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

Here is the story about the Craig Stanke Memorial APSE 5K held Saturday in Chicago during the APSE Summer Conference: http://apsportseditors.org/newsletter/craig-stanke-memorial-5k-calls-attention-to-fitness/

 

Thank you, Tim, for suggesting that the APSE 5K be named for Craig and to the APSE leadership for supporting the idea. Thank you and Mike for inviting me to participate in the run and the banquet. I am sure that Krissy and Craig’s children will be there for future meetings.

I want to once again thank all of Craig’s colleagues – from CBSSports.com, SportsJournalists.com, APSE; those who worked with him earlier in his career and those who only knew him online or by reputation. Your generosity of spirit has been astounding. You have been a source of much comfort and strength.

It has been wonderful to be able to meet many of you - in person and through messages. Craig has given me a final gift of some unexpected new friendships. Since I travel frequently for my job, I hope that there will be more opportunities to meet for another Stanke story. And if you find yourself in South Florida, I expect a call.

 

And you call yourself a sports writer?!

Touche, Amy...

It has been wonderful to have you and all of Craig's family around here, giving us glimpses and echoes of how/why he must have gotten to be the way he was. You're all good, too...

 

I've thought a lot about SF_Express over the past month. I've went back and read many of his old posts. Craig Stanke loved running. He loved journalism. He loved Mad Men. He had a weird interest in Ann Coulter.

Mostly, he loved people.

No member of this board has influenced me as SF_Express did. He was the best we had, the best in so many facets. SF_Express never lost his cool, never sunk into small-minded conflicts so many of us find ourselves in. He was distinctly aware that this place is an Internet message board, a voluntary community meant to be enjoyed, not stressed-out about.

When I was new here, even before I registered as Versatile, SF_Express was the type of poster I wanted to be. He and Frank_Ridgeway and Double Down and a select few others were smart and rational and fresh in their perspectives. SF_Express stood out even among the elite crowd.

When I agreed with SF_Express, I took great comfort in my opinion. When I disagreed, I thought more about his perspective. The guy knew his shit, and it was clear that he was a great journalist in real life just from his posting. That was even before I knew his real name and job title.

SF_Express and I shared many threads and many journalism discussions, publicly and through private messages. His insights stay with me as I go about bettering myself in this field. SF_Express gave us all something to aspire toward, a mentor and a thoughtful mind in a place that so often exists on a more shallow level. There's nothing wrong with Phil Collins thread-jacks and barbecue debates and stories about adolescent sexuality. Those are reasons to love this board. But I wouldn't have started posting here, wouldn't have found that side of things, had it not been for SF_Express and posters like him.

We lost a giant. I lost a giant influence. One whose hand I never got to shake, whose laugh I never got to hear.

 

Despite the fact it's from late June, I ran across this Wisconsin State Journal column about Craig Stanke today. Wanted to pass it on.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/doug_moe/doug-moe-madison-native-craig-stanke-a-respected-editor-dies/article_73704b3a-bc01-11e1-bdeb-0019bb2963f4.html

 

Moddy and I have been talking this morning, and remembering.

I think about him every day. There is always something that comes up at work that prompts me to check one of his style rulings, or one of his emails breaking down a complicated situation into something simple, or just to laugh at something he said in response to a question or comment of mine.

The past year, and especially the past few days, there have been a lot of conversations with co-workers, friends and loved ones. We keep coming back to the power of words, a bittersweet realization given Stanke's passion for language and the way we use it. Then and now, there just aren't enough of them to say it all.

You are missed, SF_Express. You are missed, Craig Stanke. But you're never very far.

 

I saved the message I sent to a few girlfriends when Craig and I first met. Go ahead and laugh, but the first thing I wrote was that he was from Wisconsin. The second thing I told them – and this got its very own paragraph – was that he’s a “Word Person.” What I didn’t know in 2010 was what his being part of an industry of Word People was going to mean to me in 2012.

I soon learned about this site because Craig talked about it frequently. I have emails from him that included links to discussions he thought I’d find interesting, usually when we disagreed about something and most of you took his side of the argument. It’s funny, though, while I’d read the thread he directed me to, I never looked at anything else on the site. This was his place and I didn’t want to intrude. Of course, I had no idea what this site was going to mean to me one day.

I didn’t think about SportsJournalists.com that first day, but a friend found the memorial thread and sent me the link. In those first few days after Craig’s death, I read it obsessively. I have saved that thread, the emails and private messages I’ve received, the countless tweets from that day, the many blog posts and columns written by Craig’s friends across the country. Because of your need to express your feelings in writing – because of your ability to express yourselves in writing - I have this incredible collection of memories, stories and heartfelt thoughts. It may not be a physical memorial, but it is a permanent memorial and the more appropriate memorial for Craig.

Craig’s final gift to me was the community of his colleagues both in real life and on SportsJournalists.com. You have welcomed me, offered me support and given me friendship, all because Craig had touched you in some way. Many people have reached out to me privately and I will respect their anonymity (however, if your first two guesses weren’t Moddy and IJAG, I hope you aren’t playing Sheep) but please know how much every message means to me. I also need to thank the people at cbssports.com, especially Tony Moss, Scott Miller and Gregg Doyel.

Thank you all.

 

I never met the guy.
And I still miss him tons.

 

Miss you, SF. Your friendship means a lot to me.

 

Just like with spnited, I never met Craig, except via here. But each in their own way, they enriched this place and those of us who still carry the torch for good journalism.