RIP Dan Pires 1956-2008

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Ras said:
It has been over 16 hours since my friend Dan passed away.

It has been less than 12 hours since my friend Dan's passing was posted by the local paper.

It has been a little over 6 hours since I learned of the death of my friend, Dan Pires.

I am still in shock and still upset. I have been in a fog all evening long and I really don't know why. I mean, I'm upset that I lost a good friend. I don't have many friends or people who I could call up a just talk to. Dan was one that I could. Is it selfish of me to be upset because I won't be able to talk to him anymore? Maybe, but I will miss him.

Many of you know that Dan wrote for the Standard-Times in New Bedford on the Patriots Beat. What you don't know was that was his part-time job. He had a full time job somewhere else to earn a living. Writing about the Patriots earned his some coin, but it wasn't his living. It was his passion.

Dan wrote about the players and players respected Dan. Dan wasn't out to get the "scoop" or to elevate his status as a reporter trying to get a gig on MSNBC or ESPN. Dan did his job and did it well.

I was told that when Dan started out, he kept the copy editor very busy, but that the substance of his writing showed a passion for the player and game that some "professional" journalists lack. Maybe that is what made him so good and a must read.

Dan was well liked by his colleagues and he had a lot of respect for them, especially Mike Reiss and Shalise Young. Alan Greenberg was very special to Dan and when Alan died, it hit Dan hard. We talked about it and it was the catalyst for Dan to change his lifestyle. It was part of my "cause and effect" to change my lifestyle, too. We did it together and supported one another.

When asked how long I have known Dan, I couldn't answer that question. I tried to think about that all night, but I feel like I have known Dan all my life. You see, Dan was a truly great guy. If you met and talked to him you came away with the feeling that, you too, have known him all your life. He was that type of guy.

Dan earned the respect of players and spoke well of Ben Coates, Rodney Harrison, Lonnie Paxton, Russ Hochstein, Joe Andruzzi, Vince Wilfork and Laurence Maroney. There were others to be sure, but these were known to me. He was fair to them and wrote their stories without looking to "dig up any dirt". This is what made him special and on par, in my opinion, with the other full-time beat writers.

I have a little secret I would like to share with you. Dan was a guy who always saw an opportunity to poke a little fun at the players and coaches, if the opportunity ever presented itself. He would send me a picture here and a picture there and asked me to come up with something that could be left in the locker room. I did it without hesitation. I also came up with some stuff here and there and sent it to him via e-mail. As soon as he saw it, I got the call. "Man! What kinda shot are you on?" "This is going to get killed in the locker room and I can't wait to give it out."

Like a kid waiting for the Christmas present to be opened, I waited for the feedback. Sometimes it took only days, sometimes weeks, but I got it. He would tell me if the picture got a room full of laughs, which was most of the time, or in the case of Corey Dillon and Belichick, not flattering responses. BB responded in an e-mail to Dan, that "Someone had too much time on their hands." I'll post what I can after this.

I will miss his wit.
I will miss his smile.
I will miss his laughter.
I will miss his style.
I will miss the joking.
I will miss the calls.
I will miss calling him hours before the game only to find out he hasn't left yet or he was waiting for Weisberg to get moving.
I will miss those occasional visit at "tent side" before he checks in when he arrived early.
I will miss the "swag" and cheesecake from the press box before games.
I will miss giving him the vodka cherries in return before he heads back to the press box.
I will miss making phone calls during the game to bust his ass.
I will miss the next day call after the game.
I will the calls.
I will miss the talks.
I will miss my friend.
I will miss Dan.
Click to expand...

I'm crying like a baby now.....
 
Ras, thanks for sharing the info about Dan, the emotion put into your post is felt by all of us.

prayers are being said for you over the loss of your friend Dan

I will miss the E-mails from Dan, especially the more personal ones
 
Just went through my office stuff and only found this pic of Dan. I guess some of the stuff I sent him wasn't saved, but I know some was posted here on the Planet. I just haven't the inclination to go look for them..........
 
Dan was near the top of the list of folks that Annihilus wanted to personally meet on a trip to Foxboro someday. He seemed like such a funny and generous guy.

