The Blind Side( Michael Oher)

Michael Oher is an immense human being. At the years of xvi, he had a 20-inch neck, 50-inch waist, and a 58-inch chest. Larger measurements, that is, than every single penis of the Washington Redskins. This fact alone meant that his final years in exalted school, Oher was the focus of attention of college coaches across America grown men pickings detours of hundreds of miles to watch him practice, in the desire of persuading him to institute for their team.Had these coaches the power to design a prototypical left tackle, Ohers six-foot-five, 330-pound frame would go been pretty unaired to their model. And yet the fact that he was even still at laid-back school was, in itself, nothing short of a miracle. The focal academic degree of Michael Lewiss The Blind Side is the story of Ohers transition from a teenager so neglected by society that the Memphis school control panel cant really account for his academic record to an eighteen-year-old college kindle with the potential for earning millions when he hits the NFL draft (which he will do this April).though Oher is the main narrative thrust, the record book is a wide-ranging examination of the subtlety of American football, its tactical development, and most importantly of all, its uneasy relationship with the US educational system. Oher is one of sixteen siblings born in the poorest (black) parts of Memphis. The intent of a friends father to endure his own son into one of the elite (white) Christian schools quite literally changes the course of Michaels livelihood.Though he has no education to speak of, the Tuohy family take him under(a) their wing, eventually adding him to their will. Oher does not excel at school after sixteen years where formal education has made little impact on his life, this is scarcely surprising. Yet in some remarkably moving passages, Lewis shows the onward, and transmits their pleasance when they realise that despite his taciturn nature, he has actually been absorbin g the frame last hes been taught in class. Success in the classroom is, ultimately, rattling for Michaels future.For although his millions will come through his physical strength, and his ability to comfort the quarterback (American footballs most valuable position), the development of a professional sportsmen is inextricably intertwined with the education system. The condition of his being accepted by his gamey school was greater academic achievement unless his grade transport average reaches a certain level, he wont be allowed to go to college no matter how umpteen coaches argon desperate for him to play. The posit of the relationship between high school sports and educational achievement has been cover before.Buzz Bissingers Friday Night Lights, which has since been the inspiration for a movie and a TV series, followed a high school team in Texas for a season. Far from the saccharine, wholesome version of schooldays that we be accustomed to, Bissinger sundry(a) an unhap py and controversial portrait of a white community concerned in black children only so far as they could divine service compete for the state championship a school with $5,000 for the English incision but $70,000 for travel to away matches allegations of pain-killers being used illegally to get injured teenagers playing as soon as possible.Such was the lean the book caused that Bissinger, who had spent a year in the town, didnt flow until 20 years later. The Blind Side has a more shake tale at its heart. Yet this does not stop it from being an unsettling story. The Tuohys are accused of taking Michael into their lives solely to ensure that he can play for their alma mater by college footballs regulatory body. This body exists to sample and ensure that (nominal) academic standards are upheld by college athletes, but Oher and the Tuohys are payoff to an invasive investigation, despite the fact Oher would be nowhere near college were it not for the Tuohys.Ohers coaches do not c over themselves in glory, either the high school head coach is clearly angling for a work at the college level, and will try and pressure Michael into choosing the college most likely to moreover his own prospects. Most unsettling of all, though, is Lewiss stark portrayal of the alternative life he might have led. Going into Hurt Village, Memphis, Lewis tells the story of a broken community ravaged by drug gangs and grinding poverty. He also retells the story of Big Zach, who in the 1990s had attracted the same affaire from college scouts that Michael Oher was.Yet Big Zach didnt have an adoptive family to push him to work hard at high school he dropped out before he could make it to college, and now looks back on what might have been. It is in this wider picture that The Blind Side truly excels. Oher is the sort of boor who you cant help but root for. It is a pleasure to read of his transformation in so many facets of his life, and you put the book down hoping that he is as succ essful in the NFL as his coaches hope for.But there are deeper questions at the heart of this book that are not so easily resolved. It is clear that Oher has a remarkable mental ability for absorbing knowledge and copying it that is the secret of his success academically and athletically. Were it not for a freakish set of circumstances, however, he would still be on the wrong side of the tracks in Memphis, let down by the lethargy of the education system. Moreover, Oher has been redeemed because he is a remarkable physical specimen.How many children have the same capacity to learn but are woolly-headed forever because they lack the potential to be an NFL superstar is a modify thought. When even high school football can be the passage to riches for all kinds of coaches and scouts, one feels for the children who miss out as a result of these priorities both the children who are prevented from being paid for their athletic skill, and those whose educational development is conside red a lower priority than sporting silverware.