Everybody has there day

There I was in the ninth inning looking at the scoreboard twelve to four us. This cant be right im quietly thinking to myself. It felt like yesterday I was watching my brother jumping up and down after he won a national championship and here I am getting ready to do the same thing. “ This isn’t real, im dreaming”. First batter of the inning gets up with no worries on his face, like they had this game won. The pitch comes in and he hits a missile to center field, “that’s over his head” I say nervously and wait a minute he caught it.
One out.
Next guy gets up and first pitch comes in and he pops up. “ I got it” mike says.
Two outs.
As I stand at first base shaking a little I start to realize that I am one out away from being a national champion. “Hey two down guys” Brent says before Brady throws the next pitch.
Strike one.
the ump says. Next pitch is a foul back “your right on it” his coach says. Before that third pitch comes in I see all of our coaches and players on the bench rise up. Excitement in their eyes, and they all gather on the front step to get ready to storm the field. Before that pitch comes in I think about how amazing that feeling is going to be, my first DOG PILE. Never in a million years did I ever think of me being in a dog pile. Brady throws the pitch, it was like slow motion. The batter swings and wait a minute, he missed. I didn’t know what happened. I looked around and before I could think there all at the mound screaming at the top of there lugs “WE DID IT”

Word count: 302

Point: good things are worth waiting for

Everybody has there day

There I was in the ninth inning looking at the scoreboard twelve to four us. This cant be right im quietly thinking to myself. It felt like yesterday I was watching my brother jumping up and down after he won a national championship and here I am getting ready to do the same thing. “ This isn’t real, im dreaming”. First batter of the inning gets up with no worries on his face, like they had this game won. The pitch comes in and he hits a missile to center field, “that’s over his head” I say nervously and wait a minute he caught it. One out. Next guy gets up and first pitch comes in and he pops up. “ I got it” mike says. Two outs. I stand at first base starting to realize that I am one out away from being a national champion. “Hey two down guys” Brent says before Brady throws in the pitch. Strike one the ump says. Next pitch is a foul back “your right on it” his coach says. Before that third pitch comes in I see all of our coaches and players on the bench rise up. Excitement in their eyes, and they all gather on the front step to get ready to storm the field. Before that pitch comes in I quickly think about how amazing that feeling is going to be, my first dog pile ever. Never in a million years did I ever think about me being in a dog pile. Brady throws the pitch, it was like slow motion. The batter swings and wait a minute, he missed. I didn’t know what happened. I looked around and before I could think there all at the mound in a dog pile screaming at the top of there lungs “WE DID IT”

Word count: 303

Point: No matter what you do in life, everybody has there day

Keeping an eye on the little one

The skies were clear and blue as could be. The waves splashing on the shore, little kids making sand castles and people plotted everywhere. My first time at ocean city was adventuress. I was a little kid. I can remember it like it was yesterday. “Tyler lets go get our feet wet,” my sister yelled. “Alicia make sure you keep an eye on your brother” my mother said. As soon as I get the go ahead from my mom I sprint over to the ocean and my sister follows behind yelling, “hold up Tyler” while dodging everybody in her way. The closer I get the louder the waves splashing against each other are. Standing there our feet get wet and sink slowly into the sand. Five minutes later I look over to my sister and wait a minute she’s not there. I look around in panic. I knew that my parent’s umbrella was yellow, red, and white and if you looked at long enough it would make you dizzy. Sprinting around I look for that umbrella but every one I look at looks just like my parents. My heart beating faster and faster every minute with no sign of them. I keep on running around and still no sign. A couple suddenly stop me because they see that I cant find my parents and they try to help me. “My parents are gone forever,” I say. I cry none stop until I hear “son” it’s my parents. Three miles away they find me.

-The lesson is that you shouldn’t let little kids watch other little kids.

