Author: cody zou
Research and Audience assignment
INTRO
The topic of my research paper is important because it can help many high school basketball players financially. This will also help the fans of the sport basketball as they could have more entertainment to watch. Now the reason why I chose this topic is because I am a fan of the sport of basketball. I chose the 2 audiences in NBA fans and NCAA and NBA commission as if everybody can come to an agreement the change can happen in having high school players to have the right to go straight to the NBA. This research and audience assessment will be done in a letter form.
Dear NBA fansÂ
There is a big problem that NBA fans do not know of when it comes to its community. Players and prospects and highly recruited 5-star high school athletes don’t have their own right to join the NBA instantly. Instead, they have to go play basketball in the NCAA for a year or play a year of professional basketball in the G League (development league for players) or play professional basketball overseas in countries like Spain, Greece, China, etc. Although it is banned for a high school player to go straight to the NBA right now, that can change. Throughout history, there have been 45 players to go straight to the NBA after college. This rule was created at the start of the 2006-2007 NBA season. Players were coming in at the age of 18 at that time, and the NBA felt like that was too young so they made the rule. Us, fans should try to do something about this. If we can bring up the discussion on social media posts, the NBA would for sure look into a change for sure. The rule is absurd to me because if you are talented enough you shouldn’t waste a year of your career. Now when it comes to the NCAA, that is the biggest reason why this rule is bad. The NCAA and the universities are generating thousands to millions from these players as they earn not a single penny from it. Players and stars like RJ Barrett are highly recognized by fans all over the world but when fans pay for merchandise like jerseys etc they don’t make anything off it. This is a devastating blow for the players because, in the NBA, you make money off that. The NCAA is selfish when it comes to the players. For example, Basketball players are much wealthier if they hadn’t gone to college for a year. When you’re in college you don’t get paid off your name the team gets paid off you. Your jerseys and tickets sales all go to the college and NCAA. If basketball players went straight pro they would have had a guaranteed NBA contract worth millions. NCAA also bans students from getting sponsorships and endorsement deals.In some other cases, NCAA athletes also are banned from signing agents. There are some Basketball players who need financial support immediately and going to college to play for a year denies them a chance of getting millions of dollars of support. An example would be LeBron James he had an option in 2003 to go pro or play in the NCAA and he decided to go pro and with that he signed a 90 million dollar Nike endorsement deal which automatically had him set for life pretty much at the age of 18, now imagine he went to college instead and he suffered a catastrophic injury that could end his career, that would have cost him close to 100 million dollars.
Dear NBA and NCAA commissions
NBA and NCAA commissions, High School basketball prospects should have their own right as an 18 year old grown man to decide whether or not he wants to go play in the NBA or develop in NCAA basketball or play overseas. What you guys, the NCAA commission is doing is absurd to me and with the NBA banning high school prospects to come straight to the NBA, you the NBA commission are hurting the future of your own stars who can potentially build your brand. What the NCAA is doing is unacceptable to me for their basketball athletes. The NCAA consumes over one billion dollars and you do not pay your student athletes a single penny. Banning players from agents and endorsement deals, players will have a hard time earning money. What the NCAA should start doing is start paying these players because at the end of the day the players are the reasons why fans come to the games to watch. Now this has a significant impact on high school prospects for many reasons. For example a high school player could be one of the best in the world in his age group, but can be financially struggling with his family, imagine he suffers a catastrophic injury playing in college. That could likely end the players hopes and dreams to play in the NBA and make millions of dollars with team contracts and personal endorsement deals. Earlier this year Zion Williamson, an already global icon almost ended his basketball career playing in the NCAA, trying to build his brand. This could have caused him millions of dollars and a once in a lifetime chance to go to the NBA. Now imagine if he went straight to the NBA he would be dominating the league and making millions of dollars. Now I understand why the NCAA won’t allow players to make money off jersey sales etc, and that’s because they need money for schools. But why not let these college athletes get their own endorsement deals from the likes of Nike and Adidas. College basketball players should be allowed to have their own endorsements and sign their own agents. Now when it comes to the NBA, wouldn’t these high school prospects generate more attention and views for your ratings. A perfect example for this is LeBron James. Back in 2003 when you had the right to go straight to the NBA after high school, LeBron went straight to the NBA and signed a 90 million dollar endorsement deal, imagine had he went to college because it was a rule and got injured. If you allow these high school prospects to go straight to your league it’s a win win for everyone. The fans will be more interested and that will generate more money and views and the players will develop much quicker and be better, as the players will go up against far superior competition. The best options for all sides would be for high school basketball players to have the option of playing in college while getting paid for it, or having the option to ultimately go straight to the NBA. Now the NBA and NCAA commissions, please let this happen as it will benefit the most for your current and future prospects and basketball players.
