Alright guys and gals. Sorry for the delay. In the Political Leader Category, I'm proud to select the 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln.
Lincoln is easily one of Americas top five presidents. And was along with Forrest the other genius of the War Between The States according to Shelby Foote. Anything that I can write in this brief post wouldn't do the man (Lincoln) justice. Simply put, Lincoln was probably one of the most pragmatic and most intelligent men to hold the office. Especially when you consider the "Dough faces" that occupied the office in the 1850s. Lincoln surrounded himself with the best people possible, as opposed to say Jefferson Davis of the CSA who allowed rivalry to get in the way of good judgment. Lincoln appointed former Presidential Rival William Seward as Secretary of State as the best example of this.
Lincoln was also arguably on of the first Presidents to successfully use the "Bully Pulpit" of the Office of the Presidency. Through his strong oratory skills etc, Lincolns leadership was a godsend to bitterly divided country. And any leader that can suspend habeas corpus and still be one of the nations greatest leaders is okay in my books.
While considered a great orator, it wasn't because of his booming voice. By most accounts Lincoln's voice was rather shrill. But combine the eloquence of his words and his common touch Lincoln was unstoppable. It is also interesting to note that I strongly feel that if Lincoln hadn't be assinated and allowed to futher his "Let em up easy" agenda for the South following the war Reconstruction might now have been the failure it became.
Wiki link for further reading. As most of you know, I've barely scratched the surface on one of America's greatest leaders.
The Gettysburg Address as read by Jeff Daniels.
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Originally Posted by Locke
Thats why Flames fans make ideal Star Trek fans. We've really been taught to embrace the self-loathing and extreme criticism.
Just as a little aside, does anyone feel like they are almost being too obvious? Sounds horrible right after the Lincoln and Alexander the Great selections, and I don't mean it as an insult (as those are two selections that had me waffling), because they are guaranteed top picks in something like this.
I am really waffling about a lot of potential picks. The educator in me feels like the more...not necessarily 'obscure' but lesser known figures I pick, the better my list will be. Almost like it is a cop-out to pick Da Vinci because, well, duh.
On the other hand, the very practical part of me was so shocked he was available that I was compelled to select him, just so he wouldn't drop, which is pretty irrational because this is, like most things for me, non-competitive.
For instance, I like DFF's pick a lot because I am generally uninterested in art, and had never heard of his selection, and now, really quite like his stuff.
Forming my criteria is also so hard. I probably put an inordinate amount of weight to certain characteristics I have an affinity with. A big part of my selection of Hamilton is his pragmatic enthusiasm, and confidence in his ability to convince, at times several parties, to agree on common terms out of necessity.
That kind of loyalty to an idea and not a person (for instance, his threatened resignation to George Washington if Hamilton was not given a command in battle), is something I identify, or want to identify, with, even though as philosophers and orators, I prefer Madison and Jefferson. And Eisenhower.
Which brings me to my next point:
Because I took over a team after the first round of the draft, I have a roster member that I am not altogether pleased with. I suppose I could trade Genghis Khan to Eastern, but I have a good pick in mind for that spot.
Can anyone come up with an amenable way to solve this?
Because I took over a team after the first round of the draft, I have a roster member that I am not altogether pleased with. I suppose I could trade Genghis Khan to Eastern, but I have a good pick in mind for that spot.
Can anyone come up with an amenable way to solve this?
In this particular draft, I would have absolutely no problem with you being able to drop the Mongol and pick up another choice.
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
Seriously though, drop your mongol if you want I don't have any objections. And I'm sorry I picked one of the greatest men in American history in the third round.
and I would still like to hear your thoughts on my Nathan Bedford Forrest first round selection if you have an issue with my pick of Lincoln.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Locke
Thats why Flames fans make ideal Star Trek fans. We've really been taught to embrace the self-loathing and extreme criticism.
Just as a little aside, does anyone feel like they are almost being too obvious? Sounds horrible right after the Lincoln and Alexander the Great selections, and I don't mean it as an insult (as those are two selections that had me waffling), because they are guaranteed top picks in something like this.
I think there are two ways to approach the draft; one is to look at it as an educational opportunity and pick people that you may think others are not as familiar with.
The other is to simply pick your favourite people from history - that's what I've started out doing and, in these early rounds I'm taking people that I'm pretty sure others have their eye on as well. The more obscure picks will come in the later rounds.
