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TITLETOWN - A Decade Long Celebration Of The Greatest Achievement In College Athletics History => Kansas State Basketball is hard => Topic started by: Kat Kid on March 04, 2012, 02:25:58 PM
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I am in a state of complete shock so I apologize if the words that I type do not appear on your screens as they do in my heart. Today the world is a worse place. In small and in profound ways, in places near and far, in real life and on the internet. Because there are few places fatty fat fat, fatty4ksu, fatty, fats, fff, or Shwan ventured where he did not touch someone. His family has read and continues to read the words of grief and support for fatty across big 12 message boards.
I grew close to Shwan when I moved across the street from him on Little Kitten in Manhattan. We would meet each other in the street by the mailbox and talk for minutes or an hour or two before we went in from school or at night after playing in the neighborhood. We talked about everything, which was for the most part sports. He was consumed with them. Not just Kansas State sports, but everything.
He loved hockey. Shwan was a huge Toronto Maple Leafs fan, and I followed the Detroit Red Wings. We played hockey in the street and argued over who was better: Mats Sundin or Steve Yzerman? CuJo or Dominic Hasek? Keep in mind that during this time the Red Wings had rattled off two Stanley Cups (back-to-back '97, '98) and then went on for a third before losing in the Conference Finals against the Avs. Despite this, I was unable to win any debate with Shwan over which team was better because apparently, in 1963 and 1964 Toronto won back-to-back Stanley Cups by defeating the Red Wings. As good as Shwan was with numbers, I was bad. He would relentlessly exploit this weakness in all of our arguments and I would walk home, bested again by human google.
His brain had reams of statistics, dates, U2 and Led Zepplin songs, Seinfeld and Simpsons episodes and Kansas State trivia. He, on command, would recite in reverse chronological order every Kansas State football score from current to 1996. Before that he knew some, but it pre-dated his family's move to Manhattan and his adoption of Kansas State as his favorite team. He would challenge other people of all ages who dared to call themselves a fan of a team to a trivia competition. After he graduated college it was good natured, but in high school? You would watch people disintegrate as he peppered them with jabs of trivia, correcting fans about their own teams. At the end of the interrogation he would always crack a smile and give out praise to the fan. Then as we walked away, he would quietly share his judgement with me.
In K-State, Shwan found a reflection of his best self. A plucky, noisy, underdog punching above its weight. He reveled in this identity and it became intertwined with his own. It was no mixture my friend. No, no. This was a solution and Shwan was like water, a readily available solvent ready to bond. Sports was the catalyst that so often linked Shwan to others.
Even though K-State had so many incredible wins, most of my best times with him were during losses. We went to more bad basketball games together than I can count and it was almost more fun to sit in the stands and laugh than it was to live and die with every tick of the clock during the football games. We would talk during timeouts and I could always crack him up with a well timed heckle. He fed me the line half the time, but he would still lose it when I pulled the trigger during a break in play or quiet moment. The highlight of this era was getting flipped off by Chris Mihm. I think the line went: “Chris Mihm? More like Chris Meh!”
Even if it were a particularly painful loss I could usually get him with a well timed (good) Jim Rome impression or (bad) Kevin Keitzman impression. He loved the manipulation of words and how narrative could be sculpted. He always had talking points and was never afraid to raise his voice in joy or frustration.
Today, I mourn the death of an artist. He was a digital, sports obsessed, Andy Warhol. Remixing sports cliches and common phrases in a most uncommon and creative way. And that was just the posting. Speaking of which, he defined an entire genre and elevated it to a new plane. He was at his best when he would push dry humor so far past the absurd that people had no ability to discern if these were the ravings of:
a madman
a genius
both.
One of my personal favorites was the following zing on Stanford’s Scout board:
Stanford ugly campus. sorry guys. it's too horizontal and taco "belly"
In addition to his tens of thousands of posts on God knows how many message boards, he obsessively recorded and filed Kansas State videos on his external hard drive. He recorded everything: local sports clips, sportscenter highlights, talking heads soundbites and the games (with both team’s radio broadcasts and the telecast audio). He hustled to create a vast collection and the word “vast” does not do it justice. He was the Kansas State sports video clearinghouse. He would swap DVDs for VHS tapes, convert the VHS tapes to DVDs, then add them to his ever growing collection. From this database he would craft his youtubes.
