week 5 part b

Dear Mr. Wayne Coffee,

I am writing regarding the fifth section (p. 151-179) of your book Boys of Winter. In this section, you speak of the last minutes of the epic hockey game in the 1980 Olympics between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. You then give the background information/history of Eric Strobel, the ex-football standout from Rochester, Minnesota. Eric also got some time in the NHL, playing for the Philadelphia Flyers. However, he preferred the leagues over in Germany because they were more physical than the NHL. But back at the game, with the United States winning 4-3 with four minutes left, Strobel was streaking down the side of the rink, but him and Phil Verchota almost collided, causing him to lose the puck. Anyways, I should get going.

Sincerely,

Erich Rectenwald

week 5 part A

Vocab:

• thwart (pg. 151)- to oppose succesfully
• debilitate (pg. 172)- to sap the energy of strength of

Sentence:
One theme is teamwork and hard work can beat anything.

week 4 part b

Dear Mr. Wayne Coffee,

I write to you again, for the fourth time, concerning yet another section of your epic novel, The Boys of Winter. In this section, you speak of Soviet goaltender, Vladislav Tretiak, and his amazing ability between the two goal posts. However, Soviet coach, Sergei Makarov, sensed a fault in his game. Makarov states that he had no idea where the explosive U.S. team had come from, being that the two rivals faced off less than a week earlier, with the Soviets winning by a landslide. Makarov noted, “Their eyes were bright. Their eyes were burning. It was a team.” This whole experience/event reminded me of the movie “Little Giants,” where a nerdy brother’s football team beats his older, more experienced brother’s team under the same tremendous odds of that the United States team was up against. Also in the section, you go in depth in Ken Morrow’s previous life. You describe him as “a six-foot five-inch shortstop, long-limbed and low-key, Cal Ripken before Cal Ripken.” He was also known as one of the best athletes in Flint, Michigan. Morrow, like pretty much all the other members of the hockey team, was gifted athletes with tremendous ability. He played in the NHL for some years with a top salary of 1.9 million. I’m noticing that all the players on the team are hard workers who were born with a lot of natural talent. Until next time!

Sincerely,

Erich Rectenwald

week 4 part a

Vocab:

• berating (p. 115)- v. to rebuke or scold angrily at length
• acrimony (p. 129)- sharpness, harshness, or bitterness of nature

Sentence:

With teamwork and hard work, miracles and be achieved.

week 3 part b

Dear Mr. Wayne Coffee,
This is my third letter to you, still concerning your epic novel, Boys of Winter. Mark Johnson, who was my favorite player on the 1980 Olympic Team, was very well analyzed and characterized in this section. His background sounds fun, especially when he would dress as a legendary Russian hockey player like Vladimir Petrov and would skate around pretending to be them. When you described Johnson doing that, it made me remember of when I was about 7 or 8 years old (and even now), when I would skate around and pretend to be a great player like Wayne Gretzky or something. Now-a-days, however, I usually play the role of either Sydney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin, and possibly others. After reading this section on Mark Johnson, the book reinforced how much I liked him and his play style before. I also enjoyed you gong into depth about the Russian attitudes and feelings towards the play by Mark Johnson at the end of the first period, and how upset they truly were to get scored on with zero seconds remaining. Anyways, I have to get going I’ll write soon.
Sincerely,
Erich Rectenwald

week 3 part a

vocab:

• mantra (p 77)- n. A word or formula, as from the Veda, chanted or sung as an incantation or prayer

• disarray (p 81)- n. disorder, confusion

Sentence:

Another emerging theme is that hard work will always prevail.