Portfolio Introductory

     The choices I made for my writing were to make my writing better for me.  I don't care what anyone else says about my writing I just care what I think about my writing.  I did a process work for my Inquiry because I feel that was when I got to write at my strongest point.  The changes I made in all my writing were based off what I felt were best for my writing.  Just because Ms. Andrews edited my papers and told me to change or add something in doesn't mean I did.  If I didn't like how the changes sounded or went with my paper I didn't change them.  I did learn how to better use rhetorical techniques this semester though which i am grateful for.  Overall I enjoyed english 1102 this semester and will hopefully used some of what I've learned this semester and last semester during my life.

Theory of Writing

I believe writing is a beautiful thing.  Writing itself can come in many different forms and have many different meanings.  I think without writing we would have nothing.  Just like language, writing is a necessity for us to survive.  We learn so much from writing and I hope to contribute to that.  I hope that my writing teaches someone somewhere something.  When writing though we need to consider a few things first.  We need to consider what it is we are writing and how we want to portray the message.  I don't believe we need to think of an audience because writing is an art and any art should be portrayed in the way the artist wants.  Writing goes hand in hand with beauty is in the eye of the beholder, because just because someone thinks a piece of writing is trash doesn't mean everyone does.  No piece of writing is hated by everyone because if it was hated it wouldn't have been written in the first place.  I just believe writing is an art and should be treated as such.

Writer's Profile

    At this point in my life I feel as a writer I am at my strongest.  I love to write poetry and unfortunately we couldn't write any in class, but I can just express things extremely well through poetry.  I honestly don't think this class has improved my writing at all.  I really haven't seen change in my writing since I was a senior in high school.  I used to write really small points and have choppy paragraphs, but being in college in general has helped me to write much better than I did.  I'm not saying your class wasn't beneficial, but I just feel I literally learned everything in this class last semester in English 1101.  Writing all these journals and blog posts though did keep me writing through out the semester so when I was required to write for other classes it wasn't like I hadn't written anything all semester.  It made it easier to organize my papers in other classes and write them much faster.  Overall as a writer I see myself as average compared to others.  I don't write anything outstandingly well or absolutely terrible either, which I am okay with.

Class Introductory

I am a pretty quiet chilled out person.  I am friendly with everyone and don't have beef with anybody.  From reflecting on my life I most likely became the way I am because of the environment I was in and probably because of music I listened to.  Where I lived was a relatively nice middle class neighborhood, but a little down the road was where my best friend lived who I went to school with.  To anyone from Greensboro they know that over near Summit Avenue and close to Lee st. are not the best places to be hanging at, but it was where I practically lived at.  I spent alot of time down the road over there and saw things most middle class white kids don't see.  I saw alot of violence, drug dealing, people getting jumped, street fights, the whole nine yards.  From being around this environment you begin to have to adapt to it, so resorting to violence always seemed to be the answer.  It has followed me my whole life.  I always react when I hear people coming up behind me, from seeing others get jumped.  I began to hate violence and started listening to all kinds of music that had messages that relate to people in the streets.  I listened to Tupac, Bob Marley, Albarosie, and many other artists that sent messages to me to stop violence.  I learned that sometimes violence may be the answer though.  If a man tries to take something I worked hard for, I'm not going to just let it go, I'm going to fight for it.  By looking at me you'd never guess that I had been in that sort of environment because I hide it and not many people know the things I've seen or experienced.

Small Stakes assignment

Personal Creed

I believe in love.  I believe everyone just needs to love each other.  We all just need to sit back, chill, and vibe out to some sweet tunes, because music has the power to change emotion and with chill music we all can just chill out and express no signs of hate.  Right now I am on a journey trying to find out something.  I still don’t know what that something is, but I do know that I have learned more on this journey than I have in my whole life.  This journey isn’t just any regular journey, it’s a spiritual journey and I’m learning about myself and the world around me.  I’m learning that everything has a meaning and value, but everything also is manmade.  Because everything is manmade, maybe if we took away material possessions like money, jewelry, tvs, computers, etc. then people would start to look at themselves as people rather than looking at themselves through what they have.  The most important thing a person can do is to stop every once in a while and look deep into their soul and study themselves.  This journey taught me a lot and may not be a journey most people have the want to go on, but I did and I can say it taught me three very valuable lessons. I learned to live, love, and laugh and I can honestly say that’s all one needs to make it through this life.

