*** 20th Anniversary of DetroitLionsForum.com ***

[Larsky]

Deb reached out to me this week via email and told me about this thread, so I had to pop in and represent!

I found this place on the Free Press website when I was just a little Larskydoodle, crawling the Web looking for draft info on the Lions in the late 1990s. It was a vibrant, profane, and rowdy online community that was like nothing I'd ever been a part of. It was social media before there was social media.

And I spent way too much time here! I mean, the Forum Awards thing that I did for a few years (thanks for remembering, Deb!) was a pretty big time suck, but it was a ton of fun to put together.

I went to one Forum game, and that was a total blast. DanO picked me up at the airport and I got to take a nap at his house before I could get to the hotel. Being able to finally meet so many people in person was really great. Agile Child (we shared a hotel room), Jross, Kansas, DWT, SoCal, GV Laker, Deb of course, so many others.

Remember how many of us came here on the morning of 9/11, so we could be there for each other while the news updates were rolling in on that horrible day? This place was more than just a place for fandom; it was and is a community that I turned to for many years for support and fellowship.

My life has changed so much since I first signed on here. Completed grad school, got a real job, fell in and out of love a bunch before finally meeting the right one and getting married nine years ago, bought a house. One day you're a starving grad student alone in your Oakland, California apartment, drinking cheap bourbon and posting on a Detroit Lions BBS. Then suddenly you're marking your 20th anniversary at your job and on the Forum.

As Willie Jack so eloquently put it on the great TV show Reservation Dogs: "Love you bitches!"
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[-Deborah-]

Love it, Larsky!! Way to represent! Sure miss your posts around here!

[DanO]

Nice write up Larsky.

[jaadam4]

Love you bitches!

ha, that was great. Good to hear from you Larsky

[The Ken]

doing just fine sir, thank you for asking. After a self imposed hiatus that I briefly described in my other thread today, I'm glad to be back.

Coop what thread and good to see you name again too!

[-Deborah-]

Coop what thread and good to see you name again too!

https://www.detroitlionsforum.com/forums/forum/sports-discussion-forums/detroit-lions/1894218-so-i-m-back

[The Ken]

Larsky, good to read all is well; GV Laker was a name I sought. And JROSS he left early on.

What about Gonzo? I kinda remember him saying he was leaving, but what was his name in the early days? He changed it to Gonzo, I miss that dude too, I believe we met him at one of the forum games. That was the first Ford Field Game and Tony met some gal with a Mercedes, stayed the night and barely made it to the New Orleans game.

I hope I remember that correctly, I met many people over the years at those games, all good memories.

[Dan V]

Ken--- Gonz (no O on end of his name?) changed to Panoptes a while back then jumped off the forum. I am not sure we had a "Gonzo."

[The Ken]

Ken--- Gonz (no O on end of his name?) changed to Panoptes a while back then jumped off the forum. I am not sure we had a "Gonzo."

you are correct; I got it backward; I always internally called him Gonzo.

[DanO]

Larsky, good to read all is well; GV Laker was a name I sought. And JROSS he left early on.

What about Gonzo? I kinda remember him saying he was leaving, but what was his name in the early days? He changed it to Gonzo, I miss that dude too, I believe we met him at one of the forum games. That was the first Ford Field Game and Tony met some gal with a Mercedes, stayed the night and barely made it to the New Orleans game.

I hope I remember that correctly, I met many people over the years at those games, all good memories.

Forgot about Laker.

[kayrone]

Hi Larsky! Great to see you again. I loved the forum awards, they were so much fun - one year I was thrilled to be named “most mysterious” - made my night lol!

[The Ken]

Forgot about Laker.

I have it stuck in my head his name is Brian, does that sound right to you.

[DanO]

I'm pretty sure you're right Ken.

[NewOrleansLion]

Didn’t someone in the forum go down to the Senior Bowl every year and write long, detailed reports on what he saw? It was like having a Forum correspondent in Mobile. Can’t remember who that was.

[kck-sum]

Hi Folks, haven't been in here for probably 5 years now but I have been present since the FREEP days 20+ years ago and attended several of the forum games. However, in the past 5 years, I have sold my company, graduated all six kids from HS/mostly from college, been sucked into the executive team of a much larger company, travelling 6-8 months out of the year - and missed all of the longstanding relationships here! Since January 1 I am semi-retired, meaning I work 3 days a week and travel only once per month, instead of three weeks every month. Great timing, because oh what a glorious January we just had! I can't tell you how nice it is to be in February before I read my first draft articles! And Deborah, your dedication is AMAZING!! - kck