Thursday, April 26, 2012
Post for McAlester News-Capital
Friday, February 26, 2010
Gerald McCoy: Faith and Football
Gerald McCoy hops up, walks around as he is mobbed by his teammates and then heads back to the line of scrimmage, ready for the next play. Typical of the big fella.
Gerald McCoy is a big man. No other way to say it. He is big in stature at 6’4” 295 pounds and his smile is a mile wide. But it’s the size of his faith that sets him apart from both a lot of athletes and just people in general.
Gerald said that he grew up in a Christian home and practically lived at church when he was young. In spite of that, he didn’t really start living for Christ until his junior year of high school.
“I was in the crowd that was known as the church guys but I wasn’t doing the things that a church guy would be known to do,” Gerald said. “I just decided that I needed to change what I was doing because I was supposed to be the church guy and I needed to be living a certain way and I just wasn’t doing that.”
Gerald says that this change in his life has really impacted the way that he lives now and the way that he goes about football. He isn’t big on individual achievement and knows that all of his talents and abilities are gifts from God.
“I just say that it’s not my skill, not my talent, and not my work ethic,” Gerald said. “Everything I do God has given me and I want to give it back to him, offer it back up to him. However he wants to use me, then I want him to use me. I don’t care how.”
This attitude carries over to the way that Gerald plays and goes about his football business. His teammates have taken notice of it too. Gerald was elected as a team captain by his teammates for the 2008 season as a sophomore, an almost unprecedented accomplishment on a veteran laden team.
“I lead more by example than voice,” Gerald said. “As far as leadership goes, I lead by how I play, how I am in the classroom, my work ethic, things like that. That’s where more of my leadership role as a captain comes in.”
Gerald’s teammates respect him, as evidenced by them electing him team captain. They admire his hard work and the enthusiasm with which he goes about playing the game.
“He is just an enthusiastic player,” said sophomore offensive lineman Cory Brandon. “He plays hard, he works hard and he is just a great guy.”
Junior tight end Jermaine Gresham and freshman defensive end Frank Alexander also said that Gerald was a hard worker and also said that he is crazy and a really funny guy to be around.
The football field is far and away the place where Gerald excels. As a freshman in 2007, he was named Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and was named to several freshman All-American teams. In 2008, he was named to the Sporting News All-American team and was named a first team Big 12 defensive player. Gerald isn’t all about his on the field activities and accolades though.
Gerald is the president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Chapter at OU. It’s something that he says that he has been involved with for many years.
“I’ve always been involved in FCA,” Gerald said. “That started in middle school, but I seriously got involved my senior year of high school.”
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter at OU encompasses a wide range of students and not all of them are athletes. In fact, Gerald said that more than half are non-athletes.
“FCA stands for Fellowship of Christian Athletes,” said senior public relations major JT DeBerry. “FCA is a place for not just athletes, but non-athletes too, to just take a day off each week and just come fellowship, eat food, play games and just have a good time.”
Gerald simply takes a different attitude toward life than a lot of people. He truly epitomizes what it means to be a student athlete. He is a quality student as a communications major, but also supports the other sports at OU. And boy is he full of spirit.
“I love my school,” said Gerald. “Whatever school I attend, that’s the school I represent. Now I’m in college and it’s my state against your state.”
Gerald also said that he really appreciates the support the other athletes give the football team and that it’s only right that he support them as well.
“I know that a lot of those people in the stadium are student athletes and they need support in their sport too,” Gerald said. “I don’t mind doing that because they come support us every Saturday.”
The other athletes have taken note of Gerald’s support and know that it’s not something that he does because he has to, but rather out of a sheer love for competition, winning, and his school.
“I think Gerald is the ultimate man in every category,” said women’s basketball star Courtney Paris. “He supports everyone so he is just the ultimate Sooner and you always appreciate his support.”
For example, at the men’s basketball game against Texas Tech on Valentine’s Day, Gerald showed up with big angel wings, boxer shorts with hearts all over them, and a headband with pipe cleaners attached in the shape of hearts. The students loved it.
“It’s not everyday that you see a student athlete support his fellow athletes like Gerald does in such a passionate way,” said freshman meteorology major Kevin Burns. “Gerald is a great leader for both the team and also for the students.”
With spring practice in the books, hopes are high for the 2009 football season. Gerald said that he thinks it’s going to be a good one.
“It’s good to have Sam back and Jermaine,” Gerald said. “We have a lot of guys returning on defense. It’s going to be a good year.”
One thing is for sure. No matter how the season turns out for the Sooners, they will have #93 on the defensive line, giving his all on every play, serving as their very own minister of defense.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Midterm Project: Dave Edwards
Three years ago, Dave Edwards founded a new church in Norman, Oklahoma named River Church. The goal was to be not only a church that shows love within the congregation, but also shows love to the community around it. Edwards and River Church have been working toward this goal since the church's founding by adopting a local elementary school and doing other various service projects throughout the community of Norman. I am a member of River Church and I decided to feature him in this video because I have never been involved in a church that is so passionate about caring for its community. The zeal with which Dave goes about his mission is obvious as he walks the streets of Norman.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Community found in churches
Coming to college is one of the most drastic changes that a person goes through in their life. The goal of pretty much every student is to get into a routine that they consider to be normal and like the life that they used to live. Something that some students look for is a church.
