Those Most Unlikely .......

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:17 am

...... to make a success of their chosen field.

Whenever I reflect on this subject, the great jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt comes to mind—he only had two functioning fingers on his fretting hand.

The guy I keep coming back to, though, is Willie 'Fatty' Foulkes, Chelsea Football Clubs first goalkeeper and first captain. Yes, that Chelsea. Here's a photo of him in his physical prime going about his business.

He was said to be 'surprisingly agile'. It's also said that opponents often didn't try to shoot past him but aimed at his most vulnerable part, his stomach, believe it or not.

I'm sure there must be loads of other examples. Post your favourites.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:19 am

Hey, do you know Hot Club Of San Francisco? I saw them perform and they played a lot of Django Reinhardt's music, and talked about him and his 2 fingers a lot.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:21 am

Cranberry wrote:Hey, do you know Hot Club Of San Francisco? I saw them perform and they played a lot of Django Reinhardt's music, and talked about him a lot.

He inspired their name.

I bet the lead guitarist didn't copy the two finger approach though.

thirdfipple · Post by **thirdfipple** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:22 am

always thought Babe Ruth's appearance did not match his prowess.

uhmm more to my heart

Lyle Lovett with Julia Roberts, got my hopes up for a bit for us run-of-the-mill visages, down in flames...sigh

Course the fact that he is quite the entertainer and I am not was irrelavent!

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:23 am

thirdfipple wrote:always thought Babe Ruth's appearance did not match his prowess.

uhmm more to my heart

Lyle Lovett with Julia Roberts, got my hopes up for a bit for us run-of-the-mill visages, down in flames...sigh

Course the fact that he is quite the entertainer and I am not was irrelavent!

I think what we need here are revealing photos of ALL the parties.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:24 am

Wombat wrote:
Cranberry wrote:Hey, do you know Hot Club Of San Francisco? I saw them perform and they played a lot of Django Reinhardt's music, and talked about him a lot.
He inspired their name.

I bet the lead guitarist didn't copy the two finger approach though.

No, but he did pronounce the name of our town (Berea) wrong. It rhymes with Korea, but he said "Bay Ray Ah" and that made everybody hate him.

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:26 am

I had no idea Django didn't have full use of his fretting hand.

That just makes me respect him even more.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:02 am

Congratulations wrote:I had no idea Django didn't have full use of his fretting hand.

That just makes me respect him even more.

His left hand was badly burnt in a fire in the late '20s, just after the start of his professional career. He lost the use of two fingers and had to teach himself to play with this limitation.

Montana · Post by **Montana** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:11 am

Tom Dempsey, place-kicker for the NFL in the 1970's, was born with no toes on his kicking foot. And yet he kicked a record 63 yard field goal to win the game in 1970. No one has yet surpassed him...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Dempsey

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:18 am

Montana wrote:Tom Dempsey, place-kicker for the NFL in the 1970's, was born with no toes on his kicking foot. And yet he kicked a record 63 yard field goal to win the game in 1970. No one has yet surpassed him...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Dempsey

You kick a football with your instep not your toes. I wonder how much of a disadvantage this was. I really don't know: just a thought. It would be a serious disadvantage walking or running, but kickers in American football don't have to do much of either do they?

Montana · Post by **Montana** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:32 am

Wombat wrote:You kick a football with your instep not your toes.

Actually, Dempsey was at the end of the era when kickers kicked straight ahead with their toes, a la rugby style. If he would have had to use his instep, I think he might have been at an even greater disadvantage...
http://everything2.net/?node_id=758236

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:09 pm

Helen Keller.

Slan,
D.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:16 pm

Montana wrote:
Wombat wrote:You kick a football with your instep not your toes.
Actually, Dempsey was at the end of the era when kickers kicked straight ahead with their toes, a la rugby style. If he would have had to use his instep, I think he might have been at an even greater disadvantage...
http://everything2.net/?node_id=758236

I think that article must be wrong. Rugby kickers do not toe poke except when dribbling the ball a few yards to get past an opponent about to tackle. Likewise, soccer players and Australian footballers never toe poke except when kicking a goal from point blank range where speed of execution is all that counts.

When taught football (Australian and soccer) as a child, I was taught never to toe poke and that if I attempted to kick a ball any distance with my toes I was likely to break them. I suppose if you were place kicking for goal from not very far out and you had boots that heavily protected the toe region you might be able to toe poke without coming to grief. Try punting with your toes, but don't send the medical bills to me afterwards.

rh · Post by rh » Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:55 pm

Congratulations wrote:I had no idea Django didn't have full use of his fretting hand.

That just makes me respect him even more.

actual vids at http://www.about-django.com/news/videos/videos.php

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:13 pm

Bill "Superfoot" Wallace

A judo accident cost him the use of his right leg in martial arts tournaments, ripping the ligaments in his right knee. Retrained in shorin-ryu karate, eventually developing a 60mph left-legged kick.

Retired in 1980 Professional Karate Association (PKA), undefeated over 15 years and 23 competitions. Named Black Belt Magazine's Hall of Fame Man of the Year once, and Competitor of the year twice over a 7 year span.