Hello, my name is Alexander Keys. I want to briefly take you through my initial process in this project. In my virtual exhibit I wanted to pick something that I was interested in/was passionate about. Originally I my virtual exhibit concentrated on racism and stereotypes in America. I wanted to explore why, in the 21st century, there is still racism and stereotypes and what causes this. I felt that I could definitely relate to this being that I am considered a minority in relation to the “white supremacist capitalist patriarchy” as bell hooks states in “Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric”. As I got a little bit further I realized that I might not have been connected as much as I realized to my topic. It was something that I wanted to do but just felt like I really didn’t have much experience even though I did fit the criteria. After throwing that option out the window I then went to the obvious, sports. I had been playing sports ever since I was about 5 or 6. My first sport ever was baseball, which I played for about 3 or 4 years. I then went on to play basketball, track, and eventually football. With all the time I’ve spent participating, watching, and teaching sports the project would flow a lot easier. As a child I did not realize or care that rhetoric and sports be related. I find the amount of dedication, determination, and emotion that is involved with every aspect of sports from training to practicing to treatment/therapy highly fascinating. Depending on what level it is it can be seen as a full time hobby (especially in college). Being a NCAA football player has allowed me to experience firsthand all of the above. After all my years in playing sports I’ve realized how much it is connected to rhetoric. The pregame, halftime, and postgame speeches are all filled with rhetoric. From recruiting to handling the media as a player/coach it all has rhetoric somewhere due to the communication between the different parties. As our readings in “Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric” say there is the group audience, single audience, and self-audience (i.e. coach to team, player to player, and player to player’s self). Sports have been a big part of my past, present and hopefully the future. Along with my parents, sports have taught me a lot of life lessons. I also thought it would be interesting to see how something I do every day relates so closely to the topics and people who we study in rhetorical traditions.