RIP (the poster known as) Tripp McNeely . . .

Re: RIP (the poster known as) Tripp McNeely . . . he passed away Wednesday

Agreed. Even in the worst of times, things will get better.

 

Re: RIP (the poster known as) Tripp McNeely . . . he passed away Wednesday

Maybe it's based in my faith, but two phrases have always comforted me through hard times.
"This too shall pass," and "Sorrow may last through the night but joy comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5B).

 

Re: RIP (the poster known as) Tripp McNeely . . . he passed away Wednesday

"None of us could stand the son of a bitch when he was alive, so we told him to stick it."
-Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson in the movie Field of Dreams.

Believe it or not, I was instructed to say that. By James.

Several years ago, as I was driving James home from work, we briefly touched on his mortality. Which was really the only time that subject came up between us. James never complained about his situation. It was just something that never came up between us.

The sports department at the Long Beach Press-Telegram probably talked less about sports than any other sports department in America. Often times, it revolved around inane stuff like quoting lines from movies, TV shows or former P-T co-workers. One day, someone quoted Ray Liotta's line from Field of Dreams, followed by Liotta's trademark Goodfellas laugh: "Heh heh heh heh!" Over the course of time, it devolved into "Stick it! Heh heh heh heh!" James did the laugh perfect.

We were laughing about it later that night when I drove him home. He turned to me and said, "You know what would be funny? If you said that about me when I die." We both got a huge laugh out of that, because it was such a ludricrous thing to say about someone at their funeral. We imagined standing in front of a huge throng of mourning people, busting out that line, then watching the whole room of faces turn horrified. We laughed pretty hard at that. But he turned to me and said, "Dude, seriously. Promise me you'll say that." Yeah, yeah, I told him, thinking to myself that he was nuts.

The fact of the matter is, that Shoeless Joe quote couldn't be farther from the truth.

Both James and my paths were intertwined a long time ago. Back when I was in junior high, I was involved in the Boy Scouts. My dad had been right there with me, and he was active as an adult leader. In 1985, my dad was approached by someone from the Long Beach Area Council. They asked him if he was interested in becoming a Scoutmaster for a new troop of boys. Knowing how hard it was for the Boy Scouts to find volunteers, my old man agreed. Turns out that the new troop of boys was the first physically challenged unit in Long Beach's history. And one of the first boys to come through those cafeteria doors that first night was James.

Disabled is a misleading word, because the guys in Troop 7 did everything other scouts did. They just did it a different way. My dad and James instantly bonded, and James became the senior patrol leader for the group. He was instantly likable, and always attracted a crowd of Camp Tahquitz staff members to the campsite when they went to summer camp. For many boy scouts, James was their first real interaction with someone their age in a chair. But it was James' exceptional personality that put everyone at ease. He was perfectly normal, he just happened to be in a chair. He quickly rose through the ranks of Scouting. In 1990, James made history and became Long Beach's first Eagle Scout in a wheelchair. On the day he pinned the award on James' chest, I had never seen my father so proud. My dad thought the world of him, and loved him dearly.

Our paths crossed again ten years later, when we attended Long Beach City College. We both took Pat McKean's journalism class and worked on the Viking newspaper. James was sports editor in 1995, and editor-in-chief in 1996. Back then, we never told people how we knew each other through Boy Scouts. We were too "cool" to admit our connection, though that was a pretty stupid reason, looking back. Thanks to Pat and the Viking, we got our start down the dizzy path of journalism.

Several years later, we both got hired on at the Press-Telegram. I was focusing more on layout and design, James was doing what he loved best: reporting. When I switched back to sports, we were reunited again. We worked side-by-side ever since, until I transferred to the Daily Breeze earlier this year. On the desk, we shared many frustrating nights, quite a few ribald stories and countless laughs together. He was a tireless worker who multitasked better than I ever could.

James infused my work days with as much enjoyment as anything. We would talk about a wide variety of things: from girls to movies to girls to food to girls. But I would say over 50 percent of the time, we talked about wrestling. James was a huge wrestling fan for about as long as I knew him. He knew who beat whom for every title for every wrestling organization that ever existed. He subscribed to several "dirt sheets," which broke down the wrestling business from the insider's viewpoint. He loved reading about the real stories about what went on behind the scenes, and not the stuff they portray on TV.