Word count: 253

The Best and Worst of times

I have to say my worst educational experience would have to have been going to middle school. Making that transition from elementary to middle school was really big for me. My first day of school while walking down the hall I stepped on some kids shoes and I received a sharp look and he told me he was going to “kick my ass”. I’ve never heard of getting in fights in school before and kids cussing at each other. It was the first time that everybody started to try to be something they were not or act different. It was the first time that I saw couples in school, making out and holding hands. It all hit me at once and I wasn’t ready for it at all.
One of my best experiences would have to be entering high school. I loved going to school everyday. I felt like I was important there and popular. I just had a really good time with my four years in high school. I did so much from homecomings to prom and baseball; even trying to find a college, it was a blast. I even met the girl of my dreams who opened me up and made me the person I am today. I met a lot of good people along the way there, friends and teachers and I know that they will always be there for me in the future.

Word count: 239

Hard work is my Belief

It seems like yesterday I was playing tee ball as a little kid saying how I wanted to play major league baseball when I got older. Most kids wanted to be a teacher, firefighter, and doctor, well I wanted to play professional baseball. When I turned ten I set my mind on working as hard as I can to making it as far as I could in baseball. If it didn’t work out then hopefully Ill get a college scholarship for baseball and get a good education from a good school. So ever since then I’ve been practicing almost everyday to get where I wanted to be. I’ve spent countless hours and long days working on my swing and throwing and running when I could have been doing other things instead, but I wanted it so badly.
I believe you will get what you want in life if you work hard enough for it. I have worked hard and it has payed off so far, I have played for some good baseball teams and traveled the nation and as of right now I have been able to get into a prestigious school. Some people I know say im lucky or had the right breaks but that’s not true at all. Its simply hard work, dedication and how badly you want it. There have been days where I wanted to give up. I would hit a wall and think all this work isn’t worth it, im not getting better. But I got through it. Your always going to have obstacles but the ones who succeed are the ones who get through them. I believe people that devote there time to something and work for it will get what they want when its all said and done.

Word count: 295

The Evil Empire

When you see this New York Yankees emblem you automatically think greatness. You think of the greatest baseball team and players to ever play the game. Going From Babe Ruth to Mickey Mantle and even greats today such as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriquez. The Yankees to me represent baseball all together. When people hear the word baseball I’m sure probably near 90 percent think of the Yankees right away.

The New York Yankees franchise started in 1903. Through the years the Yankees have won 26 world series, the most of any team today by a long shot. The biggest name in baseball and maybe in sports Babe Ruth played for the ever so dominant Yankees.

This Yankee emblem that I chose to write about has such a history behind it. It is so much more then an N and Y. It represents greatness, respect, power, baseball in all. People can hate the Yankees but when it comes down to who is the best team in baseball and who has pretty much always been, people will always say the Yankees. It will always be this way because they over and over again prove their selves, year after year. From personal experience I have never liked the Yankees but they sure do have my respect. I know there the best but I hate admitting that. When I see that N and Y overlapping on somebody’s hat or shirt I think of the greatest baseball team to ever play.

word count:268

The Evil Empire

When you see this New York Yankees emblem you automatically think greatness. You think of the greatest baseball team and players to ever play the game. Going From Babe Ruth to Mickey Mantle and even greats today such as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriquez. The Yankees to me represent baseball all together. When people hear the word baseball I’m sure probably near 90 percent think of the Yankees right away.

The New York Yankees franchise started in 1903, were first known as the New York Highlanders until 1913 when they become who we know of them today as the New York Yankees. Through the years the Yankees have won 26 world series, the most of any team today by a long shot. The biggest name in baseball and maybe in sports Babe Ruth played for the ever so dominant Yankees. The Yankees are also in the biggest rival in sports with the red sox. There isn't any other sport or game that I would watch then Yankees and Red Sox, when they play each other it really is do or die. They play their hearts out.