:(

Ras - that commie party that you pasted Dan in has got to be one of the funniest things ever. Did Dan ever see that? If so, he had to laugh.
 
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/SPORTS/806260370

'Mayor of Foxboro' a friend, mentor

By David Brown
June 26, 2008 6:00 AM

Standard-Times Patriots writer Dan Pires didn't work the room — he worked the planet. With a personality as large as his heart, it seemed his mission was to know and love everyone he could, a pursuit that inspired some to call him, "The Mayor of Foxboro."

His death Wednesday morning at age 52 deprives the world of a wonderful man, The Standard-Times of a great reporter and myself of an irreplaceable friend and mentor.

I first met Dan Pires in the media workroom at Gillette Stadium during the Patriots' 2006 rookie mini-camp. We were friends before he finished shaking my hand. Although he'd known me for just a handful of seconds, Dan introduced me to every reporter in sight, a chore that was not his obligation, but seemed to be his pleasure.

"If it was your first day or you were new to the beat, he always sought you out and shook your hand," said Shalise Manza-Young, Patriots beat writer for the Providence Journal. "And if he liked you, he liked you forever."

As I would learn in two years working closely with Dan on the Patriots beat, that benevolent spirit and friendly nature were what made him so good at covering the Pats, one of the most tight-lipped teams in professional sports.

Dan had no formal education in journalism, but the best of his reporting skills could not be taught in a classroom. The tools of his trade were handshakes and smiles, which Dan used to build relationships first and stories second. Reporting came to him so naturally that few of his colleagues on the Patriots beat knew that journalism was a part-time pursuit or that he held a full-time job at a credit bureau.

He frequently gained the trust of players by connecting with them on a human level and walked away with information that few, if anyone, could acquire.

"I think the players liked him," said Mike Reiss, who covers the Patriots for the Boston Globe. "They felt comfortable talking to him, telling him things that they wouldn't tell other reporters."

Among current Patriots, he was most close to safety Rodney Harrison, with whom he had a productive player-reporter relationship.

"He is one of the most honest people I've ever met, someone with great integrity," Harrison said. "He was the only person in the media who ever sent me spiritual messages."

Dan operated outside the oppositional relationship between athletes and media, making friends with players as he would with anyone else.

"He dealt with them like people, which is something I like to do also, but I saw from him that it can be done successfully," Manza-Young said. "(The players) are fathers and sons and he knew that about them and they appreciated it."

In 2005, then Standard-Times sports editor Jonathan Comey used information that Dan provided to break the story of a planned holdout by Patriots defensive end Richard Seymour. The report sparked controversy when WEEI talk-show hosts doubted its validity, suggesting The Standard-Times was not a big enough paper to break such a large story.

The report, of course, was true, and Seymour held out at the start of training camp.

Last season Dan was responsible for the story that got the most clicks on Yahoo! sports, a report that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and defensive end Ty Warren were fined for not wearing chin straps. The Web site attributed the information to the Globe, but Boston was following Dan on the story.

In April, Dan again had a story that the Boston papers didn't, when he was the first to report that linebacker Junior Seau had off-season rotator cuff surgery after the Super Bowl.

"Who else had been talking to Junior Seau?" Reiss said. "Dan had a great relationship with him."

When Seau learned that Dan wasn't making the trip to Phoenix for the Super Bowl in February, he offered Dan his phone number, adding another jewel to Dan's cell phone, a treasure trove of contact information for players, agents and league sources. If the phone went to sale at a public auction, you could expect a hoard of reporters to show up and bid on it.

"I know I would," Manza-Young said. "There is a wealth of information inside that cell phone, definitely."

Dan was so well-connected in New Bedford and Dartmouth that whenever a Standard-Times reporter struggled to locate a source or an elusive nugget of information, that reporter was met with a standing joke: "Pires knows." Laughs would follow when the joke turned out to be true.

His value to The Standard-Times was incalculable, and his compensation for covering the Patriots was an epic bargain when you consider his contributions in news tips, names and phone numbers for stories he wasn't working on.

The unexpected emergence of his smiling face when he popped into the office on a busy night will be missed. On Wednesday, that smile was sorely needed in the newsroom, which was devastated by this sad news.

