I think the author included this sentence here because he wants to emphasize how American tradition didn't have much of an influence from Muslim people for a long time, and hence traditions developed without considering Muslims as it wasn't much of a concern. Now, with the increasing amount of Muslims immigrating to Detroit, it is interesting how, as it talks about earlier on in the article, Muslim high school foot ball players have combined their fasting for Ramadan with their high school foot ball career which evolves their foot ball experience.

Here, Freedman is utilizing a first hand account from one of the football players from Dearborn High School. It here is being used to compare and contrast between a high school American Muslim football player fasting versus people in third world countries.

I think Freedman utilizes this sentence to really emphasize that although the line between work and play can be often blurred, at the end of the day, there is a fine line that exists that differentiates the two. This usually places one, priority-wise, above the other. In this case, play is referring to Ali playing football for his school team and with his friends. This responsibility is clearly one that Ali views with a lot of pride. In this case, "work" is referring to Ali's personal religious duties to Allah. The balance between the two is where the line between work and play might not be clear; however, when Ali noticed that his football might come in between him and Allah, he knew he had to prioritize.

Throughout the piece, Freedman is constantly juxtaposing cultural elements from American high school and the Middle East. Here, the author is doing so through imagery to describe Ali wearing his football varsity jacket as well as having on him food from his culture. This shows how Ali, growing up Muslim American, has grown up to be a part of both cultures.

The language used for Boogaard's brain objectifies it, making it seem as if it never held the memories of a person.

In Part 1, the author discusses dreams not being reality, referring to how Boogaard's dream being cut short not being out of the ordinary. Clearly this is a recurring theme/idea that the author wants to highlight.

1) "Brand" has a double meaning here: it means both his intimidating height and stature as well as him being so popular as to be marketable. 2) Here, the author is juxtaposing once again the idea of outside versus inside by mentioning his appearance both physically and in popular culture and his personality.

I think this phrase is important. It again emphasizes the strong team camaraderie that the players have playing together on the team, which is a value that can be applied to all teams. Also, since a fraternal bond means a brotherly bond, I can connect this to The Real New York Giants article because the whole team as well as other players viewed each other as brothers.

Looking at both of these two paragraphs, I believe that Derek's fist is a metaphor for Derek. On the outside, he is a "weapon" in hockey, as he was involved in a lot of physical fights during games. The term "weapon" also makes it seem as if Derek was a pawn played by his team. On the inside though, (in this metaphor, the inside of his palm), he is injured, which can refer to how he was bullied at a younger age.

I think that objectifying Derek's fist gives the word a double meaning when it comes to work and play. Derek uses his fist to punch people in fights in hockey, which is considered to be both Derek's job (work) and his passion (play). Also, Derek uses his fist/hand to write with, which is also both technically work and play because it is something he clearly enjoys (otherwise we wouldn't have this record) and a task.

"Fit" has a double meaning--it means the actual uniform fit him as well as the position of being a professional hockey player (since he was never been able to find his fit academically or with people from school, this was the perfect situation for Boogaard).

I think that this here was a turning point moment in Boogaard's life and emphasizes how Tobin was seen as an important part of his life in such little time.

The author calls "being forgotten" and "viewed as something less than a hockey player" as the same thing. This is to further emphasize the huge importance and influence over Derek's life that hockey has.

Once again, this reiterates the idea of work and play. While Boogaard enjoyed having fun with the sport and bonding with the people on his team, he knew that hockey was his "job" as he writes and he therefore needed to work hard to reach his goals.

The author constantly reiterates the idea of Derek being the opposite of the stereotype. While at first glance Derek might seem like the stereotypical bully with his great height, he is actually a nice, judged-by-the-cover guy who would do anything for his team mates. The last sentence of this paragraph also displays team camaraderie which the author writes above was one of the benefits of playing hockey.

I noticed when the author was referring to a dream earlier on in the article, he was referring to this dream of becoming an NHL player. When the author uses words such as "envisioning," "dream," and "want," he might be trying to contrast what is fantasy with what is reality (in the beginning, he talks about Derek's dream being cut short and adds "as [dreams] usually do."

