RIP to one of our own, one of our best -- Craig Stanke

A couple days later and I still can't believe this. I have some PMs from Craig we exchanged a couple of years ago and needless to say I won't be deleting those.

Like I said before (I think), I hardly knew Craig the best. I worked with him for 5 years and learned a lot, but I wasn't one of the mainstays on the Sharkey's/trivia circuit, although I did tip a few back here and there.

Anyway, been thinking about Craig the past couple of days and for whatever reason two memories stick out (beyond the numerous discussions we had on style, which we both had a, hm, not sure passion is the right word but I'll go with it).

1. Indiana was playing Duke in the 2002 NCAA tournament. (Funny, now I'm forgetting if Craig said the t should be capitalized or not!) There were maybe 10 seconds left in the game, Indiana was up and Jason Williams was at the line. Craig's shift ended at either 9 or 10, and as it happens that's what time it was. He was headed out the door when I said something like, "Craig, don't you want to see what happens, if the defending national champions are going to lose?" Craig looked at the TV, looked at me, and uttered something along the lines of, "Eh, I'll find out when I get to Sharkey's." The man loved his work, was great at his work, but was not consumed by it.

2. Everyone gets upset when things stop working - the Internet goes down, the CMS breaks down, etc. Well, at least I know I do and my co-workers did. After all, when you are in the business of getting things up on the website ASAP, there's a bit of pressure (and pride) in doing just that. Plus, when things are down you don't know what you're missing out on or know this is going to cause a lot of catch-up (hyphen, right Craig?) later. One night, Craig announced to the newsroom that (and I'm probably paraphrasing here) "Sometimes you just have to throw your hands up in the air and realize there's nothing you can do about it." Dang it, I know it was more profound than that, but you get the gist. And it's something I've never been able to tackle. I still get ticked off when the tools aren't working, but Craig had that demeanor and could pull it off.

I think I might go read that PM again.

 

I've actually been thinking of the thread 21 mentioned.

I cannot tell you how many times I've heard someone throw out the "got your back" line. It's almost always not true. It's just one of those sayings that has been said so many times it long ago lost any meaning. It allows people who don't have your back to feel good about themselves.

Anyway, as I've been reading through this tribute thread, I kept coming back to the thought I had regarding the Doyel defense: "Holy shit, this guy really does have his back."

There's an idealized version of what a boss is supposed to be. In reality, like the aforementioned saying it's mostly bullshit. I know I've failed multiple times to live up to that ideal, and for the longest time assumed it didn't exist, it wasn't real.

Judging from the hundreds of posts on here, I was wrong.

 

56. Much, much too young!
RIP

 

21 -- Thank you for that story. Doesn't surprise me. He saw the best in me, and there aren't many people who've ever been willing to do that. Which is my own fault, of course. Point being, he was the guy who saw the best in me. Not to get all silly about it, but where most folks saw me as a lot of hot air, he was wind beneath my wings.

 

I didn't know Craig, but I wish I did, based on the stories. He ran a 5K on the last day of his life, and that's sad, except maybe that's how runners would want to go out, just not so dang soon. Craig finished second in his age group. Photos 178-181 in this gallery show him crossing the finish line. Nice run, Stanke.

http://martyfuchs.smugmug.com/SPECIAL-EVENTS/Memorial-Day-5K/23278021_fR9tqK#!i=1878206492&k=3sj2q78

 

I'd like to point out his finishing time of 22:41 is an average of 7:12 per mile. That's pretty dang stout, and considering his age, impressive.
Does anyone know if the race led directly to the heart attack? I hope not.

 

Does anyone else besides me keep looking at this thread, and, beyond all reason, hoping, wishing, and trying to will there to be some post from SF_Express?

 

*raises hand*

I swear, every time I see this thread, I'm shocked back to reality. With Ron, I knew it was real. With Craig, whom I only knew through this board, it's harder to wrap my mind around.

But I have enough close friends who are mourning his loss that I'm aware it's all too real.