Extra Credit Opp: Now Batting, Cuba

The article I read was “Now Batting, Cuba”, a Q&A with artist Reynerio Tamayo. Tamayo is a, seemingly now famous, artist. Sculpting and painting are the primary arts Tamayo engages in. This interview was about his first stay in America, in Key West, where he felt more than welcome. He even got to come here with his wife- something he was extremely grateful for.

I chose the article because I’ve been a big fan of art work my whole life. I engaged in the arts until high school, I used to paint up until middle school, and as a kid I collected football, pokemon, all sorts of cards. My favorites were the ones of players/things that were drawn or sketched or waterpainted on…or at least had that sort of effect or filter.

The most important part of the article? It was probably the fact that Tamayo could come to the United States with his family. The questions on his artwork, how he got involved, what he thinks of the youth liking soccer more these days, they’re all important questions and themes. But I think the fact that someone can fulfill their dreams by pursuing a future in America, selling artwork about a sport they did not even think they would be painting or sculpting full time…that’s what’s important. The important aspect of this is Tamayo being able to live out his dream as, not only a Cuban, but a human.

Themes that I could tie this into would probably have to be the integration of Cuban baseball into American baseball through the various books and articles we read. Cubans have embraced the chance to move from Cuba to America to go pro, and often go back to their homes when it’s all said and done.

Another theme? Perseverance. Tamayo had to keep doing his job, keep working hard. If he hadn’t he wouldn’t have made it where he did. It’s amazing to see what different cultures have done through the times to aid America, yet so much remains unseen. I would definitely recommend reading this interview.

¡Buena Suerte!

Good luck to the HIST 355-02 participants on your final exams.

This semester has been a joy to teach mostly because of all your hard work. – RS

2010 World Cup Uruguay Vs. Ghana Arian Zohdi

World Cup 2010 Uruguay Vs. Ghana

World Cup 2010 was an important competition for the continent of Africa. A continent with so many soccer skilled nations was down to their last team come the quarter finals of the competition. The fate of Africa as a whole was resting on the shoulders of Ghana who was getting ready to battle with a semi forgotten power house of Uruguay. This was in my opinion the match of 2010. The game started just like any other, with good teams looking to win a big title. Both teams scored an impressive goal and were looking for the winning goal. In a split second, Ghana attacked with force and went for the goal. As the shot was taken, the ball was stopped but not by the goal keeper. Suarez, one of Uruguay’s top players stopped the ball with his hands. This caused him to be kicked out of the game and a penalty to be rewarded to Ghana. To everyone’s surprise, Ghana missed the shot and the game was taken to extra time and then to penalty shootout. the actions of Suarez caused Uruguay to become the villein in the nations and all eyes were on the last African team. With an intense shootout, Uruguay won the game and the controversial game became an icon.

This was a fantastic project to work on! I enjoyed the video making and believe that its a very fun and educational style of history. I believe that video making is going to make history more fun and enjoyable. History is a very writing intensive topic and with this video making tool, it helps both students and teachers to have a more fun time teaching and learning the topic. Visual education is a very good tool to use, and its easy and enjoyable to work on. It allowed the students to express themselves in a different way. The video projects are going to be a key learning tool in history courses.

Orioles vs. Cuba

After the Cuban Revolution of 1959 which saw Fidel Castro and his pro-communist and anti-American regime came into power, baseball was one of the many import/exports that was cut off from the Caribbean nation.  Prior to that, Major League Baseball was integral in developing the game and players in Cuba.  Once the embargo happened, MLB was no longer welcome.  Baseball continued to flourish with Cuba’s own professional league but Cubans were not allowed to ply their trade in America.

Fast forward to 1999, Peter Angelos, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles petitioned MLB and their Commissioner Bud Selig to play a home and home exhibition series with the Cuban national team.  The request was granted with the first game in Havana taking place in March and the second game played in May at Baltimore.  The Cubans more than proved themselves narrowly losing the first game and crushing the birds in game two.  The motivating factors that led to this controversial series were more than likely, notoriety and an attempt for Baltimore to attract more Cuban-American fans.

Ayrton Senna and the Brazlian People

While working on this DST project it was really interesting to tell a story like Ayrton Senna’s through the use of Animoto.  Before this class I had never done a project like this so at first it was a little intimidating using a website like Animoto but once I got into the project it worked out pretty well.  I think it is good for historians to use other forms of media to tell history especially in a way that engages the audience like a video does.  Videos are so much more enjoyable to watch than reading a history text book because you can actually see the images while they are being described.  Working on this project using images and text was interesting looking through google to try and find pictures about Ayrton Senna’s racing career.  I think Senna was so beloved by so many in Brazil because he was well off but he was not rich by any means.  His parent were working class people and before his racing career took off, they expected Senna to follow in their footsteps and join the family business.  So he was really a hero to the people of Brazil because they could relate to him unlike most Formula One race drivers who had tons of money for their own cars and teams.  Senna had to break into F1 through just his talent behind the wheel alone.  He was also a very giving individual who donated a lot of his fortune to the less fortunate in Brazil.  So, I think this project has made me more aware of the forms of media available to historians and also made learning about history more fun in the process.