By repeating the words "it meant" several times, the author is creating emphasis on what long drives for youth hockey meant to Derek. Generally the things that the author lists would not be seen as perks to many people but rather mundane, if-possible-avoid scenarios. When the author included "stopping after school for gas," he knew that this wasn't a popular and enjoyable pastime, but the author is emphasizing how these seemingly meaningless activities were a "get away" for Boogaard who was constantly taunted and teased.

I think that this sentence is ironic. The author foreshadows that Boogaard's "dream ended early" which is most likely new information to the reader otherwise the author wouldn't have felt the need to include this. However, the author writes "as it usually does" meaning that the author didn't even need to add this sentence and it was just implied. I'm curious as to whether the author believes that every time something is referred to as a dream it is really an unattainable goal. I'm also wondering why did the author even add this sentence if he also includes "as it usually does?"

The author repeats "he loved" several times in this paragraph to emphasize and highlight how much Derek loved his sport and job, to the point that he actually put his life in danger.

I think that the two words "opportunity and obligation" can refer to the terms of work and play. The author specifically used such diction because he wants to point out that hockey was an opportunity meaning a fun situation, as well as an obligation for Boogaard to complete, given the word choice that the author uses in the previous sentence: "must."

I think it was a smart decision of the author to incorporate a simile: "it always came back, like the flame of a trick candle." Similes are good ways to grab the reader's attention as well as vividly describe how players think their job is done, but it is never really done. This connects sports to someone who doesn't understand hockey or other sports in general so that they can really understand the feeling that is going through Boogaard.

The sentence "All the lineup holes were patched" parallels the last sentence "Some holes are easier to patch than others." The former discusses the same idea of replacing the actual lineup, while the latter once again reiterates the fact that personalities and friendships cannot be replaced.<br> Also, this section really emphasizes how fast and determined the community was willing to recover. Having double the usual meeting attendees as well as people who had originally declined a spot on their team want to come to play shows their willingness to contribute to the healing of the team.

Replacing the players is relatively an easy task compared to the latter. Later on in the article, the author writes, "Even if you can replace the players who were lost, how do you replace all the other guys who made the team so damn much fun?" While the team game-wise could start to recover, it was just as necessary for the team bonds to recover as well. Each person had their own unique personality that all brought something different to the table, both when it came to friendships as well as during games. Having a team that is well bonded helps with teamwork which helps with winning. Starting over with new relationships because tragedy struck is incredibly hard, but these men were clearly determined to do so. Also, it was most likely tough for these men to grieve while still giving focus to the game.

I can connect this to my real life. Just as the author writes above, "how do you replace the men?" Sibling bonds are extremely strong, and me and my sister also have a four year distance, which means we would just miss each other in high school and college. Danny Foley mentions being the younger sibling; so for him to get an actual opportunity to do something with his brother, especially be on a team where camaraderie is at its strongest. I can't imagine what it must have been like to have waited that long to have an opportunity to play together all for a tragedy to take Tommy Foley away.

What is clear from reading this is how dedicated the New York Fire Department is to both their work (as firefighters) and play (as football players). Just as we learned from the Mark Twain quote that work and play have the same values but different applications, this is exactly what is happening here. Their work isn't play as in entertainment, but their work is where they are determined to go above and beyond, have a goal to rescue people/bodies, and accomplish it. Their play is described similar to a job: a task the team is required to complete. "The guys are playing" offers no area for people to question the team and whether they will actually follow through.

When reading this, I immediately thought this statement was very reflective of the United States as a whole during the heartbreaking aftermath of 9/11. New York, as well as the country as a whole, could be considered a team, who lost over 2,000 people. Despite the firemen's loss of 21 people, they wanted to rebound, and show their strength and ability to fight back despite the circumstances by saying "Hell, yes [we're] playing." Just as the fire department team fought their circumstances, the United States did the same by honoring victims and fighting its loss by demonstrating its patriotism.