RIP: Our Board's Founding Father, BobZag, Has Passed Away

[caldwellzag]

Thanks CDC for sharing. RIP BZ you will be missed.

[Kiddwell]

BobZag was really invested in the Zags. Really appreciated his founding of this great fan site and often well-informed posts. Lord's comfort on BZ's family during this time.


:]

[CDC84]

As some of you know, Bob had suffered a spinal cord injury as a child. His work posting and writing articles on the site was a labor of love for him as he had to painstakingly compose his work product using a stylus held in his teeth. A post that would take 2 minutes for you or I to write would take Bob 5 or 6 times that long.

Bob loved putting together groups with Zags who didn't know each other for meet and greets at the old David's Pizza on Hamilton. Hondo and El Voce would hold court at these fests as stories from Zagville were told. Some of them were even true. Bob also loved to attend games in person, but they were very hard on him, particularly when weather conditions were bad. Bob was very generous with his tickets. I think he probably provided dozens of people who had never been to games in the Kennel with tickets for their first visits.

Bob was a movie fan, especially Star Wars, westerns, and the Guardians of the Galaxy series.

As someone mentioned, Bob was an award winning screenplay writer. He honed his wordsmithing at GU where he majored in English and was, like me, a disciple of professor Franz Schneider.

I will miss my friend and our phone conversations, particularly the ones where we agreed that we wanted to St. Mary's to lose to whomever they were playing even if their winning would help GU's RPI.

Rest in peace, buddy.

It was through Bob that I was able to meet Angelo, who is a friend of mine as well. BZ had this magical ability to bring people together. I will never forget the night when Angelo and I sat in Bob's seats together. I think it was the night where SMC's Mickey McConnell hit that crazy shot to beat the Zags in 2011. It was one of those nights where you really wished the Kennel would serve adult beverages after the game. I was in no mood to attend Jack and Dan's after that miserable finish.

One of the hardest parts about Bob attending games is that he had to always leave early, even if it meant missing some great finishes. Even though he always arrived at games early and had the best handicapped parking spot in the lot, the amount of time it would take for his family to get him in the van forced him to bail early. I felt bad about that. He was also an early riser who needed a lot of care before he went to bed, so he couldn't afford to hang around the Kennel after games like I often would (and still do) to allow the crowd to filter out.

I was hesitant to get into many details about Bob's spinal cord injury because he was a fiercely independent person. I witnessed BZ use that stylus in his mouth to type on his keyboard many times. I think the only time he ever got (slightly) perturbed at me was when I first got to know him, and I tried to help him out at the computer. He would have none of it, including using any sort of software system like my friend Zack uses (who is a blind professor) to do his typing. He wanted to do it on his own, in his own way.

As many of you know, BZ was also a major soccer fan, and he was always enthusiastic about talking about not just Team USA soccer, but soccer all over the globe. About the only sport he disliked was the NFL. He once told me "they will one day look back upon it the way we look back at the Roman Gladiators." With all that we are finding out about the game of football and how it turns your brain into mush, he may indeed prove to be right. And speaking of the brain, BZ wad one of the sharpest minds of any person I've ever met. As you might imagine with someone who so often couldn't "write it down," BZ's memory was mind boggling. It was a well developed muscle.

I could just go on and on about the man. Yesterday was really tough. Lots of emails, lots of phone calls. Mike Roth, GU's amazing athletic director, reached out to me and offered his condolences. I suspect more such things will come. Some people have asked: at Bob's request, there will be no funeral service, nor a newspaper obituary. That's why I had to take it upon myself to reveal the sad news on the board yesterday. However, I wanted to make sure that Bob's brother was okay with what I posted. I am vigilant about protecting the privacy of people (including my own). He has already appeared in this thread, and expressed his heartfelt appreciation for all of the comments regarding his big brother. Keep them coming folks.