Reflection: 

This piece was my favorite piece we did.  I was able to write my beliefs down and my basic outlook on life.  I liked being able to put down what I really thought on paper because it helped me to learn a little bit about myself.  I was able to express how we need to stop judging others for what they have and stop judging people all together.  I liked being able to write almost whatever I wanted without being marked down for it.  I felt as if I could express myself the most freely which resulted in good writing.

Journal Entries/ Blog Posts

Hall and Morrow Response:       I dont believe in these article's definition of good writing. i think good writing is based solely on matter of opinion from the individual. Someone's writing style, in my opinion, can be compared to someones music style. That person can be in love with their own style of music along with some other people, but not everyone will like that type of music and they don't have too.       Shakespeare can be easily compared to country music in this way. Alot of people say country is garbage as do many people also say Shakespeare is stupid garbage. While some may think this, others may be absolutely in love with country music, or Shakespeare.      To me, good writing can't ever really be proved by anyone. Good writing is a matter of opinion, but the way our world works with a system of hierarchy means that a highly ranked scholar, or writer or whatever could literally write some bull on a piece of paper and consider it absolutely genius and other people would agree just because hes a higher ranked scholar than they are. People today are afraid to have their own opinions and i believe that students arent given the freedom to decide on their own whether or not a piece of writing is good or not. So basically these two articles were a waste to read because i don't even base good writing off what they say. Good Writing: Good writing is writing that can display your own opinions, or views.  Good writing also has good grammar and good organization and structure.  Bad writing is writing that is poorly organized, poorly structured, and contains poor grammar making it hard, for others to understand your point.

Last Lecture: The last speech was a great speech to me.  He had many powerful points that had an impaxt on me.  Many of his ideas and points i could relate to my own life.  His brick wall quote was the easiest for me to relate too.  i have had a few times in my life where i have hit a brick wall.  His quote meant to me that when you hit a wall youll still get over it.     Ive hit brick walls in my life that ive hit and had to get over.  i got over them in success and they gave me much. onfidence.  I feel that his last speech was about finishing strong, and since this was his last speech he got the chance to finish hard.

Fox: The argument does have some rhetorical techniques that is uses to make people join a side. They use kids to get at people's ethos and make them feel sorry. Overall though I thought the whole argument coming from Fox's side was soft. The only thing they had was kids, they didn't seem to use many other techniques to outdo the other side. The other side of the argument with the blonde lady was, in my opinion, the strongest side. She may have not gotten at people's emotions etc. but she used facts which to me are more important than techniques. Quote Journal: This line from the song Boss D.J.  by Sublime is connected to me because it describes me well.  I'm funky, not a junkie, but I know where to get it.  It means I'm not a drug addict junkie, but I'm funky and burn plants most people don't ha ha.  The way the words are put is sort of a rhyming pattern where funky rhymes with junkie.  This quote draws me in because it describes people who are literally like that. Reflection: These posts and journals were what I felt to be the best ones I had written.  Not all of them are my best pieces of writing ever, but out of all my journals and blog posts these were the top 5.  Rereading each piece I could see how my writing changed over the semester and how I began to expand my ideas of writing altogether.

Inquiry Reflection

    I thought the inquiry was very interesting.  It was unlike any research I've had to do since I've been in college.  I never thought about how language practically impacts everything about our society.  Without language we would have no communication, no news, nothing.  Without language we wouldn't be able to survive.  The steps of the inquiry got really confusing about halfway through and I got real lost, but never asked for help stupidly, and ended up just kind of ignoring it until I started to see how others were doing theirs.
    The blog wasn't as bad as I thought.  It was really easy to become accustomed to, and once I figured it out it was a straight shot from there.  Although I didn't understand the purpose of the blog at first, I see now it was to save everyone the time of having to make a whole new e-portfolio when 85% of our work was already posted here.
    Overall both were a learning experience and has changed my outlook on language as a whole and how without it we would fail as a society.

