RIP Chris Dufresne

[MeanGreenATO]

Longtime West Coast writer Chris Dufresne has died, per a radio guy in Fresno, Calif. Dufresne worked at the L.A. Times for more than three decades, mostly covering college sports. Was working for his own outfit as of 2015.

Never knew him personally but followed his work from afar. No cause of death yet. RIP.

 

[MileHigh]

Holy ****, seriously? Wow. He was an incredibly gifted and talented writer. Soaked up everything he wrote in the LAT. Very, very sad to hear this. RIP to a fellow Titan.

 

[Shelbyville Manhattan]

R.I.P. And this lede on a story he wrote a few weeks ago is haunting:

"It hit me this week that I may never attend or cover another sporting event in my lifetime.

"A bit dramatic there, Grantland Rice?

"Maybe."

Taking One For The Team

 

[TigerVols]

Well, hell. RIP to the LAT college football writer this Vol fanboi loved to spar with on twitter.

 

[DanOregon]

A must read for college football fans. Man the LA Times had a great line-up back in the day.

 

[Slacker]

A really good writer and reporter. I used his stuff a lot off the wire.

It was always good. It was never filler. ... RIP, man. Sad news today.

 

[ChrisLong]

OMG. This is such sad news. Our careers pretty much lined up. We knew each other, but not really well because I was a beat guy and he was a national writer, so we were looking for different things. We had the same first name, which was funny the few times I messaged with him. I am a few years older (another distressing thought to me).

When he was purged by the L.A. Times, he was one I missed the most. I did subscribe to his blog effort -- TMG Sports -- just so I could read his college football stuff. The other three guys -- Blaudschun, Barnhart and Gould -- I had no use for. His wife was their webmaster and also their accountant. A few months ago, I messaged that I did not intend to renew my subscription the next time it expired because Duf was their best asset and he wasn't writing enough to justify the expense. She messaged back that Maven/SI had taken over the subscriptions. When TMG was absorbed by Maven/SI, it got worse and Duf barely wrote at all, mostly because of the lack of college football.

Duf has earned legendary status in L.A. sports journalism. RIP, one Chris to another.

 

[playthrough]

Oh no. I remember the piece above that Shelbyville Manhattan referenced, damn.

A titan/Titan, indeed.

 

[ChristopherWalsh]

This one hurts.

Those who know me know that I almost never go out the night before a game because I always want to try and be at my best come kickoff. But a couple of years ago at the national championship in San Jose I got off the bus for the media party and the first thing I heard was Tony Barnhart say "There's the man we want to see." He introduced me to Chris and his wife, and Blaudschun, and they wanted to pick my brain about their website and joining Maven.

We parked ourselves at a table, talked shop for a while and then started swapping stories. Mostly I did a lot of listening. Just about every veteran big-name writer who walked through the door made a point to stop by and say hello to them, and many jumped into the conversation for a while.

I had a blast. Kid-in-a-candy-story kind of night.

They ended up taking off just before the party was closed down, and when I got back to the media hotel ran into them in the media room. We kept going. At some point, either that night or the next, Chris gave me a good idea for a series that we did on the site last year.

Easily my favorite time as a sports writer in years.

Special night. Special guy. He's going to be missed, big-time.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

Peace to his family, friends and colleagues.

Whatever he had it seemed like he was taking every precaution.

 

[Tweener]

When I first met Chris years ago, what immediately struck me was how grounded he was for someone so talented and accomplished. Dude was already a legend but didn’t carry himself that way. I’ll always remember that. In an industry not short on ****heads, Chris was a really good human being and a great family man. He’ll be missed.

 

[exmediahack]

Really enjoyed his work in the old Athlon College Football annuals of the 1980's. Snark but smart snark.

 

[Roscablo]

My story is small but the fact I remember I guess shows the overall sentiment here. I covered exactly one game with him. In Wyoming in the early 2000s when they played BYU and BYU was undefeated and people were asking that age old question if they belonged in BCS conversations and a seat at the table. It was before the Utahs and Boises and TCUs had really crashed the party so that's why he was there. To get a look at them and report on it.

I remember being with him on the sideline once the media was allowed down on the field and then of course in interview sessions. I was just a few years out of school, but he asked me tons of questions about the programs that played that night and the league and all that. Goes with the how grounded he was, like Tweener said. Me this no-name barely experienced reporter at a no-name Wyoming paper and the main guy from the L.A. Times is chatting me up about all of it. We even joked around some about the teams and game we just saw. Maybe I would have remembered anyway just because of who he was, but I think an overall experience like that makes it that much more memorable.

And BYU crashed and burned at the end of the season.

 

[HanSenSE]

A must read for college football fans. Man the LA Times had a great line-up back in the day.

Absolutely this! When I returned to California about 15 years ago, the Sunday final edition of the Times was sold at a gas station down the street. Dufrense, Heisler on the NBA, hell, even Plaschke and Simers were my first reads. Astounded me how much Dufrense got into the Sunday column, even the West Coast night games.

RIP.

 

[MTM]

In 1984, I believe, the USFL Los Angeles Express had its media day at a health resort. After the festivities they opened the grounds to us and Chris and I played racquetball. I thought I was pretty good, but he kicked my butt. I never forgot how gracious he was, practically apologizing for beating me so badly.

RIP

 

[MileHigh]

Absolutely this! When I returned to California about 15 years ago, the Sunday final edition of the Times was sold at a gas station down the street. Dufrense, Heisler on the NBA, hell, even Plaschke and Simers were my first reads. Astounded me how much Dufrense got into the Sunday column, even the West Coast night games.

RIP.

No doubt. The Times in the late 1990s into the early to mid-2000s was tremendous. This after their unreal lineup in the 1980s and early 1990s. Their Olympics coverage of 1984 set the gold standard of coverage.

Chris' Thursday college football column was must-read and the first thing I looked for those days in the fall. The Sunday final edition -- I devoured it all and aspired to work at a paper and for a section with such deep resources.

 

[micropolitan guy]

If you followed the Pac-10/Pac-12, he was a must-read. Met him several times on the old Skywriter's Tour and in pressboxes at Microville Tech and in Los Angeles. Never big-timed the guy from the little hometown paper. The LA Times sports department was the gold standard.

 

[MileHigh]

He was pure class. And even beyond college football. He wrote a lot on skiing and cycling as well as college basketball. His features were great. The Times ... man, for so long it was just incredible and I couldn't wait to get it every morning.

 

[HanSenSE]

Award-winning sportswriter Dufresne dies at 62

 

[MileHigh]