15 classmates took the survey, and 93% of people have had a sports related injury before. About 50% of the class is interested in sports. Not many people have seen sports injuries in the news lately. The class majority guessed most injuries occur in the sport football.81% of the class said sports can affect you psychologically.

Sports Medicine Survey

Evaluate Nate's view of his injury vs that of his Mom. How do they differ?

         I think overall Nate is more accepting of his injury and accepts more responsibility,while Nate's mom is in denial and doesn't want to accept it. An example of this is when Reggie goes to see Nate in the hospital, Nate is not mad at Reggie and even tells him it's not his fault, while Nate's mom is still mad at him. After seeing his therapist for the first time, Reggie decides it's time to try and visit Nate Brown in the hospital again. He goes up, and makes it into the room without seeing Nate's mom. Reggie sees Nate and talks to him, and Nate is very friendly and happy to see him, and tells Reggie the injury is not his fault at all and there are no harsh feelings between them. Eventually, Nate's mom does walk in. She is still upset with Reggie, but Nate unsuccessfully tries to convince her to not scare Reggie away again. "'Stop it Mom!' Nate yelled. 'Reggie didn't have anything to do with this. It was my fault, not his. Why are you doing this?'". Nate and Reggie went to a football camp together a few years ago, and developed a friendship there. Nate knows Reggie is a friend and would never do something like that on purpose, while Nate's Mom doesn't know Reggie at all and has no idea what he's like. Also, I think Nate is more accepting of the injury and knows it's his fault, while Nate's Mom is looking to just blame anyone she can because she doesn't want
to believe this is happening to her, and she wants even less to believe there is no one to blame and take her anger out on.

Evaluate why Reggie is so concerned with the opinion of Mrs. Brown instead of the opinions of his coaches, friends, and loved ones. Why does Mrs. Brown's opinion matter so much to him?

          Reggie is concerned about Mrs. Brown's opinion of him because she saw the play a different way than everyone else and is not trying to help Reggie feel better. When Nate Brown is injured by spear tackling the book's protagonist, high school linebacker Reggie Scott, Reggie immediately feels guilty and wants to see Nate in the hospital. With Reggie being almost obsessive about going to the hospital, everyone from his parents to coaches to friends tells Reggie it's okay and the injury wasn't his fault. When he does go to the hospital though, he finds out Mrs. Brown has a different opinion. She screams at him, and tells him to leave the hospital and not come back. This greatly affects Reggie in a negative way. "Her words hit me like a speeding train. Everybody had been telling me the accident wasn't my fault. Now Nate's mom was blaming me" (55).  Up to this point, Reggie has been told that the injury had nothing to do with him and was not his fault. The mother of the boy who was hurt tells him differently though, which hurts Reggie. I think this affects Reggie because all the people who have given Reggie their opinion on the play have been trying to help Reggie, but Mrs. Brown saw the play differently, and she doesn't care about Reggie or his feelings about the matter. This is the only point of view Reggie has seen from someone who isn't close to him, which is why
I believe that Reggie's run in with Mrs. Brown affects him so much.

        3/3/14

Evaluate Reggie's decision to visit Nate in the hospital. Do you think it was the right decision?

   

               Reggie did make the right decision by going to visit Nate in the hospital because it shows he cares and respects everyone, even his competitors. Reggie is a high school senior linebacker, who in the first game of the season against Milbury High School intercepts a pass, and is trying to run it back for a touchdown when he feels a painful thud on his back. He gets up to celebrate the interception, only to realize no one else is celebrating. Looking back behind him on the field, he sees Milbury tight end Nate Brown lying motionless on the ground. Brown is soon evacuated by an ambulance and the rest of the game is cancelled. In the next few days, Reggie has to deal with guilt, thinking the injury was his fault, so he wants to go see Nate in the hospital to see if he's okay. Nothing can get the incident off Reggie's mind, and he needs to go to the hospital to find out more information about Nate and whether he will be alright. "I had been thinking about the geese for a few seconds when thoughts of Nate Brown rushed back into my head" (33).  When Reggie wakes up that Saturday morning after the game, all he can think of is Nate, and other things can hold his attention for only a few seconds. Reggie is becoming borderline obsessive about the injury, and has basically a psychological need to go check on Nate and find out what is going on. Some people may say it wasn't the right decision because it caused Nate's family grief and Reggie didn't find out much about Nate because of it. However, I think it was the right decision because it gave Reggie an idea of how bad it was, and Reggie didn't do it with any intention of harming Nate's family or causing them grief.