The last chapters of Shwan’s life were dominated by his family and his life offline. He was his brother’s keeper. He dropped everything to move to California and be the Peggiest of the Po’s. We talked more about life and we talked more infrequently as he was away, being a rock and a ray of sunshine. I am haunted by the distance that was only supposed to be temporary. I have a new house and a child on the way and he was just tickled by it. He would’ve been an unbelievable uncle to my children. He may be gone, but his videos will live forever and I plan to use his beautiful propaganda to raise my son emaw.
His brother’s illness prompted him to make major changes in his life plans. He studied for the MCAT and was preparing to go to medical school. Always passionate, he had now found his mission in life. In one of our last conversations, Shwan needled me to call my mother more sharing that he spoke to his parents daily. He said: “Do you know who your mother would be thrilled to hear from? You. It would absolutely make her day.”
In bad times and in good fatty was always ready to comfort, cajole or make me laugh. I have a million memories running through my mind now and they are overwhelming. I can’t help but cry again when I think of his smile and his laugh. I think he said it best:
You know why else I want to win?
So good people can be happy. Just for a day.
Because good people deserve good things. Even if just for a day.
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Beautiful.
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:bawl:
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Great post man.
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:bawl:
Yup, that happened. Again.
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i'm so sorry kk.
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:bawl:
Yup, that happened. Again.
Told myself I wasn't going to look at the board today so it wouldn't. Then it did. Thanks for sharing KK
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Thank you KK. It's good to get the thoughts of someone who knew Shwan so well.
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you have a way with words.
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Thanks Tortuga
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Man, I can't imagine what it must feel like to lose a childhood friend, especially one that remained extremely close well into adulthood. Keep your head up bro.
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Thanks Kat Kid.
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:frown:
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He loved hockey. Shwan was a huge Toronto Maple Leafs fan, and I followed the Detroit Red Wings. We played hockey in the street and argued over who was better: Mats Sundin or Steve Yzerman? CuJo or Dominic Hasek? Keep in mind that during this time the Red Wings had rattled off two Stanley Cups (back-to-back '97, '98) and then went on for a third before losing in the Conference Finals against the Avs. Despite this, I was unable to win any debate with Shwan over which team was better because apparently, in 1963 and 1964 Toronto won back-to-back Stanley Cups by defeating the Red Wings. As good as Shwan was with numbers, I was bad. He would relentlessly exploit this weakness in all of our arguments and I would walk home, bested again by human google.
This would explain his love for the Mighty Ducks trilogy. :)
Very well said. I know how close you two were KK, T's & P's are with you (also congrats to you and Trish on the baby). Trips was a great guy, very tough loss.
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Thanks for sharing
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That was a treat to read, thanks for sharing.
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Well done, KK.
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KK, you have my sympathies my friend, and thank you for sharing.
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I wish I would have got to know him better, I first met him in 2008 I think. Such a great story.
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KK, its good to hear from you, thought a lot about you in the past day+. Hope you and Mrs. KK are doing well. Mrs. MIR also sends her best to the both of you.
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That was beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
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I love you kk
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The T-iest of Ts and the P-iest of Ps good buddy. :cry:
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Thank you, KK. As a relative newcomer, fatty quite frankly was very intimidating to me. It was instantly apparent that he had the grace, knowledge, and passion that could playfully cut you in one post and then bring everyone together the next. Stories like these just bring such a warm and humanizing richness to his enigma that I wish I could've learned of through far different circumstances.
Thank you for this, and thanks to everyone else as well for their heartwarming tales.
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Here I am sitting in Hale, on the verge of bawling my eyes out. Gorgeous words, KK; the most serious of Ts and Ps coming your way.
This is all just so terrible. Fatty was my EMAW inspiration. I just feel sick.
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eloquent and beautiful and heartfelt.
he deserved such a tribute.
kk, my heart and prayers are with you and the rest of his family and friends.
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beautiful, kk. Thanks for sharing.
His beautiful propaganda is playing a major role in teaching my little ones the ways of emaw as well.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
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Thank you for sharing that.
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Sensational, KK
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I had a friend like that from grade school-high school maybe I should call him :frown:
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I am in a state of complete shock so I apologize if the words that I type do not appear on your screens as they do in my heart.
There is no way you could have put the full context of the pain you are in into words, but you came as close as you possibly could.
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Amazing post, KK.
:cry:
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Sounds like he was just as awesome a person as he was a BBS'r.
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Great post KK. May his memory live on.
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Incredible.
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I lost a high school friend, college roommate at about the same age as Fatty. Was actually murdered by a crap employee he fired. He, too, was thoroughly EMAW.
