One of my early heroes, based on a book I read in elementary school, was John Paul Jones. I didn’t know much about him except he was a naval hero in the American revolution and in one famous incident he was getting thrashed in a cannon battle with another ship, his main mast had been toppled, his ship was burning, full of holes and rapidly sinking, when the captain of the other ship asked if he was ready to call it quits and he replied, “I have not yet begun to fight.” Turns out he wasn’t such a pristine hero, but I didn’t know that then. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Jones
Harry Houdini
I was really into magic tricks as a kid, so another hero was the great escape artist Harry Houdini, who could get out of any combination of chains, handcuffs, straightjackets, etc, often while suspended upside down from a tall building or while submerged under water. He was cool. But then he died after some guy punched him in hte stomach really hard, to test his muscles, when he wasn’t prepared for it.
Dan Gable
Then in junior high school, I became a wrestler and for years my hero was Dan Gable, the greatest wrestler ever (at least the greatest US wrestler ever). Gable never lost a match all through high school or college until his final match in the NCAA finals in his senior year of uni, and went on to an outstanding international career, olympic gold medal (with none of his opponents scoring a single point against him), and extremely successful coaching career at U of Iowa. Dan was the Man. I realize non-wrestlers think the sport looks a little gay, but you just don’t understand. Dan was tough. He was unbeatable and he inspired legions of young wrestlers, including me.
My father. Built like a brick shithouse who brewed his own beer and whiskey. Built his own bar and renovated the entire place with a fackin nailgun and saw. Played in the CFL, a doorman and a ladies man. His best friend was an Ex-IRA member who used to joke about a bunch of gold teeth they kept around sayin that “they knocked’em outta ‘those’ fuckers mouthes”. My uncle needs to be mentioned as an extremely close second for his bravery and his regret.
[quote=“M0NSTER”][quote=“the chief”][quote=“M0NSTER”]
Wendal Clark
[/quote]
Wendell Clark.
And don’t think he wouldn’t kick your ass for it.
Number 17 rules.[/quote]
Ack…and to think…I have his rookie cards packed away in glass.[/quote]
Last Oilers game I saw before I came to Taiwan was with the Leafs.
There was a gang of about 8 or 10 punks in the front row, all wearing Clark jerseys.
Second period, he fuckin gets into it, probably with Steve Smith or that lout Buchberger, right in front of these guys, he’s starting the fuckin lawnmower…
These guys just went apeshit, it was like Christmas, New Year’s, and Free Beer Day all rolled into one.
Awesome.
I’ve always liked to think he did it there on purpose, just for them.
[quote=“the chief”][quote=“M0NSTER”][quote=“the chief”][quote=“M0NSTER”]
Wendal Clark
[/quote]
Wendell Clark.
And don’t think he wouldn’t kick your ass for it.
Number 17 rules.[/quote]
Ack…and to think…I have his rookie cards packed away in glass.[/quote]
Last Oilers game I saw before I came to Taiwan was with the Leafs.
There was a gang of about 8 or 10 punks in the front row, all wearing Clark jerseys.
Second period, he fuckin gets into it, probably with Steve Smith or that lout Buchberger, right in front of these guys, he’s starting the fuckin lawnmower…
These guys just went apeshit, it was like Christmas, New Year’s, and Free Beer Day all rolled into one.
Awesome.
I’ve always liked to think he did it there on purpose, just for them.[/quote]
I’ve always loved his go’s with Probert but the one that took the cake was Marty McSorley after Marty took out Gilmore during the playoffs. Clark demo’d him so fuckin badly (I don’t know how McSorley could even play the following year…embaressing)that I was surprised that Gretzky and the Kings went to the cup finals that year. We shoulda had it. Clark, Gilmore, Baumgarnder, Foligno (sp?) and at the moment I forget who else, should have had it that year.
Clark was the best all round player the Maple Leafs have ever seen. I actually felt betrayed when we traded him away. When we got him back I was beside myself. I think he could have played another year but unfortunately management didn’t put a team together that worked with his style. He was a leader above all leaders. Amazing player. He deserved the cup.
Being a runner of sorts I admired Carl Lewis and the plethora of African middle distance runners. Also really admired Sebastian Coe. But guys who I felt a special awe for were the rugby players, guys like (and here mostly the New Zealand, Aussie and UK chaps will know what I’m on about) Naas Botha, Uli Schmidt, Wahl Bartmann, Carel Du Plessis, Zinzane Brook, Sean Fitzpatrick and the like.
Fictional characters: Spiderman.
TV: Macgyver. He was awesome and sort of inspired me to work harder at science, 'cos in the TV shows he always got himself out of sticky situations using his head and knowledge of chemistry etc… I even had a “Macgyver” knife. One of those Swiss Army ones.
As I got older a person I grew to really admire was Nelson Mandela. Having met him once when he came to talk at our Uni I was really impressed by the man and the vision he had for SA as a country, regardless of race etc.
But mostly, my real hero was my grandmother. She is one of the most amazing people I know and inspires me, even now.
Also, Superman, Michael Knight (sorry), the whole A-Team, and my dad.
My dad doesn’t have x-ray vision, K.I.T.T., or Israeli machine guns, but he’s completely unaffected by Kryptonite, and he’s pretty cool. He’s also taught me a thing or two about a thing or two.
Man, I loved Harold. Most audacious stunt man ever.
Idols: Charlton Heston, Charles Schultz, Mohammad Ali, Judy Garland, Tarzan, St. Francis, John the Baptist (especially as played by Michael York), Jesus, Robin Williams, all of Monty Python, Hans Solo, my older brother, Robert Falcon Scott (antarctic explorer), Arnold, Houdini, Doug Henning.
Mystical, Comic, Tragic, Magical, Adventurous and Athletic. Ya, that’s about what I still hope to be.
