Mr. Mifsud's 25 Muslim players were practicing and playing on empty stomachs.
I can relate to this not because I am fasting but there have been times where I have gone to practice on a relatively empty stomach and its very hard, I can't even imagine doing it everyday for a month.
"I'm going through this hunger and thirst for 12, 13 hours. They're going through it for a lifetime."
This really shows to why they are doing this, not only for their religion but they understand the difficulties of the many suffering people in the world.
Khalil Dabaja at defensive back, Amir Rustom at linebacker, Mohammad Kassab at nose guard, Hassan Cheaib at fullback
There are obviously a lot of players who are effected by the fasting, so what does that mean for the rest of the team? Do coaches not play these players because of it? Are the other players mad or frustrated because of it?
These days, when the coach invites his team over for a barbecue, he has halal meat for the burgers.
This shows the dedication from the coaches to their players and their lives. This answers some of my questions from my annotation above about whether or not the coaches respect the players and their lives. This shows that they are doing what is best for the players no matter what.
By now, 20 years along, the parents have gone from being cooks and truck drivers to engineers, doctors and business owners.
This greatly shows the dedication and pride that the immigrants have toward their community. They are succeeding in this new society and being exceptional role models for the younger generations. They continue to process in society while also going through hardships.
As much as anything, Derek Boogaard always feared being alone.
Always from the beginning Derek has been scared. Scared of himself, fighting, loneliness, and scared of disappointing his friends and family. His parents won't let Derek just be by himself they know he has to be around people.
“The coroner said with that mixture, he probably died as soon as he closed his eyes,” Aaron said.
Its scary to see what drugs and alcohol can do. Boogaard had a long life of drugs but when he combined drugs with alcohol it ended it.
You could tell he didn’t trust himself,
His condition is so bad that he can't even help himself or trust himself. Why was no one doing anything? His dad obviously knew there was a problem.
But any concern the Rangers had was outweighed by their eagerness for his brand of toughness and intimidation.
The toughness and intimidation that Boogaard has just brings in more money for the team. This shows that teams will just choose money and fame over the integrity of the players lives and their health.
Boogaard had been drafted by the Wild in 2001, a seventh-round pick given little chance of making the N.H.L.
In all three parts of this article the author continues to say something like this. How Derek had little chance of playing in the NHL. Im not sure why it is constantly reiterated but I think it could mean that his career has little chance of continuing.
From the outside, everything seemed normal. It was not.
The people around Boogaard are concerned and there to help but Boogaard doesn't even recognize the issue. He is oblivious to the outside world at this time. He is not trying to ignore people, but his condition is causing him to not see the real world.
willing to do the sport’s most dangerous work to protect others
The players will always be their for each other each others. Just like in Reilly's essay, the players will always be there just like the FD will be there.
Never had Boogaard felt such love.
Boogaard's life has not been super loving, so him getting applause and respect from the audience made him happy. This could have been one time where he felt at home, under the umbrella of hockey.
They pushed up their sleeves. It was just another fight — yet memorable and telling.
Why is the attitude toward fights “just another fight”. They just brush it off as no big deal which could be the reason people get hurt easily.
But there is generally order to the chaos, unwritten rules of engagement, commonly called “the code.”
The order has been established by players. This just shows the respect that most players have for the game. They don’t want it to be jeopardized because of uncontrolled chaos
someone hardly valued for his skill as a player, perhaps rarely used
The author is saying this to show that Boogaard was exactly that. Boogaard has little skill for the team, he is just there to fight and rile up the tram so they play better.
Hurt one of us, and we will send out someone bigger, tougher to exact revenge.
This made the think about how there is always a bigger fish. You can never be sure who will come after You.
When Boogaard closed his right hand, though, it was a weapon, the most feared in the N.H.L.
“Weapon can allude to the destruction and hurt that Boogaard has caused. The main reason he is in the NHL is because of his “weapon”. What does this say about the NHL?
he was drafted by the Wild in the seventh round, No. 202 over all
The perseverance that he had was so cool to read about and understand. Boogaards dream was to play in the NHL and he finally did it.
Derek would certainly stick up for the team, he would stick up for his teammates, but wasn’t mean at all.”
this can connect to "the real New York Giants" article because it shows that sports players alway stick up for their teammates.
he would park at the edge of a pasture and moo at the cows through the loudspeaker. Or, with the back seat filled with boys, he would shout for them to look up before hitting the brakes, smashing the smiling faces into the clear partition and sending the boys into shrieks of laughter.
This can connect to work and play because Len is using things that involve his work to make fun and play. Even though he struggled in school his dad realized what could push him through life, weather or not that meant work or play
Whether Len Boogaard was issuing traffic tickets or investigating domestic disturbances, the grievances “would ultimately come back to the kids at some point,”
This shows the troubled life of Derek. He was often caught up in issues from his fathers work which may have been the reason he didn't follow directions and he was a trouble maker.
On May 13, his brothers found him dead of an accidental overdose in his Minneapolis apartment.
why was he using drugs in the first place? what led him to do this? why did he not seek help?
Boogaard was exhilarated, exhausted, relieved. Maybe the fear was extinguished
It appears that Boogaard was unaware of his ability to fight which led him to be scared of it. Even though Boogaard was a small person at the time he was able to break a persons nose and he didn't even mean to do it.
But how? Forget about replacing the players. How do you replacethe men?
they lost so much they didn't think it was possible to get back to normal. everyone had lost so much they couldn't imagine getting a team.
One thing about firemen, they don't let each other fightbattles alone.
The Fire Department is such a tight nit group, they are a team, they have each others backs all the time and they will always be there for each other. A team is just like that.
you figure you can bleed together on a football field,
Their work is not a lot different than play, they are always there for each other road whether or not they or on a field or in a burning building.
'We'll have a team if weonly have 10 guys. We're playing.'"
This shows perseverance and commitment of the men and women of the department. The NYCFD will continue their tradition even though there was a major national attack.