Speech:Running is my Favorite SportHonorable judges, distinguished guests, fellow students, good afternoon. My name is XXX, I’m from Foreign Language Department. I feel really honor to stand here and make a speech. Today I am going to share my topic with all of you: my favorite sports.Can you imagine a guy who is 70 years old are still doing sports? Of course, but what can he do? Yoga? Maybe he can make it if he has a good sense of balance and his body is flexible enough Taiji? By no means can he do it if he can clear his mind and play it as slowly as possible. In fact, there are a huge amount of people doing the same sport like the elder, from kids to old men. That’s running, my favorite sports.Why do I love running? Actually, it’s a little bit si lly to me. I run because I can. To some extent, that is what mostly people think. I used to be a couch potato, life, you know, is merely a noun for me. I’m not interested in anything and everything seems dull, running, however, brings me a new life. I change my lifestyle. I’ve turn it into a verb, resulting from the fact that I always keep moving. With no more equipment, just a pair of running shoes, you can do it anywhere, anytime.Running gives me time to think. Sometimes life can get rather busy.I found that on my long runs I have time to reflect, think and have a way to stay with myself. It’s pretty good. Besides thinking, I can even catch an opportunity to get close to the nature and appreciate the beauty around me.Running also share me new things. For example, chances to enter running races and chances to enjoy the atmosphere of the match, which brings me more power, more passion. Supports from the people around me, even the strangers and belief become increasingly stronger. During the training and the competition, I also learned something about the friendship, team spirit, mutual respect and the Olympic Spirit, which almost every athlete treat as the real victory and devote them to pursue it.Maybe someone will ask me, did running only bring you all such things? Definitely not. I have a keen on running basically because it made me fitter. I’ve suffer a great pain during the training, both on my mind and the muscle, but I believe that no pain, no gains. I devote myself to do it I’m fitter and in b etter shape than ever before in my life I think!Forest Gump say,“ life was like a box of chocolate, you never know what you’re going to get.” Yes. Perhaps you don't have a idea that you’ll become a runner, but if you have courage to try, success is not far away from you. There is one thing for sure, you got to put the past behind you before you can move on. So, honorable judges, fellow students, if you want to become slim and energetic, just run, if you want to gain more perseverance, just run. Keep yourself run in a void, remain the strong belief that you have, undoubtedly, your life will turn on a new leaf.Basketball is my Favorite SportBy Daniel J., Glendale, CAGood morning everybody! Its my honor to speak here, and I am very glad to share my topic with you. Then today I’d like to talk something about basketball, which is my favorite sport.The sport of basketball is known as a fun past time for any person young or old. Basketball is a great way of exercise and a great way to have fun with friends and possibly make some new ones. I love to watch and play the game, basketball is a very entertaining sport and can be played by anyone. Basketball has many negative and positive things about it based on my opinion. Basketball is known as a good pastime in many people’s eyes but can also be seen as a passion for many others.Basketball in my opinion the best thing I can do with my friends to have fun while burning a few calories. I see basketball as a fun and easy way to have fun rather than sitting on the couch all day playing video games or watching television. One reason I love basketball is because you need only yourself to play the game or, you can play with teammates. I prefer to have others to play with rather than just playing alone. To me there is not only one word that I can describe basketball. You meet tons of people and you are able to play with your friends for hours without getting one thought of boredom. One thing I love about basketball is that people have many different styles of play. There are styles such as a passer, playmaker, shooter, defensive player, and dunker or highflyer. When you play basketball you feel much more confident and makes you not care much about how others think about you. When I possess the ball in basketball I havethe mentality of being the best and no one could stop me. Many people have creative ideas and find new ways to trick the opposing players. Playing Basketball is very entertaining since there are endless ideas you can think of just with a hoop and a basketball. There are many reasons why I love to play the game of Basketball but I also love to watch the game also.Basketball to me is overall the best sport out of all of the other sports such as baseball, soccer, and football. I also believe out of all these sports basketball is the best sport to watch on television. Basketball is very fun to watch on television because when you watch it you can take the moves you see the professional’s perform and add them to your style of play. I take many of my moves from professional basketball players and make them my own because they expand my arsenal of tricks. There are a variety of tricks the players perform during games it makes the games much more enjoyable to be watching. My favorite player to watch is Kobe Bryant. He makes basketball seem as a mere game for little kids. He is an all around athlete is still going strong at 30 years old. He is a big role model to many kids who enjoy playing this sport. Kobe can do anything he is a very versatile player and could get anywhere around the court in a blink of an eye. Bryant is the definition of all-around