Opeyemi Betiku
Professor Elham Sayegh
English paper (rhetorical analysis)
October 26, 2011
Rhetorical Analysis on a speech
The speech “I am champion”. Giving by a high school football coach. Coach Flowers,
Maurice flowers. Coach flowers graduated from Johnson C. Smith University. When
he was in high school, he participated in many sports in general but mainly
basketball and football, according to east Mecklenburg high school the high school
he went to, he was considered the “all conference football and basketball” through
out his junior and senior years in high school. He went on to college and got on the
football team and that’s how he became the team captain and he was named “all
American quarterback” for three years in a role by the college football preview
magazine. He held the position for three years from 1988 to 1990. Also according to
his biography, he has a bachelor degree in communications and now he is pursuing
a master degree in health education in east Carolina University. He has been in the
business of coaching form high schools to high school for over 14 years and he loves
what he does, he coaches as head football coach and offensive coordinator.
He coach Chester high school, he coach there for two years and he basically focused
on creating the cyclones as one of the rising powers in the south, south Carolina to
be specific. By his exclusive coaching skills, the cyclones won a regional
championship and they also made the state champion appearance and were ranked
the first in 3A team according to the South Carolina associated press polls. After
that, he moved up to leading Olympic high school to at least five playoff appearance
all in six years and when he finished his season, he finished with a good record of
10-3 record of wins. He also coached at west charlotte high school in North
Carolina. He also coached some shrine bowl players some of them were
quarterbacks, wide receivers and offensive lineman and a linebacker.
Players he has coached, recognize him as “the coach that cares about his players
futures.” An unofficial article testified that 30 the students he coached received
scholarship to college and 11 of them were from west charlotte the high school I
North Carolina that he coached. Mark Clayton a wide receiver of Baltimore ravens
said, “coach flowers did so much to help e get to where I am today. He’s the kind of
coach any players loves to play for.”
Leland senior high school, a well-known school in san José California, their motto is
“to challenge and empower every students to be member of a global community by
developing responsible citizens with creative and critical thinking skills.” They was
best known for that but their football team wasn’t always the best at what they do
and one day before the game, coach flowers gave a pre game speech in that school,
the speech “I am a champion.” The speech although not a popular speech to many
people not the kind that talks about civil right movement, not the political kind of
speech, instead it is motivational. It is very popular to athletes especially ones in
high school, the speech started all gentle and quite, just by asking a simple question
like who am I? And they replied as “I am a champion,” and he went on to give the
speech http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX39J_YyKbs
As he speaks on, the rage in the room got hotter, the anger got larger, and he kept
saying stuff that they are but think they can never become, he began to analyze that
they are about to a battle that’s not just theirs but it is for the team and in
togetherness they will conquer the enemy. “I will always endeavor the prestige,
honor, and respect of my team, I have trained my mind and my body will follow, I
will acknowledge the fact that my opponents do not expect me to win but I will
never surrender.” This words are powerful, they’re motivational, no matter how
down you feel no matter how depressed you feel at that particular time, no matter
how much you have lost hope in your self, after hearing this speech, you will get up
thinking you can do it. This speech is not only meant for high school students alone,
college students too, it is not only meant for athletes alone in fact but it is also meant
for people that just need some kind of motivation to keep pushing. As time pass by
in life, people come to realize that most things is not as sweet or easy as it turns out
to be, in other words, there’s always going to be enemies, opponents, and people
that just want to see you fall but you have to rise up and stand up firm to the
challenges the comes your way. But in the quest of standing up firm, you need some
kind of motivation, some kind of push, some kind of believe in yourself from other
people’s point of view towards you positively. This speech is one of those, even here
in miami university, some students that wanted to drop tough classes like
chemistry, physics, mathematics, and in fact communications 143. They listened to
the speech after someone had posted it on Facebook I think, and many people just
had faith in their self that they can do it since they have already been half way
through and that right there is life, you keep pushing and keep pushing and keep
pushing.
Many high school coaches has just sat back on many game days and played the video
to the students and it works. A very good example is my high school, Dunbar senior
high school in Washington dc; our football team is ranked on of the best high school
football team in DMV (Dc, Maryland and Virginia). Every game season in the year,
our coach would play the video like once or twice as a pre game speech and that’s
hall we really needed to defeat our opponents. As coach Flowers voice begins to
eradicate the room, as his voice gets louder in the room the tension is their people
have the urge to want to win already and that all you need to remember when on
the battlefield, that “weakness will not be in my heart, I will look to my comrades, to
those who have brought me to this world, and those who have trained me and draw
strength form them.” (Coach flowers, I am a champion speech). We all have a battle
field whether a student that have an exam to take, weather a man that has a job
interview to attend while he’s nervous, whether a player that has a football or
basketball game play, anyone, everyone has their own battle field. “I will gladly go
out to my battlefield, and move groove and di everything can do and I will reach my
field of battle by any means at my disposal and when I get there I will arrive
violently, I will reap the heart of my enemies and leave it bleeding on the ground
because he cannot stop me.” With this though in mind, victory is your and mines
with this thought that I can do anything out my heart in to there will be nothing
absolutely impossible, all that has to be done is believe have faith and achieve.