DVD Review - Crooked Arrows

About the DVD
You’ll stand up and cheer for this feel-good sports thriller starring Brandon Routh (Superman Returns). The ancient sport of lacrosse has been part of their tribal heritage for centuries, but the Native American players on the Crooked Arrows high school team are long-time losers. When former star player Joe Logan (Routh) agrees to coach the rag-tag group to seal the deal on a lucrative casino project, he sets out to turn the chumps into champs and, in the process, learns the value of loyalty himself. If the Arrows can learn to shoot straight and challenge their prep school rivals, these fast-breaking warriors may just pull off the ultimate upset and win it all!

Special Features:

• Commentary featuring Mark Ellis, Steve Rash, and Neal J. PowlessThe Story of Crooked Arrows
• Keepin’ it Real: Crooked Arrows Lacrosse
• Native American Lacrosse – A Crooked Arrows Tribute
• The Game of Life, Heart, and Soul of the Onondaga
• Crooked Arrows Theatrical Trailer
  

My Take on the DVD
The name of the movie intrigued me.As the movie opened and I saw Native American Indians of 1000 years ago playing a challenging game of lacrosse, I wondered where this movie was going to in the story. I was pleased and found such substance in the story and the characters as the plot continued into the present day.

The main character had become worldly and forgot his heritage,honor to his people and tradition. As the story progresses you see him regain these principles and instill them in the high school lacrosse team he coaches. Crooked Arrows becomes the name of the team and the young men eventually defeat the team which has been on the top for many years. It is through hard work, deciding that the honor of their pride of their Native American heritage,teamwork, and commitment that the team is able to pull through to their victory.

The challenge of this team does not go unnoticed by the town and the other Native American people in the surrounding areas as they cheer on the young men in the finals of the lacrosse match. The coach even defeats a developer who tries to take over the land for development.

You will delight in the characters and their progress as their relationships become richer throughout the movie

The movie is rated PG, but for your older children, teenagers, especially those in sports, I feel this is a good family movie. The scenes during the lacrosse games are rough.

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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Book Review -The Sacred Acre

About the Book
On a Sunday in May 2008, an F-5 tornado struck the town of Parkersburg, Iowa, killing eight people and destroying 250 homes and businesses within 34 seconds. The next day, Parkersburg's beloved football coach, Ed Thomas, made a stunning prediction: 'God willing, we will play our first home game here on this field this season.' One hundred days later, the home team scored a victory on the field they dubbed 'The Sacred Acre,' serving as a galvanizing point for the town to band together and rebuild. But just as Parkersburg was recovering, another devastating tragedy struck. While working with a group of football and volleyball players early one morning, one of Ed's former students walked in and gunned him down point blank. Ed Thomas was 58. The murder of this hometown hero spread across national news headlines. Ed's community and family reeled from shock. Yet the story doesn't end here. What happened next proves that even a double tragedy is no match for faith, love ... and the power of forgiveness.


My Take on the Book
This was an amazing story of strength and perseverance. While I have never lived through a tornado hitting a town that I have lived in, I was amazed to see the spirit that this town held onto after what has happened. I was also both inspired and motivated by Ed Thomas and the vision that he had for the town and the outcome that he pushed the town and its residents.

The story was heart-touching and there were times when I was brought to laughing as well as even bringing my emotions to the surface also. The author does a great job at capturing the feelings and the heart of the town's spirit and even though the town itself was devastated, their spirit was still strong.

This was a great book that I would highly recommend to all!

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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Guest Post - Dr. Charlotte Reznick - 5 Tools to Help Kids Visualize Sports Success

5 Tools to Help Kids Visualize Sports Success

By Charlotte Reznick PhD

Adapted from The Power of Your Child's Imagination

Sometimes anxiety can stop kids from enjoying activities they used to adore. Love of a sport can create unrealistic expectations and negative attitudes--I'll never be perfect, or I'm afraid I'll let my teammates down.

If you're puzzled because your happy child who used to love skating or basketball has been replaced by a child who no longer wants to participate in sports, here are five imagination tools that can help. These visualization tools are also great for kids who love athletic activities, but want to improve their skills.

Act out a slow-motion picture. Have your child close her eyes and tell you, frame by frame, each part of the action he or she wants to accomplish--say, a skating twirl. Keep slowing down her movie--drawing attention to small details, such as the feel of the air in the ice rink, the sound of the blade, and swishing of her ponytail. The longer you can draw it out, the more vivid the entire action becomes. Her body can "learn" great mechanics just by imagining them.

Be a spectator. Tell your child to imagine he is sitting on the bleachers, watching himself go up to bat. Now have him describe how he looks, smiling at the team and nodding to the coach, getting into a great stance, focusing on the ball, and smashing it into the outfield. Tell him to run all around the bases. Such a grand start-to-finish act imprints on his mind as success.

Engage all the senses. Ask your child to visualize her accomplishment using as many senses as she can. Let's say she's sinking a foul shot. What does the leathery basketball feel like? What sounds does she hear? What's the taste in her mouth? Are there distinctive smells in the gym? What is she seeing all around her? Involving the senses is a great way to make the sports action come to life. Her body will remember exactly what it feels like to sink that ball next time she's at the free-throw line.

Jump to success. After your child has practiced different ways of visualizing, don't forget to have him see success while he's doing the activity. When he goes up to bat, remind him to see himself smacking that ball. Just before she goes out on the ice, have her see herself doing the spin effortlessly. All great athletes have learned how to visualize in the moment--the puck going into the goal, or nailing the landing on a big ski jump--and this kind of visualization is the secret of their success.

Use positive language. In visualization, perspective doesn't matter--he can feel himself inside the experience or watch it like a movie. But language does matter. Help him use affirmations in his performance images. The creative brain can't register negative instructions, such as "Don't miss that ball." Change the statement into, "I can hit that ball!"

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Charlotte Reznick PhD is a child educational psychologist, an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology at UCLA, and author of the LA Times bestselling book The Power of Your Child’s Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success (Perigee/Penguin). In addition to her private practice, she creates therapeutic relaxation CDs for children, teens, and parents, and teaches workshops internationally on the healing power of children’s imagination. You can find out more about her at www.imageryforkids.com.

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Book Review - Eli Gold: From Peanuts to the Pressbox

Being a person that enjoys sports but is not a fanatic I did not know what to expect when I read this book. I will say that before I received this book, I can say that I had heard of the announcer/author of this book but really knew nothing of his back story.

This book is a great tribute to the hard work and dedication that one person has to achieve his goals. It is an inspirational tale about what one person can do to overcome obstacles and achieve all that one hopes to achieve.

With over 25 years of experience in the sports industry, one can only imagine the experiences and life that he has had througout his career. I truly enjoyed Gold's stories of other announcers and sports stars and what it was like to work with them. This book is a great read for the sports and non-sport enthusiast. The books flows well and is an easy read for all people.

I found that this book could have easily been expanded to add much more depth into the backstory, but I am not complaining at all, as the story was very enjoyable and one that I would definitely recommend to others!

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