- Joined
- Aug 24, 2011
- Messages
- 11,019
- Reaction Score
- 29,398
Sorry my response here has taken so long.....
1) First off, it was great being together with jleves, DogBreath and Fishy. If you all knew the "behind the scenes" emails we all shared the last months, you'd appreciate it much more. We really did go into this completely clueless and we did a great job as a team in riding the wave of how you all responded. We knew what was happening and adjusted course accordingly and, quite frankly, seeing the amount we all raised in the end is really astounding. You should all be very, very proud of yourself. It has made me want to do more in my personal life in this sort of charitable venture. And when we all finally met? It was pretty cool and definitely had a "What the duck* just happened here?" vibe.
2) Meeting John from the Foundation was a very sincere, genuinely nice moment of the day. I shared how he really helped right our ship and make it easier for this to take place and he sincerely appreciated it. If you did not get the message from his post (and you should have) I can vouch that he truly felt good about the grassroots effort and groundswell of what happened here.
3) Meeting Dr. Liang was a giddy, surreal experience. I shook the hand of a man who will take that same hand and use the bypass machine that WE ALL FUNDED to SAVE PEOPLES LIVES. I was proud to do that in the honor of the people who donated any money to this effort. I have a picture of me, Fishy and the Dr together and I will always look upon that picture as something special.
4) The fine people of the Yard. If you are out there and a future event comes up where we offer the chance to meet? I strongly recommend you attending. I have been a part of this weird internet brotherhood for 16-17 years now? And I have made true lifelong friends. Seeing old friends and bonding together about past and present events is something that my words cannot explain. Of all the boards out there, I don't know anyone who has formed relationships and done the amazing things this board has. This truly is a special place.
Lastly, I will share this about our experience with the Coach. We all awkwardly shuffled onstage to take a picture with him and we had a regular check-sized check that said "40,000 and counting". Other groups had the big cardboard check. When we got around him and gave him the check, I said to him "Sorry. We didn't get the "big check" made up." and he looked at it, saw "The Boneyard" and the total and said "That's a BIG check". It was crystal clear how appreciative he was.
As we snapped pictures, I happened to be standing next to him and I fulfilled a dream. Coach Calhoun lost his Dad when he was 15 from a heart attack. I shook his hand and said "Coach, I lost my Dad from a heart attack when I was 14. When I knew about you and your Dad, I always felt a connection to you and this check means a lot to me." and he shook my hand, looked me in the eye and thanked me in a way that was like a soldier who'd been in the same battle. This was something I had wanted him to know for a long, long time. I thought about sending him an anonymous letter many times and I cannot thank you all enough for letting me be your representative in delivering this check with our wonderful team and hopefully making a difference in curing these two awful diseases.
We have all done good here. I only wish that every single one of you were there with us. I hope you realize the impact we have had. The stupid little message board full of whiners is going to save people's lives......through an avenue that is nearest and dearest to our beloved Coach.
Thank you.
Craig (Deepster)
1) First off, it was great being together with jleves, DogBreath and Fishy. If you all knew the "behind the scenes" emails we all shared the last months, you'd appreciate it much more. We really did go into this completely clueless and we did a great job as a team in riding the wave of how you all responded. We knew what was happening and adjusted course accordingly and, quite frankly, seeing the amount we all raised in the end is really astounding. You should all be very, very proud of yourself. It has made me want to do more in my personal life in this sort of charitable venture. And when we all finally met? It was pretty cool and definitely had a "What the duck* just happened here?" vibe.
2) Meeting John from the Foundation was a very sincere, genuinely nice moment of the day. I shared how he really helped right our ship and make it easier for this to take place and he sincerely appreciated it. If you did not get the message from his post (and you should have) I can vouch that he truly felt good about the grassroots effort and groundswell of what happened here.
3) Meeting Dr. Liang was a giddy, surreal experience. I shook the hand of a man who will take that same hand and use the bypass machine that WE ALL FUNDED to SAVE PEOPLES LIVES. I was proud to do that in the honor of the people who donated any money to this effort. I have a picture of me, Fishy and the Dr together and I will always look upon that picture as something special.
4) The fine people of the Yard. If you are out there and a future event comes up where we offer the chance to meet? I strongly recommend you attending. I have been a part of this weird internet brotherhood for 16-17 years now? And I have made true lifelong friends. Seeing old friends and bonding together about past and present events is something that my words cannot explain. Of all the boards out there, I don't know anyone who has formed relationships and done the amazing things this board has. This truly is a special place.
Lastly, I will share this about our experience with the Coach. We all awkwardly shuffled onstage to take a picture with him and we had a regular check-sized check that said "40,000 and counting". Other groups had the big cardboard check. When we got around him and gave him the check, I said to him "Sorry. We didn't get the "big check" made up." and he looked at it, saw "The Boneyard" and the total and said "That's a BIG check". It was crystal clear how appreciative he was.
As we snapped pictures, I happened to be standing next to him and I fulfilled a dream. Coach Calhoun lost his Dad when he was 15 from a heart attack. I shook his hand and said "Coach, I lost my Dad from a heart attack when I was 14. When I knew about you and your Dad, I always felt a connection to you and this check means a lot to me." and he shook my hand, looked me in the eye and thanked me in a way that was like a soldier who'd been in the same battle. This was something I had wanted him to know for a long, long time. I thought about sending him an anonymous letter many times and I cannot thank you all enough for letting me be your representative in delivering this check with our wonderful team and hopefully making a difference in curing these two awful diseases.
We have all done good here. I only wish that every single one of you were there with us. I hope you realize the impact we have had. The stupid little message board full of whiners is going to save people's lives......through an avenue that is nearest and dearest to our beloved Coach.
Thank you.
Craig (Deepster)
