Conference back40::soapbox

    I agree, Valvano was an inspiration. BTW, he coached the Wolfpack from
    NC State hence the connection to the nausea-creating Duran Duran ditty.
    

    I wish I could come up with a dramatic quote like you did, Chris. I
    remember that speech, not a dry eye in the place. My hero will pale in
    comparison, but, here goes:
    
    My all time hero is Robert Kneivel, otherwise known as Evel Kneivel. He
    got his nickname in little league baseball, "Evil Kneivel", but changed
    the spelling due to his religeous beliefs. He saw a stunt show with his
    grandfather around age 12, and when he came home he set up 2 doors and
    attempted to jump his bicycle from one to the other (rather
    unsuccessfully!!). He began his stunt career with Triumph motorcycles,
    but changed to Harley Davidson midway through his career. I was
    fascinated with him as early as I can remember. I still have 2 of his
    toys; the stunt cycle and the exploding funny car. I have scars on my
    body from trying to imitate him on my Huffy as a child. He remains in
    my mind as the ultimate living/dying god. His worst accident occurred
    when he attempted to jump the fountains at Caesar's Palace. His bike
    was way too heavy, and he was thrust over the handlebars and run over
    by the motorcycle. I think he broke 70+ bones that time. His son,
    Robbie successfully jumped the fountains in the '80's. I was really
    hurt when he was arrested for beating up a prostitute a few years ago.
    He has an informercial out for a painkiller. It's too bad. I've been
    looking for a videotape, "Evel Kneivel's greatest hits", but with no
    luck, since it has been out of circulation for quite a few years.
    Anyway, he was always a big hero to me.
    
    					lunchbox

         Evel Knievel was the man! I also tried to imitate his stunts on my
    bike. I used to worship this guy when I was about 8 or 9. I still have
    his action figure and bike, although both were severely damaged during
    re-enactments of his most famous stunts.

    That bike is great!!!! The one with the ramp that you rev up to about a
    million RPM, and he takes off, right?! Mine is a little beat, too, but
    still usable. I used to set up about 20 plastic cars and rev him up
    until the whole neighborhood heard the flippin' thing and he would take
    off, eventually hitting a wall at some brutal speed. I have him
    displayed on a shelf in my room, but every now and then I take him down
    and let him do his thing!!!!

    I liked watching him crash.

    re.5
    
    >I liked watching him crash.
    
    
    
    
    I can't remember him doing much else...

    Heroes...hmmm...
    
    I guess it depends on what you are talking about.  Sports heroes-
    those in your sport you try to model yourself after (at least in
    ability and perhaps attitude); spiritual heroes- those who may not make
    the newspapers, yet are living examples of how to live for God;
    financial heroes- those who you would like to pattern yourself after
    to be successful in this aspect of life.  Rarely can you find this in
    one person alone.
    
    My hero?  This may sound corny (and perhaps obvious to those who know
    me), but there can be only one choice for me.  There is only one aspect 
    of life that truly matters, that really can make a lasting difference in 
    this world- an aspect that has meaning after you pass on to the next world.
    
    My hero is Jesus.  I did not know Him when he walked this earth, but
    walk this earth He did, and he changed it forever.  People can rightly
    claim that religion has caused many problems in the world, but these
    problems are man's own fault, not the fault of the ideals, the example,
    or the life the Jesus lead while he was here.  He lived the life he
    espoused under difficult times and circumstances and didn't falter. 
    His sacrifice and example- whether you believe Him to have been God as
    well as man or not- live on to this day, to benefit all who believe in
    Him.
    
    The body will wither and die...sooner or later.  How we live our lives
    is all that really matters- not wealth, fame or popularity.  What we
    own forever is our spirit, and it is in this aspect of our existence
    that we can really make a positive, eternal difference in ourselves and
    others.  Jesus laid the foundation and set the example of how to live
    life spiritually to the fullest, in a way that benefits those around
    us; and by following this example, we end up helping ourselves in the 
    process.
    
    I am not a prime (or even a good) example of how to live as Jesus did. 
    Hopefully, I will grow as time goes on, using the example that was left
    by Jesus.  By doing so, even *I* can make a difference that matters.
    
    
    NOTE:  This note is not meant in any way, shape or form to be a
    "thumper" or proslytizing note.  
    
    
    -steve 

    
    Godzilla.

    amen, Steve.