ReferencesÂ
Chappell, Bill, NBA Should Open Draft To High Schoolers, NCAA Commission On College Basketball Say, npr
Guerro, Omar,5 reasons why high school players should be elgible for the NBA draft again,Clutch Points
March 8 2018
Xie, Ching, High School to NBA, Bleacher Report
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/80278-high-school-to-the-nba
November 11 2008
Cunningham, Sean,Let high school players go straight to the NBA again, inside hook
https://www.insidehook.com/article/sports/let-high-school-players-go-straight-nba
March 8 2018
Ryan Shannon, enough already: High school stars should be able to go directly to NBA, Chicago Tribune
https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-smack-ryan-spt-0414-20150413-story.html
April 13 2015
reflection
Cody Zou Reflection on annotated bibliography.
My annotated bibliography contains a lot of similarities and differences. There are about 4 to 5 things that my sources share. All of the sources gave deep explanation on how the rap albums are good or not. They also share a lot of positive reactions towards the album. They also share the fact that they think Kanye West is an extraordinary music artist. And they share the fact of how the audience thought about the albums. I learned a lot from this genre and how writers write about album reviews. Writers can be very positive and writers can be negative. There is a bias standpoint where writers think albums are good they are fan or they think the album is bad because they aren’t a fan. I want to learn how to stay neutral while writing an album review. The reason for that’s because there could be an artist that I do not like, and I would be bias and not like his music just because I don’t like the artist. I learned a lot about myself when it came to writing this anti bibliography, I feel like I have a lot of potential. I feel like I should work on being more brief when it comes to making explanations and having a thesis. Although those are some weaknesses that I have I think I did many good things. For instance I explained how and how the album is like in each anti bibliography. In my opinion that is the most important part of making an anti bibliography on an album review. I expect and want to grow drastically as a writer. I would like to be more brief when it comes to defining. I would also like to improve on my vocabulary skills. I feel like if I used better vocabulary my anti bibliographies would be exponentially better. Other ways that I think I should improve at is maybe writing a little more, If there Is more to read there will be more information given out to the reader, although more can be more boring it will give the reader more information. Ways that I can achieve these goals are easy. I must maintain writing on a daily basis and be prepared to write at any point given time. If I keep summarizing the readings I can be in more debt when it comes to bettering my writing skills. Other things that I can do to achieve these writing skills is to be reading. I want to start reading books about entrepreneurship and learn how to be a better talker, If I can be better at reading and speaking that means I will improve drastically on writing as reading writing and speaking are key components to people on a regular basis. The book that I want to read badly is called the way of the world by Jordan belford, I heard a lot of good reviews and how it is life changing as it can change the way you think and talk which will lead me to becoming the best writer that I can be.Â
Annotated Bibliography
Album Reviews
Rolling stone My Beautiful Dark twisted Fantasy
According to Rolling Stones the Album “My Dark Beautiful Fantasy” by Kanye West is one of the most influential albums ever. The writer Rob Shieffielld claims that no other artist could have made this album. This album is coasting on heroic levels of dementia, pimping on top of Mount Olympus they say. Many of the audience would come to agree with this album review because of the overall great reviews this album has gotten. The writer says this album is a mixture of multiple genres of music from hip hop to RNB. The author says he broke the rules of making of a hip hop album. As he combines many elements of music together. Overall from all these statements the author tries to prove that this is Kanye’s best album yet.
