In the warm afterglow of Christmas, while my oldest was putting together the CSI puzzle (complete with UV light) that was the hit of her Christmas, I decided to checkmy email. Reggie White is dead, and Dave Locke is in a coma.

Reggie was one of the finest defensive lineman ever to play the game of football. There are a lot of memories of him to choose from, but the one I’ll always remember is from a Denver game. The offense had a lot of trouble scoring, but finally had moved ahead of Denver late in the fourth quarter. Elway came out on the field to lead another of his patented comebacks, and almost single-handedly Reggie shut the door on him, sacking him twice in four plays. It was a lesson on what a great player can do, when the game is on the line.

Dave is a science fiction fan, in every meaningful usage of the term. While he has a reputation that would kindly be described as “prickly”, I have to say I’ve never found him so. I’ve always found him intelligent, quick-witted, and, in short, someone I’d be happy to chat with beside the fire on a long winter’s evening. It would be great to know him better, but if this is all I’m going to have I still count myself lucky.