As we grieve, there is only one scrap of solace I can take in Dan's passing: If I ever get to Heaven, the next words I hear from my well-connected friend will be, "Hey God, have you met Dave?"

Contact David Brown at

dbrown@s-t.com
 
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/NEWS/806260337

Popular Patriots reporter remembered as likeable, loving

By Steve Decosta
Standard-Times staff writer
June 26, 2008 6:00 AM

NEW BEDFORD — Dan Pires, whose insightful reporting on the New England Patriots made him popular with readers of The Standard-Times and whose outgoing personality made him popular with Patriots players, his peers and the public, died Wednesday morning.

He was 52.

Mr. Pires worked as the Patriots beat reporter for this newspaper for more than a decade, starting during the Drew Bledsoe era and following them through their three Super Bowl championships.

He was also a frequent contributor to a variety of online message boards regarding the Patriots and The Standard-Times' Dine Out column. He was a news junkie who was constantly providing tips about what was going on in New Bedford and throughout SouthCoast.

Mr. Pires was found unresponsive at the Dartmouth Middle School track at 6:22 a.m. Wednesday, according to Dartmouth police, who said a passerby administered CPR but was unable to revive him. He was taken to St. Luke's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police do not suspect foul play.

"Dan was one of the friendliest and most decent people you could know," Standard-Times Editor Bob Unger said. "That was one of the reasons he was so good at his job. He knew everyone, and everyone knew — and liked — him.

"About once every week or two, I'd get a phone call or e-mail from him with a story tip that he had picked up from one of the many people he talked with. He was a great family man and a great guy, and we are going to miss him."

"The Patriots organization is deeply saddened to learn of the sudden and unexpected death of Dan Pires," director of media relations Stacey James said in a statement. "He was well liked by his colleagues in the media, the players in the locker room and the many team staff members he came into contact with.

"He had an unassuming demeanor and will be remembered by many as an engaging conversationalist," Mr. James said. "While many of his conversations started on the topic of football, most ended talking about his family. Dan was a doting dad and a loving husband."

Mr. Pires covered the three Super Bowls won by the Patriots: 20-17 over the St. Louis Rams in New Orleans in 2002, 32-29 over the Carolina Panthers in 2004 and 24-21 over the Philadelphia Eagles in 2005.

He did not witness the Patriots' 17-14 loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Ariz., earlier this year because of a work commitment.

While Mr. Pires routinely kept up with the reporting pack and regularly broke news about the Patriots, journalism was more of a hobby to him than a vocation. He covered the team part-time while working full-time as collection division manager for the Credit Information Bureau of Rhode Island, a job that required extensive travel.

"I wish he would have been able to cover the team full-time," said Ken Hartnett, retired editor of The Standard-Times. "He understood that football team. He had good relationships with the players, he had a great understanding of the game, and it wasn't even his main job."

The fact that Mr. Pires was at the track early in the morning was testament to his newfound commitment to improve his health. In the past 14 months, he had taken up a regular exercise regimen and shed 40 pounds.

The unexpected death of Hartford Courant columnist Alan Greenberg, who regularly covered the Patriots, in March 2007 inspired Mr. Pires to diet and exercise, colleagues and friends said.

"That was part of it," said longtime friend Shawn McDonald, "but it was also because of me. I had lost 140 pounds." Mr. McDonald is chairman of the Dartmouth School Committee.

Mr. Greenberg's death "was a wake-up call," Mr. McDonald said. "We talked a lot about it and he decided to do something about it."

Asked how long he had known Mr. Pires, Mr. McDonald said: "He was the kind of guy who, even if you only knew him for a month, it seemed like you'd known him all your life."

The old friends talked often about a lot of things. "Our conversations started out talking about the Patriots and ended up talking about our kids."

He was proud of those kids, Taylor and Jillian, and spent a lot of time with them.

"He loved the kids," said New Bedford High lacrosse coach Shane Relihan. "His son Taylor was a senior on the team, and he loved watching his son play.

