Language in Sports: The Origination of Hand Signals

I thank my sister’s championship basketball game for this post. While I was watching the game, I noticed how many different hand signals were used by the coach to tell his players what to do. Being an avid sports player and fan myself, I know what most of these symbols mean and why they are used; however, I never knew where they originated from. Yes, these are the things I thought about while watching the game that was playing before my sister’s game- where the hand signals in sports came from.

Anyway… When I got home after the game (they won by the way, Go Squires!), I did some research on these signals. It turns out that the first time these signals were noticed and used was back in the 19^th century during a game of baseball. According to many sources, William Hoy was the first player to actually use signals. Why? Because he was deaf. Yes, deaf. Along with Roy, Ed Dundon, the first deaf baseball player in history, also received signals from umpires to tell the number of outs, strikes, whether or not someone was safe, etc. During the time of these players, hand signals were mostly used just as a way to help them follow the game. Eventually, an umpire named Charles Rigler came along and used signals to tell the count and number of outs to help the outfielders who could not hear him from behind the plate. Also around the same time as Rigler, Bill Klem was accredited for his signals for things such as strikes and foul balls. Eventually, both the umpires’ and the players’ use for signals in the game was carried over into the major leagues of the time all of the way up to today’s games. Of course now, we have universal signs used by umpires during the game as well as the different signs teams use in order to communicate different plays.

Credit to ESPN for the Video

 

Crime and Punishment and The Hunger Games?

Crime and Punishment and The Hunger Games?

As our English class begins to read Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment, many questions and feelings of uncertainty arose with concerns to many of the choices made by the characters in the story. One topic that is hard for readers to adjust and relate to is revolves around the daughter of a man Raskolnikov met in a bar. As Raskolnikov is introduced to this man’s family, he learns that the daughter, Sonya, is in possession of a yellow card. For many readers, the fact that Sonya has given herself up to work for others comes as a curveball to them. Interestingly enough, Sonya’s decision to go through with this in order to help out her family is much like the mature decisions we see other characters make for their families. One of these characters being Katniss Everdeen. I know, I know, I just compared Crime and Punishment to The Hunger Games. Trust me though, I am going somewhere with this…

For Katniss, her father’s death and mother’s shut down means that she now has to keep her younger sister Prim on solid ground while providing for the family. Having her father’s death happen so suddenly, Katniss is thrown into the life of an adult without any preparation or warning. Later on in her life, Katniss volunteers to take her Prim’s spot in the Hunger Games in order to keep her alive. Nobody forced Katniss to volunteer; it was her unconditional love for her sister that drove her to jump out of the crowd. Therefore, like Sonya, Katniss gives up any childhood she had left to care for her sister and keep the family afloat. Sonya never wanted the job she has now; however, when faced with the possibility of losing her family, there was nothing that she wouldn’t do to save it. Furthermore, it is sometimes easier to comprehend the events and character dynamics of a scholarly novel, such as Crime and Punishment, by to a popular book or series today. Although not as appraised as Crime and Punishment, The Hunger Games is a very modern take on the choices and feelings Sonya made for her family in their time of need.