Who is your Captain?

[Flagg the Wanderer]

I was tangentially involved with a discussion recently where people were talking about what fictional captain they would feel right following - morally, in terms of survival, enjoyment, respect. Not who do you like, but who you would FOLLOW. They started with Kirk/Picard, and branched out into basically anyone who was the leader of a group commanding some vehicle.

Me, I'm not much of a joiner or follower. I tend to be the captain. I do not feel comfortable outsourcing my moral agency. But for the purposes of this question:

I would never follow Kirk. I respected Picard immensely, and generally speaking I would follow him. There is one captain I would follow, even though he operates in the grey. He values his crew, understands that they enable him to operate, takes input, has internalized both his own fallibility and authority, recognizes the distinction between law and morality, understands and values nuance, family, and loyalty. He is not a company man. And he understands that under certain circumstances you have to go to war.

My captain wears a brown duster:



Who's your captain?

 

[jetsknicks1]

 

[chevss454]

 

[Hawg73]

My personality is sort of not a follower, but not really a leader, either.

In terms of fictional leaders, I was a huge fan of James Tiberius Kirk so he's the first one to come to mind.

In real life, my Jr. High football coach was a larger-than-life kind of guy named Ralph Ferrisi, who had a short career in the NFL as a fullback with the
Vikings, but the reason he was so awesome was that he was absolutely hilarious and yet could get you fired up about football. I just looked
up to him because he was relaxed, but in total command. He never acted impressed with himself, but we all were. He was the opposite of
any other coach I ever ran across some of whom were really strange and dark characters. Sadistic perverts.

So, about 25 years after that experience, my wife's department moved into the building where I worked and she introduced me to one
of her co-workers who was none other than him. I'd heard his name, but I couldn't believe it was the same guy. I shook hands with him and
said "we've actually met before. I was a player on your 1970 South Jr. High Spartans" and he just stared at me in disbelief. Finally he responded "you have
got to be shitting me". He didn't remember me at all or much about his tenure there, but I got a chance to be friends with one of my heroes and
remained so until his death. Turns out he was a great bartender, too. RIP, Ralph.

 

[ParanoidPatriot]

Audie Murphy. Even though he was personally flawed in some ways, he was the real deal. To come from his background of poverty, that we can't imagine, and a grade school education to achieve so much, he had to have both smarts and fearlessness.
Certainly my Dad was my role model. And there were others who I both admired and respected.
But if I had to choose one that I would follow, it would Audie Murphy. I may not like him personally, or maybe I would, but I would follow him.(except to a poker game or casino)

 

[BostonTim]

View attachment 18010

Read and loved all the novels, and Capt. Jack Aubrey was certainly one I would follow!

Cheers, BostonTim

 

[bostonsports]

Morgan.