Inquiry Final Draft

First Draft

Smith 1

Casey Smith

Ms. Andrews

ENGL 1102

28 October 2012

Motivation

Motivation as defined by cliffnotes [KA1] is an inferred condition that is constructed from simpler known elements, that arouses and directs it toward a specific goal.  Motivation can be constructed by many elements, language being one of them.  There are many ways language can be used to construct motivation in people, and motivational speeches or feedback from a coach is a way that language can be used to construct motivation[KA2] .  Studies show that dopamine has a direct effect on motivation in the brain.  Depending on the level of dopamine sent to a particular part of the brain, athletes will either become motivated, or they become timid, afraid, and nervous.  [KA3] A coach who coaches his athletes by having a positive attitude, having confidence in his athletes, and motivates his athletes will increase the amount of dopamine being sent to the striatum.  The increased levels of dopamine in the striatum in turn will begin to give the athlete a motivated state of mind, almost a state of mind where they will tell themselves they are unstoppable.  A coach that ridicules, exploits, and punishes athletes in an excessive manner will begin to have athletes that have lowered levels of dopamine in the amygdala, which will cause nervousness and anxiety. [KA4] 

                The striatum is located in the center of the brain and has a direct relationship to how motivated someone can become.  Depending on the person’s surroundings amounts of dopamine will be sent to the striatum and in return it will make the person more motivated and aggressive[KA5] .  A coach’s language is one factor that can directly affect these levels of dopamine.

Smith 2

Great moments... are [KA6] born from great opportunity. And that's what you have here, tonight, boys. That's what you've earned here tonight. One game. If we played 'em ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight, we skate with them. Tonight, we stay with them. And we shut them down because we can! Tonight, WE are the greatest hockey team in the world. You were born to be hockey players. Every one of you. And you were meant to be here tonight. This is your time. Their time is done. It's over. I'm sick and tired of hearing about what a great hockey team the Soviets have. Screw 'em. This is your time. Now go out there and take it.

This was a speech from the movie Miracle on Ice [KA7] (2004) from coach Herb Brooks right before the 1980 US Men’s Hockey Team played the USSR in the semifinal game of the Olympics.  The reason that this is so significant is because the USSR Hockey Team had won every world championship and Olympics since 1954 and the US won the game 4-3.  The US Team came back from 2-3 to score twice in the third period to win the game and advance to the finals where they would play Finland and take gold.  The coach’s language definitely had to spark something in the brains of his players.  The US team would have lost this game if before the game the coach had ridiculed the players, pointing out all of their mistakes, scolding them and telling them they are trash.  Mathematically there was no way the US team could have won, unless of course a miracle.  The USSR was the best up until that point, and the US was far from the best. 

I have more that im putting in but I was still trying to sort out my information before I put it in.  I have another example of a coach that talks down to his athletes and it affects them negatively, and the conclusion[KA8] .

---

 [KA1]Not a good source to use for a research paper.

 [KA2]The beginning and end of this sentence seem to repeat themselves.

 [KA3]Good point

 [KA4]Is this your thesis statement? I like what you are saying, but it is pretty specific. Is there another way that you could phrase it into more general terms?

 [KA5]Do you have a citation source for this information?

 [KA6]You may want to introduce this quote a little more for your reader before you give it.

 [KA7]Are you sure it’s not just Miracle? And don’t forget to italicize movie titles.

 [KA8]

Casey,

I think that you have a good start and I like the argument that you are making. Also, I like that you are analyzing other texts such as movies and I think that they can serve as evidence, but you also want to rely on scientific and proven information too. Make sure that you are backing up what you say with cited sources. I look forward to seeing what you do in the next draft.

KA 

Final Draft

Motivation

Motivation is defined by a condition that is constructed from many simple factors that sets the mind towards a specific goal.  Motivation can be constructed by many elements, language being one of them.  There are many ways language can be used to construct motivation in people, and motivational speeches or feedback from a coach is a way that language can be used in this way.  Studies show that dopamine has a direct effect on motivation in the brain.  Depending on the level of dopamine sent to a particular part of the brain, athletes will either become motivated, or they become timid, afraid, and nervous.  A coach who coaches his athletes by having a positive attitude, having confidence in his athletes, and motivates his athletes will increase the amount of dopamine being sent to the striatum.  The increased levels of dopamine in the striatum in turn will begin to give the athlete a motivated state of mind, almost a state of mind where they will tell themselves they are unstoppable.  A coach that ridicules, exploits, and punishes athletes in an excessive manner will begin to have athletes that have lowered levels of dopamine in the amygdala which will cause nervousness and anxiety.  I believe that the language a coach uses, whether it positive or negative, has an effect on the performance of athletes.

            The striatum is located in the center of the brain and has a direct relationship to how motivated someone can become.  Depending on the person’s surroundings amounts of dopamine

 will be sent to the striatum and in return it will make the person more motivated and aggressive.  A coach’s language is one factor that can directly affect these levels of dopamine.

