Wow. I had seen this topic title for a while now but I never clicked on it, assuming it would be some sad story about a random Laker fan that none of us actually knew. I knew Roos was sick, but I just never connected the dots. This is so sad. My deepest condolences to his family. We never really saw eye-to-eye when it came to the Lakers, but I definitely respected the man. He seemed like a good guy who was intelligent and well-rounded in his life. While we frequently disagreed on things, it was always fun to get into debates with him because he had so much knowledge and was so passionate about his opinions. RIP
Oh my god!! I just saw this 10 minutes ago as I only started coming to this section a few days ago. I remember seeing the title but had not one clue it was about Rooscooter. I really enjoyed his posts and wisdom, opinionated as they could be, because it was clear he knew A LOT about life and the world and business and certainly was interested in the Lakers. I PM'd with him on a couple of occasions. It was there, when the most recent time I PM'd him to try talk him out of not dropping off Clublakers just because, I thought, Lakersball was being created and many of the best members were moving over. It was then he told me it was not because of that but that he was fighting a serious illness. Obviously now he never got better, but still found his way back to post some more times on CL in these way too few months between October and now. This really, really saddens me. RIP Mike.
So I just saw this thread. This is unbelievably sad. The amount of time and effort he put into posting on the Open Court section was amazing. He wasn't just throwing stuff at the wall, hoping it sticks. He would make a post with intelligent commentary, links to studies...he was not a typical poster by ANY message board's standards. He was almost like a professional columnist who happened to slum it with us. I PMed him right before Christmas to check in and he said he was looking at about 50/50 odds. I guess it went the other way. RIP Mike
Hey all. I'm Roo's (Mike) cousin. I joined (and had to comment on the possibility of getting Cousins) to let everyone who commented in this thread know that his family has read these posts and is really happy he was held in such high regard by the majority. He meant a lot to me as well. Turned my path and helped me get to where I am. Good one's go too early. a heart felt thank you to everyone who posted. James.
Thank you for reaching out to let all of us know that his family was able to read some of the comments in here. Welcome to the Forums, Roo's legacy will always live on in this forum because of so many members coming from Clublakers
Thanks man, I'm using his laptop and it still has CL bookmarked (password is embedded)... I used to be a member back in the very beginning of CL but got to busy with life to keep up. Mike loved the Lakers and was one of the most energetic guys I've ever met. He routinely worked 12 + hours a day and still had time for his family. He left me a lot of his cherished Laker stuff. A 1980 finals program with every signature for example. More signed KAJ stuff that a museum.... I don't really have time for forums these days. I was given Mike's laptop the other day to go through the files that he and I contributed together on and I found CL in his bookmarks. The password was embedded so I logged onto CL and read his final thread and that led me here. I've tossed a few comments into the Cousin's thread but i just don't have the time to contribute like most of you guys do. I just wanted to let the ones who showed some true concern for him that it touched his family and helped them through a very tough time. His daughters especially.
He was a good poster , knew his stuff and you could feel he was very passionated about the Lakers ... I feel sad ... never met him and living 6000 miles from the US ... this is the proof a shared passion really (re)unite people
Reading through his personal messages and posts over at CL I now understand some of the comments in this thread. Getting to know some of you through them.
Wow. I am so sorry to be late on this as I've been in the process of between jobs, moving, and travelling. When I read Trodger's original post, my heart literally sank. I felt it sink. The fact that the passing of someone who I have never met in person, and never even exchanged PM's with, can have that effect on me is telling. The thing about Roo is he was such an eclectic poster. He brought a perspective that no one else brought. Whenever I'd see a post by him, I was so curious to see what it said because it was so polarizing, so blunt and straight forward. Not everyone may have liked what he wrote, but you can damn well bet when his avatar showed up on the side of the screen, you were squirming to read what he wrote. Had no idea he was suffering. I remember thinking why didn't this guy make the jump to LB. I'm not sure how old he was but I hope it was as painless as possible and I hope his family is secure. RIP Roo, to some heated political discussions in the next life.....
Wow... I'll make sure his family sees this one. Thanks man. He was blunt with us all. When I was younger I was on the FU path through life. He was more than blunt with me for 8 years and then I lost my mom just as he did his and he and I got closer and one day I got it. He got me into college and helped me get into advanced analytics (I ended up with a Masters in Statistical Analysis and will be starting my PhD in the fall) and demography. As for the politics.... he was ardently apolitical. He argued against both orthodoxies equally. He despised the collective statist view of the world that much if for sure. It was never personal but when you even discuss being non-political it's interpreted differently than it used to be. Being in that category is seen as even more radical than the edges of the parties fringes. He know economics like a lot of professors. Sitting in him Chandler home last week I counted over 100 books on social and economic theory. He had all of them bookmarked and highlighted. I don't know if he ever slept. too much rambling on here..... He's greatly missed by a lot of people. He passed quietly in Chile at age 52 in late January surrounded by family. He loved the lakers and held quite a few of you guys in very high regard. He battled a rare form of Leukemia and had it mostly beat but apparently it had spread and he died of brain cancer officially. I didn't know until a few days before he passed he was in such bad shape. I've been enamored by this site a little more than I thought I would and I never intended to make more than a few posts about how much I hate Cousins and thank everyone but this community is pretty special and I now understand why he put up 23K posts in a few years over at CL. This is a good group. As for being blunt it comes with age. I'm 50 myself and more blunt every year.
Which of us were his favorites? Do tell! Welcome to the family, James. This is a special group (migrated from CL) of diverse people and personalities. We know a lot about one another on a very personal level. We've been there for posters dealing with divorce, death, trauma, and even suicidal ideation on more than one occasion. I see a lot of Mike in your posts. You're keeping his spirit alive here. Thank you, and again...welcome.
If there is any Mike in my posts it comes from his dad. That is where it came from in him. He basically raised me and Mike alone along with his sisters. He was no nonsense by definition. You didn't dance around what you were trying to say in that family. You know Mike actually kept statistics on anything and everything. I found a spreadsheet titled "ClubLakers". Inside was a matrix of everyone he interacted with complete with names if he had them, questions they asked him and topics they debated. He met a few of you personally too it seems. I just looked.... you're on the "good" list. . Anyway, he'd be spinning in his grave if he knew this was going on. He was pretty private and wanted to make sure there was no "fuss" after he passed. I may stick around a while time permitting. You guys will be better than the upcoming season I'm afraid.
A CL spreadsheet?!?!?!?! OMFG that's the greatest/weirdest thing I've ever heard! Please post some screenshots of the spreadsheet, or at least isolate my section. I'm dying to know.
Bonk - we're definitely going to be more enjoyable than the season, the way it's looking so far. Do stick around, I saw your name in some of the free agent threads but now that I know who you are it'd be great for you to carry on the legacy, so to speak. Lot of interesting folks here, you'll find some you love, some you hate, and some you don't even have an opinion on.
Hahaha... It's got 2 pivot tables too. It looked like a template he used for CRM. He knew a ton of people and i always thought he had a photographic memory. Instead it was Excel and Filemaker. It's on his laptop in Chandler. I'm in DC again. Maybe if I get back out there again in the next month or two. He contributed to a number of studies my company does for several think tanks. I'm in the process of trying to find data sets that he and I worked on in November so I'll be back out there in the coming months.
