Tribute To Our Fallen Brothers And Sisters

[vette5573]

After the passing of Slick, I thought that it would be nice to tack up a thread to say a few words about all the friends we have lost since we have been together both here, on the bbwc and as Giant fans.

This is to honor all of you:

Wellington Mara
Gabes
Christopher Allen
Mojo (John Morrison)
Evan Bedell
JanInNorway (Jan Samuelsson)
TuckerF (Gerry)
Slick (Tom O'Hara)
Sam56
Paul Rousse (Tailgate and Camp Friend)
Chief (Burt)
Phyllis (President Rick's wife and friend to many BBH members)

Please feel free to say share what you know about these fine men and any memories and experiences you have with them.

[LennG]

Great Idea Ed. I understand many here do not know some of these people, who helped shape our past boards and this one, so some recollections will help them understand how special they were.

Out of the 6 names, I had the privilege of meeting three of them. Evan and Tucker only once, but my time with them was great. We all met up at one of our in season get togethers to watch a game. I believe Evan had planned it and it was such a great pleasure to meet him for the first time. I just love being able to put a face to a name that I have been conversing with for years.
Both Evan and Gerry were great to be around, very friendly, knowledgeable and so easy to talk to. If memory hold, Evan passed very soon after that meeting, and we all were truly shocked. I remember Evan talking about next year trying to get more folks to attend. Two very nice gentlemen.

Slick, as he just passed, I am still in a bit of a shock about. I never met him, but I have conversed with him for maybe 10 years and I always considered him a friend. He was always polite, thoughtful and respectful of all other posters. Just a pleasure to talk Giants football with.

My memories of Chris Allen are filled with wonderful memories of his unique talent of basically knowing anything and everything about the NY Giants. For those that do not know, Chris died very young, from, what I believe, were complications after some surgery. I believe he was 39. But in his years, he was, without a doubt, a walking expert on everything Giants. And he never failed to let those know, that scoffed at certain things, that we needed to be respectful and civil and never talk bad about our Giants. I never met Chris and never spoke to him personally, but I had many exchanges with him, conversations with him about many things. Our favorite was whether or not Joe Namath belongs in the HOF. Our battles over that were legendary. Before he passed, I thought I had him seriously thinking of attending training camp the following year. He was an ex QB in college and knew the game inside out. he had read every book about the Giants and was our history expert on anything Giants. a true loss for our board.

Mojo and Gabes, where to start. Mojo  I met several times and there was never a nicer man you would want to meet. For those that didn't have the privilege of even knowing him, when he found out he was sick, he posted a sort of accounting of what he was going thru, different stages of his treatment and when he knew the end was near, his final thoughts. Truly one of the bravest men I ever met. I spoke to him over the phone maybe a week before he passed and he still had that sort of twinkle in his voice.Another who never had a bad word to say about anyone, and if any poster sort of got out of line, he had a way of personally writing to them, or just speaking to them and all of a sudden, things were OK again. For those that do not know, Mojo's son Aaron also posts here from time to time. Many of us met him and Mojo's family at one of our BB Q's,and several of us went to his gravesite to pay their respects. he lived in the Albany area, and never failed to attend any of our functions there.
Again, one of the nicest men anyone would ever want to meet.
Which brings us to Gabes. Gabes was the first of our crew to have passed away. He was a doctor by trade and a storyteller by luck. I never had the privilege of meeting Gabes face to face, but we talked on the phone weekly, and I considered him a very close friend. I remember when he told me about his sickness. he said he was out flying a kite or something and he felt very dizzy. he went to the doctor and they found he was sick. I remember his words saying one day you are alive and well, and the next you are dying. Very sad, but he never dwelled on that. I used to send him jokes every day thru email, and I also remember before he passed, I spoke to him on the phone and he told me those jokes brought so much joy to his life when so many other things were not going well. It made me feel I was a help to him during his illness.
Drake was a very good friend of Gabes also, visiting him. between myself and Drake, Gabes became a legend on the BBWC as stories of Gabes, the 'Golden Hoofer', the CIA agent, the acrobat, the man who personally won WWII, who found gold in CA, and so many other things, became the stuff legends were made of. There hasn't been a good Gabes story floating around for so many years, I truly miss them.
And remember Gabes constant battles with Painter. I call them battles but they really weren't. They used to throw all these words and expressions back and forth, words that no one has ever heard of, but these two would try to outdo each other, with Gabes usually holding his own. Just great stuff.
I guess I was closest to Mojo and Gabes, and really miss them to this day. I remember sitting next to Mojo on the hill at training camp, dissecting the Giants for the coming year. Listening to his thoughtful insight on the players and on the team. Gosh how I wish we could be doing that again.
Someday, when I am not around anymore, maybe we will. and I have some great jokes for Gabes.

Thanks for letting me remember these great people.

[weeze]

i am not very good at this sort of thing, ive never handled death very well even within my own family. I do wish you would add Jan Samuelsson (jan in norway} to the list please.

[vette5573]

i am not very good at this sort of thing, ive never handled death very well even within my own family. I do wish you would add Jan Samuelsson (jan in norway} to the list please.

