Jason Botchford has passed away

[Addison Rae]

Thanks to the mods for allowing me to change my username.

 

[Zombotron]

Thanks to the mods for allowing me to change my username.

No way I wasn't going to vouch for you, taking into consideration your aspirations and dealings with him. It f***s me up hard knowing he's influenced posters in this community to the extent that he did - seeing young people pursue careers in journalism, citing him as a direct influence. That part hurts.

 

[2011 still hurts]

No way I wasn't going to vouch for you, taking into consideration your aspirations and dealings with him. It ****s me up hard knowing he's influenced posters in this community to the extent that he did - seeing young people pursue careers in journalism, citing him as a direct influence. That part hurts.

I think that's one of the more subtle/underplayed aspects to Jason; the writers who take genuine pride in sports journalism do end up molding a lot of peoples views on things, while Botch may not have realized it himself his work did influence a lot of canucks fans. The kind of coverage he was able to provide can genuinely make hockey more appealing to a casual fan and increase their personal investment in the team. That's not something that every sports writer out there is able to do, but I know for sure Botch definitely did.

 

[Jyrki21]

Justin at Real Good Show has released the special Botchford episode done behind the paywall last year. If you didn’t catch it the first time (I promoted it here at the time, in part because they have a lengthy discussion about Benning on Empty being passed around the league, but it’s also just a great listen) you can now:

 

[Addison Rae]

“

No way I wasn't going to vouch for you, taking into consideration your aspirations and dealings with him. It ****s me up hard knowing he's influenced posters in this community to the extent that he did - seeing young people pursue careers in journalism, citing him as a direct influence. That part hurts.

Got nothing but respect for you.

 

[Jyrki21]

A special edition today. As always, click through twice to enlarge.

 

[TruGr1t]

Awesome work, @Jyrki21.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Nicely done, Jyrki.

 

[Jyrki21]

A visually-impaired person on Twitter asked me to transcribe the dialogue for them so that they could read it too. All the feels, guys, all the feels.

 

[TruKnyte]

A special edition today. As always, click through twice to enlarge.

Man that hits hard. Good work as usual.

 

[Mofletz]

I hope to really see a Stanley cup before passing.....

 

[timw33]

Justin at Real Good Show has released the special Botchford episode done behind the paywall last year. If you didn’t catch it the first time (I promoted it here at the time, in part because they have a lengthy discussion about Benning on Empty being passed around the league, but it’s also just a great listen) you can now:

This is a must listen. Really hammering home the impact of his loss—truly was the voice of so many of us, he just *got* it.

Justin's intro is gut-wrenching but beautiful.

 

[Catamarca Livin]

Huge fan of Botch his writing podcast and events. The GoFundMe page shows the quality people out their have. I first thought is it April fools day. as I had expected to follow him next 30 years.

Spoken from a person who is underinsured myself and not knowing his medical history or financial situation. With 3 young children he needed a lot of life insurance. Like million up min. Others here including myself should learn the lesson as GoFundMe is a poor estate plan. For around the cost of cable your family finances are protected.

 

[Pavel96]

A special edition today. As always, click through twice to enlarge.

Thank you!

 

[Scott Stevens]

I’m sorry you guys lost your best and brightest Canucks reporter. He was one of my out of town favourite reads on the athletic. I just listened in entirety to that podcast posted on this latest page and it really is sad that the fellas won’t get their annual Botchford episode.

I’ll say it anyway, but it obviously goes without saying that the saddest part is mom and the little ones lose dad.

 

[StreetHawk]

Huge fan of Botch his writing podcast and events. The GoFundMe page shows the quality people out their have. I first thought is it April fools day. as I had expected to follow him next 30 years.

Spoken from a person who is underinsured myself and not knowing his medical history or financial situation. With 3 young children he needed a lot of life insurance. Like million up min. Others here including myself should learn the lesson as GoFundMe is a poor estate plan. For around the cost of cable your family finances are protected.

My siblings who are parents put that as a priority to ensure that their significant other and kids are taken care of. Whatever you have to give up, going out for dinner, clothes, video games, cable tv, etc you do it to protect your loved ones in case something unforeseen occurs.

 

[YeahHeDid]

When the news broke last week I was heartbroken. Still having sad pangs here and there. I legit believe if there was an After Life Expansion draft, and I could only protect 5 people beyond my friends and family, (ie: public figures) he would have made that list.

FYI the gofundme for his family is stalling a bit, 8k short of the target, so if you had thought about donating and haven't yet please do go contribute what you can.

 

[Samzilla]

A special edition today. As always, click through twice to enlarge.

Made me cry.

 

[vanuck]

Have there been any other sportswriters out there who've had as much of an impact on their team's fanbase as Botchford? Genuinely curious.

 

[ginner classic]

Have there been any other sportswriters out there who've had as much of an impact on their team's fanbase as Botchford? Genuinely curious.

Not this fan base. Not this city. Not at this age. This was like Lady Diana passing away if you liked the Royal family. I'm still super sad. Or Greg Moore for racing fans. He was an icon at 48. Maybe it is just a small community but he was our North Star.

 

[Cupless44]

Not this fan base. Not this city. Not at this age. This was like Lady Diana passing away if you liked the Royal family. I'm still super sad. Or Greg Moore for racing fans. He was an icon at 48. Maybe it is just a small community but he was our North Star.

A massive void in Canuck coverage and entertainment that wont soon be replaced, if ever ,in quite the same way. It doesn't feel like an exaggeration to say following the Canucks just isn't the same.

 

[crateco]

Have there been any other sportswriters out there who've had as much of an impact on their team's fanbase as Botchford? Genuinely curious.

Bill Simmons and the Boston Red Sox.

I think Botch was on the same trajectory as Simmons, he was already getting too big for the platforms he was on. The Athletic and the Patcast and his radio hits were stepping stones to where this guy was headed. He understood how to brand himself and ingratiate himself with the fan base and I think he was starting to recognize the brand he could build.

James Mirtle had a nice little tribute to Botchford and his legacy but I strongly think he would have outgrown even The Athletic.

 

[tantalum]

Jason's wife has written a letter of gratitude (hopefully it's not behind the pay wall)

A note of gratitude from Jason Botchford's family

 

[Jyrki21]

The Gofundme has also now surpassed the $100,000!

 

[Canucks LB]

It's still going!, fantastic stuff.
What's amazing to me also, is the names that popped up during the donations list.
Gillis dropping 500$
Tons of media people around 250-300$
Frankie corrado with 200$
and a staggering amount of people donating 100$
I hope his kids get their education helped with all the donations
Clearly botch made a massive impact in the market