I’ll start… You all might remember a little series I did last year where I evaluated individual players with funny thread titles. That was because of @HallGator. I believe he saw the division going on between us over Mike White and after I posted the first one on my own, he sent me a PM telling me that people really enjoyed my takes and encouraged me to write more. I was really surprised, because I didn’t think my opinions were even that interesting or respected considering some of the fantastic and credentialed writers we have here. Hall made me feel like a real sports analyst for that short while. There were several private messages between him and I over the past few years, and now that he’s gone, I wish there were more. Gonna miss you buddy. Anyone else who wants to share stories or anything personal, please do. - Murph
I don’t have an actual story - however, I did notice that Hall agreed with or liked a ton of my posts. So I liked the guy and he will be missed.
Oh no . . . I've been away from the board today. Please tell me we didn't lose my friend Hallgator. I haven't looked closely yet, but see that the forum has been (aptly) named after him. Oh man . . . . we lost my friend Gatorknights last year and now Hall? MAN. I will post a story later. Just shocked right now. Peace. This is just too sad.
Most of what I remember him is from the game threads. Always fair and level headed. Really missed him late this year when he went into the hospital and will miss him next year for sure.
As a rival Hall always made sure to make me feel like a part of the board. He and I would talk basketball in game threads. I can remember him telling me when UK won he would tell me to watch my posts in a positive way. Nice, nice guy. I sent him some private messages a few weeks ago, that I now know will never get answered. It puts life in perspective. Here I am bitching about a game when someone who I spoke with years is gone… crushing!!
I was a moderator with him on this forum and he sent me a pm about you and @REM08 and said that while you were UK fans you were great posters. As you probably know there were some people that didn't want rivals posting and he stood up for you. He felt you guys contributed to the forum and were always respectful, he wished we had more rivals like you two to make this forum a better place.
I lost my account and had to make a new one. Someone challenged me on an opinion I had and when I assured them I had been here since the 2003ish or so Hall questioned it since my new account had a much more recent start date. It opened the door to references from posters and threads from way back when and he then realized I was in fact a long time member. Hall and I were very much rooting for White to succeed recently yet he was also very understanding of Constructive criticisms and the conflict some of us had in losing confidence in his ability to succeed as coach. He had a very personable and humble persona here which isn't that common to find given the type of opiniated and passionate personalities that often contribute to online forums. He was always the calm, rational and relatable voice here. I miss his presence already.
A few months ago a screen name originated — “BrentMechlerFanBoy”. Hall and a couple mods alerted me…. assuming it was intended to mock me. And, as expected, they were right. The unexpected was uncovered via a bit of tracking and computer sleuth work. My 11–year-old son was my heckler. Lol!!! I reached out to Hall and revealed the embarrassing discovery. He loved it…. telling me he couldn’t stop laughing, and that “the apple didn’t fall far from the tree”.
I was friends with Hall before he became a mod. He was always a steady hoops fan and I admired that - one of my faves. When he became a mod, I was kinda sad because he then had a new kind of responsibility to the board. He was the perfect mod, though. Never hesitant to put forth a friendly warning & always forthright. I've never been banned, but could have been if not for HallGator. Pretty sure the only warnings I've gotten were from him. And I deserved them. Hall was the epitome of steady - I liken him to @OklahomaGator, another great and balanced mod. I'm just stricken by this loss. What a great guy who will be missed.
He helped me with an unruly poster a few years back. I had warned posters about the activity, and he told me he deleted my post, because it would only prolong the problem. He told me he gave a warning and it never continued. I know he was well respected and he will be missed! HallGators NBN forever!
I remember when I became more an NBN posters here than a Swamp Gas poster, Hall would get on me and others........ "Hey Head" the players name is spelled......... Lol As I became a regular and he got to know my posting style and I got used to his moderation style I started PM ing him about this and that. I had a few times when I had some issues, not with other posters, but about certain things and he was so kind and responsive and ALWAYS came through / had an answer. He was there for me. I can't imagine what you other mods and personal friends are going through. Right after Hall got sick this last time I had a heart attack (Super Bowl Sunday) and PM,d him and he took the time to respond to me even though he was in the Hospital. That's the kind of man he was, he cared about us and his fellow Gators, we were all privaleged to have such a mentor.
Thank you for sharing this. Makes me even more sad but that’s a really cool story to me. I gave him crap that I shouldn’t have when I was new here and he was mature enough to look past that.