Aryton Senna

DST – Pedro Martinez (1994 – 2004) – Brian Keane

Pedro Martinez (1994 – 2004)

From 1999 to 2004, Pedro Martinez was considered the best MLB Pitcher in the league. But, amongst many other teams and players he was hated. Dominican born and raised, Martinez came to the MLB in 1992, and he impacted the sport in both a positive and negative manner. It wasn’t until 1994, when his intense speed and antagonizing attitude surfaced as a Montreal Expo. From 1994 to 1997, Pedro recorded over 1,000 strikeouts and caused many bench clearings. Not two great matching stats you want. With the Red Sox, from 1998 to 2004, he didn’t change his attitude, but his pitching style and strength just angered other teams. In his seven year span as a Red Sox, Pedro was named a 3-time Cy Young Award winner, a 3-time AL Strikeout Champion, a 5-time ERA Champion, the 1999 All-Star Game MVP, a Triple Crown winner in 1999, and a 2004 World Series Champion. Pedro Martinez’s impact showed how he controlled the game of baseball, both mentally and physically. The fights he started, just angered opposing teams. But, what angered them more, were his countless strikeouts in single games. Pedro Martinez was, and is still, one of the best Dominican and world class Pitchers, ever.

In this DST, I decided to show clips of a few of Pedro Martinez’s highlighted fights in the MLB, and how they impacted him. I also included some video clips of Pedro’s greatest moments as a pitcher. I felt the best way to understand, and show his impact on the MLB wasn’t just by naming facts but showing how he acted and pitched the ball through videos. I have also included pictures and facts from over the years of 1994 to 2004. I thought of using Pedro Martinez, as a topic, one because I love the Red Sox but, two because he was and is still one of the best Dominican Pitchers in the MLB and impacted the game of baseball. I really enjoyed this project, using pictures and researching video clips was so much more knowledgable than just writing out a research paper. I learned a lot more about Pedro Martinez from the early part of his career, that I probably would never have known if I didn’t research and watch video clips.

DST PROJECT

Peru Classifying to the World Cup 70

Since the 1930 Peru only has participated in one World Cup, but with a squad of young players that included Teofilio Cubillas, Roberto Challe, Cachito Ramirez, Hector Chumpitaz, and Hugo “Cholo” Soto they were determined to win and qualify to the World Cup 70’s. There success of qualifying was because of Didi, the legendary soccer player who went to 3 world cups ’54, ’58, and ’62. Didi challenged the team to their full potential. Peru made history in 1969 when they played Argentina in the Bombonera Stadium by tying the game and eliminated Argentina from going to the World Cup 70’s. This was an event that no one saw coming Peru was finally getting the recognition they deserved and when the World Cup took place they showed the whole world how well they can play.

DST- American Football in Mexico

My digital storytelling project was one that was linked to one of my greatest passions- American Football.

As a kid, I quickly adapted to my household, following football very closely. I always wondered why there was a difference in football and futbol, and why it mattered. I then caught ear that American football was only played in America. So I decided I wanted to research the truth behind that; does American football truly not exist anywhere else?

After researching for a short amount of time, I learned that American football is actually fairly popular to certain groups in Mexico. Mostly university students and young men and women really like the sport. I learned about ONEFA and the origins of American football in Mexico. The first game was played in 1896–could’ve fooled me. There was a lot of cool information, and a few weeks and some 3 minutes of video later, I have a final product.

Hope if you watch you enjoy my DST about American Football in Mexico!

 

DST Daniel Brezina

My DST project focuses on the Barras Bravas that have brought violence into fútbol in Argentina. I took interest in this because of my roots in Argentina. My club, River Plate, is known for having one of, if not the, most violent fan groups in Latin America. This is a fact that I am not proud of, but violence from a minority should not discourage the majority from rooting for a club. This is something that needs more exposure before it spreads more. I decided to use some club chants to demonstrate the intensity during matches, images to represent the violence of the fans, and videos to demonstrate the absurdity of the current run of violence in Argentine fútbol.

Barras Bravas in Argentine Fútbol

DST Project

I decided to do a project about the sport Pato, because I had never heard of it, yet I have experience with equestrian sports and it is Argentina’s national sport.  I wanted to know what was so special about Pato for it to have earned this status when it is virtually unknown and few people play it.  I initially had mostly images telling the story, but I found that because I was describing a culture as well as a game, video clips were more useful and dynamic.  This is my third time making a digital story and projects like this are actually a lot harder for me to do than papers, but I hope I’ve communicated the story of Pato well enough for everyone to understand it!

 

 

DST

My DST was about the first world cup in Uruguay. This project allowed me to be creative with images and video clips instead of the classic research paper. It took a while to find a lot of the pictures because the first world cup was 84 years ago. I really enjoyed researching it. I decided to research the first world cup in honor of the 20th world cup starting in June. I thought it would be interesting to see the differences in the modern day cups to the very first. I learned a lot and enjoyed the project.