[Zag79]

As a long time board member, all the way back to the original one that only a handful of folks were on, is where I originally met Bob Zag. Thanks to another pretty famous member, El Voce, who knew that I was always up for some Gonzaga basketball banter. Being friends with many players back then, it was always fun to compare knowledge, rumors, and bring it full circle with a guy like BZ. As a season ticket holder, I would always make the point to stop by and say hi to Bob. It became a near ritual that was sorely missed as the years went by, and after hearing of BZ’s passing I have nothing but great memories and good stories to tell.

He will definitely be missed, and the next Zags win will be all his. I used to frequent the boards nonstop as it was all solid basketball talk, mostly X’s & O’s, but when it became a public forum where whining and griping about winning, attacking players, with a negative overtone became the norm, I became more of a lurker that’d check in as life became busier. But those of you that have met me before, know that I’m always down to talk Gonzaga basketball with the great people on this board. If anyone would like to get together for a toast in Bob’s memory, a meet up before the next home game would be a great chance to exchange some laughs and cold ones. Rest easy BZ, to a true Zags lifer!

[GoZags]

I'm late to add my thoughts.

I first had a conversation with Bob about taking over the old rivals board. We went through several iterations and ended up with Scout. The Scout board was an active community, and it's where we assembled the original group of moderators, some of whom continue to moderate this site. There were some significant problems with Scout, particularly with the amount of content they were demanding (without a football team, there simply was not enough content to fill Scout's ridiculous demands). Bob had developed a handful of excellent sources and we had huge participation for a non-football site. But it wasn't enough for Scout. So, after hard negotiation and threats of litigation, Bob and I were finally able to end the relationship with Scout. We tried some Beta sites (one of which was hacked by the idiot administrator of a site for another WCC school and some of his toady friends) when along came Ken Sands, the digital editor of the Spokesman-Review and this site was born. We carefully orchestrated distribution of information about the opening of this site to almost every poster on the old Scout site and the transfer was accomplished.

Along the way I got to know Bob well and we spoke regularly on the phone. He became my friend and my client. We discovered we had something in common in addition to Gonzaga basketball. In the late 70's, when I was working as a lobbyist in the forest products industry, I had helped with the publicity when Bob's grandfather won the national tree farmer of the year award for his excellent forest resources management on his private timber land. Bob came from a family of accomplishment. His brother held the national HS shot put record for many, many years.

As some of you know, Bob had suffered a spinal cord injury as a child. His work posting and writing articles on the site was a labor of love for him as he had to painstakingly compose his work product using a stylus held in his teeth. A post that would take 2 minutes for you or I to write would take Bob 5 or 6 times that long.

Bob loved putting together groups with Zags who didn't know each other for meet and greets at the old David's Pizza on Hamilton. Hondo and El Voce would hold court at these fests as stories from Zagville were told. Some of them were even true. Bob also loved to attend games in person, but they were very hard on him, particularly when weather conditions were bad. Bob was very generous with his tickets. I think he probably provided dozens of people who had never been to games in the Kennel with tickets for their first visits.

Bob was a movie fan, especially Star Wars, westerns, and the Guardians of the Galaxy series.

As someone mentioned, Bob was an award winning screenplay writer. He honed his wordsmithing at GU where he majored in English and was, like me, a disciple of professor Franz Schneider.

I will miss my friend and our phone conversations, particularly the ones where we agreed that we wanted to St. Mary's to lose to whomever they were playing even if their winning would help GU's RPI.

Rest in peace, buddy.

Your heartfelt testimonial says it all, Pontiff. I've bolded the part about the earlier Scout "content" requirement ... then I did a simple google search using the words Scout.com and BobZag .... the results are linked here. I'm glad the story of "how" Bob wrote has been told. Just think about that ... then take a peek at (i.e. open) the link. BTW the "Views" is inaccurate as Scout itself has undergone various iterations ... but the bottom line is I continue to be amazed and impressed that my friend Bob could write these dozens and dozens of articles (as well as his multiple screenplays and everything else). Periodically I use the following sentiment to express myself ... and in my mind it's never been more true.

