He had a big heart, grandiose dreams, hateful irritations and his own demons to fight - just like the rest of us. He wasn’t who he appeared to be on the internet. He was more - and better, much better - than that. I am truly saddened by his passing, but hope that the peace which too often proved elusively transient to him here, has now been found elsewhere and in infinite abundance.
Anyone who has been around Vol Internet the past 15 years is familiar with his work. A complicated yet fascinating man. RIP to him. Hope he’s enjoying a cold one upstairs.
Man I had some runins with him then ended up hooking up with him offline when he was doing some things to help some kids get tickets to a game. Nice guy in real life
Hat definitely was a polarizing figure in the world of TN message boarding, but one you couldn’t write the history of VN, or the 8th without mentioning. The guy had a soft spot for the folks who weren’t dealt the greatest hand in life and would give the shirt off of his back if he liked you. RIP, Hat.
Yea the angry Internet badass persona he played definitely wasn’t how he was in real life. A true character and independent thinker. It’s my understanding he had been drinking like a fish since his college days and never stopped- that shit catches up to you. But still sad to see his health fade so quickly and at such a young age.
What the [uck fay]?!?! One of my greatest hopes of Trump losing the election would be that he would post here again because no one livened up the board like he did. His ability to cut something or someone down in less than 3 sentences was unparalleled. Very sad to hear and so young, too.
He's the one who got me in with you schmucks. Had lunch with him many times when we worked downtown. Doubt many pros knew basketball better than he did. His stories from the minor league wrestling circuits in eastern KY when he was managing stuff are out of this world. IIRC, he was the first one the declare war on the kid in Georgia that tried to rig the voting against the kid for the football tickets. Sad, sad day.
Yeah he was definitely a guy who wouldn’t mind having a beer and shooting the breeze with you if you saw him out. Sucks to hear.
I wouldn’t be shocked if of my first 200 VN posts 190 were arguing with him. Pretty sure my first post was in response to him (in typical hat fashion) calling Manning a choke artist after the Colts lost - I think to the Chargers - in 2005.
Can’t believe this. He was a lightning rod but was one of the few who you had to see what he had posted.
Damn. Met up with him a couple times when I was living in Knoxville. Knowing how good of a guy he was IRL, his angry-man internet persona actually annoyed the shit out of me. RIP to a truly caring, selfless, and great person and a legendary internet poster.
He was very kind to me and is someone that I'll always remember. The lasting image of him for me will be the first time I laid eyes on him at the '13 Auburn tailgate. He walks up to us via cutting through a large crowd of Auburn fans and says with his face contorted, "have you ever seen this many [uck fay]ing rednecks on our campus?!?"