Sheffield,Rob.My Dark Beautiful twisted fantasy.The rolling stone
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews-Beautiful-dark-twisted-fantasy
November 25,2010 5:45 AM ET
Pitchfork The Life of PabloÂ
According to pitchfork the album “The life of pablo” is unique to Kanye West’s other projects. It has freewheeling energy that is infectious to the discography. The album had a chaotic rollout which was likely. The writer Jayson Greene compares Pablo Picasso and Kanye wests and claims that they have many similarities. The album supposedly doesn’t have many major statements like his earlier projects. Instead of worrying about a theme Kanye wanted the concept of the album to be top notch the writer Greene claims. Many of the audience that have listened to this album would say it is very diverse and well put together. Overall Pitchfork would say that the album The Life of Pablo was diverse and very creative.
Greene,Jayson,The Life of Pablo. Pitch Fork
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21542-the-life-of-pablo/
February 16, 2016
Genius Graduation
According to Genius the album “Graduation by Kanye West” is near perfect as they gave the album a 95/100 rating. The writer Sweatman claims that this album has a lot of popularised electronic sounds. The writer has many different feelings about different songs. He thinks that the song “stronger” is the biggest hit and many of the audience would tend to agree with him. He also brings up that Kanye crushed 50 cent. He crushed 50 cent in album sales and basically made 50 cent retire. Many of the styles in this album is very different. They are different from his earlier albums like “Late Registration”. Overall This album is one of the greatest rap and hip hop albums of all time from genius’s aspect.Â
Sweatman,Graduation. Genius
https://genius.com/discussions/244781-Graduation-by-kanye-west-review
Posted 3 years ago
Billboard Yeezus
According to billboard “Yeezus” is a medley of several genres — new wave, punk, rock, and of course hip-hop. The writer billboard says the album has many vintage soul sounds and is very different from what the audience expected. The author says part of the album is about love. Majority of the album is mostly directed to the naysayers as he is angry while making the music. The author also claims that kanye pronounced himself as the Michael Jordan of hip hop. Songs are different but have many of the same production like “hold my liquor” and “new slaves”. The roll out of the album was very unorthodox. Overall this album was just different according to Billboard.
Billboard,Yeezus. Billboard
https://www.billboard.com/articles/review/1567053/kanye-west-yeezus-track-by-track-review
June 14, 2013
Variety Jesus is King
According to Variety, The album “Jesus is King” continues flashes of inspiration and is divine. The writer “Andrew Barker” says this album was heavily delayed and the fans were complaining. The album thoroughly is not very good the writer says. The only way you would enjoy the album is if you have a relationship with kanye. This album has no cuss words and is gospel. Kanye used creating this album to connect with god the writer claims. This album was very highly anticipated and he uses a lot of bible verses while rapping. Overall according to the variety of this album is not very good and is one of the weakest projects kanye has dropped.
Barker, Andrew, Jesus is King. The Variety
https://variety.com/2019/music/reviews/kanye-west-jesus-is-king-review-1203384481/
October 26,2019 6:03 AM PT
Rolling Stones College Drop out
According to the rolling stones Kanye West made his name off of this album. Many of the audience would tend to agree because it is his debut album. According to the writer “Jon Caramanica” he says that this album has a lot of pop,soul, and gospel to it. With hit songs like “All Falls Down” this album is considered a classic. There were a lot of A listed artist that helped Kanye. Some of the artists that were guests were Jay Z. This Album showed the skill that Kanye had in Music. From production to be mixing drums according to Caramanica. Overall this album is great and is the reason why Kanye is where he is today.