For many students, church has been a very important part of their life from day one. They have always gone and been a part of a church family. It’s a comfort thing for a lot of people.
“I was looking because God is central in my life and to grow in my relationship with Him I needed to be involved in a church and establish relationships with others in the church,” said Melissa Mock, sophomore international area studies and history major at the University of Oklahoma.
Louis Warner, a sophomore physics major at the University of Oklahoma says that church has been a major part of his life and it has help him grow in his faith.
“Without a church family, my individual ministry is greatly diminished,” Warner said. “I knew that if I did not find a good church family, I would fall away from my daily walk with Christ.”
Many students take several weeks, if not months to find a church home. There may be many options to choose from or very few. It all depends on the area of the country in which you decide to attend school.
“It took me two weeks to find a church,” Mock said. “River was the second church I visited and I immediately had the feeling that this was the type of church I had been looking for, for a long time.”
Every student gets something different out of church. For the most part, people find community in a church.
“Church has given me a place in the midst of my busy week to go and worship God, learn more about him, and reconnect with others,” Mock said. “Without it I think I would be discouraged and get tired of a lot of things in life, but when I go I am refreshed by God's word and encouraged by my church family.”
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Junior College = Solid Alternative
College is expensive. No ifs, ands or buts about it. College is also rigorous academically. No way to disprove that fact either. There are people out there that simply cannot keep up with either of those characteristics that come with a four-year university. For those who cannot afford it or cannot deal with the academic rigors, there is an alternative option: junior college.
Junior colleges are schools that offer primarily two-year associates degrees at a lower cost than that of a four-year university. The education however, remains close to the same due to smaller classes and more intentional time with professors.
Spencer Smith, a sophomore at OCCC, said that finances were the primary reason for him attending a junior college.
Chris Beaudoin, a sophomore at OCCC, said that many people attend community or junior colleges to take care of classes that they would have problems with at a four-year university. Another reason is just to get classes out of the way so that students can move on to more difficult classes within their major.
The smaller student to teacher ratio is another big factor that draws students to a junior college.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
How Athletes Search
University of Oklahoma sophomore volleyball player Suzy Boulavsky, #2 in white, and Texas Tech sophomore volleyball player Karlyn Meyers, #3 in black, ready themselves for the next point in their match October 3, 2009.
The worlds of students and student-athletes sometimes seem to be on opposite sides of the galaxy from each other. However, both have the title of student and it is this term that brings these worlds a little closer together.
A big way in which college athletes and regular students can relate is their search for a college that they want to be at. No matter what the sport, athletes still want to be at a school that they enjoy going to.
“Whenever I decided to come to OU, it was more of a decision based on the school,” said Suzy Boulavsky, sophomore volleyball player at the University of Oklahoma. “I committed when I was a sophomore so I didn't really have an idea of what necessarily to look for but it was just whenever I came to the campus, I felt like it was where I needed to be.”
The traditional way of looking for schools involves applications, campus visits and information on scholarships. The search for a college athlete includes all this, but with many more visits and lots of regulations on the contact between coaches and recruits.
“The first step was to send in videos and a resume to each school, and then I talked to the coaches and went on visits,” said Karlyn Meyers, sophomore volleyball player at Texas Tech University. “Then I talked with my parents and looked at the pros and cons for each school.”
“There are all these stipulations like they can only call you once and then once you sign you can call them whenever,” Boulavsky said. “A lot of times they send out questionnaires about you to find out more about you.”
The biggest part of the search for an athlete is the visit to the school, just like it normally is for the average student. Athletes have to travel all over to visit the schools that they are being recruited by. Meyers and Boulavsky were recruited by schools across the country including Baylor, Texas Tech, Nebraska, Tennessee (Meyers), Northwestern, Miami, Texas Tech, Baylor and Oklahoma (Boulavsky).
“Basically if you have an interest or they have an interest in you, you call them and they will come and watch you more and then you'll set up a visit,” Boulavsky said. “Sometimes they will point blank offer, sometimes they won't. I got lucky because I was offered on the spot.”
Some college athletes, like Meyers, have grown up with the dream of playing their sport at the collegiate level and beyond.
“I don’t think it was ever a decision I made; I just knew that was always what I was going to do,” Meyers said. “Since my mom played in college and I always excelled it was an easy decision. I couldn’t imagine NOT playing at this point.”
Others like Boulavsky discovered they had the ability to play at a higher level the more they played competitively.
I probably decided at the end of my freshman year,” Boulavsky said. “I never really was the type of person that looked far into the future growing up. I guess hearing, ‘Wow Suzy you're pretty good, you have this type of swing, the things a lot of coaches are looking for and you should look into it,’ made me want to pursue it. When people started telling me, ‘Suzy you can really do this,’ I was just like, ‘I'm going to.’"
In spite of the general similarities between students and student-athletes, Meyers and Boulavsky agree that the majority of people have the misconception that athletes have it easy in college.
“I just wish that people would understand that it's a job,” Boulavsky said. “It's not fun. What we do isn't fun anymore. It's what is paying us through college.”
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Isn't Recruiting Only For Athletes?
You may think that only the athletes are the ones that get recruited for school. However, when you look at the process and the attention that you get as a prospective student, it is basically a recruiting process and it starts with your first impressions on campus.
Photo by: Luke McConnell
Prospective students tour the campus at the University of Oklahoma
Rachel Tyrell is a tour guide at the University of Oklahoma.