The Next Level: A Game I Had to Play!

The Next Level: A Game I Had to Play! PDF Author: Vernon M. Turner
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780984473649
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
"THE NEXT LEVEL: A GAME I HAD TO PLAY" is an unbelievable story based on the memoirs of the same name by former NFL player, Vernon Turner. The true story traces a plot that could not possibly be invented, because of the inordinate amounts of horrific tragedy, severe obstacles, and later, incredible inspiration. Vernon is born into poverty and learns at an early age the root of his mother's spiral into drug-addicted prostitution: his own conception, which came at the hands of a brutal gang rape. Although possessed of a small frame, he discovers the game of football as a means of escape from his cruel surroundings. Along the way, the premature deaths of his beloved mother and stepfather provide immense challenges in terms of keeping his family together. Through intense workouts, the nurturing influence of a series of coaches and Administrators, and inspirational brushes with legends Bo Jackson and Walter Payton, Vernon transcends his diminutive size by developing truly blazing speed. Notwithstanding an all-star high school career, he is not highly recruited and must go away to a small school, monitoring the affairs of his family from afar. History repeats itself in college, as an all-star career dotted by championships won does not lead to being drafted and the resulting financial security he is trying to earn to save his family. At the pro level, he falls short of making the Denver Broncos team his rookie year, but he does capture the attention of the Buffalo Bills, thus landing a spot on their practice squad; and, while deactivated for the majority of the season, he still earns an AFC Championship ring in 1990. Still, lasting success is elusive, as he bounces around for a few years, typecast by his size. He bottoms out in a Detroit stint in which the fleeting success he tastes is quickly snuffed out by a head coach who plays favorites with higher-pedigree athletes. Utterly discouraged by this turn of events, he finds himself being given an opportunity by a team desperate enough to trust talent regardless of its small package: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Upon being given a real opportunity for the first time, he breaks the club's 18-year drought of never having a punt or kickoff returned for a touchdown and finally has the kind of season that leads to a contract that can help save his family. Turner's defining moment comes in Tampa Bay, when he returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown -- the first regular-season punt return for a TD in Buccaneer history. The electrifying play was made even sweeter because it came against a team that released him a year before, the Detroit Lions. This memoir is a brutally honest and inspiring look back on the life of one of Staten Island's greatest football heroes... and greatest men!

The Next Level: A Game I Had to Play!

The Next Level: A Game I Had to Play! PDF Author: Vernon M. Turner
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780984473649
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book

Book Description
"THE NEXT LEVEL: A GAME I HAD TO PLAY" is an unbelievable story based on the memoirs of the same name by former NFL player, Vernon Turner. The true story traces a plot that could not possibly be invented, because of the inordinate amounts of horrific tragedy, severe obstacles, and later, incredible inspiration. Vernon is born into poverty and learns at an early age the root of his mother's spiral into drug-addicted prostitution: his own conception, which came at the hands of a brutal gang rape. Although possessed of a small frame, he discovers the game of football as a means of escape from his cruel surroundings. Along the way, the premature deaths of his beloved mother and stepfather provide immense challenges in terms of keeping his family together. Through intense workouts, the nurturing influence of a series of coaches and Administrators, and inspirational brushes with legends Bo Jackson and Walter Payton, Vernon transcends his diminutive size by developing truly blazing speed. Notwithstanding an all-star high school career, he is not highly recruited and must go away to a small school, monitoring the affairs of his family from afar. History repeats itself in college, as an all-star career dotted by championships won does not lead to being drafted and the resulting financial security he is trying to earn to save his family. At the pro level, he falls short of making the Denver Broncos team his rookie year, but he does capture the attention of the Buffalo Bills, thus landing a spot on their practice squad; and, while deactivated for the majority of the season, he still earns an AFC Championship ring in 1990. Still, lasting success is elusive, as he bounces around for a few years, typecast by his size. He bottoms out in a Detroit stint in which the fleeting success he tastes is quickly snuffed out by a head coach who plays favorites with higher-pedigree athletes. Utterly discouraged by this turn of events, he finds himself being given an opportunity by a team desperate enough to trust talent regardless of its small package: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Upon being given a real opportunity for the first time, he breaks the club's 18-year drought of never having a punt or kickoff returned for a touchdown and finally has the kind of season that leads to a contract that can help save his family. Turner's defining moment comes in Tampa Bay, when he returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown -- the first regular-season punt return for a TD in Buccaneer history. The electrifying play was made even sweeter because it came against a team that released him a year before, the Detroit Lions. This memoir is a brutally honest and inspiring look back on the life of one of Staten Island's greatest football heroes... and greatest men!

Playing at the Next Level

Playing at the Next Level PDF Author: Ken Horowitz
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 078649994X
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Today a multinational video game developer, Sega was the first to break Nintendo's grip on the gaming industry, expanding from primarily an arcade game company to become the dominant game console manufacturer in North America. A major part of that success came from the hard work and innovation of its subsidiary, Sega of America, who in a little more than a decade wrested the majority market share from Nintendo and revolutionized how games were made. Drawing on interviews with nearly 100 Sega alumni, this book traces the development of the company, revealing previously undocumented areas of game-making history, including Sega's relationship with Tonka, the creation of its internal studios, and major breakthroughs like the Sega Channel and HEAT Network. More than 40 of the company's most influential games are explored in detail.