in my book. He knows how to play both sides of the game offense and defense. I look at Kobe Bryant as the ultimate weapon. I want to play like him as I continue to get better and better every time I play basketball. Kobe makes the game much more enjoyable to watch because of his acrobatic shots and stunning defense. Basketball is my favorite sport of all-time. There are just endless possibilities when it comes to the thought of basketball.Basketball is a great way to get your mind off things and is also a great way to express yourself. It is a sport that can work your whole body. It’s a great pastime for any one and is a great way to bond with family members and friends. I see in my eyes that basketball is very addicting and makes you want to play more and more of it. Basketball is known as a good pastime in many people’s eyes but can also be seen as a passion for many others.My Favorite Sport：BaseballBaseball is called America's national pastime, and for good reason. It is an exciting sport in which anything can happen. I don't play baseball very well but when it comes to watching sports, I am addicted to the ballpark. While the action is not as fast as in American football or hockey and the sport is not as popular worldwide as football, it is still my favorite sport because it is fun to watch live and because it is a very strategic and complex game.Baseball is an unusual sport and the first thing you notice is that the field is different. On a baseball field, there are four bases or plates at each point of a diamond. The base at the bottom is called home base and the goal of the game is to run around the diamond, touch each base and return to home. This scores one point. In the game, a batter stands on home base with a bat. A pitcher, standing in the middle of the diamond, throws the ball. The batter should try to hit the ball and then run around the diamond. Meanwhile the pitcher's team catches the ball and tries to touch the batter with it.The game is a lot more complicated than that, with strikes and balls and fouls. For the first-time watcher, the game may seem far too complicated to understand. But it is also very exciting to watch. Every move changes the whole game. For example if there are men standing on every base (the bases are loaded), trying to go home, it is very important what happens with the batter and the pitcher. If the batter hits the ball very far, and gives every man a chance to run home, his team will score 4 points. Every time the batter misses the ball, it's one less chance for his teamto score. In such a situation, the fans are holding their breath to see if the batter will hit or miss. Unlike other sports where the action is ongoing, in baseball you have a lot of time to anticipate what will happen and process what has happened and how it changes the strategy. A good play in football lasts 30 seconds. A good play in baseball can take 2 minutes to set up, happen and then be realized.But even if you are a first time watcher, going to a baseball game will be the best day of your life. First of all, ballparks are often smaller than other sports fields so you are closer to the action. Second baseball fans are the most energetic in the world, screaming for their favorite players and insulting the other team. But you won't see hooligans at a ballpark. Fans are there to watch the game, not make trouble and baseball is the game of gentlemen still so fans try to be polite and considerate. In fact, it's the only crowd in the world where you can ask, 'What just happened?" and have a fan happily recap the action for you.So baseball is the greatest spectator sport in the world because there is a lot of strategy in this complicated game and because it is simply fun to watch, especially live.Flag FootballBy Anonymous, Appleton, WIHave you ever wanted to do something, but it wasn’t what you expected? Well I have. I thought my football team was amazing but it turns out the opposite. Joining flag football was perfect because I didn’t have anything to do outside of school.At first, when I joined flag football I enjoyed playing it. I went to every practice because I wanted to get better. The coaches were really nice and helpful. I also went to practice on time because I didn’t want to run two laps. I also went to practice, because I wanted to meet new friends and also hangout and have fun. From all the practices that I went to I worked very hard on everything. I was on the defense side, and I was the middle line backer. Playing on the defense side is fun because I got to pull flags from the offense team.After a couple weeks of practice the coaches got strict. He wanted us teammates to do everything perfect. For example they told us to catch the football a nd if we couldn’t catch the ball then we had to do 5-10 push ups. I didn’t like how the coaches were kind of strict, so I slacked off and goofed around. We all got yelled at by the team captain so we tried to do our best. When I was injured the coaches and the team captain thought I was lying to them so I still had to practice with the team when I couldn’t even run.Finally, I almost quit the team because of the coaches and the team captain. Although we didn’t have that much practices because we had school workto do too. When the team was created, they wanted no one to know that our, team was created but word spread. Some of our teammates didn’t like other teams so they started talking about them, and they had some conflict. Our official coach doesn’t teac h us, he just watched us play and stayed in his car and text. The other coach teaches us everything because we don’t have that much people on our team.As you can see, I thought playing flag football was a good idea at first, now I don’t feel like playing. Even though I didn’t like the official coach teaching us football, I still went to practice because practices were mostly on the weekends and I wanted to have fun because