Greatest Americans: Taxonomy (part 1)

Inner Circle (9)

§           Abraham Lincoln

§           Albert Einstein

§           Benjamin Franklin

§           Franklin D. Roosevelt

§           George Washington

§           Ronald Reagan

§           Thomas Edison

§           Thomas Jefferson

§           Theodore Roosevelt

 

Definites (7)

§           Alexander Hamilton

§           Billy Graham

§           Charles Lindbergh

§           Dwight D. Eisenhower

§           Frederick Douglass

§           Martin Luther King Jr.

§           Henry Ford

 

Likely (15)

§           Alexander Graham Bell

§           Andrew Carnegie

§           Babe Ruth

§           Bill Gates

§           Chuck Yeager

§           Jimmy Stewart

§           John F. Kennedy

§           Eleanor Roosevelt

§           George Washington Carver

§           Harriet Ross Tubman

§           Lyndon B. Johnson

§           Sam Walton

§           Walt Disney

§           Mark Twain

§           Susan B. Anthony

 

Need to Learn More (4)

§           Audie Murphy

§           Cesar Chavez

§           Nikola Tesla

§           Jonas Edward Salk

 

Plausible (16)

§           Amelia Earhart

§           Bob Hope

§           George H. W. Bush

§           Colin Powell

§           George Patton

§           Harry Truman

§           Jackie Robinson

§           Jesse Owens

§           John Glenn

§           Joseph Smith Jr.

§           Lance Armstrong

§           Malcolm X

§           Muhammad Ali

§           Neil Alden Armstrong

§           Rosa Parks

§           Wright Brothers (Orville & Wilbur)

Greatest Americans?

Tonight, the Discovery Channel will air the beginning of its series-special on the 100 Greatest Americans.  The list was compiled by nominations through AOL.  Even a cursory glance at their list will give ample evidence of why AOL users are stereotyped the way they are.  I bet, I hope that Discovery Channel is embarrassed by this list.

I found that almost half the list had no business being anywhere near the top 100 greatest Americans of all-time.  I counted 85 of the 100 were from the 20th/21st centuries, and fully 36 are modern, the sort that are in the news (or, perhaps more accurately, in People magazine) these days.  So, in 230 years of American greatness, we have 64 nominees for the first 220 years, and the rest (over a third!) who found their apogees in the past decade.  Right.

I segmented the AOL list into 7 categories, which i will outline in the next entry.

Dance to the Music

The little kids and i have taken to listening to the few dozen music channels that we now get through our cable system.  When we first got the upgrade that includes MusicChoice, i put it on Classical Masterpieces or (even better) Light Classical, just for some nice background music.

Now we search through the genres for fun songs to dance around the basement to.  Some of our favorite channels are:  Retro-Active, Party Favorites, 80s, Classic Rock, Today's Country, and Classic Disco. 

If Caroline is in the basement with us, she just rolls her eyes, and tells me to stop it!  But Emily & Jackson love it.

A Day of Graduations

Both girls finished school today, and had ceremonies to celebrate.  Emily's was first up this morning, for her last day of 1st Grade.  Her teacher, Mrs. Wiggins, had a little presentation in her classroom.  Each child had written a page patterned after The Important Book; Emily's page was about candy...

The important thing about candy is that it is yummy
It is dessert.
I don't like candy
I love it!
It comes in all kinds
But the important thing about candy is that it is yummy

The teacher then recognized each child individually, announcing any special awards or achievments, and honoring each with a special virtue and accompanying Bible verse.  Emily received a National Physical Fitness Award, a certificate for reading 200 books over the school-year, and appreciation for outstanding behavior (not once did she "pull a ticket" for misbehaving).  Her special virtue was Gentleness, and her verse was Psalm 23:2...  "He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters."

Then, mid-day, we filed into the Thomas Jefferson Middle School gym (the sweltering, AC-free middle school gym) for Caroline's 8th Grade graduation ceremony.  Caroline and the rest of the 8th grade Chorus started things off on an elegant note.  A few remarks, and then some 350 kids pomp & circumstance across the stage.  Caroline received a special award for service to the school; she really does have a giving heart.

Ramblin' Man

Maybe it's just Spring Fever, but i got the itch to hit the road.  Load up a big RV, shake the dust of this town off my feet, and see the world!  Or at least America.

It's a sentiment shorn of rationale, short on detail, and borne of this commuting-home thought:  i know every bump on Robinhood Road, but i've never seen the Grand Canyon

Kicking off the Baseball Season

Three baseball seasons kicked off yesterday (not counting that Made-For-TV dreck Sunday night):  Major League Baseball, Caroline's major softball, and Jackson's t-ball.

Caroline's team is the Diamonds.  Majors is the same level she played at last year, when she was one of the youngest girls in the league.  She'll be much better this season, with the added experience and a year of growth.  Speaking of which, Caroline is getting tall, long-legged like her Aunt Leah.  Last night, she had her best hit ever, a solid liner over the 2B-man.  Defensively, she played 3B, where she has a good arm and is working on her range.

