Feelings of Extreme Risk: Exploring Emotional Quality and Variability in Skydiving and BASE Jumping.” Journal of Sport Behavior 35.2 (2011): 154-180. Academic Search Premier. Web. Jan. 11 2013.
Ko, Young Jae. Park, Hyewon. Clausse, Cathryn L. “Action sports participation: consumer motivation.” International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship. 9.2 (2008): 111-124. Academic Search Premier. Web. Jan. 11 2013.
Rauter, Samo. Topic, Mojca Doupona. “Perspectives Of The Sport-Oriented Public In Slovenia On Extreme Sports.” Kinesiology 43.1 (2011): 82-90. Academic Search Premier. Web. Jan. 11 2013.
Tanja, Kajtna. Et al. “Personality In High-Risk Sports Athletes.” Kinesiology 36.1 (2004): 24-34. Academic Search Premier. Web. Jan. 11 2013.

Giver/ Anthem Essay

Josh Pinneo
Mr. Gowans
L. A. 12
12/12/12

Title

In The Giver, Jonas (the main character) becomes the new receiver of memories; the receiver of memories, get this, receives memories from the past, when they could still see colors. As the new receiver of memories, he witnesses the pain and anguish along with the joyful and happy memories. He learns to love and wishes that upon the rest of his community but they cannot comprehend. The Giver comes up with a plan for Jonas to leave the community, because when he leaves all of his memories come back to them.

In Anthem, Equality 7-2521 (the main character) is born different than the rest of his brothers. He comprehends and learns faster than his brothers, which in this community is a sin because he could know more which would not be equal. In the story Equality wishes to be a scholar, because he believes that he could bring more help to the community, but in a community that is afraid of change, they designate him to street sweeper. He sees this as a way to repent for the great “sin” but in turn he becomes more knowledgeable because of a tunnel from the past he found while on the job. He discovers a light bulb which he later figures out how to work. This drives him to want to learn more, to want to bring knowledge to his community for the better of it. But they do not see this, they see someone who has broken every rule for some lost cause. He escapes from the community later on, and decides that he will create a community better, one that lets a person be a person.

Both these communities have one thing in common, they want to promote equality. This, however, is impossible. They cannot stop one person from thinking different from another, although they can get close there is always something or someone to break the rule. Therefore, true equality can never be achieved.

In The Giver, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories, this means that he gets memories from the past, when people could see color, know what love and hate meant, and know pain. In his community they have effectively removed these memories from the population, except there is a catch, someone has to know about them, that’s where The Giver and Jonas come in.

The Giver has to bear the weight of all the memories of the past because the community decided that those memories in the hands of the people, they chose to let live, would give them the means to be an individual, which would not be equal by any means. Yet they have to have these memories somehow, somewhere, and even if it is just with one person it could not be considered true equality.

In a world where equality rules, there is still some things the community couldn’t get a handle on; unexpected events that the community cannot deal with because they do not have the wisdom, that’s where The Giver comes in. He uses his vast knowledge of the past, that the community has taken away from the minds of all individuals, to help come to a resolution. In a sense he is above all, because he has more wisdom, more experience than all other men or women in his community, thus it cannot be true equality.

“And that’s the real reason The Receiver is so vital to them, and so honored. They selected me-and you- to lift that burden from themselves.” (Lowry 113). In a supposed perfect community, why do they need the Receiver or the Giver? It’s because they couldn’t technically achieve equality. There are still unexpected events that they have no control over. In looking to prevent that they have technically ruined their shot at true equality, by giving memories (that not all people possess) he becomes different than the rest.

In Anthem, there are people that take on the role of Scholar, which is like a researcher. They come up with all the technology that the rest of the community uses, but technically doesn’t that make them more knowledgeable than their brothers? And being more knowledgeable than their brothers would mean that they are more of an individual. And being an individual would mean they are breaking the rule of equality.
“We were born with a curse. It has always driven us to thoughts which are forbidden.” (Rand 18). Equality is born with the capacity to be different, he learns and comprehends better than any of his brothers. He also wants to know more but is made to believe that this is evil, to be different from his brothers in any way. He figures out that there is more to the world than what his brothers lead on to, but he still feels that what he is doing is wrong, yet he continues to pursue these thoughts. In this sense he is the rule breaker, but nonetheless he is clear evidence that equality cannot truly be achieved because there is always going to be someone or something to break the rule.
In both the stories, the main characters both leave their communities.They are both born with a certain difference, which drives them to leave. Although if the communities they lived in were truly equal, why were they born different in the first place and why were they allowed to live in a community that saw them as different? Even in a “perfect” society they cannot stop one person from thinking, which is their downfall, because it is human nature to be different, it might be in just small ways but different nonetheless.
A community can only hold us back if we choose to let it, there are those of us who will choose to fight it, even when they stand alone. Even when they face uncertainty there is always going to be someone that will be different from the rest and stand up against all odds for it. There is always someone or something to break a rule, that is why true equality can never be achieved even under the best conditions for it.

Works Cited

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Print
Rand, Ayn. Anthem. New York: Dutton, 1995. Print