Great moments... are born from great opportunity. And that's what you have here, tonight, boys. That's what you've earned here tonight. One game. If we played 'em ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight, we skate with them. Tonight, we stay with them. And we shut them down because we can! Tonight, WE are the greatest hockey team in the world. You were born to be hockey players. Every one of you. And you were meant to be here tonight. This is your time. Their time is done. It's over. I'm sick and tired of hearing about what a great hockey team the Soviets have. Screw 'em. This is your time. Now go out there and take it.

This was a speech from the movie Miracle on Ice (2004) from coach Herb Brooks right before the 1980 US Men’s Hockey Team played the USSR in the semifinal game of the Olympics.  The reason that this is so significant is because the USSR Hockey Team had won every world championship and Olympics since 1954 and the US won the game 4-3.  The US Team came back from 2-3 to score twice in the third period to win the game and advance to the finals where they would play Finland and take gold.  The coach’s language definitely had to spark something in the brains of his players.  The US team would have lost this game if before the game the coach had ridiculed the players, pointing out all of their mistakes, scolding them and telling them they are trash.  Mathematically there was no way the US team could have won, unless of course a miracle.  The USSR was the best up until that point, and the US was far from the best. 

My senior year of high school is was on the varsity wrestling team and at the end of the season all of the best wrestlers in the state go compete in the individual state championships.  A few of my teammates made it to the tournament, including our best wrestler.  Our best wrestler wrestled at 145 lbs. and was 45-1 for his senior year.  The reason this is important is because my coach said something to him that made me change the way I saw myself as an athlete.  In the finals match there were 30 seconds left in the third period and my coach called a timeout.  Our best wrestler was down 7-8 and came out with a look of distraught and stress because he was down.  He began saying how could he lose with his grandma, family, girlfriend, and teammates all there after watching him work so hard to make it.  My coach stopped him and said, “You’re not here for your grandma, your family, your teammates, or me.  You’re here for you and you only.  You’re not winning this match for me, your teammates, or your family.  You want this for yourself, not for anyone else.  Your only down by one point so get back out there and get you your state title”.  He went back out and as the time ran down, he shot, took his opponent down and won the match 9-8.  I truly believe if my coach had criticized his performance or was angry at him he would have gone back in and acted less aggressive and would have lost the match.  From the language of my coach, my teammate’s brain definitely had a reaction because he went instantly from a low self-esteem and no faith in himself, to knowing the title was his to take.            

“Going into high school I was a standout athlete with high confidence but after my freshman year I started to lose interest. It just wasn’t fun anymore. I hated practice because I was always worrying about messing up and being embarrassed by the coach. In games I worried about what he would do or say if I made a mistake so I became less aggressive. When I thought I did something right he thought it was wrong, and when I tried to work hard and gain his approval it was never good enough. It got to the point where I was making up excuses to get out of practice, and I even hoped I would be benched so I didn’t have to worry anymore. I knew the

coach was tough, and I have no problems doing extra work or having someone push me to do better. But when he gets in my face, calls me out, embarrasses me in front of the team, and has a

problem with me every day it makes me question why I still play. I use to play to learn, compete, be with friends, and have fun. Now I can’t wait for the season to be over, and practice is always the worst part of my day. I don’t tell anyone how it affects my motivation and confidence because it’s football, and everyone complains about the coach. You just have to quit or accept it.”

That was a quote from a high school football player who had a coach that criticized and came down way too hard on his athletes.  The athlete became too timid and afraid to be able to actually play the sport he had loved to play.  It got to the point where he began skipping practice and then ended up just quitting the team.  The coach literally embarrassed players and had them become quickly self-conscious about themselves and how they play.  An athlete who has a standout ability and isn’t given a good coach it can ruin the talent that the athlete possesses.  Given a good coach who motivates and teaches his athletes, the athlete in the quote may have not quit the team and been able to play at the next level. 

The language used by a coach definitely has an impact on the performance of his athletes.  A good coach who inspires, motivates, and guides his athletes the right way will be able to take talented athletes to the next level and teach them how to be confident, yet humble at the same time.  A coach who goes too hard, exploits, embarrasses, and goes over the top with punishment will end up having talented athletes that want to give up because they don’t feel like they are learning or benefitting from how the coach is coaching.  Chemicals affect how a person acts whether it is with a confident attitude or a nervous, timid attitude.  Science has shown that many factors affect when these levels of chemicals change and one of those factors happens to be language, so therefore depending on the language of a coach it can positively or negatively affect his athletes.

