Imagery Punch Up! Revise with Sentence Variety

Joakim Noah epitomizes best of Chicago sports 

 The Bulls without Noah is like a Chicago winter without a sub-zero wind-chill; tough but without its characteristic bite. Even coming off the bench in an uncomfortable role this season, even looking like a shell of the player who just two years ago was an All-NBA center, Noah supplied the Bulls an indomitable spirit they cannot replace. Not now. Not ever. 

from headlines of NYT:

Anthony had 19 points for the Knicks on Monday, including a game-tying 3-pointer late in regulation, after missing two games with a sprained right ankle. 

Peyton Manning, the Broncos’ Flickering Star, Glows 

Just in Time Wright went on the disabled list April 15 with a hamstring strain. Bothered by lower-back pain in May (participial), he was found to have spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal (appositive). In June, Manager Terry Collins said, he thought Wright would be lost for the season. and this too... 

 We were tied 1–1 going into the seventy-eighth minute when Rooney misplayed a pass and then, seconds later, got the ball lobbed back to him and pulled off this unbelievable maneuver: With his back to the goal, he jumped a few feet off the ground, wheeled his leg up and over his head, nailed the ball, and sent it rocketing into the top-right corner of the net. The sound in the stadium was like a napalm strike, and yes, I did one of those frantic I'm-so-excited-I-don't-know-what-the-****-to-do jumping-hug things with the guy standing next to me. I like to think I ground a few grains of Martin into Old Trafford right then, and that he'll have those crazy-good seats forever. 

 From GQ 

 The Appositve can appear in many forms as well. The samples below show how you can - Appositive- Noun phrases that identify adjacent nouns or pronouns. They can occur as sentence openers, subject verb splits, or sentence closers.

 One of six players on the ice, Toews was a fierce, willful leader. Messi, a Barca legend, spent the formative years of his live living in Spain, not Argentina.
 Other ways of using the appositive-

HT to Grammar Monster
 Jane Smith, who swam 100m in under a minute, wins the award for most improved swimmer.
 Jane Smith (who swam 100m in under a minute) wins the award for most improved swimmer.
 Jane Smith — who swam 100m in under a minute — wins the award for most improved swimmer.