History Bracketology Elite 8

Elite 8

Confucius over Peter the Great

Ramses the Great over Hammurabi

Jesus over Augustus

Newton over Einstein

Top 10 Baseball Moments

Good topic for a holiday weekend.

Here are my top 10 baseball moments (regular season only). These are games I saw on TV or Radio as opposed to at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull or the Copa.

Arranged Chronologically:

1. Tigers go 35-5 (1984). We will not see this again.

2. Morris throws a No-Hitter (4-7-84): The signature moment of the 35-5 start.

3. The Sandberg Game (June 23, 1984): A third moment from 1984?? Bruce Sutter was unhittable. Sandberg hit 2 game tying homers off Sutter in a comeback. This was a signature moment for the 1984 Cubs. Then came Garvey...

4. Mets: 16 Braves: 13 (7-4-85 and 7-5-85): A marathon in the rain. 19 innings! Atlanta scored 4 in the 8th to take the lead. Mets tied in the 9th. Keith Hernandez went 4 for 10 and hit for the cycle. Each team scored twice in the 13th. Mets took the lead in the top of the 18th. Pitcher Rick Camp hit an 18th inning homer to tie the game. New York scored 5 in the 19th. Atlanta scored twice and had the tying runs on when Ron Darling struck out Rick Camp to end it. A postgame fireworks show followed...at 4am. A fan summed it up best with a sign "What the Hell is going on?"

5. Pete Rose gets hit 4192 (9-11-85): 1985 was the year of the milestone and Rose finally passed Cobb. Amazing for a guy people said had no talent. If you google, Pete Rose and 4192, a billion sites pop up hocking memorabilia and autographs. Who wants that honey, Pete needs money. (Smashing Pumpkins reference there!)

6. Bob Horner hits 4 home runs in a game (7-6-86): and we saw it on tape delay...Ted Turner's idiotic Goodwill Games (designed to end the Cold War and bring peace and harmony to the universe) preempted the game's normal start time.

7. The Comeback: Detroit: 1 Blue Jays: 0 (October 4, 1987):The Tigers trailed the Toronto Blue Jays by 3 1/2 with a week to go. Kirk Gibson hit a dramatic homer off Tom Henke in Toronto to propel the Tigers to a comeback. Detroit did not lose another game until the LCS. Toronto did not win another game that season. The comeback was capped by Frank Tanana's 1-0 victory on the season's final day. Larry Herndon's 2nd inning homer off Jimmy Key was the game's only score.

8. Nolan Ryan. I don't know where to start...No hitter #5 (1981), #7 (1991), Strikeout #4000 (Danny Heap of the Mets), the now legendary pummeling of Robin Ventura...

9. Ripken passes Gehrig (9-6-95) : This was a night. Ripken passed Lou Gehrig, the number was unveiled on the warehouse, Cal hit a homer, he did a victory lap around the field. Bill Clinton showed up, but who cares? Joe Dimaggio was there!

10. Craig Biggio's 3000th Hit (6-28-07): Biggio is known for his messy helmet, being an all-star at two positions, and for being a hard nosed player. He played the game the way it should be played. He singled for hit 3000 and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. He finished the game with 5 hits and helped the Astros to a win. After the hit, Biggio called longtime team mate Jeff Bagwell out to share his moment.

Rock Countdown Recap 51-100

51. The Yardbirds
52. George Harrison
53. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
54. Billy Joel
55. Paul McCartney
56. Paul Simon
57. CSNY
58. REM
59. Radiohead
60. Prince

61. The Sex Pistols
62. Aerosmith
63. Pearl Jam
64. Guns n Roses
65. Sly and the Family Stone
66. Bob Marley
67. Sam Cooke
68. The Grateful Dead
69. Wilson Pickett
70. Jeff Beck

71. Steely Dan
72. CCR
73. Blondie
74. Ozzy Osbourne
75. Rush
76. Bill Haley and The Comets
77. The Animals
78. Fats Domino
79. Dion
80. Genesis

81. Bon Jovi
82. Carlos Santana
83. ZZ Top
84. The Mamas and the Papas
85. Lynyrd Skynrd
86. Allman Brothers Band
87. Dire Straits
88. Judas Priest
89. Coldplay
90. Green Day

91. KISS
92. Smashing Pumpkins
93. Rage Against The Machine
94. Soundgarden
95. Motley Crue
96. Def Leppard
97. Weezer
98. Tool
99. Foo Fighters
100. Ringo

History Bracketology Sweet 16

Sweet 16:

Confucius over Chu Hsi

Peter the Great over Lao Tzu

Ramses over Aesop

Hammurabi over Menes

Jesus over Caesar

Augustus over Aristotle

Newton over Galileo

Einstein over Gutenberg

Turning Points in History: Confucius (551-479 BC)

Confucius is one of history’s great philosophers. His teachings have influenced China, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Japan. All he wanted was a government job. He never got it and thought his life a failure.

Confucius lived in an unstable time in Chinese history. It was a period of corruption and endless warfare. He wanted to return China to a golden age. So, he pushed for conservative reforms. The Chinese sage emphasized governmental morality, justice, and correct social etiquette.

His rules for behavior were strict. They dealt with personal morality and ethics. He also believed in merit and learning. His thoughts slowly gained strength and were ascendant about 300 years after his death. In the 20th century, the Maoists attempted to eliminate all Confucian thinking from China. They believed it antiquated. They failed and Confucius remains important to China and the Far East to this day.

Important writings include: Analects and The Five Classics.

#51 The Yardbirds

The Yardbirds produced three of the top 15 guitarists in rock history. They were the link between British blues and the psychedelic movement. They began with the blues and covered Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Howlin’ Wolf, and others. Their biggest hit was their third single, “For Your Love.” This was not blues. The move to pop caused Clapton to leave the group in protest. They continued with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck.

A band with two guitar gods can not survive. Beck was fired. Page continued on and like Beck, continued experimenting with new sounds. Everything they did was new at the time. They pioneered distortion, feedback, and fuzz tone. The band laid the groundwork for Led Zeppelin.

Rock n Roll Moment: This band produced Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton.

Essential Yardbirds:

Having a Rave Up (1965)
Roger the Engineer (1966)

Yardbirds Top 10:

For Your Love
My Girl Sloopy
Train Kept A Rollin’
Ten Little Indians
Smokestack Lightning
I’m a Man
Over Under Sideways
Down
New York City Blues
Happenings
Ten Years Time Ago
Heart Full of Soul

History Bracketology Round 2 (Part 2)

Western Bracket

Isaac Newton over Elizabeth I
Johann Gutenberg over Napoleon
Albert Einstein over George Washington
Galileo Galilei over Charles Darwin

Ancient & Medieval Western Bracket

Jesus Christ over - William the Conqueror
Julius Caesar over St. Paul
Aristotle over Alexander the Great
Augustus Caesar over Constantine the Great