It is with deepest regrets that I inform you, our loyal SBS readers, that Steve Samichlaus passed away suddenly last Thursday, July 15th 2010. I thought it would be fitting to spend some time and space over here remembering him and recalling how we went from co-workers to long distance sports blogging buddies. And, of course, friends.
I met Steve in the spring of 1999, when I joined a computer consulting company called Datalan in White Plains, NY. I was just entering the world of software development after a couple stints doing QA out of college. He was the veteran network engineer type. They had this weird office layout. There weren't cubicles in the traditional sense. There were "mini-walls" that separated people from one another while facing each other. But then you were directly back-to-back with the person behind you. No wall. Steve was directly behind me, my "back-to-back workspace neighbor." (That's not as dirty as it sounds, trust me.)
Steve immediately made me feel welcome and comfortable. And we quickly found a common interest in football. He was a die-hard Packers fan. I am a geographically challenged Seahawks fan. Since Holmgren had just recently taken the job in Seattle after becoming a legend in Green Bay, Steve knew enough about the team and could even somewhat hope they did well for Holmgren's sake.
Although Steve and I didn't interact a whole lot during those years (as a network engineer, he wasn't in the office all that often) we had our share of laughs, softball games, and post-softball beers. And I can honestly say I always enjoyed his company. He had this unusual ability to be serious when needed and completely off the wall fall down hysterical at any time. All while being a completely genuine person.
Eventually I left Datalan to take a job in the city. But we stayed in touch via email. It seemed we could discuss football at length, give pretty deep opinions about teams and players, and even make picks on games. We attended each others' weddings. We met up for beers a couple times. Steve was an early supporter of my band Beer Drinking Fools, and even won the first official BDF contest! His prize? A free BDF t-shirt, a chance to have some beers with the band, and then he came and jammed with us at the practice studio. I'll have to see if I can dig up that Mp3 somewhere, I think I might have it somewhere. He was a pretty good guitarist.
(Oh, and let me not forget that when we first were discussing getting the band back together and where we would practice, it was Steve that directed us to the Abbey Tavern on 3rd Avenue and 26th street. That place was awesome. It became our weekly pre-practice ritual to meet up there after work, have some pints and some burgers, and then head over to practice. The Guinness was good for you and the service was excellent. In fact, the BDF song "Dear Abbey" is written about that bar. Sadly, it's no longer the Abbey. It's been turned into some trendy yuppie hellhole. But thank you, Steve, for introducing us to the place.)
This blog was born with the idea that some other sports fans might enjoy the email conversations we usually had discussing sports. And while we haven't always kept up-to-date with as many posts as we might have liked, it was always enjoyable to read his posts and carry on the conversation.
I last heard from Steve a little over a month ago, and it was classic him. I thought I'd share the email to put a fitting final entry on this site, as carrying on the sports dialogue without him just wouldn't be the same.
To put a little context on the email, I'm a Michigan Wolverins fan. Based solely upon seeing the movie "Red Dawn" when I was in my early teens, and it seemed pretty fucking cool for a bunch of high school kids to be running around shouting "Wolverines!" while they mowed down commie invaders with AK-47s.
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From: Steve Samichlaus
Sent: Friday, June 11, 2010 5:16 PM
To: Steve St. Ides
Subject: You have ruined me
Red Dawn is on HBO and I am compelled to watch it.
Dude, this is one bad movie.
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Subject: RE: You have ruined me
Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2010 13:35:14 -0500
From: Steve St. Ides
To: Steve Samichlaus
Hahah, the original or the remake? I haven't seen the remake. The original was awesome though... when I was 14... Haven't seen it lately so it might not hold up very well. :P
Sup? How bout that Big Ben jerk? I'm excited about Seattle. Excellent draft, new coach (though I was never a fan of Carroll). With the Cardinals losing Warner to retirement, the NFC West is wide open.
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From: Steve Samichlaus
Sent: Monday, June 14, 2010 8:57 AM
To: Steve St. Ides
Subject: RE: You have ruined me
I figured you'd be (walter) jonesing football after the draft Seattle had. Right now Seattle's had the best offseason I think of anybody out there, and I think they could easily win their division So the Pete Carroll thing... I really liked him when he was the defensive coordinator for the Jets and the Niners, he was this young brilliant up and comer. But as time has gone on I just don't think he's a very good man. Didn't some other college coach accuse him of shacking up with some co-ed? Anyway I think thatright now I don't know what to think about him. I just don't get a warm and fuzzy feeling....
So I was watching one of those "Top Ten" shows on NFL network this weekend, it was top ten rookie seasons I think, and Rapistburger was 8 or 9. One of the comments that were made was "Somehow this guy drops to Pittsburg's slot, and the Steelers are thrilled. I mean, I don't know what the other teams saw that they didn't like". All I could think was "uhh, character issues???" My favorite part of this story is hearing about his "move". In every "Big Ben" story his move is to get drunk, segregate the girl, and pull is pee pee out. Nice. Sounds like one of my moves, though quite frankly mine looks nothing like a clock or the tower of London.
The Red Dawn I was watching was the original with Patrick Swayze. I'll give it to you because you were 14 and that's about where this movie lives, but the ending when Swayze is, well, cuddling his dead buddy is pretty gay even for a 14 year old. Maybe I should watch the whole thing for a little context. I dunno. That's two hours I'll never recover...
