RIP Wes Rucker

[OscarMadison]

Tragic. Way, way too young.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

It says a lot about Wes, who I knew, worked with for a bit, and liked, that the GoFundMe already has over $250K. He was a really good guy and a really hard worker. Such a shame.

Over $335,000 now. One $10,000 donation from Shannon Terry and $5,000 each from Scott Van Pelt and RockyTopInsider.

 

[dixiehack]

You know you had a hell of an impact when you’ve got coaches you covered tearing up.

 

[Turtle Wexler]

Another gut punch. Two great board denizens in two weeks, both too young.

As a former board mentor used to say, let's be careful out there. And let's take care of each other.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

My condolences to all who knew him and are feeling this tragic loss. He sounds like and outstanding guy. How awful.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

Where the wreck happened is a white-knuckle nightmare seven days a week. Decades ago when 640 was conceived, it was truly a bypass around downtown Knoxville. The problem is, Knoxville grew west. Papermill and 640 come together to spit out tons of traffic leading into West Hills and Cedar Bluff. I can easily see why it happened.

I've encountered it, a handful of times, and it scared the hell out of me.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

You know you had a hell of an impact when you’ve got coaches you covered tearing up.

From my handful of interactions with Rick Barnes, I'd say this is in line with his character.

 

[John]

Donations now up over $440K. Incredible.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

You know you had a hell of an impact when you’ve got coaches you covered tearing up.

Wow, that is something. Not every coach would do that...or even most.

 

[John]

Now well over $500K raised.

 

[wicked]

Didn’t mean to be coy, I just couldn’t recall his name. But a search of my DMs has reminded me of his handle. I think he wouldn’t mind me revealing it under these sad circumstances.

He was Hammer Pants.

RIP. We seem to have landed on if someone dies, we’re ok with “outing” them.

 

[dixiehack]

Michael Casagrande with one hell of a job capturing the spirit of the thing. (Switch to read only mode and you don’t need a subscription.

Casagrande: The tragic death of a writer and the words left behind

That’s what made his final professional words so profound to me. And why I wanted to share them with you, because they speak to what I want to convey in this space.

I’ve been fortunate to have this job as a sports columnist for nearly three years. It’s the job I’ve worked my whole career to achieve.

Some days are easier than others in the quest to translate the voice and tone I hear banging in this cavernous cranium to the screen you’re reading now.

In the hour before his death, Rucker spoke the words that explain my professional purpose. He spoke about the phase of his career when he was in an all-out blitz on the powerful.

“Now, I just kinda say, ehh, this is what I think,” Rucker said. “If it bothers you, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to bother you. But, you know, we say what we think.

“You do not need to agree with me. I do not make that a requirement. At all. But you will always know what I think because I’m not smart enough to hide it. I’m not and I don’t care to.”

 

[MileHigh]

RIP. We seem to have landed on if someone dies, we’re ok with “outing” them.

I'm OK with it. If there are objections, I'm also OK having that discussion.

 

[Kelly Franklin]

Did not know Wes well, but we were stringers at the same time for a while, many years ago. Always a nice guy and knew his stuff. Most stringers spend a lot of time driving to get to games so there’s always an extra risk. So sorry for his family.

 

[Driftwood]

I really don't think saying someone - dead or alive - used to post here is outing them, nor should it be controversial.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

It’s not, but his user name was revealed.

 

[Driftwood]

I honestly did miss that part, and I'm honestly surprised he didn't post under his actual name as active as he was a social media.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Rick Barnes doubling down on basic human decency and kindness.

 

[Here me roar]

That's such a decent human thing to do.

 

[MileHigh]

Rick Barnes doubling down on basic human decency and kindness.

Man, I already liked Rick Barnes. God damn, his compassion on this ...

We had so many people reach out to us when we lost my sister and her family. Mind-blowing stuff. Could not handle it. I know we aren't at the scale of Wes, but it was a lot. Again, major condolences to his family. They are dealing with a lot and it's going to take a lot of time.