Sporting News 03.31.12

• What could you do in the third grade? San Francisco Chronicle
• Oops!: David Beckham promotional poster for schools deemed inappropriate Daily Mail 
• Blowup: Houston Dynamo's Colin Clark player fined for gay slur SBNation
• Cribs: Take a peek at the most expensive athlete homes Bleacher Report
• Rookie San Jose Shark helps spread the message that "You Can Play" San Jose Mercury News
• San Francisco 49ers QB Alex Smith joins effort to find Sierra LaMar Yahoo Sports!

Assignment: Cause and Effect Essay

On 2002, Billy Beane revolutionized baseball's approach to winning games

Under the stewardship of general manager Billy Beane, the 2002 Oakland Athletics won an unprecedented 20 games in a row, an American League record. To do so, the A's needed to take a new approach to scoring runs. What was that new approach and what precipitated the change? Likewise, besides the winning streak, what effect did Beane's methodology have on Major League Baseball? Cite extensively (and exclusively) from Michael Lewis' Moneyball to support your thesis.

Requirements:

• MLA Style, including parenthetical citation
• 3-page minimum
• Include a works cited page

The best papers will:

• Stay within the parameters of the prompt, examining the circumstances that precipitated Beane's novel approach to scoring runs, as well as the impact of his methodology
• Have a concise thesis that both addresses the subject matter and contains a viable argument
• Clearly support their thesis utilizing solid evidence presented in a logical structure
• Properly cite evidence from Moneyball using MLA's parenthetical citation method
• Conclude with a summation of the main points
• Be formatted according to MLA Style 

Due: We 04.04 (Draft 1—Bring 3 copies)

Week 10: Julio Cesar Chavez, Boxing

Mexico's Chávez won six world titles in three weight divisions

Mo 3.26
No class: Spring break

We 3.28
No class: Spring break

Upcoming:

Week 11: Walter Payton, Football
Mo 4.2
Read: MONEY—“The Human Element” – Postscript: Inside Baseball’s Religious War”
Class: Reading discussion; Presentations

We 4.4
Class: Reading discussion, Writers workshop
Due: CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY (DRAFT 1—BRING 3 COPIES)