Works Cited

Cardinal, Rudolph N., John A. Parkinson, Jeremy Hall, and Barry J. Everitt. "Emotion and Motivation: Role of the Amygdala, Ventral Striatum, and Prefontal Cortex."Dinoysus.psych.wisc.edu. Department of Experimental Psychology University of Cambridge, 20 Feb. 2002. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

"How Bully Coaches Affect an Athlete's Mental Game | Sports Psychology Today." Sports Psychology Today by Mental Edge Athletics. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.     

This website tells a story about a 16 year old standout football player was constantly criticized and punished by his coach every time he messed up and in turn it caused him to begin finding excuses to skip practice and then eventually quitting the team.  This websote will prove helpful in that this story also talks about how the coach changed the athlete mentally.  The story goes hand in hand with my topic of how a coaches language affects the performance of athletes.

How Coaches Expectations Effect Player Performance  ."   

The Soccer Training Company  . N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.

This website discusses how a coaches expectations affect the performance of the athletes on a team.  It talks about how if a coach talks down to his player's and constantly gets overly angry at the mistakes of his player's it can cause them to become timid and afraid and perform worse.  It also says that if a coach compliments his players and coaches them through their mistakes it will in turn bring out a better performance from the athletes. 

"How Criticism Can Affect Athletes’ Mental Game | Sports Psychology Blog for

Athletes and Coaches."  Sports Psychology for Athletes, Parents, Coaches. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.

This website is an article of a Women's German soccer player who during the World Cup had scored 14 goals, but in the final game her first half performance proved to be almost despicable so the coached benched her.  When she was benched she became very angry and was confused as to why she had been taken out since she knew she was the best.  Once out the German team scored 3 more goals to win 3-1 and the player realized that maybe she wasn't the best.  The coaches actions taught the athlete a little something about humility.

Olympian, Bo Hanson - 4x, and Coaching Consultant & Director of Athlete Assessments. "Sport       

            Psychology for the Sports Coach." Athlete / Coach Personality Profiling Test, DISC /         

            Behavioral Profiling. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.

                         This website discusses the psychology of an athletes mind during sports.  It also tells how the most important influence on the athletes minds are based off the coaches.  The website goes in depth with the description of how important being mentally strong is for an athlete.  I will hopefully use this website's information to help with research of my own inquiry to see how what is told to an athlete affects their performance.

Reflection

I played sports my whole life and have seen the good and the bad when it comes to coaches.  I have seen coaches who put down players, exploit, and punish them for no reason.  I have also seen coaches who inspire athletes and bring out their best.  I've seen coaches act so negative towards a player that they turned champions into quitters.  I had a great time learning about the science behind how motivated an athlete can get depending on the language of a coach.  This topic fits very well into my major, kinesiology.  Kinesiology is basically sport and exercise science, so learning about language and its effect on the brain was interesting to me.  I hope to pursue a career where I work with college level or professional athletes in physical therapy, so from the research I did for this assignment I can use to show a coach if I see he isn't talking to his athletes the right way.  Even though this assignment was long and painful I still learned a lot and feel I benefitted from it in the end.

Inquiry 5

Annotated Bibliography

"How Bully Coaches Affect an Athlete's Mental Game | Sports Psychology Today." Sports Psychology Today by Mental Edge Athletics. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.     

This website tells a story about a 16 year old standout football player was constantly criticized and punished by his coach every time he messed up and in turn it caused him to begin finding excuses to skip practice and then eventually quitting the team.  This websote will prove helpful in that this story also talks about how the coach changed the athlete mentally.  The story goes hand in hand with my topic of how a coaches language affects the performance of athletes.

"How Coaches Expectations Effect Player Performance."   

The Soccer Training Company  . N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.

This website discusses how a coaches expectations affect the performance of the athletes on a team.  It talks about how if a coach talks down to his player's and constantly gets overly angry at the mistakes of his player's it can cause them to become timid and afraid and perform worse.  It also says that if a coach compliments his players and coaches them through their mistakes it will in turn bring out a better performance from the athletes. 

"How Criticism Can Affect Athletes Mental Game Sports Psychology Blog for

Athletes and Coaches."  Sports Psychology for Athletes, Parents, Coaches. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.

