cooest dude in history

[barron of ideas]

Why is Ted Williams "the coolest athlete in history?" Generally speaking this sort of assertion should have some proof offered. Among baseball players why is he better than Babe Ruth, who also was a pretty good pitcher, or Dimagio, or any number of very good hitters. Yes, he was the last modern player to bat .400. But are baseball players "athletes"? How about a decathalon runner/jumper/thrower, or biker like Lance Armstrong. Those guys sweat. Half the game ballplayers sit down (when the other side is in the field and they aren't batting or on base.) Soccer players run all game long. (not the goalie) Water polo is lots more violent than baseball, or almost any other sport with the opportunity to drown thrown in to make it more interesting. And boxing-- cooler than mohamad ali? A white guy who can't jump?

Please offer some evidence or reasons or atleast attempt a justification. History includes a lot of athletes in a lot of sports. I doubt Ted Willaims is the cooles athlete who ever played for the Boston Red Sox, never mind in history. (Babe Ruth was a Red Sock before the trade to the Yankees. And they have had some pretty fair players since them.

 

[privatehudson]

If your gonna add them, you shouldn't leave out the Central/South Americian civilizations, they turned human sacrifice and cannibalism into an industry.

It's much harder to pick out individual people in this though, I went for the conquistadores because they were easier to pick the individuals out without whom the sucess of the genocide they launched would be less likely.

 

[Tavenier]

Originally posted by barron of ideas
Why is Ted Williams "the coolest athlete in history?" Generally speaking this sort of assertion should have some proof offered. Among baseball players why is he better than Babe Ruth, who also was a pretty good pitcher, or Dimagio, or any number of very good hitters. Yes, he was the last modern player to bat .400. But are baseball players "athletes"? How about a decathalon runner/jumper/thrower, or biker like Lance Armstrong. Those guys sweat. Half the game ballplayers sit down (when the other side is in the field and they aren't batting or on base.) Soccer players run all game long. (not the goalie) Water polo is lots more violent than baseball, or almost any other sport with the opportunity to drown thrown in to make it more interesting. And boxing-- cooler than mohamad ali? A white guy who can't jump?

Please offer some evidence or reasons or atleast attempt a justification. History includes a lot of athletes in a lot of sports. I doubt Ted Willaims is the cooles athlete who ever played for the Boston Red Sox, never mind in history. (Babe Ruth was a Red Sock before the trade to the Yankees. And they have had some pretty fair players since them.

Then call him the best athlete of AMERICAN history. I have never heard of the guy. Only baseballeplayer I ever heard of was Babe Ruth. The biggest sport in the world is football/soccer. And the best guy at that ever was Pele from Brazil.

 

[Tsargrad]

I'll have to go with Baghdad Bob..

He was hilarious, and really should look at a career in motivational speaking

 

[Packer-Backer]

I forget about Mao Zedong (Or whoever it is spelled), I don't know how I did. But Napoleon, that great Frenchman, oh what, Corsican(!), was a real, well a-hole. He accused those other kings as imperialistic but look at him! There's just something about him that rubs me the wrong way. But still, Lenin is the worst person of all time. There has not been a single minority, religion, or other person who wasn't a mindless drone that has not been tortured or murdered in some way. Just looking at pictures of him he looks evil. In no way was he just a charamatic politician or anything less than a cool blooded murderer. I could go on and on about how much I hate him, but everyone on my worst 10 would definently be in my new worst 30 list. But I would need to look into how much each human devil did before I could rank them. So don't ask why someone is on my list, I'll never stop bad-mouthing!

 

[philippe]

uhm why lenin and not stalin? Packer backer its still about the coolest guy in history man
anyway i choose that austrian baron guy.

 

[Sims2789]

I'd say that it was Lincoln, since he was cool enough to free the slaves. I think it was someone elso who signed the 14th Ammendment, but it never would have happened had it not been for Lincoln.

 

[Packer-Backer]

Lenin started it, simply put. But #2 on my list is now Vladimir "Dracule" Tepes, Count of Wallachia. He was Dracula (Dracule-Dragon/Devil) and he used Strigoii (werewolves) quite often. He impaled 1/5 of his own population. And sometimes stuck a round-topped stick (harder to impale someone) up some peoples' butts, it took them days to die and they usually died of starvation, but at the end the stick came out through their shoulder. How would you like to be impaled on your own weights?!?!

