Eagle Boys

*"why did i say the eagle boys ride once more if eagles can fly"*

--Gregory Severin

The **Eagle Boys** were a voting bloc in #vexillology tournaments; namely, FlagVote and its sequel. The bloc, mainly consisting of Greg and Sully, was notable for its fervent support of flags containing eagle emblems and its rallying cry of "CAW", which was often spelled out via emoji react to comments mentioning eagles or countries whose flags contain eagles. The presence of an eagle in a flag was such a strong indicator of it earning support from the two voters that both of their model-predicted ideal flags prominently featured an eagle crest.

## FlagVote

The Eagle Boys asserted themselves as a voting force to be reckoned with from Day 1 of the tournament, when Greg claimed that flags with eagles were superior to their birdless counterparts four matchups in after France was defeated at the hands (claws?) of Montenegro. This sentiment, though never asserted as boldly as then, would continue to permeate the tournament, with Cam frequently getting irritated as flags that he perceived to be weaker than their opponent would advance to future rounds by virtue of their "cartoon birdy." Indeed, many matchups involving eagles seemed to position Cam on the side of the flag lacking the avian emblem, all the while commenting about how he likely picked the losing side considering Greg and Sully's eventual votes. In this regard, the Eagle Boys would be a frequent thorn in Cam's side throughout the original FlagVote.

Perhaps the Eagle Boys' most infamous contribution to FlagVote is when they indirectly set in motion the events leading to Rock the KAZ-BAR. During a matchup between Kazakhstan and Alaska in the fourth round of the original FlagVote, Cam resignedly acknowledged the defeat of Alaska, itself a birdless flag, before Greg had cast the deciding vote. After Alaska eventually lost, Cam began calling attention to the presence (or lack thereof) of eagles on flags before future tournaments. The controversy came to a head when, after Barbados defeated Kazakhstan thanks to eagle defections from both Greg and Sully, Cam marked the two's votes as misclicks and listed Barbados as the matchup loser. This decision was ultimately reversed after intensive deliberation.

## FlagVote 2

The Eagle Boys remained present, though perhaps not as zealous, in FlagPoll and the second FlagVote. Both Greg and Sully consistently rated eagle flags highly enough that they correlated with high scores, and both voters ended up with eagles on their model-predicted ideal flags. However, the two voters were more likely to break from the voting bloc the second time around, and there even existed instances where Cam would vote in support of an eagle flag that members of the Eagle Boys voted against. It is important to note that this is not to say that the eagle phenomenon was nonexistent, though; Cam continued to be stymied by the success of certain eagle-bearing flags like Mexico throughout the 512-flag tournament.

Ultimately, the Eagle Boys were unsuccessful in seeing one of their boys win either tournament. Still, the term itself has become ingrained in FlagVote and #vexillology's history. The trademark "CAW" react (and corollary "SAD CAW" react upon elimination) eventually spread to making other sound effects, notably for the dogs on the Canary Islands' flag's crest. Both the term and the associated emoji reactions have even established a presence in other channels on the Slack, particularly when discussing former Mariners pitcher and notable eagle perch James Paxton.