FanPost

RIP Fellow SSR Member, Laker Fan, and Friend

From tiger child -

Technically, the first time I ever saw David was the day I joined SSR. I'd been a longtime reader and was living in Mexico, and was going to watch Game 6 of the Lakers/Hornets live in a movie theater in Oaxaca. David was at that game, sitting behind the bench. So maybe I didn't see someone I knew at the time, but I saw someone who would become a close friend without knowing it yet.

Later that night, I returned home and headed to The Bar here on SSR to introduce myself and share my tale of giant screen Lakers playoff basketball. It was then I met VMuse. He informed me he had been at the game. Behind the bench. And that I had seen him cheering cinema-screen-sized.

It didn't take long to know that David and I would be friends. We were fond of a lot of the same things. Both particularly with profound love for video games and the Lakers. By the time I had moved back to the states from Mexico, he and I had become friends away from this nook of a Lakers blog. Spending hours discussing our lives and things we were passionate about at any time of day imaginable (David, like myself, kept odd hours). This meant a great deal to me. My life was in the midst of a very difficult time, and I was shut off to a lot of friends and family - so connecting with someone was incredibly important. Having someone to talk to. Being able to be there for someone. I learned a lot about him and his life. There were a lot of trying times, both emotionally and regarding his health - some things he shared with all of us here that allowed us to witness some of his struggles but also his growth as an individual. But no matter what was going on with him, he'd find his way to the blog to connect with us and talk about things he cared for a great deal, with people who shared that part of his heart. However, more than loving the Lakers, Nyan Cat, Caslevania and Harley Quinn; through the 4 years I knew him, David was always supportive, gracious and an amazing friend to me.

David impacted this very site with his contributions so plentiful, that the Bar section was created after he and a group of others spoke so long and so deeply into the night on off topic matters, former blog manager C.A. Clark saw to the creation of that separate space.

It's strange to consider that many of us here have been an active part of each others' lives for so many years now. We united as simply fans of basketball, but bonded through our personalities and loves - that some of the people who mean the most to me started as a screen name and some avatar on a blog.

So I'll take this opportunity to say how much I appreciate all of you, and thank you for being there. We never truly know what others are going through and what part we play in their lives. This blog, these amazing Laker fans - you have helped me through some extremely dark times without having the tiniest idea, and I know you helped David, too.

Thank you.

This blog has been around five years and even if David is no longer with us, he will forever have a hand in the lasting legacy and imprint that is the SSR brand of community.

David Strange (most recently known as VampMuse to this blog) passed away this last Sunday doing what he loved. He was 33 years old. He was the greatest of Laker fans, but more than that, he was a part of our lives and he was our friend.

We're going to miss you, V.

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From MartyMart -

I wish it was under better circumstances that TC and myself would contribute to this blog space today, but unfortunately, a friend of ours has passed. VampMuse, as he is known here, and David, as he is known to closer friends, has left us, and our SS&R community and Laker fanbase is missing one of our own at much too early an age.

David on this blog represented himself as a Ron Artest and Matt Barnes lover, lifelong Laker fan, huge college football (LSU) and basketball (UNC) fan, as well as a lovable character, even if sometimes his own flaws got in the way. As David wrote on this blog, he told us of his forays into management at his job, his diet that he had been on to help himself lose weight (if I could find the photos I would share, but he came a long way) and he got over an old girlfriend, finished his degree, and had begun a relationship with a new girl. My greatest regret is to not be able to give him more of my time, but I saw someone grow from detesting much of what made them who they were, to embracing much more of it. I believe the power to change oneself is something you can take on as a challenge at any time, and David was just one such reminder of this. In addition, he often kept us all a bit more tech savvy with his extensive IT knowledge.

I say this all to paint a picture of how much this site meant to so many of us who have been here for so long (myself having been a part of this site somewhere around 4 years now). I never met David in person, though some on here have and he was never less than a nice person to me. I love the community and camaraderie that I found and that still resides here on SS&R, and I would never want it to change - even though it is destined to continue forward and evolve in a myriad of ways. V, VMuse, VampMuse, David, Friend, Stranger, whatever he was to you, he truly loved SS&R and looked forward to sharing this season with all of you, even if he'd be watching blindfolded to never see Carlos Boozer donning the forum blue and gold. lol.

I don't make many fanposts, but in keeping up with David's contributions, I owed it to him to break my current silence on this blog. Thank you, SS&R mods/editors/contributors/commenters for providing me with the community and the environment to meet such a person, and rest in peace, David. Mamba for three...

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It's incredibly difficult to put into words what real loss can mean to any of us, however Marty Mart and I wrote out these eulogies for one of our own here from SSR that we believe accentuate the importance of David/VampMuse to us and to SSR as a community.

Also, if anyone has access to archives with pictures, it breaks my heart to not be able to share the photo of David wearing his Ron Artest/Matt Barnes shirt at the game.