Nicholas+Yanik

“Today is the big day.” I said to myself getting out of the comfy futon bed. Today is the day we become 24-0, perfect! I get my bag ready, shoes, Gatorade, I-pod. As I come down stairs I see my lucky charms on the table. I eat my cereal cherishing every spoon full, eating it very slowly so I don’t get a belly ache. “Lets go.” I say in a real dramatic voice. I plug my headphones, and I’m out the door getting pumped for the huge game. I show up at Franklin early so I can feel the court and take some practice shots. I meet up with a couple of teammates and we do some passing drills nothing to energetic. “BLEEEEEEEEEEEPP!” the buzzer rang and we pass the opposing team not letting them intimidate us. Coach gives us a pep talk to get us focused and prepared. He calls the starting five and they go onto the court shaking out and jitterbugs they have left in them. Franklin wins the tip off and they go down the court and score an easy lay-up for two. We dribble the ball up the court following the Franklin score. We give the ball to the forward above block and he scores. This went on for a while, Edison than Franklin, Franklin than Edison. The first half ended with a score of 23-20 Franklin leading the way. Edison starts to walk to the corner huffing and puffing as if we were the big bad wolf. I mention to some players, “Good job man keep doing what you’re doing.” And some other variations of that kind. I usually get back a “Same”, or “you too.” In the corner gulping Gatorade and water, listening to coach go over plays we should be running and thing we should be doing. “BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPP!” The buzzer rings for us to start playing again. Just like last half, the starting five goes on and we start playing basketball. They hustle down the court hopefully for an easy lay-up but nothing is easy. We block the shot a sprint down court for a fast break lay-up holding us down by a point. A couple of minutes go by and subs come in. Players come off the court out of breath and ether mad about their performance or talking trash about the other team. With about a minute to go in the game, we hit a huge three restricting us by one point. Franklin chucks the ball in and drives to the lane praying for a bucket. He goes up and is blocked but the whistle blows. “Foul!” calls the referee. Edison is devastated, having our hands over our face. Franklin’s player makes bother free throws. We roll the ball in conserving times with 11 seconds left. We swing the ball back and forth to create an open shot. THREE…We pass the ball to the paint. TWO… We throw it to the wing. ONE…The wing shoots it right before the buzzer. It feels like the ball has been up there for days maybe even years. It finally comes back down and hits the back of the rim missing the shot. Franklin cheers and runs down the court hands flailing while we as a team hang our heads with tears in our eyes. It’s the worse feeling I ever had. All I hear coming off the court is sniffles and “nice try guys you did your best.” That’s what I think about before every game, before I get out of my bed, before I walk down stairs seeing my lucky charms and before putting my headphones into my I-pod. I think of that great pain I felt that day against Franklin. So I try 197 % every game so I don’t lose. The word “lose” is not in my vocabulary. __** The Outsiders Critical Review **__
 * __Franklin __**

What does “nothing can stay gold” mean? Ponyboy and Johnny ask that question in __The Outsiders__. Johnny soon does figure it out when he is lying in the hospital bed. He said and I quote, “he meant you’re gold when you’re a kid, like green. When you’re a kid everything is new, dawn. It’s when you get used to everything that it’s day.” Reading it, I knew it meant a lot to Pony. But seeing Ponyboy read it and hearing Johnny’s voice really does touch the heart of Pony and the audience. Which is why I think the movie is more entertaining than the novel.

 In the movie __The Outsiders__, it didn’t have the greatest effects which I understand because it was made before technology was as advanced in movies as it is today. If you look past that though, you can tell it was a poignant movie. The movie was moving because of the emotion in the tone of each character. I really liked the way Dally acted when Johnny died. The tears in his eyes, the blank look of denial and desperation spoke volumes to the viewer about just how much Johnny meant to Dally. You can really see how attached Dally was to him and how he loved him so much. In the book I couldn’t really see that Dally was so close to Johnny.

 The movie is also better because humor is more evident to the viewer. When Two-bit was making fun of the Soc’s pants, it was priceless. I wouldn’t have laughed if I read that. Also in some parts the movie had more details. For instance, when Johnny died, you can tell how crazed Dally got. I could honestly compare him to a mentally ill person. When he was smacking the magazines at the store and took all the money, he was mad, and not mad angry, the mad crazy, in my opinion. The only way I could make that assumption was actually seeing him do that, not reading.

 The last reason and most important is that you could see and hear how much the Greasers cared about one another. Dally gave Ponyboy and Johnny money, a gun, and a place to hide just so they wouldn’t go to jail. That is a loyal friend if you ask me. And, at the end, when Dally robbed the store, the whole gang was going to hide Dally just so he wouldn’t get caught. That shows how the whole entire gang is loyal.

 In the end, the movie is better than the novel. You can see, hear, and even feel the emotions of the Greasers. Even though they’re Greasers, they know they’re more than that. They are family… Brothers.

 By;

Nick Yanik