CGB Hall of Fame: Justin Forsett vs Glenn Seaborg

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Due to the busy weekend schedules for this week and next, the Hall of Fame voting will be a little bit more spread out. Two this morning, and only one each day next week because of the NFL Draft. We'll resume normal contest proceedings next week.

This particular matchup brings two of our most lovable Golden Bears--one for his athletic exploits, the other for his academic endeavors (who was also a big supporter of the athletic programs). The Force vs the Borg!

After the jump, read the cases for each side and then vote in the poll! Polling closes at noon on Friday. The winner will take on Matt Biondi in the second round.

Your winners from last week: Andre Carter (124 votes to Ryan Anderson's 71), Alexis Grey-Lawson (183 votes to Lavelle Hawkins's 101) , Kevin Johnson (228 votes to Robert Jordan's 31), Sean Lampley (165 votes to Bobby Shaw's 48).

Back in the day, danzig wrote one of the classiest tributes ever on this site, dedicated to Forsett (included in the post are his noted highlighted reels), chock full of emotion and memory. Here's the best of that post.

1) He's a great all-around guy:  ALL fans love him.  Great work ethic, high character, good morals, never got in trouble and patiently waited behind Marshawn without bitching about it.  There are so few heros in life, but he's one of them. 

All his life he's been told about the body he doesn't have... the speed he doesn't possess... to accept that he wouldn't go far... and he said to all of them... "F*** that, I don't give a shit what you think!!"  (Actually, he probably would've have said, "Excuse me sir, I beg to differ" but...).  To make it even more improbable, Ty Willingham yanked his only D-1 scholarship at the last minute, but he still became a star at Cal... I bet Ty is sorry now.

His story is downright inspirational and I demand a movie be made about him immediately!  Hey Hollywood, cancel that sequel you're about to make and do this instead:  The Truth Laid Bear: The Justin Forsett Story.  But if it shows up on Lifetime I'm going to F*ing kill you guys.

via sportsnwmag.com

2) He's the son of a preacher man: And so am I.  PKs (pastor's kids) don't have what you would call 'normal' upbringings.  Pastors are incredibly strict with their kids because the kids' behavior reflects on the Pastor and the church itself.  There are only two varieties of PKs... the ones that grow up to be upstanding role models in their communities and the 'rebels' who embrace all evil (I'm the latter).  In short, it's tough to grow up as a PK and PKs the world over have somewhat of a kinship that grows from that.

"Genesis says don't be spilling no seed"

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3) He's got skillz: Admit it, sometimes when Marshawn was bogging down in a game or fumbling, we all secretly whispered to ourselves, "PUT JUSTIN IN !!!"  When announcers said that he could be starting anywhere else in the country... they weren't kidding.  He was an outstanding running back with accolades too long to list here.  He's got moves and knows when to just run downhill. He's chocked my head full of great game memories...I'll miss him so much...sniff, sniff. (tearing up).

I have to admit, I did not expect to see Seaborg's name on this list, but I'm not complaining. Katster gives us her take on why he should be in the Hall of Fame.

Okay, I’m cheating a bit, both because I wasn’t around in his heyday and because he’s technically not an athlete. But, on point one, I got to run his slide projector for a presentation he was making in my History of Cal De-Cal and then shake his hand, so it sorta counts.

Anyway, while Seaborg did his undergraduate work at that inferior UC in Los Angeles, he came to Berkeley for graduate work and never left — coming to be one of our biggest fans all the way around. And most importantly, he was chancellor (chancellor!) of the University during both our last Rose Bowl and our NCAA basketball success of the late 50s. He believed that athletics rounded out the academics — he was Chancellor Tien before Chancellor Tien. He never failed to support the Golden Bears through all the lean times after.

And this doesn’t even cover what he did for Cal academically. He’s the discoverer of plutonium, integral to our war efforts in World War II — so integral, they didn’t let him go to Los Alamos, because his work in Berkeley was that important. He was Ernest Laurence’s right hand man on work with the cycletron. And because of all this, he was awarded the Nobel Prize, and then an even greater prize — element 106, Seaborgium.

A university would be lucky to have such a man associated with them.

Plus, as he was known to point out, his surname was an anagram for "Go Bears!" He was the quintessential Cal Bear, and a model for all to follow.

I humbly submit his name for your consideration.

Tough matchup for both of these guys. Fire away Cal fans.