    It's too bad that this topic has been around a whole day and only 3
    heroes (4 if you include Godzilla) have been registered. I agree with
    Steve on Jesus, but he is my savior, sadly, not my hero. I guess I
    should learn to put the two together. Anyway, my point is, are there no
    more heroes, do 'boxers not have heroes, why are Jimmy V, Evel Kneivel,
    Godzilla and Jesus the only ones people have taken the time to mention?
    
    
    					lunchbox

    .10
    
    You want a hero?  Here, take this one:  Paul L. Anderson (PLA)
    
    PLA was my grandfather, my mother's father.  He was a bigoted SOB who
    ridiculed organized religion and actually thought blacks are
    genetically inferior, but he continues to be an inspiration to me
    because it was he whose life showed me that you can do anything you
    want if you're willing to persevere.
    
    In college, he wanted to go out for football.  His parents forbade it,
    saying it was too rough and dangerous.  But they had never heard of
    lacrosse...  He was also an excellent gymnast, specializing in the
    flying rings.  His athleticism stood him in good stead when he later
    lost first one leg, then the other, to diabetes.  Even without his legs
    he was active; he was a woodworker, and he built himself a scooter for
    getting around the house.  Outside, he used strap-on stumps and forearm
    crutches.
    
    He took a degree from Lehigh in chemical engineering, but he never
    worked a day in his life as a chemical engineer.  He became one of the
    foremost pictorial photographers of his time, ranking with Struss and
    Steiglitz.  For years he carried on a feud with Paul Weston; Weston
    insisted that wire-sharp focus was the crucial essential of a good
    picture.  (Like G. B. Shaw's famous remark, "Of course it's a good
    play; he's a good playwright," Weston argued that any picture taken by
    any good photographer could not fail to be excellent if only he'd use
    wire-sharp focus.)  PLA and many like him preferred the softer, more
    artistic focus of the Struss Pictorial Lens (a single meniscus).  Once,
    just to twit Weston, PLA made a picture of a dead fish on a plate. 
    Perfectly composed, meticulously executed, wire-sharp focus and all, it
    was still an awful picture.
    
    PLA hand-sensitized all his own printing papers.  He was a master of
    multiple-gum work; I have a seven-exposure multiple gum that is so
    velvety you could almost wear it.  He was also a master of bromoil, a
    technique that involves bleaching out the silver from a bromide print
    such that the gelatin is left absorbent and then, with s stagfoot
    brush, stippling ink on the surface.  Where the silver image was
    darker, there's more gelatin, so more ink gets absorbed there than in
    lighter areas.  It's devilishly painstaking.
    
    PLA wrote three books on pictorial photography and photographic
    technique; two of them are still in print.  He also wrote dozens of
    short stories for various outdoor magazines and for Boy's Life.  And he
    wrote seven novels, five of them about ancient Rome and the other two a
    pair of coming-of-age tales about boys in a New England private prep
    school.  All of the Roman novels are still in print.
    
    PLA's numerous photography prizes and awards showed me that it's worth
    it to bust your buns to get something perfect.
    
    His writings showed me that you can pick up a career for which you have
    no ostensible qualifications and make a go of it.
    
    His bigotry showed me that even a brilliant person can make a serious
    mistake by judging other people by who their fathers and mothers were
    instead of by what they do.

    Were you lucky enough to know him, or is this based on reading his
    works and from what relatives have told you? Anyway, you're lucky to
    have such strong blood in your veins. Again, my pathetic paragraph
    about Evel Kneivel seems insignifigant compared to Jim Valvano, Jesus
    and Paul L. Anderson.
    
    					dave

    
    OK...for me:
    
    	Anwar Sadat
    	Ishak Rabin
    	Mary, the Queen of the Scotts
    	Steve Callahan (adrift at sea for 76 days alone and survived
        to tell)
    	My cat, Wellie. He wakedd me up at 3am, resulting in my surprising 
    	and stopping a thief on deck, who was ready to take off with 
        my outboard 2 weeks ago.
                                              

     
    preemptive strike here before the linguistic and grammar
    police attack.....
    
    I meant Wellie "woke or had awakened me", no such word as waked or
    wakedd! 

    .12
    
    I knew him a little.  He died when I was 10, but I'd spent a few weeks
    with him over the years.  When I was 8, he gave me an autographed copy
    of one of the prep-school novels.  It was great.
    
    I have some of his photographic equipment, including his cameras.  I'm
    still using some of it, but not the cameras.
    
    I have many of the letters he wrote to my mother; he was an inveterate
    letter-writer, and - as it turns out - an amazing father.
    
    Knievel isn't insignificant, just different.  We find our heroes where
    we may, and everyone's take on what makes a hero is unique.

    My father.  A gentle, yet funny man; son of Welsh immigrants.
    He never learned to read a note of music, yet he could play the
    piano and sing better than most professionals.
    
    He taught me not to hate.
    He taught me to enjoy and appreciate the differences of all our
    	neighbors and friends in an ethnically mixed melting pot called
    	Wyoming Valley, PA.
    He taught me to laugh at myself and NOT to laugh at others; laughing
    	WITH was OK, laughing AT was not.
    He taught me that money was not the measure of success; love of
    	family and friends was the true measure of success.
    