I remember walking around Manhattan with his twin brother, also an ex-roommate, in the days before his funeral. We walked for miles mostly talking sports. It's amazing what the stupid little games can get you through.
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KK I'm glad to have met both you guys.
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I'm not sure we have enough of the proper emoticons to display the feelings of many on this message board. T's and P's are with all who were family/friends of this EMAW legend.
:bawl: :frown:
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KK I'm glad to have met both you guys.
Thanks, I mean we all go way back. I know it would mean a lot to him to read your words.
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Sorry for your loss, KK. We are all lucky that he had a friend as passionate and thoughtful as you so we can hear some of his story. Thanks for sharing.
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He will be missed.
WarZone for life.
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Well said, KK. I'm very sorry for your loss.
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Amazing post about an amazing person.
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KK,
So sorry about all this man. I'd like to share a few things with you.
A year and a half ago I lost a very close friend. We had grown up together at church and our families are long time friends. He was a groomsman at my wedding. He was a die hard Missouri fan and we had so much fun with that over the years. We went to the 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009 Mizzou/K-State football games and the 2008 Mizzou/KSU B-Ball game in Columbia (after which as I was leaving the arena I called J-Dub and declared that Bill Walker is a completely selfish player, don't worry, I retracted later). He was also the biggest Royals fan I've ever known (he sold his "Royals Fanship" on ebay late in a 100 loss season, only to have the Royals organization buy it for $5.) We attended probably 50 Royals games together during our friendship. Our last conversation 2 days before he passed was about the trade for Tim Collins from the Braves. He died in his sleep, he had muscular dystrophy.
I know what its like to feel sad. Its ok to feel sad, to let others know how you feel, and to be emotional about your friend. Games feel different when the person you enjoyed them with is gone. I am so thankful to have had a friend like the one I lost, I know you feel the same about Fatty. I hope you feel comforted by friends and family, and by the memories of the times you had.
Losing someone you love sucks. It's shitty. I understand and am so sorry. Fatty was lucky to have someone like you who loved him and appreciated him in a deep, personal way. Remember him fondly.
Let's win the Phillips.
EMAW.
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KK,
So sorry about all this man. I'd like to share a few things with you.
A year and a half ago I lost a very close friend. We had grown up together at church and our families are long time friends. He was a groomsman at my wedding. He was a die hard Missouri fan and we had so much fun with that over the years. We went to the 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009 Mizzou/K-State football games and the 2008 Mizzou/KSU B-Ball game in Columbia (after which as I was leaving the arena I called J-Dub and declared that Bill Walker is a completely selfish player, don't worry, I retracted later). He was also the biggest Royals fan I've ever known (he sold his "Royals Fanship" on ebay late in a 100 loss season, only to have the Royals organization buy it for $5.) We attended probably 50 Royals games together during our friendship. Our last conversation 2 days before he passed was about the trade for Tim Collins from the Braves. He died in his sleep, he had muscular dystrophy.
I know what its like to feel sad. Its ok to feel sad, to let others know how you feel, and to be emotional about your friend. Games feel different when the person you enjoyed them with is gone. I am so thankful to have had a friend like the one I lost, I know you feel the same about Fatty. I hope you feel comforted by friends and family, and by the memories of the times you had.
Losing someone you love sucks. It's shitty. I understand and am so sorry. Fatty was lucky to have someone like you who loved him and appreciated him in a deep, personal way. Remember him fondly.
Let's win the Phillips.
EMAW.
thanks. ftb. go cats.
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ftb.
go cats.
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I have a friend like this, I've known him since we were in diapers. I'm going to tell him right now I love him.
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Thank you for showing us his brilliance from a personal perspective, KK. Appreciate your words
:combofan:
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Wow.... KK, that was very, very well written. Can tell it came straight from the heart. So sorry for your loss.
Unique, selfless people seem to be harder and harder to find in this world. Fatty sounds like he was a lot of both.
Truly makes me want to be a better person. And remember what's important. And what's not.
That's the thing about truly special people. When they are gone, they aren't really gone. Their legacy lives on in each person they touched, through the way they choose to live their lives from that point forward. If one person can influence even a small change for the better in a few people, and through those peoples actions influence others for the better, than their legacy continues on exponentially, and infinitely.
It sounds like Fatty touched many, many lives. I'd imagine his legacy is in good shape.
I'm so, so sorry guys.
EMAW. Go cats.
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KK, I've read this several times over the last couple days. It is truly one of the most beautiful, heartfelt, and powerful pieces I've ever seen written about a person. Your friend would be very proud.
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love you guys