Remembering Dan Pires

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Nice thread and I much enjoyed Dave Brown's piece on the late Mayor of Foxboro.

I never met Dan Pires, but reading between his lines I sensed that he did not look at the Planet like many Patriots writers would-- that we were a collection of internet weenies-- but rather living, breathing people that posted here because we loved the Pats. That put us under the very large column of his that was titled "People I like".

I think, no, I KNOW, that Dan Pires was a writer who wrote because he loved them too, it was his passion and that showed not only in the words that he wrote in the ST, but his interaction with us.
 
I was not priveleged to have met him in person. But I was on his email list and received almost daily emails from him. They ranged from Pats news to funny stories to simply a feel good message. I'll miss getting those.
 
The thing that I keep coming back to is his age. Just way to soon :(
 
Not funny, but words that will stick with me....

As I mentioned in the other thread, Dan gave me some very good advice on getting into sports journalism.

I wish I had saved the emails now, but Dan's parting words on the subject were something along the lines of...

It's better to write from your heart than to write for a deadline or a headline.


:thumb:
 
Muse said:
Ras I hope you don't mind me saying what you told me placed here in the open. But Ras said this when I asked him since he knew him

"The best tribute to Dan would be to post and post away. Silly threads or not. He read and laughed while reading on the Planet."
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Yes, I think DP lurked a lot more than we knew. (Just last week I got rep from him for something.) He just didn't post that much because I think he wanted to keep his professionalism intact and not be known as "that guy on the message board". Very rarely would you see Dan make an opinion-based comment on something to do with the Patriots. Just another sign of how good he was at his job and how seriously he took it: very level-headed, keeping his locker room and front-office contacts out of jeopardy. (When Belichick took the team here in 2001 to see "Shackleton", we weren't allowed to tell anyone, so I couldn't tell Dan about it until the day after; if he was miffed because he could've had a scoop, he didn't show it, because IMO he understood how important it was not to betray confidence.)

I met him only a few times. Once to buy some end-zone tickets off him the last season they played in the old stadium, once or twice at camp, and once when he came to the booth to take some free comedian tickets off my hands. All the times I met him, he was smiling. Just a great guy.
 
Hawg73 said:
I never met Dan Pires, but reading between his lines I sensed that he did not look at the Planet like many Patriots writers would-- that we were a collection of internet weenies-- but rather living, breathing people that posted here because we loved the Pats. That put us under the very large column of his that was titled "People I like".

I think, no, I KNOW, that Dan Pires was a writer who wrote because he loved them too, it was his passion and that showed not only in the words that he wrote in the ST, but his interaction with us
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this is what struck me, Hawg, when I was talking with Steve DeCosta @ the S-T yesterday and he said how Dan had no formal training as a journalist yet his writing never revealed that

when I read Dan I could tell he gave a damn about what he wrote because he gave a damn about those of us who would read what he wrote

and he was just like us -- a regular peep who happened to be able to write sports for other peeps who love sports as much as he did

which is the main reason why I am feeling his passing so strongly :(

quick Steve DeCosta story......

Steve & Dan went together to cover 2 of the Pats SBs and shared a hotel room both times. Seems that Danny was a deep sleeper who loved to saw down South American rainforests at night. Steve finally couldn't take it any more and had to go out and buy ear plugs to get some rest. "I never thought one man could make such a noise and not wake himself up like that!!", Steve told me yesterday :D

this might be the one instance where Dan wasn't doing something nice for others around himself

I can hear Dan now: "Boy did I get a good sleep in last nite, Steve.....why you look so tired Bro?" ROFL
 
Muse said:
The thing that I keep coming back to is his age. Just way to soon :(
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Tell me about it.

I am about two months older than he was. He'd lost 50 pounds in the last year and I'm down about 30. He died working out at a track and I do something similar just about every day.

Just in case-- I love all you guys.

That's the kind of thing he to his friends all the time. I don't do it often enough.
 
Hawg73 said:
Tell me about it.

I am about two months older than he was. He'd lost 50 pounds in the last year and I'm down about 30. He died working out at a track and I do something similar just about every day.

Just in case-- I love all you guys.

That's the kind of thing he to his friends all the time. I don't do it often enough.
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It does make you stop and think, doesn't it?

We assume every day when we leave our homes, we'll return again that night.

We love you too, Hawgie.
 
cka203 said:
It does make you stop and think, doesn't it?

We assume every day when we leave our homes, we'll return again that night.

We love you too, Hawgie.
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So very true cka.

Hawg back at you my friend
 
One thing I always got a kick out of was at the time, how much Dan's and Dchester's mugshots made them look alike. This pic was originally posted by RG:
 
Undertaker #59 said:
One thing I always got a kick out of was at the time, how much Dan's and Dchester's mugshots made them look alike. This pic was originally posted by RG:
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Yeah...everyone has a doppleganger or two..........
 
For people that might not have understood who Dan Pires was to us, you'd be well served to do a search on some of his posts-- something that I have been doing all morning. The guy provided us with quality, inside info and was damn funny to boot. This is from an exchange on a thread about the draft and Belichick and he showed a little bit of his comical side. I think writing about football was FUN for Dan Pires.


Originally posted by Hawg73
Right, Dan.

But at least you don't seem to have a problem with acknowleging the fact that he is almost always right, unlike some other writers I could name.

To me that tells me that you are a little more secure than some of your colleagues.

And no, it won't be sunshine, lollipos and rainbows either. The thing I wonder about is what will be the waypoint when it all starts going backwards?

I don't really see it yet.
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(Dan's reply)

Thanks.

What strikes me is that while BB is very much in the here and now, his focus is predominantly always towards the future as in longterm. Maybe I'm giving him too much credit, but I honestly believe he has actuarial charts and graphs pertaining to everything from the point he ties shoes in the morning until the time he goes to bed. I honestly believe that. I'd love to see their draft board as it pertained to other teams. I bet the Pats didn't have 75-100 names on their board this weekend. How else do you explain Shazor not getting drafted (not meaning they won't sign him) and Andy 'I'm Going To Wally World' Stokes* getting picked?

From the post-draft press conference transcript:
Q: What is your take on the whole 'Mr. Irrelevant' thing?
BB: A lot of hype. There is not much difference to me between the 255th player and the 254th, other than the trip to Wally World or whatever it is.
Q: [Laughter] So you are not going to the parade?
BB: I think I will have another commitment that day.

It would have been funnier if BB said, "Sorry, folks, park's closed; moose out front should have told you."
 
I always thought Dan was "just a regular guy". I really had no clue how far into the Pats organization he was able to get and how accepted he was. He was very personable, would have never thought he was a hot shot that got to hang with hot shots. Just a hobby? Ultimate cool. And not in a "0MG he is the r0xxorz cuz he talked to Tom Brady" way, but in a calm and collected and very self and communityily aware type of way.
 
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