Of course John.

[vette5573]

Great Post Len.

[vette5573]

I never met Gabes, but I remember one day after being new to posting on the bbwc, he sent me a message. I was impressed that he actually took the time to make a nice comment about one of my posts. After that we exchanged a few times. He was a true gentleman and was not just respected on that old version of the board, he was loved.

I also never met Chris Allen. Len's memory is the same as mine. Chris would post a lot on the bbwc. He would get into many discussions about history and the x's and o's of the game. He needed to respect your knowledge of the game or else you were just a "casual fan". I found out more about him after his passing from a friend of his and we kept in contact for a little while after that.

Then there was John Morrison (Mojo). I considered John my friend. We met up in Albany for camp a few times. One time just the two of us. We tossed the football back and forth as we discussed the team. We went to a game together on my birthday on a beautiful September Sunday and the Giants beat the Redskins. That was a great tailgate and a great day. We would keep in touch by E-mail and by phone, even through his illness. I'll never forget the day he finally felt well enough to speak to me after battling throat cancer and called me in the middle of the day just to tell me how much he appreciated my friendship and the friendship of all the folks from the board that he met and knew. I arranged a phone call the very next home game about a couple of weeks before he passed away at one of our tailgates and John was able to speak to his friends for the last time. That next summer we met Aaron and his mother Carol and the rest of the Morrison family at our BBQ get together. Many of us went to his gravesite to pray and pay our respects. I will never forget my friend John Morrison and the man he was.

I met Evan and Gerry at get togethers. Both were fine men. Evan's death came as a real shock as he passed away a couple of weeks after we were all together. Slick was a long time poster who would always give us the scoop of what was going on in the Philly area as he lived there. A real good guy. Gerry was just a quite gentleman who enjoyed coming to get togethers and being with the group. We all had dinner one night and we met his wife who came with him for the weekend festivities. His passing just blew me away.

Last but not least, Wellington Mara. I met Well a couple of times in the touchdown club before Giants games. He was so down to earth and personable. I actually went to his wake viewing to pay my respects to the man who gave so much to the game of football and set the bar to the integrity of the organization and to ownership of a team in the National Football League. I remember that I planned to be in NYC that day and I took the Subway from where I was. As I walked the few blocks to the memorial home, I passed Giant Fan after Giant fan coming and going wearing their colors to pay their respects to the man. It was surreal. I spoke to a member of the family and gave him a printout of the memorial thread and all the touching comments from the members of the board. They gave me memorial cards and I mailed them to the members who requested one. This true Giant of a man will also never be forgotten.

[BlueMoshik]

To put things in perspective: some of the people listed here were Giants message boards pioneers - some of the very first people to use the fledgling internet, back in the mid-90s, to build and participate in an online community of Giants fans. It was a very interesting thing that way. It was also a learning process. We were all trying to figure out how to use this new medium to have conversations. The etiquette wasn't as settled as it is today, and not everyone (myself included) knew how to handle the anonymity that went with it. It got quite heated at times, far more than this board or even the current BBWC ever does. But it enabled people to speak across regions, sometimes across the world (there was an early feature on the old graffiti wall and then board that let you see where everybody else was in the world, which at the time was very cool and novel).

Regarding specific people: I never met any of them so my impressions were those of a fellow poster.

Christopher Allen was memorable. No one ever took an internet message board more seriously. He saw his role as a gatekeeper - he greeted almost any new poster with a comment about the "casual fan'. He had a profound hatred of the AFL and all former AFL teams (this was the source of his hostility to Joe Namath). He also saw himself as a protector of the reputation of Wellington Mara and the team's ownership and would get furious if someone criticized the way the team was being run. He was a staunch defender of Jim Fassel and some of his battles with others on the board (Retro in particular) were legendary. When he died, many people were stunned to discover he was 41. They had him pegged as a guy who was much older.

Gabe - I remember him as a humorous poster with a light touch - he didn't seem to have much to say about football or the Giants, but genuinely enjoyed interacting with people on the board. People genuinely liked him, because he was so friendly.

Mojo - His football understanding was astonishing. He was very welcoming and friendly to new posters. He exuded warmth, sympathy, and intelligence. As far as I could tell, the only way to get him mad was to say a bad word about Harry Carson, his favorite player.

A question to those of you who were on the old boards - what was the format that was used around 1999-2000, before the transition to BBWC, when MOTM actually was transitioning out? Wasn't there a guy called Steve who "owned" the board in some way and was the moderator-ruler of it? Just curious if anyone remembers.

[MightyGiants]

My memories of the posters

Gabes- was before my time, but from the old posts I saw he was a true gentleman

Chris Allen-  I never met a more serious or better informed fan.   Chris Allen was a true football historian and he had a very solid knowledge of the game.   He may have been a bit prickly, but he also challenged us as fans to raise our knowledge and understanding of the game.  That was a special gift and his passing is what inspired me to put so much time and effort into increasing my understanding and knowledge of the game.