I don’t want to stay home all the time and do nothing. As a result of my choice, I got sore and tired because I kept playing football even if my legs were sore.Ping PongBy Anonymous, Mason, OHPing-pong is a sport that has the reputation for being nerdy and pointless, but if that’s your impression of it, you have a lot to learn. Le t me explain.Playing a match is like taking a test: you have to calculate angles and probabilities under time pressure. If you don’t determine the right force and acceleration, you might completely miss the ball. Professional table tennis players do not become great overnight, as with any sport. Instead, they dedicate long hours (perhaps spent more productively elsewhere) learning.It’s inevitable: the more you play, the more types of players you’ll encounter. The Ping-Pong Dork is the worst kind of challenger. He brings his own signature paddle to the match, insists on using his regulation--standardized ball, will argue for hours about 40 mm versus 38 mm, and -actually knows the names of the greatest players in the world. The most pathetic part is he’s beaten mercilessly every time.Then there are the cautious folk, the fear of defeat causing them to play conservatively. A more liberal style, on the other hand, suggests control. You won’t try to slam when the game is moving at a fast pace, and you won’t attempt a cut serve when the score is 19-20. But when you can exploit the other player’s weakness and jump ahead, you’re free to miss all the slices and smashes you want.Don’t think for a second this game isn’t cutthroat. Ping-pong teaches character. You can win, even if you’re down by 10, if you persevere with tenacity. You learn to work against anxiety, sometimes caused by the other player’s trick shots, sometimes by spectators, and sometimes by your own psyched-out self.I remember one match against my dad, an opponent with over 30 years of experience. He quickly grabbed the lead, and the score stood at 17 to 10. It was my turn to serve. Boom! Boom! Boom! Three points off the return. Dad was starting to lose momentum, and he had broken into a sweat. BAM!I floated one. Can’t be doing that at this point, I thought. Nothing is worse than the ball not even hitting the other side of the table (floating). The score was 18 to 13, creating a psychological crossroads: was it timeto pull out my killer move –the Slam Slice Supreme –risking everything? Or should I wait the momentum shift out, hoping Dad doesn’t regain his rhythm? I chose the latter and won. Why? Dad lost his mental game, causing him to lose the match.Ping-pong is the art of cool –cool calculation, cool consideration, cool delivery. The most successful players know when to go in for the kill and when to sit back and let the opponents kill themselves. Next time you have the opportunity, play a game or two. You just might learn something.This piece has been published in Teen Ink’s monthly print magazine.My Favorite Sports( Yoga )It is a wonderful thing to have regular exercise in my daily schedule. Some people are crazy engaging in certain activities to release their pressure or just try to stay in good shape. To me, I enjoy doing sports, especially yoga. Yoga is an activity involving physical and breathing exercises with an aim make your body stronger and relax your mind (bring peace to your mind) .As long as you have a yoga mat and a towel, you can practice yoga either indoors or outdoors. There is no specific requirement regarding the number of people. In other words, it is suitable for everyone who is interested in it to have the practice even in a small space. When work is over, I often practice yoga for half an hour or an hour there times a week.I feel I get a great deal of benefit from yoga. Not only it relaxes my body and soothes my emotions, but also stretches my muscles to better my physical conditions. Besides these substantial benefits, I can make friends who have the common interest in yoga. Meanwhile, I am further happily aware of the positive impact activity may bring to prolong my life and help me pursuit of happiness.My Favorite Sports( Running, Swimming )It is known to us all that exercises can bring us a lot of benefits, so doing sports is one of the most popular activities for many people. It helps to lose weight, to keep a good figure and to live a healthy and happy life. There are so many reasons that I can not tell you any one of them. As for me, l like swimming and running best.Among all the sports, running is one of my favorites. Running is widely considered to be one of the most efficient ways to lose weight and stay healthy, but it is not so good if you run on an empty stomach. If you run on am empty stomach, you body is forced to use the energy that is not available at that time. Second, it is a good way to help calm people down when they are not themselves. So when you get stuck with you work, just run, and you are sure to feel better after it.I am fond of swimming, too. First of all, it is a good way to stay alive when flood is coming, and that’s why there are so many schools having this lesson in PE class. Besides, it is a whole-body movement, which can enable muscles of peopl e’s body can get enough training. And lots of energy will be cost when people do it, so it is a healthy way to help people take off some weight. On the other hand, it is said to have the power of making people become thinner and taller. In my opinion, it is one of the most enjoyable things to go swimming in a hot summer because I live in Chongqing, a city with a nickname of “stove”. It can cool our body from head to toe. In a word, swimming can do great benefit to us.Above all, no matter what you like best, regular exercises are necessary for everybody, and we had better keep a good habit of doing sports regularly.My Favorite Sport ：Running我最喜欢的运动：跑步If you ask me what sport is my favorite sport? I will tell you it is running.如果你问我我最喜欢的运动是什么，我会告诉你是跑步。