This website is an article of a Women's German soccer player who during the World Cup had scored 14 goals, but in the final game her first half performance proved to be almost despicable so the coached benched her.  When she was benched she became very angry and was confused as to why she had been taken out since she knew she was the best.  Once out the German team scored 3 more goals to win 3-1 and the player realized that maybe she wasn't the best.  The coaches actions taught the athlete a little something about humility.

Olympian, Bo Hanson - 4x, and Coaching Consultant & Director of Athlete Assessments. "Sport Psychology for the Sports Coach." Athlete / Coach Personality Profiling Test, DISC / Behavioral Profiling. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.

This website discusses the psychology of an athletes mind during sports.  It also tells how the most important influence on the athletes minds are based off the coaches.  The website goes in depth with the description of how important being mentally strong is for an athlete.  I will hopefully use this website's information to help with research of my own inquiry to see how what is told to an athlete affects their performance.

admin. 

Inquiry 4

    After watching everyone else do their presentation I realized how the research should be and that my topic wasn't what I really wanted.  I was doing how the language in music can affect a person and how the rhythm and beat contribute to the way it makes someone feels.  My topic seemed way to broad as opposed to other people's topics so I narrowed it down and completely changed and revised my topic.  I changed it to how a coach's language can affect an athlete's performance based off of whether the language is positive or negative.

Inquiry 3

Inquiry 2

Original Inquiry 2

i want to do my inquiry on how language is used in music to express emotions, tell stories, share news, express thoughts on topics, etc. i also want to look at how not only the language is used to express those things, but the rhythm and beat as well.  i don't have much personal knowledge in writing songs to express feelings but I played guitar, bass, drums, piano and other instruments so i am familiar with expressing feelings through those. I have always loved music and listen to it all the time. without music id probably burst into flame cause it must mean im in hell or something. I really want to find out what techniques songwriters use to express certain thoughts through rhymes, the way its delivered, metaphors, etc. For my research I want to answer the same questions about a bunch of songs to come to a conclusion on how the language is used.  1. Do the song's lyrics tell a clear story or are they just words thrown together that have no real meaning? 2. Do the lyrics show a good use of rhetorical techniques? 3. Do the instruments add to the message of the songs? 4. What genre does the song fall under: express religion, love, tell a story, share news, political standpoint, or pure entertainment. 5. Does each genre have their own way of being expressed or patterns shown in all songs that fall under each category? Things I want to go back to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM1a1ycLtRs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70jbop5Bd-Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V0cfqqRYSs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pPvNqOb6RA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOjQwyVbJl4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOhyuUWLVSc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhqfijdOIuE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVVjRFoZlzo

Revised Inquiry Post 2

After reflecting on my inquiry topic I decided that this topic wasn't the topic for me.  Doing language in music is way to broad for me to get the information I really want unless I based it off my own opinion which isn't the same as everyone's.  I decided to change it to how a coach's language, whether it positive or negative, has an impact on an athlete's performance.

     The personal knowledge I have on this topic comes from my experience of being an athlete my whole life.  I played baseball from the time i was 10 until i was in the 9th grade.  I played football in middle school and high school, and wrestled through high school.  I have seen the cause and effect from the language a coach uses.  Condescending, negative language fro ma coach towards an athlete definitly has an effect on them.  An athlete will perform how he is told he performs.  It doesn't mean lie to them but don't tell them they suck based off one or two simple errors.  If a coach uses positive language to teach and better athletes, they will perform better.  

     I really am looking for famous wins and losses, or personal experiences where I saw a win or loss in a sport, and then find out the pre-game speech or what exactly the coach said before or during the sport.  I also want to find scientific evidence where it shows the effects of language on different parts of the brain and how they can affect how a person acts.

     I came up with this topic after I saw the movie Miracle on tv recently.  The movie has a scene where the coach of the US mens olympic hockey team gives a speech before the semi finals game against the USSR and statistically the US should have lost but pulled a miracle on ice and won. 

What I'd like to revisit:

http://www.peaksports.com/sports_psychology_blog/?p=2179

http://www.athleteassessments.com/articles/sport_psychology_for_coaches.html

http://www.sportpsychologytoday.com/youth-sports-psychology/how-bully-coaches-affect-athletes-mental-game/

http://www.robystahl.com/post/2008/09/23/How-Coaches-Expectations-Effect-Player-Performance.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdmyoMe4iHM

The first 4 links are to articles that talk about sport psychology.  The fourth source is to the speech in Miracle before the miracle actually happens.