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Last month we saw this headline, or something like it: Sherman and Grant lead Irish win over Army.
November was big for Civil War remembrance, what with the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address delivered by Abraham Lincoln. Discussion of those times - why Americans fought, what was lost and gained on that battlefield in Pennsylvania, and whether we honor today those principles and sacrifices -- drew all sorts of experts to explicate, postulate and recapitulate on newspaper op-ed pages.
So, when we glanced at a sports section and saw that Notre Dame had beaten the U.S. Military Academy in men's basketball at Indianapolis, 93-60, it's understandable our eyes were drawn to the confluence of the words Sherman, Grant, win, and Army.
Life sometimes presents interesting shorthand.
Garrick Sherman led Mike Brey's club with seven rebounds and had 19 points in that victory over the Black Knights on Nov. 24. Sherman's scoring total tied for the team high with Jerian Grant, who also had eight assists and six steals.
(Army, by the way, is one of only five schools in the NCAA at the time its tournament started in 1938-39 that have yet to earn a berth, along with Northwestern, St. Francis of New York, The Citadel and William & Mary.)
Seeing reference to the Notre Dame seniors inevitably sparked a leap in an historical direction. Astute readers will doubtless come up with important omissions - even fantasy league stats aren't studied as closely as is the Civil War.
| GENERALLY SPEAKING Active ACC Players Who Share Names With Some Prominent Civil War Generals |
|
|---|---|
| Player, School | General Or Elected Leader, Country |
| Lonnie Jackson, BC | Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, CSA |
| Demetrius Jackson, ND | |
| Ryan Anderson, BC |
Robert Anderson, USA$ |
| Justin Anderson, V | |
| Josh Smith, C | Edmund Kirby "Seminole" Smith, CSA\ |
| Jarquez Smith, FS | |
| Adam Smith, VT | |
| Luke Davis, NC | Jefferson Davis, CSA* |
| Rodney Hood, D | John Bell "Wooden Head" Hood, CSA |
| Aaron Thomas, FS | George Henry Thomas, USA |
| Devin Thomas, WF | |
| Quentin Stephens, GT | Alexander Stephens, CSA** |
| Sheldon McClellan, Mi | George Brinton McClellan, USA |
| Brice Johnson, NC | Andrew Johnson, USA# |
| B. J. Johnson, SU | |
| Desmond Lee, NCS | Robert Edward Lee, CSA |
| Garrick Sherman, ND | William Tecumsah Sherman, USA |
| Jerian Grant, ND | Ulysses Simpson Grant, USA@# |
| Jeremi Grant, SU | |
| Will Johnston, VT | Albert Sidney Johnston, CSA |
| C.J. Barksdale, VT | William Barksdale, CSA& |
|
$ Began 1861 as Major Anderson, commanding at Fort Sumter when fired upon to start war. |
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