Mojo-  Was a good man, a good fan and an excellent poster

Evan-  The guy was so strong looking and vibrant.  I was shocked to hear he died shortly after I met him.  Evan was a good man who brought a light hearted sense of humor to the board.  A good man and fan.

Jan-  I didn't know him very well

Tucker-  Was a smart and reasonable man who always conducted himself in a honorable and good fashion.   He lived a great life in service to others and he was truly a valued member of the community.

Slick-  A great guy with a terrific sense of balance and humor.  His presence on the board was always a positive and he will be greatly missed.

[terrymeisner]

 A question to those of you who were on the old boards - what was the format that was used around 1999-2000, before the transition to BBWC, when MOTM actually was transitioning out? Wasn't there a guy called Steve who "owned" the board in some way and was the moderator-ruler of it? Just curious if anyone remembers.

__________________________________________________

bluem....i think you are thinking of larry simmons, who co-owned the site with adrienne when it first started....go Giants!!!!!

http://web.archive.org/web/19961029222717/http://www.bbwc.com/

[vette5573]

A question to those of you who were on the old boards - what was the format that was used around 1999-2000, before the transition to BBWC, when MOTM actually was transitioning out? Wasn't there a guy called Steve who "owned" the board in some way and was the moderator-ruler of it? Just curious if anyone remembers.

__________________________________________________

bluem....i think you are thinking of larry simmons, who co-owned the site with adrienne when it first started....go Giants!!!!!

http://web.archive.org/web/19961029222717/http://www.bbwc.com/

Did anyone actually ever meet Adrienne?

[BlueMoshik]

A question to those of you who were on the old boards - what was the format that was used around 1999-2000, before the transition to BBWC, when MOTM actually was transitioning out? Wasn't there a guy called Steve who "owned" the board in some way and was the moderator-ruler of it? Just curious if anyone remembers.

__________________________________________________

bluem....i think you are thinking of larry simmons, who co-owned the site with adrienne when it first started....go Giants!!!!!

http://web.archive.org/web/19961029222717/http://www.bbwc.com/

Thanks, Terry. No, i remember the early days but I'm thinking of the transition period in 2000. I think the fellow's name was Steve Jones. He ran the board the Super Bowl year. it was kind of a rough and tumble board that year. MOTM was mostly AWOL. There were transitions having to do with the dot-com bubble ending, as the board passed from owner to owner. (and eventually landed with scout).

[LennG]

A question to those of you who were on the old boards - what was the format that was used around 1999-2000, before the transition to BBWC, when MOTM actually was transitioning out? Wasn't there a guy called Steve who "owned" the board in some way and was the moderator-ruler of it? Just curious if anyone remembers.

__________________________________________________

bluem....i think you are thinking of larry simmons, who co-owned the site with adrienne when it first started....go Giants!!!!!

http://web.archive.org/web/19961029222717/http://www.bbwc.com/

Did anyone actually ever meet Adrienne?

I was going to ask YOU that??

She was a regular season ticket holder who used to say where her group tailgated. she always invited any and all to stop by. Don't know who did and didn't.

[weeze]

yes i did/ met her at a giants home game.

[drakew]

"This is very difficult for me" posts the softspoken, darkly handsome man in the blue Giants tie. "As I seem to miss my friends more as time goes by. I remember the Golden Hoofer, his gentle smile, dry wit and keen sense of humor, as well as his sinister side, the adept man of action and adventure. He was always astounded when I would uncover another hidden nugget from his 'checkered' past, and would reveal it to a drop-jawed BBWC, like the fact he single-handedly stopped the Nazi's heavy water experiments in WWII, invented Milk Bones on a Hollywood set of the Thin Man, and taught Leonard Bernstein his music theories on orchestration.

Once my good wife and I went to suburban Cinncy and had a wonderful Italian dinner, repleat and lubricated with draft Peroni, and he refused to allow me to pick up the check. We asked him if he really was the BOCCI ball champion of Cinncy, but he wouldn't admit or deny it.

So as his illness was revealed by his little side trip to 'the Land of the Cleves', I returned his kindness by descending upon his house and cooking a seven course Italian feast for him and his beautiful wife, complete with mussels in wine sauce, stuffed chicken Marsala, and homemade bread etc. He got his energy up and we did an old softshoe routine from his vaudeville days, with Joni shaking it all and he just laughed until we cried.

What a wonderful person, he did MORE medicine for free in various clinics than he did at his own practice, and was in constant demand for consultation, also, with an uncanny ability to correctly diagnose difficult and rare conditions. His lifelong love of GMen extended to other fans, including us at the BBWC. He would carefully and laboriously type out his replies to others on his WEBTV screen, slowly, as WEBTv is/was. Legend has it only HIS vocabulary was dense enough to make even Painter step back. He remarked to me about Painter getting crotchety in his 'old age'; "He's old enough now to know better"

I will always miss his weekly chats on the phone, about literature and politics, art and musicks. Gone but not forgotten"

[LennG]

Nice job Drake.

I miss those long threads e used to have glorifying the 'Golden Hoofer' and what he really did for our little world..

BTW, wasn't he the man who taught John Wayne to walk with that slight gimp, to make him more noticable???