"Bob. Da. Man."

https://www.scout.com/User/BobZag/

BobZag Member Since July 2001 Posts
BobZagBobZag
BobZag
Message
Zagcruit: Jordan Theodore BB Rec
BobZag Nov 30, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 39 My Post: Nov 30, 2006
Scouting Report: Gonzaga vs Texas BB Rec
BobZag Nov 29, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 25 My Post: Nov 29, 2006
Zags Learn the Hard Way vs Butler BB Rec
BobZag Nov 25, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 5 My Post: Nov 25, 2006
Bulldog Blog - November 15 BB Rec
BobZag Nov 15, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 0 My Post: Nov 15, 2006
CDC's Take: Matt Bouldin BB Rec
BobZag Nov 14, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 0 My Post: Nov 14, 2006
Preview: Preseason NIT - Spokane Region BB Rec
BobZag Nov 11, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 0 My Post: Nov 11, 2006
Men silence Eagles; Women stifle Utes BB Rec
BobZag Nov 11, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 1 My Post: Nov 11, 2006
Q&A: Ross Rettenmier BB Rec
BobZag Oct 7, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 91 My Post: Oct 7, 2006
Zagcruit Corner: Jordan Theodore BB Rec
BobZag Oct 5, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 35 My Post: Oct 5, 2006
Zagcruit Corner: Luke Babbitt BB Rec
BobZag Sep 20, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 12 My Post: Sep 20, 2006
2006 Coaches v Cancer BB Rec
BobZag Aug 23, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 3 My Post: Aug 23, 2006
Elite Poling a Bulldog BB Rec
BobZag Aug 3, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 0 My Post: Aug 3, 2006
Q&A: Katy Ridenour BB Rec
BobZag Jul 24, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 56 My Post: Jul 24, 2006
Q&A: Jami Bjorklund BB Rec
BobZag Jul 3, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 11 My Post: Jul 3, 2006
Pictorial: Adam's Big Night BB Rec
BobZag Jun 29, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 30 My Post: Jun 29, 2006
Daye: Good at Pangos BB Rec
BobZag Jun 7, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 0 My Post: Jun 7, 2006
To Contend, Part 2 BB Rec
BobZag Jun 2, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 0 My Post: Jun 2, 2006
Meet Michelle Elliott BB Rec
BobZag May 16, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 19 My Post: May 16, 2006
Austin Daye: Like Adam? BB Rec
BobZag May 2, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 0 My Post: May 2, 2006
Steven Gray: The Natural BB Rec
BobZag Apr 26, 2006 by BobZag 1 Views: 0 My Post: Apr 26, 2006
See More

[Mantua]

Your heartfelt testimonial says it all, Pontiff. I've bolded the part about the earlier Scout "content" requirement ... then I did a simple google search using the words Scout.com and BobZag .... the results are linked here. I'm glad the story of "how" Bob wrote has been told. Just think about that ... then take a peek at (i.e. open) the link. BTW the "Views" is inaccurate as Scout itself has undergone various iterations ... but the bottom line is I continue to be amazed and impressed that my friend Bob could write these dozens and dozens of articles (as well as his multiple screenplays and everything else). Periodically I use the following sentiment to express myself ... and in my mind it's never been more true.

"Bob. Da. Man."


https://www.scout.com/User/BobZag/

I hesitated to write anything after reading this perfect tribute to BobZag. Thank you for posting the links. I always wanted to hear more from him. I will miss seeing the Natalie Portman image which came to mean BobZags’ cheering persona.

[OZZY]

BZ was my favorite poster, and, as many have indicated he encouraged me to participate after I joined the board first as OZZag and then Ozzy. We PM'd many times and I still have most of them, we also ended up corresponding via email as I was particularly interested in potential Zag recruits coming out of my home country Canada.

Whenever I had someone I thought would fit the Zags style I would PM him (and copied ZN of course) and he would pass it on to the Zags staff.

