That's Exactly The Way It Wasn't

No you're a towel! As much as I love South Park, this isn’t countering. Countering is much more in-depth than simply disagreeing with someone. According to Harris, to counter is “to develop a new line of thinking in response to the limits of other texts, it almost always involves a close attention to the specifics of their structure and phrasing” (57). Just as in forwarding, when you're countering you're not trying to shut someone down and finish an argument. The world would be discussion-less if everyone aimed to end conversations on the first comment. The goal of countering is to move the conversation in new directions with the addition of your own NEW thoughts. I stress “new” thoughts because Harris does as well. When he identifies the three steps to countering at the end of the chapter he says that the emphasis of your writing your be with constructing your own positions in response. This is important because you can’t simply rip the ideas of someone else; an essay is critique and analysis. You need to have your own original point (Ironically, this was my downfall in the essay we just got back. I just proved many of the author’s points wrong, and showed nothing of it. When I go back and revise I’m going to give analysis and connect many authors points together to form a strong centralized argument). Anyways, original ideas are needed to be successful in countering.

The best part about a sports blog is that it’s full of countering. Almost every post offers countering in one way or another. Sometimes is more discrete and sometimes its right out there. In the post that I’m going to talk about its incredibly obvious that the author is countering. The author talks about the All-Star lineups and where he has a difference in opinion. He states why he disagrees with some of the starters and reserve players for each team, and then provides his own ideas as to why his pick should be in there. He uses stats from seasons past and present to prove his point as to why certain players should be starting or not. He even uses the fact that certain players mean more to their team than others. I think that in this countering, perspective is gained. I say this because when the lineups are released some people either agree or disagree the fact that someone has been chosen, and then there’s not much more after that. In this post the author refutes and elaborates as to why his picks are better. Needless to say, the coaches picked the All-Stars, with the exception of the starters so I see his argument more as frustration than anger. 

Link to the article I referenced:
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7562176/the-sports-guy-nba-all-star-team