Thanksgiving Edition 2010!
General Topic: Should Oregon’s collegiate sports teams practice in a location other than Oregon?
[Question given by: Jim D.]
General Analysis (Background Information):
-During our recent playoffs in professional sports, we have never been able to keep 1st place in the national competitions and hold a national title
-Example: Oregon State’s Football teams practice within Oregon State University. At one point in 2010, we have reached 1st in the nation in playoffs with other states. This is quite a high standing, but it took a physical toll on players of the team. Many of Oregon’s good players were injured badly coming from the playoffs, while other states’ football teams are still on the move. -Most of the new sports figures we recruit, in general, never make a big impression on team scores or team successes
-Example: The Portland Trail Blazers recruited Greg Oden in the team because of his exceptional physical features. He previously seemed impervious to any injury given to him. There were high hopes and expectations for this player. A few weeks into the gaming season, he was critically injured on the knee without any strong reason. After recovery, he came back into the gaming sessions and injured himself on the knee again. After that his career almost came to an end.
-The Trail Blazers have a good potential based on their previous games.
-The way these teams enter the national spotlight, they do have a good training course to prepare
In the Affirmation of the Topic
Most Oregonians have strong opinions about their professional sports teams when it comes to football and basketball. However, did we ever get the idea of how the location of their practice affects them, after losing in the national spotlight for a while? After all, comparing our team with the other states, you could visibly see their strength on the field. You might ask yourselves, well, how did they get all these “good” players on their team?
To answer that, we must look at our own players first. Oregon, just like any other state, is strongly in favor of recruiting useful professionals on their teams. In the past, we have had many famous players (like Michael Jordan) requesting to include themselves here, but to no avail because of our “pickiness”, I should say. Nowadays, we are smarter than that. We pick players based on height, physical strength, and skill.
The thing is that even the players we recruit that have all these attributes, either have a bodily injury that inhibits their capabilities. We train them to the best way from taxpayers money, but we still don’t see any shocking results. The answer lies in Oregon’s climate in general.
If you have lived in Oregon for more than 6 months, you probably have an inkling that we have a long cloudy year with a few peeks of sun. Even the statistics show that we have a high humidity level, cool temperatures, and cloudy or rainy conditions for about 8-9 months every year. Based on this alone, we could conclude that our players are practicing indoors and/or practicing in an environment that has no positive or negative effect on their health. Getting some sunlight is one major thing that we need in order to replenish our supply of vitamin D which benefits us physically (increasing calcium and phosphorus absorption) and emotionally (can relieve stress, and improve moral).
So, if we know that our teams are practicing in a non-beneficial place, we could now focus our attention on where we could locate our teams so we could get the best performance out of them in the play-offs between states. One suggestion would be near Klamath Falls on the border between Oregon and California. This place seems to have the ideal weather; a combination between California’s sun and Oregon’s humidity would suffice for physical and spiritual health.
If our sports teams were located in a place with less air pollution, increased sunlight, and strategically location, we would eventually have a greater chance at gaining national attention with regards to sports (relating to football/basketball). It wouldn’t just be all luck and injury in order to achieve team regard. The location factor for team practice is beginning to take an increasing role over the quality of our professional teams; a good and worthwhile thing to attempt.
รจ Comments are welcome as to your opinion on the topic or suggestions for the next topic. Thanks for reading!
