Sunday, August 7, 2011

The Bama Nation will never be the same.

image The University of Alabama lost one of its most beloved fans yesterday, August 6, 2011. Richard “Bayoutider” Heaton has passed away after an extended illness.

He was 64.

Rich was one of the founding administrators of Tidefans.com, which is the only Bama message board I have been a part of continuously since May 2002.

Rich started every *** OFFICIAL *** Gameday thread early each fall Saturday morning. His gameday meal plans made everyone hungry. His posting style was witty, straightforward and never needed interpretation or clarification. As a moderator, Rich always kept order on the board by warning unruly posters and wielding a mighty ban hammer.

Rich was an accomplished chef and posted dozens of his own creations in the Grillin’ and Chillin’ board. Just using his ideas made everyone better cooks, and I can’t tell you how many kitchen disasters I’ve avoided by asking Rich a question first.

A father of two, Rich walked his daughter down the aisle on a November Saturday just as the annual Alabama – LSU slobberknocker was kicking off. He said he made it back in time to catch the second half. Of course it was a Bama victory.

I never had the opportunity to meet Rich in person but I did speak with him on the telephone and enjoyed many personal PM conversations with him. He was truly a delightful, funloving soul who only took things seriously when he needed to.

He will be sorely missed, but we are sure that when the Tide takes the field on September 3, the angels will be treated to a heavenly gameday spread and he will have all of them hollering ROLL TIDE.

Please keep Rich’s family in your thoughts and prayers.

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1 comments :

Zach H said...

Thank you for the kind words. This is a very moving read for me as my dad means everything to me. Again thank you from me and my sister. Zach H.

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