Let me take you back to the Acura days. Starting in Elementary school, when I joined the school chorus in the fifth grade. It was there where I learned the basics of singing and learning how to read music. The main instrument of use was the recorder. I eventually moved onto the piano, which the prior knowledge from chorus class really help make the learning curve not as steep as it would have been going in with nothing. Although my time in piano came to an abrupt end just because I personally didn’t enjoy it, it did teach me more about the work of music and how to appreciate the creation of it. As middle and high school progressed, I began to expand my music via Soundcloud, Pandora and Spotify. What was so cool about these platforms was the explore section, which showed new music and different genres.
Athletics eventually took over my life and it has made me into who I am. Because of this, I entered as a Sports Management Major. Although the field is very broad and you are able to literally do anything you want to, I hope to work in the realm of baseball. More specifically, I would like to be involved in the equipment aspect and being able to work with players and reporting what improvements companies can make to their products to maximize performance. Being a player myself, I always wanted to wear what professional players wore, even if that meant paying a bit more for those batting gloves Mike Trout wears, but it if you look good, feel good, then you’ll play good. It wasn’t until my sophomore year of high school when I found my utopia of a website, called whatproswear.com. Not only did they have updates on the latest gear released but also player profiles and even collegiate gear which was pretty cool. EQ is truly a passion of mine and I hope to work in the field one day.
“Our mission is to help you find the best equipment from the premier glove, bat, batting glove, cleat, and other baseball equipment manufacturers around. The best way to find the best equipment is to consult the true professionals, the superstars of Major League Baseball. We bring you the most accurate and up-to-date information on pro gloves, pro bats, pro cleats, and other Major League equipment, and show you where you can find them so you can add them to your game.”
WPW About us.
Baseball is known as one but the way it is played in different areas is what makes the sport so unique. For example, in the Caribbean areas such as the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, players usually have a certain type of flair for the game, as everything isn’t always say “routine” but they play much like the culture there: flashy, jaunty, and electric. Contrast that with how baseball is played in Japan, where fundamentals are preached religiously and it’s all about respecting the game. As players rise up the ranks of baseball, they begin to get walk up songs, a song that is picked by the player that is played as he walks up to bat or enters the game from the bullpen. Even in college, players are able to express themselves through this song, which makes it unique to them. Florida State for example, some players prefer rock songs or something more fun to get them in the right state of mind before an at-bat. More times than not, Hispanic players choose a Spanish song when they are walking up to bat. I think this is where this class could help you understand the players even more, as there’s a distinct difference between bachata and reggaeton, as different countries do their music differently. Going deeper than just the lyrics, the make-up of these songs in just the instruments used, the beats chosen, is able to distinguish where people grew up from and what they enjoy from their culture the most.
In order to improve yourself, you have to be able to find out new things, and you do that by researching. In regards to equipment, there are so many small technical aspects that make the brands and their products different from each other and even the different series within one company. As someone who hopes to work with elite athletes who count on their equipment to never fail, it’s important to know all the details of each product in order to give the player all the information he or she needs in order to decide what they want to use. For example, Wilson makes gloves and have two lines: The A2000 glove and the A2K glove. Beside the price difference, these gloves are very different from one another and it’s truly up to the player to decide which glove is better for them. Same way with bats and the choice of wood they want them to be made out of. Maple, Ash, and Birch all have different feels and weight ratios so it’s important to help a player choose a bat they’re not only comfortable with but also allows their performance to be the best it can be.
Music is always associated with culture, and living in America we are known as a melting pot. It’s important to recognize where people come from and the differences we have in order to have a true understanding of why certain people do what. Music is so interesting and unique because one song can unite millions of people and that’s what makes it in a class of its own.
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Citations:
Carozza, Mike, and Jake Perkins. “About What Pros Wear.” What Pros Wear. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2016. <http://www.whatproswear.com/about-us/>.
Flstateseminoles. “FSU Baseball: The Art of the Walk-Out Song.” YouTube. YouTube, 09 May 2012. Web. 16 Sept. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da3uRfB_dlQ>.
