2023 RIP Thread

TexasBama

TideFans Legend
Jan 15, 2000
26,061
29,571
287
66
Houston, Texas USA
Man, losing those two pioneers so close together has been rough for a Space nerd like me. Mattingly played such a big role in getting XIII back and got a mission of his own as CMP before flying on the Shuttle. Borman spent a lot of time in space for his two missions. Two weeks with Jim Lovell on Gemini VII and 6 days on Apollo 8 with Lovell again and Bill Anders, and he was the lone astronaut for the investigation into the Apollo 1 disaster. May these heroes rest in peace.
Only 9 still living that flew on Apollo, and only 4 left that walked on the moon.

Only 5 left that flew on Gemini.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: OakMtn4Bama

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
45,629
47,279
187
Only 9 still living that flew on Apollo, and only 4 left that walked on the moon.

Only 5 left that flew on Gemini.
Well, those things happened a long, long time ago. None of us is going to get out of here alive.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Con

Crimson1967

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2011
18,782
9,984
187
Well, those things happened a long, long time ago. None of us is going to get out of here alive.
Exactly. Time marches on. I’m sorry these two astronauts died, but they were both really old.

You see things all the time that say “Only X number of people from this group are still alive”. And then people get all sad. But it happens eventually. The last WWII vet will be leaving us in about 15 years or so.
 
  • Like
Reactions: B1GTide

TexasBama

TideFans Legend
Jan 15, 2000
26,061
29,571
287
66
Houston, Texas USA
Well, those things happened a long, long time ago. None of us is going to get out of here alive.
I’m probably more sentimental about the astronauts that a lot of folks. I lived near Johnson Space Center for several years. I knew the family of one of the Challenger astronauts. I got to know Deke Slayton a little bit. I remember the Saturn 5 engine tests at Redstone.
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
36,432
29,737
287
54
Exactly. Time marches on. I’m sorry these two astronauts died, but they were both really old.

You see things all the time that say “Only X number of people from this group are still alive”. And then people get all sad. But it happens eventually. The last WWII vet will be leaving us in about 15 years or so.
Just two weeks ago, it was noted that the passing of Bull Shannon means only Dan Fielding and Roz remain from "Night Court" as far as the main cast. But "Night Court" has been off the air over 30 years.

Here's one that got me recently:
Johnny Carson's show ran for 30 years, and the last episode aired...31 years ago.

what amazes me is that it seems like "time before I was born" was "a very long time ago" but "during my life" seems like it passes in mere seconds.

The year 2000 doesn't seem very long ago, but when I first started thinking about it - around 1977 - it was just as close to then as now. But it sure took a lot longer to get there. :)
 

Crimson1967

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2011
18,782
9,984
187
When Betty White died I saw a post that said “I can’t believe they’re all gone!!!”.

You can’t believe that four women who were on a TV show that debuted in 1985 and were all eligible for AARP at the time are all dead by 2022?

If you want to see the impact of your own lifespan try this. Take the year you were born and subtract your current age. So I subtract 56 from 1967 and it’s 1911. Seems like a long time ago but it’s as close to my birth as I am right now. We went 5-2-2 that year. We had a first year head coach because the old coach got hired away by Kansas State.
 

Padreruf

Hall of Fame
Feb 12, 2001
8,717
12,283
287
73
Charleston, South Carolina
When Betty White died I saw a post that said “I can’t believe they’re all gone!!!”.

You can’t believe that four women who were on a TV show that debuted in 1985 and were all eligible for AARP at the time are all dead by 2022?

If you want to see the impact of your own lifespan try this. Take the year you were born and subtract your current age. So I subtract 56 from 1967 and it’s 1911. Seems like a long time ago but it’s as close to my birth as I am right now. We went 5-2-2 that year. We had a first year head coach because the old coach got hired away by Kansas State.
OK...so 1950 minus 72 = 1878...when did UA start playing football?
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
36,432
29,737
287
54
Ken Squier, Hall of Fame broadcasting pioneer, dies at 88 (msn.com)

Ken Squier was to NASCAR what Keith Jackson was to college football - for those who don't know.
When a sport moves to television, you need a certain personality taking the lead, and Squier understood - unlike the late Tim McCarver - that nobody was tuning in to hear him talk about himself. Hyping the event you're covering without sounding like that's what you're doing is a lost art. (Squier and Jackson had it; Brent Musberger and Billy Packer and Bob Costas never learned how).

May he RIP.
 
  • Thank You
Reactions: OakMtn4Bama

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
36,432
29,737
287
54
My Dad graduated high school in 1929. Not the best timing.
In this game, when he turned 47, the flip side was Lee's surrender to Grant.
This "game" hit me earlier this year when Mom and I went to Yellowstone and then by Little Bighorn to commemorate the poor Lakota census counting skills of General Custer. Mom just turned 77 three days ago, so it's like this:

1946 - 77 = 1869, the year Grant became President and Custer fought (or massacred, take your pick) the Cheyenne at the Battle of the Washita River and General Joel Elliott got whacked.

It makes what seems long ago seem - not so long ago at all.
 

CrimsonTheory

All-American
Mar 26, 2012
3,813
2,228
187
CrimsonBleedRed
1927 and I don't like this game. I now know that the stock market crash of 1929 is closer to the year of my birth than the current year.
Same here. My would be 1981-42=1939. The Bama team had Frank Thomas as HC and Bear as an Assistant. But why do I not like this game? 1939 also saw Tennessee be the last undefeated, untied and unscored upon team in regular season (they lost to USC in the Rose Bowl that year).
 

4Q Basket Case

FB|BB Moderator
Staff member
Nov 8, 2004
9,667
13,174
237
Tuscaloosa
The last few posts here remind me of an all-time great musician, who also died at a premature age -- Steve Goodman. He wrote a song about an older musician named Carl Martin. That song contained a line for the ages:

"From the cradle to the crypt is a mighty short trip, so you better get it while you can."
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Padreruf