Oh, one thought on the Packers offseason: it's all summed up in a post I put on Facebook: "Welcome to the NFL Free Agency Season, or as Packer fans refer to it: 'Passover'"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We'll miss you, Steve. I'll raise a beer and toast you, and remember you any time I see the Packers on TV.
I met Steve in the spring of 1999, when I joined a computer consulting company called Datalan in White Plains, NY. I was just entering the world of software development after a couple stints doing QA out of college. He was the veteran network engineer type. They had this weird office layout. There weren't cubicles in the traditional sense. There were "mini-walls" that separated people from one another while facing each other. But then you were directly back-to-back with the person behind you. No wall. Steve was directly behind me, my "back-to-back workspace neighbor." (That's not as dirty as it sounds, trust me.)
Steve immediately made me feel welcome and comfortable. And we quickly found a common interest in football. He was a die-hard Packers fan. I am a geographically challenged Seahawks fan. Since Holmgren had just recently taken the job in Seattle after becoming a legend in Green Bay, Steve knew enough about the team and could even somewhat hope they did well for Holmgren's sake.
Although Steve and I didn't interact a whole lot during those years (as a network engineer, he wasn't in the office all that often) we had our share of laughs, softball games, and post-softball beers. And I can honestly say I always enjoyed his company. He had this unusual ability to be serious when needed and completely off the wall fall down hysterical at any time. All while being a completely genuine person.
Eventually I left Datalan to take a job in the city. But we stayed in touch via email. It seemed we could discuss football at length, give pretty deep opinions about teams and players, and even make picks on games. We attended each others' weddings. We met up for beers a couple times. Steve was an early supporter of my band Beer Drinking Fools, and even won the first official BDF contest! His prize? A free BDF t-shirt, a chance to have some beers with the band, and then he came and jammed with us at the practice studio. I'll have to see if I can dig up that Mp3 somewhere, I think I might have it somewhere. He was a pretty good guitarist.
(Oh, and let me not forget that when we first were discussing getting the band back together and where we would practice, it was Steve that directed us to the Abbey Tavern on 3rd Avenue and 26th street. That place was awesome. It became our weekly pre-practice ritual to meet up there after work, have some pints and some burgers, and then head over to practice. The Guinness was good for you and the service was excellent. In fact, the BDF song "Dear Abbey" is written about that bar. Sadly, it's no longer the Abbey. It's been turned into some trendy yuppie hellhole. But thank you, Steve, for introducing us to the place.)
This blog was born with the idea that some other sports fans might enjoy the email conversations we usually had discussing sports. And while we haven't always kept up-to-date with as many posts as we might have liked, it was always enjoyable to read his posts and carry on the conversation.
I last heard from Steve a little over a month ago, and it was classic him. I thought I'd share the email to put a fitting final entry on this site, as carrying on the sports dialogue without him just wouldn't be the same.
To put a little context on the email, I'm a Michigan Wolverins fan. Based solely upon seeing the movie "Red Dawn" when I was in my early teens, and it seemed pretty fucking cool for a bunch of high school kids to be running around shouting "Wolverines!" while they mowed down commie invaders with AK-47s.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Steve Samichlaus
Sent: Friday, June 11, 2010 5:16 PM
To: Steve St. Ides
Subject: You have ruined me
Red Dawn is on HBO and I am compelled to watch it.
Dude, this is one bad movie.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: RE: You have ruined me
Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2010 13:35:14 -0500
From: Steve St. Ides
To: Steve Samichlaus
Hahah, the original or the remake? I haven't seen the remake. The original was awesome though... when I was 14... Haven't seen it lately so it might not hold up very well. :P
Sup? How bout that Big Ben jerk? I'm excited about Seattle. Excellent draft, new coach (though I was never a fan of Carroll). With the Cardinals losing Warner to retirement, the NFC West is wide open.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Steve Samichlaus
Sent: Monday, June 14, 2010 8:57 AM
To: Steve St. Ides
Subject: RE: You have ruined me
I figured you'd be (walter) jonesing football after the draft Seattle had. Right now Seattle's had the best offseason I think of anybody out there, and I think they could easily win their division So the Pete Carroll thing... I really liked him when he was the defensive coordinator for the Jets and the Niners, he was this young brilliant up and comer. But as time has gone on I just don't think he's a very good man. Didn't some other college coach accuse him of shacking up with some co-ed? Anyway I think thatright now I don't know what to think about him. I just don't get a warm and fuzzy feeling....
So I was watching one of those "Top Ten" shows on NFL network this weekend, it was top ten rookie seasons I think, and Rapistburger was 8 or 9. One of the comments that were made was "Somehow this guy drops to Pittsburg's slot, and the Steelers are thrilled. I mean, I don't know what the other teams saw that they didn't like". All I could think was "uhh, character issues???" My favorite part of this story is hearing about his "move". In every "Big Ben" story his move is to get drunk, segregate the girl, and pull is pee pee out. Nice. Sounds like one of my moves, though quite frankly mine looks nothing like a clock or the tower of London.
The Red Dawn I was watching was the original with Patrick Swayze. I'll give it to you because you were 14 and that's about where this movie lives, but the ending when Swayze is, well, cuddling his dead buddy is pretty gay even for a 14 year old. Maybe I should watch the whole thing for a little context. I dunno. That's two hours I'll never recover...
Oh, one thought on the Packers offseason: it's all summed up in a post I put on Facebook: "Welcome to the NFL Free Agency Season, or as Packer fans refer to it: 'Passover'"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We'll miss you, Steve. I'll raise a beer and toast you, and remember you any time I see the Packers on TV.
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