Caramanica,Jon, The College Dropout. Rolling Stones]
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/college-dropout-255465/
March 4,2004 5:00 AM ET
Rhetorical Analysis
There are a lot of reasons to why many believe Kanye West is the artist of the 21st century. He is undeniably one of the most talented artists of all time. From his music production to his lyrics and his success in the fashion industry. In the article “Is Kanye West the greatest artist of the 21st century” by USA today’s Patrick Ryan, he states that Kanye will never miss the opportunity to be great. He says He backs up his bold claims like him being a genius. From album to album sales he is always at the top.
literacy narrative
Throughout my life, I’ve never really enjoyed reading, writing or speaking.
When it came to reading I hate it so very much. That might be weird but I
just find reading very dull. Although IÂ dislike reading, I feel like if I do it
more often it could help me and my brain. A reason why I feel like I dislike ‘
reading is maybe because of the books that I have read. I don’t enjoy what I
am reading. The only books that I can remember enjoying are the book
series Diary Of a Wimpy Kid. Although I don’t like reading books, I do enjoy
reading blogs and news on the web. I also used to enjoy reading the
newspapers, as I would be curious to find out what was going on. Although I
don’t enjoy reading, I try to read and I will forever try as I can see the
benefits of it. Now when it came to writing, I don’t enjoy it because I
literally will have brain farts while trying to think of something to write
about. Even though I don’t like it, throughout my life I have written
so much. I have written from personal biographies to other people
biographies to essays and summaries. I feel good sometimes when I write
because I can write what I feel. I can express my mind from brainstorming
and then writing. I have many pros and cons when it comes to writing
because my writing could be either very good or very bad. When I don’t
know what to write, sometimes I don’t even write. Although my writing can
be bad if I am into what im writing it may come out very good. A goal of
mine since I was a kid was to write a journal and write something every day
but that never happened. I hope one day I can still achieve that goal. Writing
is not in my best interest but it would be my best trait when it comes to
literacy. When IÂ was a kid, I used to be a big mouth and I would like to talk
about literally everything and gossip. Now I feel like I am a little antisocial
as I don’t really like to talk to people or talk in general. Like \if I was to
present something in front of a crowd, I would not feel comfortable.
Although talking might seem easy for others I feel like a lot of people don’t
feel comfortable talking in crowds or out loud. This is only the case for me
when I am in unknown territory and I am not familiar with any one. If you
get to know me or we are close I could probably be one of the best people to
talk Since my reading, writing, and speaking aren’t up to what I expect
them to be, I will take full advantage of this class and other classes like my
public speaking class to improve overall in my literacy.
Personal Experience Essay Cody Zou
Throughout my life, I never really had any significant reading or writing
moments that I can remember of. Although nothing was really significant I
remember working very hard on my college essay last year. It was very hard
for me to start the essay, as I didn’t know what to start with nor did I have a
topic. I remember struggling for a whole week in my school library after
school brainstorming. After I talked to my friend, we eventually got a topic
for me to write about, although I don’t want to share it. I was stressing
when IÂ first started my essay because I felt like I was a basic and boring
person. But even if IÂ am, I still had many interesting events that I shared.
The hardest part for me when it came to writing this essay was definitely
the introduction. After the introduction, everything was smooth from my
body to the conclusion. It took me well over two weeks to finish this essay as
I revised it several times. When I finished the essay I remember not being
very confident about it. So I went to my English teacher from sophomore
year, I remember clear as day when he read my essay he enjoyed it very
much. That made me feel confident. Overall when I finished my whole
college essay I was so relieved after weeks of stress for an essay. Although I
might not have a lot of significant moments from reading to writing the
college essay that I wrote was very prevalent to me.
Reading response to Only Daughter Cody Zou
 Okay so I found many interesting things in the text “Only Daughters”, by
Sandra Cisneros. I find it very influential on how she made it from her situation. Her story could relate to many other kids. She says that her father put her in college to find a husband, She says she writes for him, the way that her father always includes her as being a son by saying he has sons makes her feel left out. It is probably very hard to go through what she goes through as she is the only daughter while having 6 brothers that don’t have the same worries as her. I know for a fact that overall she has worked hard and improved as a human being from the hard times with her father.