 

Capoeira

Capoeira.

DST allowed me to express the cultural influence of capoeira. Through text and pictures I showed how capoeira is performed as a form of martial art nfused with. Starting this project I knew nothing about capoeira. For this project I wanted to research something other than futbol, something most popular in Latin America. Throught the use of pictures and text I explained the historical background of capoeira and what it meant to Afro-Brazilians. It symbolized hope and was used as sel-defense as well as entertainment. It was a chance to discover a new identity because their original identity was taken during slavery. It was a chance to fight back from the oppression and stand for something. Capoeira is now something very popular around the world and many ethnicites, race, and gender practices it.

Latinos in Negro League Baseball

My DST project highlights two Latino baseball players who played in the Negro Leagues here in the US: Martin Dihigo and Minnie Minoso. I felt that this topic was fascinating because prior to my research, I myself didn’t know that Latinos took part in the Negro Leagues. The Digital Storytelling platform allowed me to create a captivating presentation that will keep my audience interested because it’s concise and straight to the point.

Latinos in Negro League Baseball.

Roberto Clemente’s Legacy- DST Project

For my DST project I looked at the impact of the career and death of Roberto Clemente on the island of Puerto Rico. I chose this topic because I am a baseball fan and I consider Roberto Clemente to be one of the three most influential players in Major League Baseball History along with Jackie Robinson and Babe Ruth. I discovered that Roberto Clemente through both his career and his legacy did just as much for the game as those two players. Clemente opened up baseball to Puerto Rico by being a hall of fame player and by trying to help Puerto Rican children train to become Major League Baseball players. I found the animoto website to be a little limiting, for example it was hard to convey the amount of information I wanted. The slide move by fast, and in order for them to move slowly enough to be read I had to cut some information I wanted to show. Animoto was a very user friendly took that made video editing easier than programs like Windows Movie Maker or Final Cut. Telling history visually is always a different experience than writing history. I enjoyed visually telling the story because now I could use pictures, video and music as well as words to convey an argument instead of just words.

Ronaldinho: A Brazilian Legend

Ronaldinho: A Brazilian Legend. The DST Project provides a different medium that information can be presented in. Instead of a monotonous presentation through speech, DST can create an alternative way to getting information across to an audience in a visually pleasing way. Video clips, pictures and music are utilized within the story that supplement the textual information presented to the audience. Its a very enjoyable alternative to writing a paper, and provides an exciting way to talk about history. For my own project, it gave me a chance to present the career of someone who was such a large figure in the biggest sport in the world, for almost a decade. He’s a legend in the game, at least in our generation, and with the World Cup coming up in Brazil I thought it was important to present a figure who represents the nation and its footballing qualities. 

Cho – Economic impact of World Cups in Mexico

http://animoto.com/play/683pLZgR3QdMLOHyx0w6zw

My topic focuses on the economic impact of the two world cups hosted by Mexico on the nation. I was interested in this topic because Mexico was the only country in South America which hosted the World Cup twice (besides Brazil in the upcoming World Cup). The DST project allows me to integrate different scholarly sources to present history in an innovative way. In the project, I had to be very careful to select pictures that best represent my words. I was more forced into how to deliver my message out in the simplest way than in complicated word document. Not only the DST project introduces a new way to present a subject, it also helps me understand the importance of presenting my topic in a clear and concise way, as my audience may subject to change.

Digital Storytelling Project

Sammy Sosa

I decided to highlight the peak of Sammy Sosa’s baseball career. He was born in the Dominican Republic and lived the rags to riches story. I chose him personally because my father is a Cubs fan (unfortunately) and I was growing up watching his games all the time. I even had the opportunity to watch a game at Wrigley Field when I was younger. I wanted to leave out the negative things that occurred at the back the tail end of his career because of time constraints. I felt like his story very much fit the common themes of Latin American athletes coming from poverty and using sports to provide a better life for their families.

DST

Brazil soccer

DST Project- Rio Olympics 2016- Mariami Dolashvili

The topic of my project is the Olympic Games in Rio. Despite a lot of negative evaluations about Rio’s preparation, I found some sources that show that Brazil has chances to host high level organized Games. I believe that Rio still have time to prepare and the Olympics will be amazing. The DST project allows me to put together different pictures, sources and related to my topic information. This way, I am able to tell my story and represent my thoughts about upcoming Olympics. It was my favorite assignment from this course.

Animoto project

The topic I chose for the Animoto topic, is a topic that has always fascinated me. I chose my topic before the in class screening of the Two Escobars. I found it amazing how one man could have such a hold and influence on the whole country and how he could become one of the richest men in the world. This digital storyboard analysis project allowed me to show the actual story as opposed to explaining it. It provided a more powerful statement, because it was visual. Also it allowed me to incorporate videos as well which provide the actual moment.