OT: the origin of Burn the Boats
Semi-useless information: I believe the concept of burning the boats came from Tariq Bin Ziyad in his conquest of Spain, in the 8th century, whereby he actually burned his army's ships (whereas Cortes merely grounded his ships), and delivered this speech:
"Oh my warriors, whither would you flee? Behind you is the sea, before you, the enemy. You have left now only the hope of your courage and your constancy. Remember that in this country you are more unfortunate than the orphan seated at the table of the avaricious master. Your enemy is before you, protected by an innumerable army; he has men in abundance, but you, as your only aid, have your own swords, and, as your only chance for life, such chance as you can snatch from the hands of your enemy. If the absolute want to which you are reduced is prolonged ever so little, if you delay to seize immediate success, your good fortune will vanish, and your enemies, whom your very presence has filled with fear, will take courage. Put far from you the disgrace from which you flee in dreams, and attack this monarch who has left his strongly fortified city to meet you. Here is a splendid opportunity to defeat him, if you will consent to expose yourselves freely to death. Do not believe that I desire to incite you to face dangers which I shall refuse to share with you. In the attack I myself will be in the fore, where the chance of life is always least."
WAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!
Sooners are gonna get it.
"Burn all of their f***ing schooners"?
love it. Kinda Capone-esque, a la Untouchables.
I want them DEAD. I want their families DEAD. And their houses burned to the ground.
Yeah. This is what is about. Positivity is fir bitches. Kill them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In fact, the historical accuracy of even this event is questioned by historians. The first reference to the burning of the boats and speech appeared in the 17th century, nearly a millennium after it supposedly took place.
Well, I think the ships may have actually been burned, but what is questioned is the speech. Anyway, we are left with only one confirmed instance in which this rallying concept was actually used: February through March of 2009.
BEAT THE SOONERS!
I believe the concept of "Burn the boats" originated with the despotic EEEEEEEE Barwis the Terrible and his army of wolves in the late 11th Century
The name for Gibraltar comes from the Arabic Jab-al-tariq: Mountain/Rock of Tariq
March 20th, 2009 at 10:08 PM ^
"The Rock of Gibraltar" = "The Rock of the Rock of Tariq"? Nice.
Reminds me of a motel in northern Michigan, used to be called "The El Cortez"
March 21st, 2009 at 12:14 AM ^
Another fun Iberian place-name: the Val d'Aran in Catalonia. Its name means "Valley of the Valley."
translates to Kayser Soze.
Though I must say, this is definitely not "OT". This is very much... uh... "T", dammit.
Regardless of where it came from, we must remember: There are/were ships somewhere and we should/did incinerate them to tiny bits.
I thought this was another useless thread about wanting to lynch me or about who I am or am not.
To stay on track, if U of M can pull off the biggest upset of the tournament tomorrow, they'll have taken down a huge armada of cannons in Oklahomo.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:20 PM ^
Belien: (to Manny) What is best in life?
Manny: To crush the Sooners, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.