I am sure you all know the best basketball player of all times, Michael Jordan. After winning for
three seasons consecutively the NBA ring, he decided it was time to retire from the courts. As
a result he decided he wanted to play in the best baseball league to commemorate the death
of his father. He made some very rigorous training in order to get to be a good baseball player.
But besides all his effort there were lots of people who criticized him because they did not find
fair that he could get the chance to play in the Chicago White Sox when there were lots of men
training so hard to become a professional baseball players. Others supported him and went to
see every match he played; he achieved to double the audience in the stadium.
Finally, although he never gave up, he left the baseball court.
Do you think that there are some professional sports players that do not know when it’s time
to retire? Was it an error of Jordan to start playing a sport he wasn’t good at? Do you think
that this players are afraid of losing their world wide known identities and so they do not
retire?
Comment below!
Marina Segura
Wow Marina! I had no idea about this! I tink that what Michael did is a great example of following someone’s dream and fighting for what you like. As you say, he wanted to do it knowing that his father would be proud of him.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that he was chosen to form part of his father’s favourite team, the Chicago White Sox, is amazing. I think that if they chose him, it is because he must be good. Maybe not the best, maybe unfair and maybe he knew that someone else should be there instead of him but when you have an abjective in life, you try your best to achieve it.
Besides, Michael was used to the pressure, the crowd and he was fisically prepared for anything as he was a top athlete so in that aspect he is better that many others.
As a marketing point of view, I think he also apported a lot to the club as Marina said, “he achieved to double the audience in the stadium” and I suppose he sold many t-shirts and much more people became followers of the Chicago White Sox.
I think Michael is a great athlete, a great person and I’m sure he retired from playing baseball because he thought he was doing the rite thing for him, his family and all the people who criticized him. I admire these king of people and I hope he is doing well on whatever he may be doing now.
Dani Roura
Michael Jordan, the best basketball player ever must have a gift for sports, so if he has been training and making an effort in playing baseball I can’t see the problem in him doing it.
ReplyDeleteWe all know he has amazing mental and physical skills so probably he was a good baseball player, so I don’t understand why people criticize him when he is giving the fans enjoyment and the club more money by selling tickets to see him.
I am totally sure that Michael wasn’t afraid of losing his worldwide identity because all the things he has done for sport can’t be questioned. I don’t think many people can presume of being the best basketball player of all the history for many people, and of wining three consecutively NBA rings. MichaelJordan23 forever!
Thanks a lot for this nice post Marina!
José Mª Casals
(WITH CORRECTIONS)
ReplyDeleteWow Marina! I had no idea about this! I think that what Michael did is a great example of following someone’s dream and fighting for what you like. As you say, he wanted to do it knowing that his father would be proud of him.
The fact that he was chosen to form part of his father’s favorite team, the Chicago White Sox, is amazing. I think that if they chose him, it is because he must be good. Maybe not the best, maybe unfair and maybe he knew that someone else should be there instead of him but when you have an objective in life; you try your best to achieve it.
Besides, Michael was used to the pressure, the crowd and he was physically prepared for anything as he was a top athlete so in that aspect he is better that many others.
As a marketing point of view, I think he also gave a lot to the club as Marina said, “he achieved to double the audience in the stadium” and I suppose he sold many t-shirts and much more people became followers of the Chicago White Sox.
I think Michael is a great athlete, a great person and I’m sure he retired from playing baseball because he thought he was doing the right thing for him, his family and all the people who criticized him. I admire these kind of people and I hope he is doing well on whatever he may be doing now.
Dani Roura
Marina I read in an article last week this new and I think is a very interesting new to put in this blog.I understand that there's people that are angry that they picked Michael Jordan but maybe he's atletic qualities let himparticipate in this team.
ReplyDeleteI read that there was people that commented that if he was playing in the Chicago Red Socks it was because of his enormous reputation on the basketball pitch.
I am not sure how it was for Jordan when he was said he was going to play in aprofessional team but it's amazing that the best basketball player of the history participated too in a professional baseball league.
I think this is a perfect example of a famous guy who doesn’t know when to stop, retire and leave the fame world once and for all. From my point of view he did a great mistake by playing in a baseball league when he clearly isn’t a star on it, because before this he was recognized as “one of the best basketball players ever” and now he is passing to be “a not so good baseball player”. Of course, this doesn’t mean the people still remembers his good moments but as I just said it will only stay as “his good moments” whereas if he had retired he would die as a legend. Another example of this is Michael Schumacher, a Formula 1 runner who retired as an idol and then some years later came back to destroy his whole career by finishing around the 10th position.
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion I should say that I think the famous people get bored at home without doing anything and they try to look back for that fame they had before and this is not good.
It is hard to a sport player to retire because after all, he has been working in the thing he likes most. Some sport players have the chance that they are so talented in their sport that they become famous and they are able to earn a lot of money every year but, unfortunately a lot of sports players don¡t achieve the fame they expected or wanted and they earn the same money as the majority of the population. However, it is very har fo both types of sports players because it is their passion but they can't continue playing because they physically weaker.
ReplyDeleteIt is not an error try to play another sport as Jordan did. Sport players retire between 33-40 years old and some of them, like Jordan, have a lot of money and a lot of spare time so they don't have a lot of things to do. this is why they try to do somethin else and one of Jordan's dreams was to play baseball. Jordan worked as hard as many other people. I consider it quite fair the fact that he played in a baseball team.
Ignacio A.
As Ignacio said is hard for a sports personality to retire and that decision in theory affects the rest of their lives!
ReplyDeleteThe great professional “Air” Jordan has decided to retire but has discovered that his live without competition is not the same. He as many other sportsmen needs the emotional moment of a match for continuing getting on with their lives and, is for that reason that he is not the only player who comes back after his retirement. Other cases of fantastic players who come back after years of retirement are:
• Lance Armstrong who after winning 5 tours of France retired and came back 3 years later creating a new team and cycling for that team known as “Radio Shack”. Lance case might be even better than Michael Jordan’s because when he came back he achieved a 3rd place in the tour of France which is really amazing and memorable.
• Another fantastic return after his retire is Michael Schumacher who, after winning a great amount of world cup’s, he retired and came back 2 years later because of his skills and return driving at the 1st level
• Another one of this lots of returns is the one of the midfielder of Manchester United who has come back to help his team in difficult moments and he as all the others is playing at the best level.
What I wanted to show with all this cases is that retiring is hard for the greatest players and that, although Michael’s case is fantastic, is not the only one and, in my opinion, not the greatest return due to that baseball abilities can be done also at a very old age. It is physically easier for him than for the others I mentioned, it is for that, that although I admire him, I don’t think we should treat this as an exceptional case!
Jaume Planas
Professional sports players, put an incredible amount of effort behind every game. Sport is their daily work, not only a hobby, but their way of earning a living, and also, it’s something which they certainly enjoy.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think that professional sports players are conscious when it’s time to retire, as physically, they arrive to an age when training really hard nearly every day is not appropriate, but maybe, it’s something difficult to accept for them as it is a custom that they have been practicing and enjoying for a great part of their lives, and leaving a sports team may be tough for them.
I don’t think it was an error for Jordan to start playing baseball, as it is never too late to learn a sport, and in my opinion, he wasn’t bad at this sport as he managed to double the audience, and not everyone is capable of this.
From my point of view, I think that some professionals don’t retire because they enjoy practicing the sport or maybe for money, and on the other hand, other don’t retire because they are afraid of losing fame and identity, it depends on the person.
Laura Adán