I wouldn't say there is such a thing as "too obvious" in this draft. For example, I'm pretty sure everyone has at least some general idea of who Gandhi was, but I think many looking at this draft have only a vague idea of why he's such a big deal historically, or why exactly someone would go and say "I think this was the greatest guy EVER!".
There's a big jump from name recognition to knowledge, and if someone has a more emotional relationship to someone, it's always cool to read something about that.
As another reason to pick someone, I picked Häyhä partly as a statement, because he was in a way the ultimate rank and file guy, not a leader as propably most other picks in that category will be.
Seriously though, drop your mongol if you want I don't have any objections. And I'm sorry I picked one of the greatest men in American history in the third round.
and I would still like to hear your thoughts on my Nathan Bedford Forrest first round selection if you have an issue with my pick of Lincoln.
Sorry, but I really did not mean for it to come out sounding like I took issue with your pick.
I loved your Forrest pick, it was one of the reasons i started thinking like this. I was really waffling between Lincoln, Jefferson and Eisenhower as my political leader. hell, I started to debate going off the wall with Tommy Payne as writer, based purely on inspiration.
I really am sorry if you felt like I was insulting you, because I am not. I love all of your picks thus far, and would have had a hard time not picking Lincoln if I didn't love Hamilton so much.
It was more a reflection on the team I had built up to that point. Genghis Khan and Leonardo Da Vinci are surely worthwhile, but not exactly obscure, which was giving me pause.
In the Composer/Musician category, Jim Garrison's Briefs selects:
Robert Johnson (May 8, 1911? – August 16, 1938)
Robert Johnson was a Mississippi bluesman has had more influence on rock, blues, and black music in than anyone in history. Ask any guitarist with a blues background, and one of their influences will be Robert Johnson.
What makes Johnson remarkable in my eyes is how short his life and career were, yet his legend remains. There are 42 known Johnson recordings of only 29 songs. I imagine it was that deal with the Devil...
The mystery behind his life, death and after make him a fascinating member of musical history. The above pictures are the only confirmed pics of Mr. Johnson.
The entirety of his recorded output was cut in three days worth of sessions in November 1936 and two days in June 1937. His life came to a premature end when he was poisoned by the jealous husband of a woman he began seeing during a stint at the Three Forks juke joint in Greenwood, Mississippi.
Considered by some to be the "Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll", his vocal phrasing, original songs, and guitar style have influenced a broad range of musicians, including Muddy Waters, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton, who called Johnson "the most important blues singer that ever lived". He was also ranked fifth in Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. He is an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Quotes about Johnson and his influence:
Traveling Partner Johnny Shines:
"Some of the things that Robert did with the guitar affected the way everybody played. He'd do rundowns and turnbacks. He'd do repeats. None of this was being done. In the early '30s, boogie on the guitar was rare, something to be heard. Because of Robert, people learned to complement theirselves, carrying their own bass as their own lead with this one instrument."
Keith Richards:
“When I first heard [him], I was hearing two guitars, and it took me a long time to realize he was actually doing it all by himself.”
Eric Clapton:
“Robert Johnson to me is the most important blues musician who ever lived....I have never found anything more deeply soulful than Robert Johnson. His music remains the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice.”
Robert Plant:
"[Robert] Johnson is part of why I am what I am."
George Harrison:
"...Ravi Shankar and Robert Johnson are the only guitar players I listen to."
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__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
Hey guys, sorry about getting ak'd, but I was out camping. So with my late third round pick, I'll take a fairly obvious guy, but one who was pretty damn important to the end of apartheid, Nelson Mandela
In the Soldier category, Strange Things Afoot at the Circle K selects Vasily Zaytsev: this Soviet war hero was crucial to the battle for Stalingrad, which in turn would be a key victory in turning the Germans back from Russia. In a battle that saw over a million Soviet troops wounded or killed (in part due to Soviet tactics of sending vast hordes of poorly armed soldiers at their more well-armed opponent), Zaytsev's proficiency as a sniper began a new approach for the soviets: actually taking time to train soldiers so that they would kill more often than they would get killed. Zaytsev would record 242 confirmed kills and as many as 500 total in the four months that he participated in the battle, before becoming injured in a mortar attack. More important, however, was the sniper school that he lead following his recovery, where his 30 or so students recorded over 3000 kills over the remainder of the battle.
His story was portrayed and largely fictionalized in the movie Enemy at the Gates, which was based around a battle with a possibly fictitious high-ranking Nazi sniper.
