Media Journal Week of: April 20-April 24

For my weekly media journal this week I read a book called, Now You See Him..... This particular book was an autobiography by one of the greatest running backs of all-time, Barry Sanders. He talks about his childhood, growing up, his family, and of course his life on the football field starting from when he was in pee-wee leagues.

The cool thing about the book is if you know about Barry Sanders, you know him as a quiet, reserved guy that almost always would keep to himself. To this day, he is the most humble football player to every play the game and the thing was, he was the greatest, he didn't have to be humble, but, he was because that's how he was raised.

The majority of autobiographies by former pro athletes are usually arrogant, and has a holier than thou attitude with it. Sanders' book is the exact opposite and actually just a pretty good read in general. Hearing him talk about the hardships of his life are pretty humbling experiences.

I recommend this book not only to football fans but, fans of autobiographies in general as well.

Media Journal Apr. 13-17

For this week's entry I am going to talk about a documentary I saw on Hulu this week. The documentary was named "Confessions of a Super Hero". This film is about people living in Hollywood that acts as various superheroes on Hollywood Blvd. There is a Superman, Batman, and a Wonder Woman that is followed throughout the documentary. It is interesting to see these people's stories and how there are struggles just like any other job. They rely on tips which is not always a good thing and is a very up and down way of income. The documentary does a good job of portraying them as regular people that just happen to have an irregular career.

Media Journal Apr. 6-10: Kickin' It

For this weeks journal entry I watched a documentary titled, "Kicking It". The documentary was about homeless people around the globe competing in a soccer tournament. The soccer tournament was named, "The Homeless World Cup", directly connected to the biggest tournament in the world, Fifa World Cup.

The documentary mainly focused on homeless people from the United States, Kenya, Spain, Ireland, and Afghanistan. It was pretty exhilarating getting a feel for how these people live day to day and how they are people like just everyone else, just took a wrong turn along the way whether it was drugs, alcohol, or petty offenses. Most of the people depicted in the documentary were gracious, caring, socially aware people. When it gets to the pitch (playing field) everyone is equal and people aren't judged by appearance rather by how well they do their job on the pitch.

It is also eye-opening to see how grateful they are for everything they receieve while playing in Cape Town, South Africa. It is a pretty good documentary with enough material to keep you watching and a pretty good underlying message. The documentary is available on Hulu.com

Media Journal March 30- April 3rd

My journal entry this week is about a documentary I watched titled "Back to School". The documentary aired on PBS and it follows the education of seven impoverished kids in struggling countries where education takes a backseat to family and work. Narrowing it down even more, I was mesmerized by one Kenyan student named Joab. He attended school and then his mother fell ill and he had to leave to help support his family. A while later he came back to his school and was able to be at the top of his class throughout all of his hardships. In watching this film I just realized how blessed some of us are and how much we take our education for granted. It also gave me a better understanding of the world around and not to just look at what's readily available in front of me. His face is becoming more recognizable around the world which is a great thing seeing as the school system he is in needs all the help in the world.