"Dan would buy plaques for us at the end of the year and he had T-shirts made for the kids. Every road trip, he'd bring chips, snacks and water. He made it to every game and was always a pleasure to talk to, no matter what was going on.

"He's the kind of guy you can't afford to lose, especially at such a young age," Mr. Relihan said.

In addition to his two children, he is survived by his wife, Becky.

In a now more poignant posting of an online tribute to his colleague Mr. Greenberg, Mr. Pires wrote:

"I'm stunned. I'm not the same person I was earlier today. First, kiss your loved ones. For absolutely no primal reason, too. My mom's sister and aunt, Luisa, had a favorite saying — in Crioulo — until the day of her demise. She used to say: 'Cu fe na deus' (with faith in God). That's all we live by, after all."

And he signed it with his typical closing: "Peace, Dan."

Contact Steve DeCosta at sdecosta@s-t.com
 
I am really sad to hear this terrible news, of course we at PP will miss Dan's presence..... but our loss pales in comparison to that of his family. Condolences and prayers to them.
 
Paranoid asked me for a avatar sized pic of Dan and also asked me to post it here in case anyone wished to use it. So....
 
I swear I just felt something whack me off the back of my head and a voice said to me:

"Jeez, ya think you might maybe have a little something in a little less I look like I over-did the fake tanning spray, Bro?" ROFL

so I had this to offer as an alternative, Ras :D
 
I knew that Dan had kids and that made me think of a quote that I read recently about what a father means to his kids:

"There is no place you will ever go where he won't be."
--writer Willie Morris​

I lost my dad when I was 17, but that quote rings true to me now, some 35 years after he passed away. I still hear his voice.

My guess is that Dan Pires will always be there for his kids.
 
I came back from vacation today and read this news. Just staggering. Clearly Dan was a people person who loved to interact. I have a PM saved that he had sent me in June 2005 that he sent me out of the blue, asking me to call him on his personal cell phone. I can't remember exactly how or what the conversation was about, but it was half Patriots related and half about what it's like to be a Pats fan so far away from home. He was such a personable guy and the fact that he PM'd me, a stranger, asking me to call his personal cell phones speaks to the kind of outgoing, friendly person he is. I never thought I'd get choked up over something on this message board, but this is a great loss.... for his family, friends, the Pats community and our little message board. What a great guy with a wonderful personality. You will be missed Dan Pires. :(
 
I'm heartbroken.

Dan and his family sent me care packages while I was in Iraq and I wanted so much to travel to New England this season to meet and thank him in person.

Godspeed, my friend. I'm grateful that he touched so many lives with his work, and that I got to know him personally albeit at a distance.
 
Thanks for all you gave to us, Dan!
 
RoadGrader said:
I swear I just felt something whack me off the back of my head and a voice said to me:

"Jeez, ya think you might maybe have a little something in a little less I look like I over-did the fake tanning spray, Bro?" ROFL

so I had this to offer as an alternative, Ras :D
Click to expand...

For some reason it took me a long time to get the one Ras sent to finally load up. So I'll keep the "in the sun version" for a while.:thumb:

I just thought it would be just one more way to pay tribute to Dan. So I'll keep the avatar until Training Camp starts anyway. If others want do the same, please do.
 
Patriots.com now has a blurb...

6/26/08

Patriots mourn the loss of Dan Pires

The New England Patriots organization is deeply saddened by the loss of long-time Patriots beat writer Dan Pires of the New Bedford Standard-Times. Pires, 52, was a Patriots beat reporter for The Standard-Times for more than a decade. He is survived by wife, Becky, and two children.

PATRIOTS HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK
"Besides being perhaps the most consistent attendee at virtually every press conference, what I will remember most about Dan is that he went out of his way to make a personal connection with everyone he came across. In all my years in football, Dan was one of the friendliest people I have ever come across. My deepest condolences are with the Pires family."
 
I was away for a week and came back to this terrible news. What a punch in the gut. Even though I didn't know Dan personally, I will miss him here on the board. He's the only member of the media that I can see posting here and interacting with regular fans because he enjoys doing so because he's a real guy, which, after all, is far more important than being "the guy". My respects to Dan and his friends and family. RIP Dan.
 
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