Reflection Unit 2

Reflection Unit 2

I really enjoyed this Unit 2 assignment. Throughout the whole unit I was able to write about a topic in which I am very passionate. However, unlike most times where I am primarily focused on just issues specific to the team, this unit allowed me to think “big picture” of what Ravens Nation really is and what is the teams larger impact on the city.

            The day we were presented with “discourse communities,” once I read the assignment sheet, I immediately though about Freddie Gray. The violence surrounding the riots centered on the injustice treatment of Freddie Gray was obviously a large issue not just for the city or Baltimore ,but also across the country. I remembered seeing the poor reputation Baltimore was receiving because the media wasn’t showing the kids who were staying away from violence and were trying to do keep our city in tact. The media, as the always do was focused on what would make the best story which in this case primarily centered their coverage on violence. Obviously members of the Baltimore are not innocent in the the way they acted, but it was frustrating to see the media generalize the city.

(What Baltimore communities tried to focus on

 compared to what the National Media focused on)

It was not till later that I read a couple interesting articles about the Baltimore Colts and decided to center the majority of final project around their dramatic move out of the city. My grandfather was a huge Colts fan and I remember all of his stories about interacting with different players on the streets at locations completely unrelated to football. Throughout all of my research I focused on the fact that the teams job is so much more than carrying a ball. Each player has a responsibility to the city they play, which is far more than their performance on the field. If you look at past Ravens who departed through free agency and trades, Ravens Nation focuses more on the players who have dedicated their lives to Baltimore but may be on the decline of their careers as opposed to the player who have not had a huge impact within the city and are coming off a very good (statistical season.) I don’t know a lot about other teams and fan bases but what I do know is when someone comes to Baltimore they are prepared to embrace the city as a whole which not a lot of communities can say.

            As I am sure it is quite obvious, I am a big Baltimore Ravens fan and I relish any opportunity I have to write about the team in any possible way! Just as it is for other people if I am writing about a topic that I am passionate about and enjoy, I am more likely to appreciate writing the papers. These are some of the main reasons why I have enjoyed both unit assignments in this class. Even though we had some guidelines about topic, we have had so much freedom in finding topics that interest us and those that we wish to pursue. I had not written about discourse communities before and this gave me another opportunity to try something new with my writing.

Pictures: http://i.embed.ly/1/display/resize?key=1e6a1a1efdb011df84894040444cdc60&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FCDtwxx5W8AAxwsG.png

http://media.breitbart.com/media/2015/04/baltimore-riot-police-car-AFP-640x480.jpg