When I indicated that I was thinking of making a trip to Spokane to see the Zags he assured me that a ticket would be found if I made it all the way from Australia.

Thank you for the many posts and tributes that have allowed me to learn what a wonderful person Bob was, someone who inspired so many others

I'm sure you are now contributing greatly to the Zags fan club up in heaven!

[tyra]

I wonder some public acknowledgement at the next home game would be in order?

[surfmonkey89]

I was one of the ones who migrated from the Scout boards, and over time I talked to Bob now and then via direct messages. After the new Kennel opened, he told me on several occasions to come visit him when I was at a game, and even though I was a little uncomfortable with meeting someone I didn't really "know", I took him up on it.

I remember on that particular night he was sitting in the wheelchair area by the students entrance, and whatever weirdness I was anticipating was completely unfounded. Bob greeted me like he had known me all his life, and I left that meeting with two distinct memories.

First, it was humbling to see someone who had battled so many obstacles seemingly unfazed by them. Of course he had his share of setbacks and frustrations, but he sure wasn't letting them hold him back.

Second, his mother was a saint.

After the game Bob posted on the board about our meeting, and for some reason felt that I looked like Roy Orbison. We got into a playful disagreement over it, and shortly after that I noticed that my profile tier (or whatever it's called) had changed to "Not Roy Orbison".

I don't post much here anymore, but whenever I'd see my old posts I'd see "Not Roy Orbison" and think of Bob. I'm so glad I never had it changed, because now it will continue to remind me of him, and the night we met.

Godspeed, Bob. You've earned everything you've received, now and always.

[CDC84]

I wonder some public acknowledgement at the next home game would be in order?

In my book, one of the disabled seats should be engraved with his user name.

The scout.com content demand that GoZags refers to was really excessive. One of our posters helped Bob by writing an incredible article on the great Frank Burgess that I cannot link to anymore since scout.com morphed into 247 Sports. I had to write scouting reports on opponents which were critiqued to no end by fans of GU opponents. "He's 6-5 and a half, not 6 foot 5," etc. It required that I watch games, collect every preseason mag in the book (especially the Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook)…..too much for a grown man to handle. And I didn't have the physical limitations that Bob had. Moving to this board has been a wonderful thing....except for my inbox which constantly fills up. S-R can't seem to expand it. Thanks to everyone for all the kind thoughts directed toward me.

[CDC84]

Second, his mother was a saint.

I will second that. She still is.

[Hooray4Daye&Gray]

BobZag is the reason I started following and stayed lurking fifteen years ago. Never meet or spoke to him, but he nonetheless has had a real impact on my life through these two boards. Thank you BZ. RIP

+1

After lurking for 4 years, I finally joined the board in 2008. Obviously I didn't anticipate staying this long based on my screen name.

Above all, the reason I visit the board multiple times daily is for inside information. Originally this was BobZag, and his legacy lives on through great insight of other posters on the board he founded.

Thank you CDC for your tribute and to the other posters for their contributions as well.

[GrizZAG]

His great wit, clever humor and insider knowledge will be greatly missed.

[ZagNative]

Dangit! I keep looking at this thread title and feeling a sense of loss... Nothing to say, except that I'll miss BobZag forever ...

[Jedster]

I hesitated to write anything after reading this perfect tribute to BobZag. Thank you for posting the links. I always wanted to hear more from him. I will miss seeing the Natalie Portman image which came to mean BobZags’ cheering persona.

It's been great to see all the tributes for BZ. I remember when I first started reading this board I had never spent time on message boards so it was all new to me. I still chuckle because I had no concept of what an avatar was and when I'd see BobZag's I'd comment, who is the hot gal that posts on this site! Took me awhile to realize it wasn't his (her!) picture but not until it would occasionally change. LOL. Besides the avatar photos, his posts always had such great info, wit and he had a great ability to calm the flames on this site. I too miss not seeing posts from him the past few years. For all those close to him, may your hearts remember all the good times and memories during this time of loss.