My newest "coolest" (not best) person in history: The Fonz! Who else could it be?

 

[Tavenier]

Originally posted by Packer-Backer
Lenin started it, simply put. But #2 on my list is now Vladimir "Dracule" Tepes, Count of Wallachia. He was Dracula (Dracule-Dragon/Devil) and he used Strigoii (werewolves) quite often. He impaled 1/5 of his own population. And sometimes stuck a round-topped stick (harder to impale someone) up some peoples' butts, it took them days to die and they usually died of starvation, but at the end the stick came out through their shoulder. How would you like to be impaled on your own weights?!?!

My newest "coolest" (not best) person in history: The Fonz! Who else could it be?

Vlad the Impaler was indeed quite an infamous character. Legend says he drank blood of his opponents. I don't know about impaling his own citizens, but I do know he defeated a Turkish army and the captured soldiers (legend tells of 100.000 men, but it probably was around 10.000 men) were all impaled and he had them all in one place and he liked to walk through it. As if it was some sort of really macabre forest.
His favourite 'pets' indeed were wolves and mix that with an enormous amount of bats found in his lands and there you have a legend we all know.

 

[Packer-Backer]

Exactly, Tavenier. But he did kill his own people, a whole lot of them. He also would sometimes eat dinner near his impaled citizens or enemies, and dip his bread in the blood of victim then eat it. European kings calling Napoleon the Corsican devil is moronic compared to not calling Vlad the Wallachian devil.

 

[Sarevok]

Id say it was me

Besides that id go with Either Napoleon or Churchill.

 

[CivCube]

Gandhi was a smooth dude.

 

[Sarevok]

not to everyone, he got shot.

 

[Gingerbread Man]

Originally posted by Syterion
5. That roman general who decided to use flaming pigs to fight elephants.

A roman emporer did use pigs to fight elephants, but the flaming pigs comes here:

The most frequently told tale concerning pigs as a counter weapon to elephants may be represented by Aelian and Polyaenus: when Antigonas Gonatas was besieging Megara, the Megarians succeeded in routing the besiegers’ elephants by dousing pigs in oil and igniting them and then turning them loose against the elephants. One might object that this is hardly a fair test of the elephant’s reaction to pigs per se; but both authors specifically state that the beasts were startled by the squeal rather than by the fire. The flames were simply a means of guaranteeing a satisfactory squeal. As a final instance of the effect of pigs on elephants in battle, it is feasible to examine Procopius’ account of events at Edessa. The city was being besieged by Chosroes, and an elephant with many soldiers on its back was driven up to the city wall and towered over it. The resourceful inhabitants thrust a squealing pig over the wall and into the face of the looming elephant. The result was panic and retreat.19 Altogether the pig seems to have been quite an effective weapon against the elephant, although its use does not appear to have been widespread in the ancient world.

Certainly a cool tale
source

 

[Pongui]

Da Vinci. Too much. How can such a man be possible?

 

[Tavenier]

Originally posted by Sean Lindstrom
Da Vinci. Too much. How can such a man be possible?

Da Vinci certainly would score high (maybe highest) on the most intelligent and versatile man in history. Don't know if he was cool though.

 

[Eastern Knight]

Genghis Khan or Alexander the Great.

 

[lord_byron_nz]

Tom Paine...at least 150 years ahead of his time, genuinly believed that what he advocated would be the solution to the troubles of everyone, not just a select few. Had the guts to out it into practice and came mighty close.

 

[puglover]

Originally posted by Gingerbread Man


A roman emporer did use pigs to fight elephants, but the flaming pigs comes here:

Certainly a cool tale
source

They need a counter-unit in Civ and AOE for the elephant...

THE PIG!!!

 

[NankingDan]

Alcibiades! He was handsome, athletic, rich, intelligent, but most of all treacherous. I simply love characters who, like rats, will do anything to survive. Another thing that impresses me about Alcibiades is that he would take ridiculous risks but almost always weasled out of the consequences of his actions.