Unfortunately, I learned today that one my most loyal readers has passed away.
For those of you who don’t know, there was an older gentleman (I’m withholding his name out of respect to his family) who used to regularly e-mail me a couple times a week throughout the football season.
He was a fan of the SEC. I’m a fan of the Big 10. We both were massive fans of the sport. We’d bounce theories off each other, we’d talk predictions, we’d exchange some trash talk and we’d routinely jab each other about our respective teams.
I never met the man in person, but I felt like we had an interesting relationship. Depending on the piece I was publishing, I could almost set my watch to when I knew he’d respond. He was a lot of fun, and I got very used to hearing from him.
We talked on a regular enough basis that when I knew of issues where he lived, I reached out to him to make sure he was okay.
Eventually, the e-mails stopped coming. At first, I wasn’t that concerned. We’re all busy, we all have things to do and I was sure that he was just occupied with other stuff.
When a couple football games rolled by without hearing from him, I checked to see what was going on. Unfortunately, I learned that the man who had entertained me all the time during the football season had passed away shortly before the season began.
It’s kind of weird to explain this situation to an outsider. I never met the man, never talked to him on the phone and honestly don’t even know what he looks like.
Yet, we formed an unlikely friendship over countless e-mails about college football. It’s a great example of how sports are about a lot more than just the scoreboard.
When the Badgers played well, I knew I had an e-mail inbound to congratulate me on the strong performance. Unfortunately, the Badgers sucked last season, and I got a ton of e-mails from him rubbing it in.
I wish he’d made it to this season. I’d be fascinated to hear what he had to say as he also found ways to subtly remind me the SEC was superior.
I never thought the death of a reader would have any kind of impact on me at all, but I guess it’s also not something you really think about when trying to entertain the masses.
To my most loyal reader, we had a hell of a run and I’ll be enjoying a beer for you this weekend. I know you’re up there looking down furiously writing on a notepad all your thoughts about our rivalry.
Rest easy, big guy.