Good morning, Gentlemen. Welcome to another SJ.com Awards vote.

2muchcoffeeman · Jan 3, 2009

And I'm going to nominate one more for post of the year. It's also an obit/memorial, written by Piotr Rasputin at 7:12 p.m. EDT June 26. You'll be able to figure out which thread pretty quickly, I think.

Tripp McNeely - AKA FightScribe, AKA GimpyScribe, AKA Big Game, and known to me as James - died this week, aged, um, mid-30s. As most here know, he was depressed over the death of his grandfather, who had raised him like a son. The actual cause is unsure, but it is known that he had stopped eating in his despair over losing his father figure.

If I may:

James and I worked together for five years at one of Singleton's many SoCal newspapers. He was maybe the only guy in the newsroom who everybody both liked and respected. He was one of those uber-grinders who did whatever was necessary to put out the best possible newspaper every single day, including writing, reporting, editing, and giving dudes who weren't pulling their weight (or were getting on his nerves) the red ass when necessary. And of course, coming in on his days off.

James was the type of guy who would call you a "DUNCE!" one moment, and give you the Angels shirt off his back in the next. He was passionate about sports, about his teams. He loved the Rams, the Angels, the Lakers and UCLA. When the rest of us would be lamenting those teams' fates - as I was pissing and moaning about the Lakers to him just last week - he was always the optimistic one. He was a guy who, like most of us, would have days where the reality of this business would beat him down. But he would pull through, and be the same fun-loving, joyful guy by the end of the shift.

He was born with a condition whose name I do not remember, and whose effects were such that he was in a wheelchair for just about his entire life. James had many surgeries as a child, and even in recent years had some days that were much worse than others, physically. But the reason I don't remember the name of his condition is because it meant less than nothing to the attitude he brought to every single day. Note that I said he was "in" a wheelchair, not "confined" to a wheelchair. He worked with the energy of 10 men, and talked smack with the wit of 20 quality comedians. His condition never affected his work, except in the fact he could not drive himself to assignments, and it certainly didn't affect his ability to have longterm relationships with pretty ladies.

He covered high school softball; it was his baby. And, even with his physical limitations and the fact he didn't get to as many games as he would like, the one year I covered the sport, all the coaches first question was where in the hell is James. In recent months, he finally got the job he was made for, as high schools editor. And he endured all the Singleton cuts and kept perservering.

We spoke just last week. He was upset. We talked about his grandfather's passing, spoke of getting through such times, discussed ways to honor lost loved ones by the ways we live. We also talked about the Lakers and did our usual quoting of Andrew Dice Clay to each other. But the guy who usually can be counted on to respond to "Yeah, I'm out here traveling, but my wife is back home" with "Yeah, I know, Piotr. Wanna talk to her?" was down. He was in the dumps because of his grandfather. And just as he always had come back from adversity, I assumed he would do so again, and we would speak soon.

But we won't speak. I would give just about anything to have one more conversation with him, to call each other "DUNCE!!!" one more time, to pat each other on the back for sticking with the Lakers through the recent troubles, to just sit next to James for one more shift on the desk.

Robert Plant's quote on the death of John Bonham is what keeps going through my head. "All I know is I had this great friend, who was so full of life and energy, and now he's gone. It's all so . . .FINAL."

I think that's a paraphrase, but you get the point. Many of us are in shock, and I hope others who knew James post their thoughts on this thread. Thank you all for indulging my need to get some thoughts about our friend down on paper. I'm proud to have called him a friend and sometime mentor. And everything I do in journalism from here on out, I know he will be watching me and thinking of ways to improve my work.

Rest In Peace, James. Know that everyone whose lives you touched - and that's a LOT of people - misses you terribly.

:'(
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Still dusty in here.

KYSportsWriter · Jan 3, 2009

Piotr's and Claws' tributes to James get my vote for POY.

JakeandElwood · Jan 3, 2009

Yeah, it doesn't seem right to just pick one. Keep the suggestions coming for that and thread, my memory is failing big time right now.

luckyducky · Jan 3, 2009

I can't keep track of all the Canuckistanis ... any help?

imjustagirl · Jan 3, 2009

I'll say it: All-Canada is stupid. We don't get an all-Southeast or All-Montana team. We're all one here.

The Canucks were the first to get pissed when I debated making Secret Santa a U.S. only thing for shipping purposes because we're all one family here and no one should care where someone else lives.

Gutter · Jan 3, 2009

Dickens Cider: Rookie of the Year

2muchcoffeeman · Jan 3, 2009

Gutter said:

Dickens Cider: Rookie of the Year
Click to expand...

Ineligible. Not really a rookie.

imjustagirl · Jan 3, 2009

2muchcoffeeman said:

Gutter said:

Dickens Cider: Rookie of the Year
Click to expand...

Ineligible. Not really a rookie.
Click to expand...

Hence the joke.

The Big Ragu · Jan 3, 2009

Hey, just because you have the NFL with the best players, it doesn't mean you can't have a CFL, too.

And before anyone gets upset, I am JOKING.

Fenian_Bastard · Jan 3, 2009

2muchcoffeeman said:

Gutter said:

Dickens Cider: Rookie of the Year
Click to expand...

Ineligible. Not really a rookie.
Click to expand...

I thought I had a lock on ROY.

2muchcoffeeman · Jan 3, 2009

Fenian_Bastard said:

2muchcoffeeman said:

Gutter said:

Dickens Cider: Rookie of the Year
Click to expand...

Ineligible. Not really a rookie.
Click to expand...

I thought I had a lock on ROY.
Click to expand...

I got you down as Comeback Playa of the Year.

The Big Ragu · Jan 3, 2009

Fenian_Bastard said:

2muchcoffeeman said:

Gutter said:

Dickens Cider: Rookie of the Year
Click to expand...

Ineligible. Not really a rookie.
Click to expand...

I thought I had a lock on ROY.
Click to expand...

How do you feel about a lifetime achievement award? We can do the overproduced video introduction.

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Good morning, Gentlemen. Welcome to another SJ.com Awards vote.

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Good morning, Gentlemen. Welcome to another SJ.com Awards vote.

2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

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Gutter Well-Known Member

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