Playing at the Next Level

Playing at the Next Level PDF Author: Ken Horowitz
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476625573
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Today a multinational video game developer, Sega was the first to break Nintendo’s grip on the gaming industry, expanding from primarily an arcade game company to become the dominant game console manufacturer in North America. A major part of that success came from the hard work and innovation of its subsidiary, Sega of America, who in a little more than a decade wrested the majority market share from Nintendo and revolutionized how games were made. Drawing on interviews with nearly 100 Sega alumni, this book traces the development of the company, revealing previously undocumented areas of game-making history, including Sega’s relationship with Tonka, the creation of its internal studios, and major breakthroughs like the Sega Channel and HEAT Network. More than 40 of the company’s most influential games are explored in detail.

Space Time Play

Space Time Play PDF Author: Friedrich von Borries
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 376438414X
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description
Computer and video games are leaving the PC and conquering the arena of everyday life in the form of mobile applications—the result is new types of cities and architecture. How do these games alter our perception of real and virtual space? What can the designers of physical and digital worlds learn from one another?

Next Level

Next Level PDF Author: David Komolafe
Publisher: Charisma Media
ISBN: 1629985708
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
No matter how painful your past experiences have been, you don’t have to operate forever from a disadvantaged position. You are “fearfully, wonderfully made,” and destined in Christ to soar higher than you can imagine, but you must be strategic in your efforts to take hold of all that God has promised you.

Game Balance

Game Balance PDF Author: Ian Schreiber
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 135164341X
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 682

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Book Description
Within the field of game design, game balance can best be described as a black art. It is the process by which game designers make a game simultaneously fair for players while providing them just the right amount of difficulty to be both exciting and challenging without making the game entirely predictable. This involves a combination of mathematics, psychology, and occasionally other fields such as economics and game theory. Game Balance offers readers a dynamic look into game design and player theory. Throughout the book, relevant topics on the use of spreadsheet programs will be included in each chapter. This book therefore doubles as a useful reference on Microsoft Excel, Google Spreadsheets, and other spreadsheet programs and their uses for game designers. FEATURES The first and only book to explore game balance as a topic in depth Topics range from intermediate to advanced, while written in an accessible style that demystifies even the most challenging mathematical concepts to the point where a novice student of game design can understand and apply them Contains powerful spreadsheet techniques which have been tested with all major spreadsheet programs and battle-tested with real-world game design tasks Provides short-form exercises at the end of each chapter to allow for practice of the techniques discussed therein along with three long-term projects divided into parts throughout the book that involve their creation Written by award-winning designers with decades of experience in the field Ian Schreiber has been in the industry since 2000, first as a programmer and then as a game designer. He has worked on eight published game titles, training/simulation games for three Fortune 500 companies, and has advised countless student projects. He is the co-founder of Global Game Jam, the largest in-person game jam event in the world. Ian has taught game design and development courses at a variety of colleges and universities since 2006. Brenda Romero is a BAFTA award-winning game director, entrepreneur, artist, and Fulbright award recipient and is presently game director and creator of the Empire of Sin franchise. As a game director, she has worked on 50 games and contributed to many seminal titles, including the Wizardry and Jagged Alliance series and titles in the Ghost Recon, Dungeons & Dragons, and Def Jam franchises.

Keep Playing - the Six Step Game Plan

Keep Playing - the Six Step Game Plan PDF Author: Patricia J. Marino
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing
ISBN: 1434992497
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 185

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Book Description


Semantic Acquisition Games

Semantic Acquisition Games PDF Author: Jakub Šimko
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3319061151
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 141

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Book Description
Many applications depend on the effective acquisition of semantic metadata, and this state-of-the-art volume provides extensive coverage of the field of semantics acquisition games (SAGs). SAGs are a part of the crowdsourcing approach family and the authors analyze their role as tools for acquisition of resource metadata and domain models. Three case studies of SAG-based semantics acquisition methods are shown, along with other existing SAGs: 1. the Little Search Game - a search query formulation game using negative search, serving for acquisition of lightweight semantics. 2. the PexAce - a card game acquiring annotations to images. 3. the CityLights - a SAG used for validation of music metadata. The authors also look at the SAGs from their design perspectives covering SAG design issues and existing patterns, including several novel patterns. For solving cold start problems, a “helper artifact” scheme is presented, and for dealing with malicious player behavior, a posteriori cheating detection scheme is given. The book also presents methods for assessing information about player expertise, which can be used to make SAGs more effective in terms of useful output.

Play-by-Play from the Minors

Play-by-Play from the Minors PDF Author: John Kocsis, Jr.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476691444
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
For the reader interested in learning more about working in sports--or the fan that wants a look at what those inside the radio booth go through day-to-day--this book contains the secrets and successes of minor league baseball broadcasters with a combined century of experience telling the story of America's pastime. A host of decorated industry veterans discuss their careers, sharing tales of baseball greats from before they were famous, players who didn't make it past Class-A, the zaniest promotional exercises to hit the market, some of small-town America's greatest cuisine, the highs of winning a championship and the lows of being stranded on the highway for hours.

Children's Stories

Children's Stories PDF Author: Grandpa Dave
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 1412009820
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 86

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Book Description
This book contains stories for and about children, many triggered by questions from grandchildren about Grandpa Dave's youth. Several stories reflect incidences in his or their early lives.