The gravity of Barry

In Dave Barry’s “The Gravity of Skiing” he explains the utter terror of flying down a hill at an unmentionable speed and is actually attempting to enjoy it. His sarcastic and almost scientific voice perfectly characterizes his opinion of skiing.

          When he begins his paradoxical humor shows itself as he states “If I were designing a ski, it would be called 'The Inertia,' and the bottom would be a combination of golf spikes, Crazy Glue and Velcro.” His idea for ski design is completely defeating the point of skiing and sports in general. His idea of a perfect sport is everybody super glued to the floor attempting to get free. He displays his lack of desire for the inevitable adrenaline rush that comes from hurtling down a mountain on small pieces of wood.

Barry’s extensive use of exaggeration is displayed throughout the entire article but is uniquely shown in a few parts such as “My advertisement would be a photo of a skier standing on an extremely steep slope, such as the side of the Chrysler Building, not moving at all, just sticking straight out horizontally, like a gargoyle.” Though some of us wish we could be Tom Cruise in mission impossible, and scale buildings only King Kong has, I doubt anyone will ever wear skis that can accomplish such a feat. But it certainly gets the point across of how much Barry wishes to remain dormant whilst skiing. Barry’s expert craftsmanship at this trade is by no means amateur. This specific characteristic can be found in probably every article written by him, eulogies and all.

Barry also parades his other obvious talent for irony. He somehow portrays excitement over a sport that completely contradicts his preference of staying put” I haven't attempted to ski for years, but recently I decided to take another stab at it. I was hoping they'd done something about the gravity problem.” He later goes on to propose the perfect skis that would be able to keep an entire football team from moving.

Barry is by far one of the most hysterical columnists that I have ever read and with that being said he is also a fantastic writer. He brings life to even the dullest of topics and given the opportunity I image he could easily liven up the most morbid of events. I would defiantly consult him in speaking at my funeral.

kill 'em Crush'em Eat' em raw!

Question one:McMurtry's anecdote builds credibility for his argument because it shows that he truly loves the sport and playing it as a kid he relished the game. But as he aged and as the game became more violent he became aware of the severity of the injuries sustained in the game.

Question two: McMurtry's comparison between war and footballs is not the First of its kind. But it certainly is convincing. It's very easy to see the football field as a battle field . The concept of crushing the enemy is applied to both activities.

Question four: McMurtry makes the comparison between the business world and the football world and how easy traits from one can be used for the other. In the business world it has come down to people who will do anything and step on anyone to be the best even if it means ruining someone's life. That's not exactly a trait you want transferring.

Question seven: of course it's important. People who don't care about football( like me) would completely agree with the argument. As opposed to those go are football fanatics and want to string McMurtry up by hi toes for even considering disapproval towards football. But McMurtry is very respectful and factual is his argument. He gives both sides and defends it well