Just found out that HatGuy passed away Wednesday at age 61 after battling cancer.
(He did apparently wear the hat all the time.)
It's refreshing to see that, no matter your opinions on the quality of his work or thought, he put a lot of old-fashioned work into his prose. Seems as though he spent a lot of time doing what journalists should be doing - watching sports and crafting writing - instead of puffing himself up.
The comments on the article are some of the more considerate, articulate and grammatically sensible comments of any sports article I've seen. Considering the vitriol with which folks reacted after the downfall of Jay Mariotti a few weeks ago, it's good to see folks exercising some decency, and suggests that Mike's personality and writing earned him real respect.
In all fairness, it's hard to compare the death of someone to cancer to a douchey guy getting charged with one of the lowest crimes anyone can commit.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I agree that it's nice to see a comments section on a blog/article on the internet not devolving into "UR GAY! NO, UR GAY!"
This is a really great article Mr. Celizic wrote just a few weeks ago regarding his cancer and realization of mortality:
ReplyDeletehttp://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38771115
It may choke you up a bit.
He was right about the 2009 Yankees, when writing about them in late 2008. His logic might have been wrong (and thus lambasted here), but, in scientific terms, nyeh (tongue sticking out from grave).
ReplyDeleteThis news saddens me. The world has lost a good man.
ReplyDeleteMike Celizic, hat tip to you, and may God be with your family.
The FJM(organ) guys published a bunch of rants at deadspin, and the last post they made was a short comment about what a genuinely good sport Celizic was about the ripping he took on their site.
ReplyDeleteR.I.P. Hatguy.