Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Two High School Wrestlers



The following video tells the story of two high school wrestlers from Northeast Ohio (locals in my neck of the woods) named Dartanyon Crocket and Leroy Sutton.  Their story was told by ESPN in August of 2009.   I use this video whenever I get a chance in my English classes.  Their story is one that reaffirms the spirit.  I have probably seen this video twenty times, and I am still moved every time I see it.  It works most effectively in my classroom when we are reading Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom.  I ask students to relate Leroy and Dartanyon's story to Mitch and Morrie's.  This year one student told me that due to the fact that Dartanyon is legally blind he is like Mitch because Mitch is at a point in his life where he has lost the "vision" of what he dreamed his life should be.  This same student told me that Leroy was like Morrie because he acts as Dartanyon's eyes the same way Morrie helps Mitch see what is important in life.

I guess what astounds me is that this video, which tells one of the most inspirational stories I have ever witnessed, has a mere 22,000 hits on YouTube, while the videos that continue to go viral and score hundreds of millions of hits are completely pointless... and if you think I'm just mouthing something Holden Caulfield would say, you might be right, however, one source claims the most viewed YouTube video of 2012 was Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" with over 372 million views in 10 months.  Need I say more?


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Mr.Skarl,

I happen to come across your site by accident, but it is very cool what you post. I like the reference to Tuesdays With Morrie.

Your Student
Geoffrey Moreland