    

    
    My hero is mz_debra. I want to be just like her when I grow up.

    You better start smoking alot of pot!  
    
    Didn't your mom tell you what becomes endowed when you smoke weed?

    Yeah, your stomach.

	Jack, the key there is Battis said when he grows up. That ain't
happenin! Besides, can there really be more than 1 Mz_Debra? 

    
    Mark:  start drinking buttermilk.
    

	You're gonna need to get a couple of cats as well, Mark. And then give
them cool names. 

    
    	RE: -1
    
    	Or name them Fargas and Othello.
    

	I sense that shawn will never reach infinity.....

    
    HEY!!!
    
    
    <glare>
    
    

	Wow.... she gave shawn a glare..... he is screwed now.

    
    I sense a strange disturbance in the force. something I've not felt
    in a very long time.......   shawn is about to be smacked, but good.

    
>	Wow.... she gave shawn a glare..... he is screwed now.
    
    
    	Hmmm, you mean all my 'BOX hoovering might have finally paid
    	off?
    

	The type of screwed I was talking about is closer to being neutered.

    
    	Oh, wonderful ... nobody told me her bite was worse than her
    	bark.
    

	Deb would never dirty her hands over trash like that. I think she has a
friend named Lorena.....

    
    
    	Heroes eh? Here goes:
    
    	My parents (they survived my teenage years...that'd make anyone a
    hero!) :) My mother has recently completed her masters degree in
    counseling psychology and my father is working on his bachelors in
    electrical engineering (he has his associates). My dad will be taking
    early retirement this year and may start doing some consulting. In the
    midst of all this they run a small farm and do many projects for the
    church. 
    
    	My first boss. He owned a christmas tree farm as well as a couple
    of apartment buildings. I started working for him when I was 12yrs old
    and didn't leave the tree farm until he died in Dec 1989 (cancer). He
    instilled in me a sense of dignity and pride....he showed me what it
    was like to work for a living and that nobody owed you anything. You
    made yourself whatever you are and there was no one to blame for your
    place in life but you. When I was out of high-school and working a full
    time job plus the tree farm in the mornings and on weekends (my full
    time job was midnight until 8am...I work the tree farm from 9am-1pm
    weekdays), he'd call me on saturday night and say "You coming to work
    early tomorrow?". If I suggested I might like to sleep in a bit Sunday
    morning and go to church he'd say, "What? You don't like money?". :*)
    Chester T. Oliver Jr. WWII vet, self made millionaire (with only a
    high-school education and a lot of hard work), shrewd investor.  	
    	
        My grandfather. Never graduated high-school but managed to build
    his own home (he wasn't a carpenter...he learned as he went), served in
    the Coast Guard during WWII (cook), put his two daughters through 4yr
    colleges while working 3 jobs 60+hrs a week, and managed to save enough
    to retire comfortably on. He thinks the social security system is silly
    and doesn't even count the check as part of his income. :)
    
    	
    there are other people, but dems da biggees....:)
    
    
    jim

| <<< Note 696.33 by SUBPAC::SADIN "Freedom isn't free." >>>


| there are other people, but dems da biggees....:)


	See, Jim??? The Dems are better! :-)

    
    
    	ah shaddup....
    
    

	:-)

    George Best 
    Eric Cantona
    Pele
    Sir Bobby Charlton
    Jimmy Greaves
    Bobby Moore
    Shaka Hislop
    The Queen Mother
    Billy the Fish
    
    etc,etc.
    
    

    Eric Cantona?  spare us.  the man's gifted, but hero caliber, NOT.
    Assaulting a fan rather disqualifies him.
    
    DougO

    Whilst I take your point,DougO, the "fan" in question was a paid up
    member of the National Front and a racist thug,so frankly he deserved
    a right good kicking.
    
    Not that Eric knew that when he did his kung-fu kick into the crowd.
    However,since that incident he has been as good as gold. And helped
    in a big way Manchester Utd to go to top of the Premier League.
    
    
    

    
    Billy the Fish?????
    
    let me guess, he's a seafood enforcer.

    "Billy the Fish" is a charachter from  a cult English comic called "Viz".
  
     He was a fish who played in goal for Fulchester Utd,and said things
     like "Boss,we`ve got a hill to climb,but the lads are behind you 100%
     at the end of the day. It`s early doors,but if we get a result,we`ll
     be over the moon"etc.
    
     You`d have to be into to football to appreciate the humour.
    
     

The `fan' in question is a known tw@.  Good on the Froggie for trying to give 
him a good slap.

Chris.

Billy Manz sounds like my kinda hero.

    anyone giving up his/her life for someone else