This is Jackson's first year to play t-ball.  His team is the Orioles, and he likes his cap with the bird on it.  He is all spunk and energy, and shows an affinity for the game.  Last night, he spent an inning at catcher, and one in CF, where he turned his cap around backwards and danced around the 2nd base bag.  He had a blast.

MLB, as much as i love it, pales in comparison to the other 2 leagues in my heart.

Bear Down, ye Bears...

Bear down you Bears of old Baylor U
We're all for you, GO BEARS!
We're gonna show dear old Baylor spirit through and through
We're gonna fight them with all our might you Bruins bold
And win all our victories for the Green and Gold.
B-A-Y-L-O-R, Baylor Bears Fight.

As predicted, the Lady Bears are playing tonight for the basketball championship, against Michigan St. If the Bears win, they will have defeated 3 straight #1 seeds (UNC & LSU being the other 2), a feat matched only by the Arizona men's team in 1997. Wish i could make it to Indianapolis for the game! I like the good omen of the symmetry, in that Duke won its first title in 1991 in Indianapolis, one of the greatest weekends of my life.

NCAA Picks - Women

No analytical approach here; all heart.  And my heart is with the Lady Bears of Baylor, the #2 seed in the region where UNC is #1.  I have seen the Tar Heels play, and while they deserve their seed, they aren't that great, and i think Baylor should beat them.  UNC has a great PG in Latta, but the Bears could dominate inside.  And Baylor has the better coach.

Duke, on the other hand, is not nearly as good this year as they have been recently.  They remind me of the 1987 men's team, the year after Dawkins and company graduated, leaving a senior Tommy Amaker to lead the way with an otherwise young team.  Alana Beard was the Dawkins of the women's program, and she graduated last year.  And while they Devils have talent, i don't see them as cohesive or tough enough to challenge for the title.

With Tennessee and Connecticut not as dominant as they have been in the past, this would be the perfect year for Baylor to go all the way, and secure my alma mater's 2nd national championship in the past 12 months (men's tennis was the other one).

NCAA Picks - Men

For the 2005 NCAA Men's Tournament, i looked at the FG% statistics for each team, both offensively and defensively, and both in the context of their conferences and then against the field of 64.  I adjusted the offensive FG% to account for 3-pointers, but couldn't find detailed enough stats to do so on defense (i don't think it would matter anyway).

By this metric, the surprising top team was Utah State, a 14 seed.  So obviously i don't have a perfect metric here, but i do think it will be a good guide.  And i gave it heavy weighting in my picks.

First round upsets:  Utah State over Arizona, St. Marys over Southern Illinois, Creighton over West Virginia, New Mexico over Villanova, and NC State over Charlotte (don't really think this is an upset).

Second round upsets: Utah State over LSU, Utah over Oklahoma, Cincy over Kentucky, Pacific over Washington.

My Elite Eight: Illinois, Oklahoma State, Louisville, Gonzaga, Florida (can't pick Carolina to win 3 games; pained me enough to pick them to win 2), Kansas, Duke, and Utah.

Final Four: Duke/Kansas, and Illinois/Louisville

Duke beats Louisville in a rematch of the 1986 championship game.

Forward for a Friend

A good friend of mine from my Atlanta days is putting together a book for his son, and asked a few folks to contribute something for the book's forward.  This is what i sent him:

I don't remember exactly how or when i first met your Dad.  It wasn't that he was unremarkable, but rather that i was in the midst of falling in love, getting married, and becoming a dad myself -- all of which crowded out most other memories.  But i know that we were living in the Atlanta area, working for the same auto insurance company.

And over these years, i have grown in admiration for your Dad, despite my having moved to another state, and seeing him only once or twice a year, when we get together for a fantasy sports draft.

Your Dad has an awesome love for you and your family, an unquenchable love for God, and a passion for friendships.  He has a unique and entertaining writing style, demonstrated in his email missives about life and faith.  These in-box gems at once challenge us, mystify us, and make us laugh.  

I write at times, too, though usually less publically in a journal.  I wanted to close with something i wrote when my own son was born.  This was written on the first day of the new millenium, when my son Jackson was one day old:

"... it's difficult to imagine your future.  Not only what your 21st century world will bring, but also, and more relevantly, your role in it.   It's always a Daddy's dream and hope that his kids exceed him, especially his sons.  Dreams & hopes...

• To take all the greatness you are already blessed with, by God, and make the best of it. 
• To know, appreciate, hone & use your talents. 
• To aspire to God-directed greatness.
• To seek and face challenges and never settle for the mundane.
• To be a man of God, learned in His Word and shaped by His love
• To listen well
• To have balance between all that will compete for your attention
• To value integrity & purity
• To make wise choices
• To dream of greatness, for yourself and for the world"