Article Analysis 6: "Super Bowl 2017: Tom Brady Leads Epic Comeback, Patriots Stun Falcons in OT"5/2/2017 URL: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/super-bowl-2017-tom-brady-leads-epic-comeback-patriots-stun-falcons-in-ot/
Author: Ryan Wilson Date Published: Feb 5, 2017 CBS News Category: Sports The 2017 Super Bowl LI was riddled with new records and rewritten history. Ryan Wilson, CBS sports writer, aimed to tackle these amazing feats and summarize the major events of the evening in an exciting way. Through his descriptions, it is clear that he has targeted this account to a younger audience well-versed in football. He frequently uses well-known football terms to describe a play, often terms that only avid fans would understand. In addition, he incorporates modern tweets and jokes, and angles his language to match that of young adults. He does well to stand on both sides of the fan base, too, avoiding angering one side by blatantly favoring the other. However, despite his appearance of neutrality, he interjects his own opinion subtly, shown when he states "the Patriots [are] the greatest NFL franchise this century." Ryan Wilson does a fantastic job incorporating gripping words and enthusiastic phrases to pull in his audience. In describing the games, he speaks early on of the Falcons "dominating a Patriots team that seemed helpless" (yes, he really did italicize 'dominating'), while later describing the Patriots "thrilling comeback" and epic win. Providing a play-by-play account of the Superbowl LI, he describes how the Patriots faced a "near-impossible task" and yet "crept closer," causing the Falcons to feel a range of emotions from "confident to hopeful to apprehensive to dejected." Wilson effectively elevates the scenario unfolding, making a game with a bunch of guys wrestling for a oddly shaped ball seem as if the teams have drawn swords and sprinted into battle to defend their state's honor. By incorporating these powerful, inflated words, the reader feels as if they themselves are watching the game in person, their hearts racing with anticipation and falling at each fumble. As the reader becomes engrossed in the story, they lose track of their own emotions and slowly begin to side with the Patriots as the story continues. In addition, Wilson incorporates allusion and alliteration to highlight the thrills of the 51st Super Bowl. As he describes the Patriots' win, he states "New England... even out Patriots'd the Patriots." In this allusion, he references the colonial leaders who fought for the United States of America's independence in the beginning of our nation's birth. By relating back to this war-ridden time, Wilson again emphasizes the feeling of intense battle unfolding on the football field and how the Patriots rewrote Super Bowl history. In addition, he uses the phrase later on "slow-motion implosion" to describe the Falcon's crippling fall. This alliteration acts as a little jingle inside of the audience's mind that sings of the Patriots superiority. Without even realizing it, the audience is convinced of Wilson's hidden message by one simple phrase. Wilson's excitement on the subject shines through his writing. By incorporating these words and phrases, he makes it clear that he is enthralled with how the Super Bowl went and who won. He consistently ties in his own emotions of ecstasy and uses that to appeal to the reader's emotions. In addition, as he is a formal sports news writer and his game description shows clear background knowledge on football, the audience is pliable to his opinion. To dedicated sports fans, they may find it a sin that he tries to convince the audience to support his team, while a simple passerby may not care. However, Wilson also describes the game effectively, and in the end all that really matters in this situation is an audience who understands.
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