So saddened to have just learned from Gladeskat's posting from last weekend that Wildcat Family Member Steve Fridley, known here on the WildcatReport Boards as Alan Smithee passed away suddenly on February 9th. It was heartening to read on the thread "Some Sad News" how Steve's life has touched so many here in so many ways and how all share the loss.
Like so many others here my personal acquaintance with Steve revolved around comradeship at Purple Parties and West Lot Tailgates. I was also the beneficiary of his generosity as he shared an extra ticket he had for a game at Ryan Field that we then watched together. If I recall correctly we were doomed to lose it as the final minutes began to run off the clock and I made some smart aleck remark about all we had to do was get a score and then then add a successful onside kick with one more score to win it. Sure enough that is exactly what happened and Steve somehow ended up crediting me with the team's win.
On another occasion for some reason I had a stuffed animal monkey that I had brought to a tailgate and insisted he take it home so it could continue to bring good luck as a Rally Monkey for the games ahead. That was before the Mojo Moose.
At a subsequent tailgate he was pleased to be the recipient of a jar of raspberry jam made from the berries that I had harvested from the raspberry patch in my front yard where the Mojo Moose had begun making their pre-game appearances bringing good karma to the Wildcats.
Here are some photos which include Steve a/k/a Smithee from one of the first West Lot Tailgates we mutually attended. In the first photo he is pictured in the front row, second from the left. I'll check back later and add some more photos taken from over the yeas.
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Like so many others here my personal acquaintance with Steve revolved around comradeship at Purple Parties and West Lot Tailgates. I was also the beneficiary of his generosity as he shared an extra ticket he had for a game at Ryan Field that we then watched together. If I recall correctly we were doomed to lose it as the final minutes began to run off the clock and I made some smart aleck remark about all we had to do was get a score and then then add a successful onside kick with one more score to win it. Sure enough that is exactly what happened and Steve somehow ended up crediting me with the team's win.
On another occasion for some reason I had a stuffed animal monkey that I had brought to a tailgate and insisted he take it home so it could continue to bring good luck as a Rally Monkey for the games ahead. That was before the Mojo Moose.
At a subsequent tailgate he was pleased to be the recipient of a jar of raspberry jam made from the berries that I had harvested from the raspberry patch in my front yard where the Mojo Moose had begun making their pre-game appearances bringing good karma to the Wildcats.
Here are some photos which include Steve a/k/a Smithee from one of the first West Lot Tailgates we mutually attended. In the first photo he is pictured in the front row, second from the left. I'll check back later and add some more photos taken from over the yeas.
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