The reader becomes attached, making the argument that much better for the reader. A very good way to play on emotion is by talking about really serious issues and Reilly does this perfectly, as evidenced when he said that it was too many teams (that ruined sportsmanship) like Nebraska's fans ""Who chanted "Where's Sal?"" during a basketball game with Colorado in 1990, six months after the death of Buffalo quarterback Sal Aunese" (68). Just the thought of people making chants about the grief that some people have to endure is just heart-wrenching and that's what makes him appealing to the audience, he touches them in a way that they become closer and more fascinated with what he's writing.
Now one of the greater methods Reilly uses in promoting his point of view is his use of logos. This means he uses the truth, facts and simple logic, to grab and hold on to the reader's attention. Reilly correctly delves into past sports facts that actually happened. We have all seen Deion Sanders "High-step the final 20 yards of a touchdown run" (68) and Indiana's Bob Knight "Furniture-heaving" (68) escapades on numerous highlight tapes. People know this is true and they can relate to it because they've seen these images. They can also instantly connect with what the writer is saying. The logic of Reilly's piece is just simply too overwhelming. When one reads that Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin "Announced before a recent game that he was going to try to reinjure Washington Redskin cornerback Darrell Green's broken right forearm" (68), he cannot help but think that sportsmanship has really gone down in this country recently. It just grabs the reader's attention and the logical thinking is that a guy trying to reinjure another guy's broken arm is really not a good thing. Logistics and simple cold hard facts are a very powerful tool in catching the reader's attention because facts don't lie and logical thinking is pretty much the basis of human rhetoric, simple and to the point.
