RIP to one of our own, one of our best -- Craig Stanke

[Moderator1]

It is with tremendous sadness I bring you some awful news - Craig Stanke has died.

Craig was a deputy managing editor at CBSSports.com. He was one of the best people I ever met. He was one of the best journalists I knew. He was perhaps our most respected member.

It was not much of a secret. Craig posted here as SF_Express.


Will post arrangements as soon as I have them.


A couple of other threads were started earlier. We removed those and we appreciate the understanding of those who started them. We'd been asked by CBS to hold off until some family members could be notified and we of course respected that.

The entire world, not just our world, is a much poorer place today. This is very, very sad news

 

[Lucas Wiseman]

This is awful news and all of us here at SportsJournalists.com send our condolences to his family and the folks he worked with over the years. He was a great contributor to the site and we will miss him greatly.

 

[steveu]

Aw, Moddy... terrible, terrible news indeed. My condolences to his family and friends.

 

[blacktitleist]

Wow.

R.I.P.

And, thank you.

 

[Moderator1]

I've cried while reading posts, this may be the first time I cried while posting. It is said too easily when people die that they were great and all that. Craig was great, in just about every way. His posts were him, through and through. One of my great memories was a night in Ft. L when CBS brought in the original editors for their Rapid Reports project. We went to one of Craig's favorite hangouts. I could have listened to his stories all night.

 

[HanSenSE]

RIP ... although it doesn't seem like enough.

 

[JackReacher]

Wow. Awful.

RIP.

 

[MileHigh]

This is crushing. Never met Craig, but knew of him and interacted with him here a lot. A true journalist who I found agreeing with on virtually everything about the business. Earlier this year, we were on the opposite side of a running debate that I posted something to the effect, "I'm disagreeing for the second time with SF that I need to take a break from here and rethink things."

A giant on this board who will be sorely missed.

RIP.

 

[imjustagirl]

I was thinking of Craig after I got the phone call today. I remembered this post he made on Ron's RIP thread.

There are times when being "old school" can be a handicap in this much-changed media world we've found ourselves in, but no matter how much things have changed, there's still a lot to be said for many of the basics. Ron was a basics kind of guy, and he was a good counterbalance to all the crap we now find ourselves dealing with on a regular basis.

Figured that just about summed up Craig. There was no one on this site after Ron died I respected more than Craig. I always assumed we'd meet up some day.

My best thoughts to all those he's left behind.

RIP.

 

[Double Down]

This is awful. SF was truly one of best people here to talk about journalism with, and thus, life. Very crushed to hear this news.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Oh, no.

I think I got something out of every post he ever made here. Did not have the chance to know him in real life and my thoughts are with all of you who did.

 

[Moderator1]

I also can't emphasize enough how appreciative I am of lantaur and hondo understanding the situation about the threads they started. Certainly wasn't trying to "scoop" them with something like this - this is very recent and CBS wanted to be sure his family knew. Craig knew so many people in so many places and no one wanted to have someone, without meaning harm, to call his sister and offer condolences before she knew.

This is a big strong kick to the gut for all of us. This was a guy who loved the business, loved every bit of it. Loved talking about the business. Hell, just loved talking to people. He just did a half marathon! He called not long ago to talk about someone CBS was considering and it was 30 minutes before we got on topic. A wonderful, wonderful guy.

 

[21]

I literally stopped breathing when I saw Lucas tweet about this a few minutes ago. I cannot believe it.

Can anyone say what happened?? He was a huge workout guy, running and doing all kinds of great things.

Craig was one of the true SJ greats, for all the right reasons.

I just don't know what to say. Heartbroken and so so deeply sad for his family. RIP, my friend.

 

[Zeke12]

Dammit, this is awful news.

One of the most thoughtful posters here.

 

[Moderator1]

21, they think it was a heart attack. Went for a run, didn't feel well, went to lie down. Again, this is all very fresh so no one knows for sure yet. Will post details when I have them, am going to try and make the service.

 

[Colton]

I was thinking of Craig after I got the phone call today. I remembered this post he made on Ron's RIP thread.

There are times when being "old school" can be a handicap in this much-changed media world we've found ourselves in, but no matter how much things have changed, there's still a lot to be said for many of the basics. Ron was a basics kind of guy, and he was a good counterbalance to all the crap we now find ourselves dealing with on a regular basis.

Figured that just about summed up Craig. There was no one on this site after Ron died I respected more than Craig. I always assumed we'd meet up some day.

My best thoughts to all those he's left behind.

RIP.

Perfect, IJAG. Just perfect.

Best to Craig's family and friends.

RIP...

 

[Cosmo]

This is awful. SF was truly one of best people here to talk about journalism with, and thus, life. Very crushed to hear this news.

Can't do any better than this. Just crushing. Thoughts to his family.

 

[Alma]

Didn't know him. Respected his posts. Respected his Web site, too. Prayers.

Go hug somebody you care about. Or call them up.

 

[21]

He tweeted yesterday morning that he made a last minute decision to run a 5K after running 10 miles Saturday and 6 miles Sunday.

So ****ing unfair.

 

[Care Bear]

I think I got something out of every post he ever made here. Did not have the chance to know him in real life and my thoughts are with all of you who did.

Exactly. My thoughts are with his family and friends. A tremendous loss.