We went to several live WWE events together, which was always cool. James always was able to get nice seats for us, using his chair as an excuse to sit closer. He even invited me to go to Wrestlemania at Staples Center, which we both were geeked for months after it happened. After that, it was a tradition to watch Wrestlemania at his house. His mom would make us dinner, and we would sit around, cracking jokes and critiquing matches. It was sort of like watching Mystery Science Theatre 3000, with the running commentary throughout the match.

He made contacts through the WWE, and interviewed many wrestlers for the P-T, including Rob Van Dam, Kane, Samoa Joe and CM Punk. He never went fanboy on them, and treated wrestling with respect, which is why many doors opened to him.

As a fan, he loved Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and Dusty Rhodes. He could break down their careers without blinking an eye. He would drop a Flair "W-h-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!" for no reason. He had boxes of wrestling tapes, which he was trying to transfer to DVD. He watched matches endlessly. He liked the "drama" of it all, the athleticism and the workrate of the wrestlers. So when mixed martial arts hit the scene, his interest was natually piqued.

He started following MMA almost from the beginning, and was able to convince the editors to cover several events for UFC. Again, with an unbiased mindset, he treated the sport with the same respect as he would for, say, a softball match. He was one of the first journalists to cover the sport in Los Angeles on a regular basis. And because of his professionalism, he was offered up many chances to cover pay-per-view events.

James was a huge huge HUGE Angels fan, and when they won the World Series... Man, he was ecstatic. In the sports department, there was a split between Dodgers and Angels fans. James was probably the most vocal Angel fan, and he loved nothing more than to point out when the Dodgers last won a World Series title. He also avidly followed his beloved Rams and the Lakers. I could never sell him on hockey, though. Maybe if there were more steel chairs...

Over the course of two decades, I'll have nothing but fond memories of Big Game James. I'll miss his laugh, his sense of humor and his friendship. My world was a better place with him in it, and I thank the Big Man upstairs for letting me get to know him.

I'll fucking miss you, man.

-Matt

​

 

Re: RIP (the poster known as) Tripp McNeely . . . he passed away Wednesday

My condolences to all of you who knew James. Wonderful tributes, you guys.

 

Re: RIP (the poster known as) Tripp McNeely . . . he passed away Wednesday

Condolences to you in your sense of grief, Piotr. Not sure that his family would post on here, but condolences to them too...thinking it odd when you hear radio talk shows where a caller calls in and offers condolences to the family of some celeb or athlete who died in another state and is probably not listening. But in case they are here, then God bless them all.

And again, to you too Piotr.

 

Re: RIP (the poster known as) Tripp McNeely . . . he passed away Wednesday

Great tribute, Mateo. Thanks for sharing.

 

Re: RIP (the poster known as) Tripp McNeely . . . he passed away Wednesday

I didn't know James, but these tributes by Mateo and Piotr sure make me wish I had. My prayers go out to you James, and all your friends here.

 

Re: RIP (the poster known as) Tripp McNeely . . . he passed away Wednesday

Sad news in a week full of sad news.

 

Re: RIP (the poster known as) Tripp McNeely . . . he passed away Wednesday

Tough, tough to hear.

Hope his friends and family stay strong.

 

Re: RIP (the poster known as) Tripp McNeely . . . he passed away Wednesday

I just spoke with James' mother to offer condolences to her, James' brother, Michael, and to the whole family. I mentioned to her that James' many friends have said a lot of wonderful things about her son and she appreciates everyone's support.

It appears that James' grandfather's service will go on as scheduled on Saturday, but that James' service is still to be determined. I asked her if there was anything I or the many friends he had could do at this time -- send food, money, anything -- and she said her church has been very supportive and she has a lot of family with her now so she's doing OK.

One thing that I'm contemplating is perhaps setting up a college fund for Michael (I think he's about to be a junior in HS) or just a general family fund of some kind. If I do put something together, would there be some SportsJournalists.com support for either idea?

Please PM me if you have interest.

And again, thank you for the kind words and show of support you've all provided. Mateo's commentary was just as awesome as Piotr's that started the thread.

Take good care everybody.

 

Re: RIP (the poster known as) Tripp McNeely . . . he passed away Wednesday

Go for it, Claws. Let us know how we can contribute.