This Yankee emblem that I chose to write about has such a history behind it. It is so much more then an N and Y. It represents greatness, respect, power, baseball in all. People can hate the Yankees but when it comes down to who is the best team in baseball and who has pretty much always been, people will always say the Yankees. It will always be this way because they over and over again prove their selves, year after year. From personal experience I have never liked the Yankees but they sure do have my respect. I know there the best but I hate admitting that. When I see that N and Y overlapping on somebody’s hat or shirt I think of the greatest baseball team to ever play the game.

word count:318

"just do it" the Nike way

Nike is the elite sports brand in the world, you have to wear Nike gear or footwear if you want to be somebody and look good. Nike founded by Philip knight, former University of Oregon track athlete and Bill Bowerman in January 1964. Its original name was Blue Ribbon Sports before it came to be known as Nike. By 1980, Nike had reached a 50 % market share in the United States athletic shoe market, and the company went public in December of that year. By 1980 the slogan “just do it” went off because of co-founder Dan Wieden. Throughout the 1980s, Nike expanded its products line to include many other sports and regions throughout the world.

After watching a Nike commercial you think whatever that athlete is wearing is going to make you shine if you wear it. It’s going to make you play better and look better. Yes from personal experience I do believe this when I watch these commercials, it’s because they promote well. In most cases I do believe there products will help your running and speed a little and they will make you look better but as far as shining and becoming this amazing athlete no I don’t believe that. Nike can make our young adults think that way though. Kids who want to become professional athletes want the best gear and if they think it will make them play better or perform better there going to buy it. If teens see Michael Jordan or Derek Jeter wearing Nike gear they are going to want to get it. If they can wear it then if we do we will be just like them, we will be as great as them. In today’s culture wearing that swoosh means that you are a somebody, you are one cool dude or women.

I must say that unlike a lot of other sports brands they don’t advertise that if you buy this product you will do amazing things for example: jump higher, run faster, be quicker. I think Nikes goal in promoting is the look you get from wearing their stuff, “how good you will look when you’re wearing our products”. Kids today will do pretty much anything for a pair of “fresh” Nikes; teens have been shot over these shoes. That just goes to show you how big this brand is. There was even a song about the Nike air force ones. Nike is huge. Everybody knows who Nike is and everybody wants what they have and I think it will always be that way because Nike did it right and they know how to promote to all ages.

Word count: 443

Honus and Me

I never liked reading at all or understood any of it when I was little and going through middle school. What changed all that was me reading the book ‘’Honus and me’’ by Dan Gutman in 7th grade. Ever since I was four years of age I loved baseball. I was brought up playing the game and I absolutly loved it. Every day that’s all I would think about and of course I didn’t like school and thought it was dumb and worthless, and reading was stupid and something I had no interest in at all. That was the main reason I couldn’t really read that well at that time or didn’t like it was because I had no interest in the books I read for class. That was until I read my first baseball book ‘’Honus and me’’. I never felt the way I did with reading this book. In my English classes we would all go every two weeks to the library and get a new book for class and read the book for 30 minutes every time we had English class. Once I received this book it was like I couldn’t get off of it, I could not stop reading it. There would be times were my teacher would tell us times up and I would get upset and want to keep on reading. I tried to quick read or read when she wasn’t looking just so I could get more from the book. Never in my life have I ever felt this way about a book. This was one of the first times I understood what was going on in a book also. Reading ‘’Honus and me’’ really opened my eyes to how much reading can help me and how I can read and like it. After I was done with that book Its like I changed. I now loved to read and I would look forward to getting new books and hoping I would really enjoy them. I would now find myself like trying to be in the characters shoes in the books I was reading now and it made them ten times more interesting then they were before. Reading to me before was difficult and boring. Now when I read I enjoy it and can understand most of the things I read and its not a task as it was before me. So I must say I have to thank Dan Gutman for writing a book that I really enjoyed and that helped me with my readings today. To this day he is still my favorite author because in some way he gave me my first reading and helped me learn how to enjoy reading and understand it. I know it was really my own fault for learning but I still give him credit.

About Tyler Drinkard

I am from the suburbs of Glen Burnie Maryland. My parents split up when I was 9 years old. I have lived with my father ever since, untill I enrolled at UMBC. I have quite a big family. I have four brothers and two sisters. I play baseball and will play for UMBC this year. I have a dog named Alice. I met my girlfriend in 11th grade and have been with her for 1 year and 4 months now. She also goes to UMBC and will be playing softball for them this year as well. My plan is to play pro ball after college but if that doesnt work out I want to own my own business.