All good things...

Today, I'm going to take a break from the WI sports that I so poorly write about and talk about something else. One of my best friends and the inspiration for me to start my own site has decided to call it quits. My neighbor Shane, author of the Greet Machine, has decided to hang up his keyboard (well, not literally hang it up mind you).

Shane blogged about getting a new Twins (and Vikings) stadium for the past 3+ years. He knew more about the bills and voting patterns of the legislature than anyone else, including the legislators I believe. His voter's guide of how those legislators voted was a work of art and one of the more impressive documents I, or many others, had seen. He wrote with a fantastic blend of humor, common sense and intelligence that I will never achieve (and am highly jealous of). Even his posts about chickens at the MN State Fair are better than anything I've done. His obsession with these creatures still disturbs me though.

He had developed quite a following with his site and found out during the process of writing that the Twins organization themselves were reading him on a daily basis. They also had reps come and visit him to go over his voters guide and how he came up with how the legislators voted. He was always glad to help them out and never asked for anything in return, such was his humble nature.

This past summer, Shane's dream came true: a new, outdoor Twins stadium. He was like a kid at Christmas time. You couldn't wipe the smile from his face for quite a while.

At a celebration party after the legislation passed at the Summit Brewery (which is now my favorite beer), the man who owns the site where the stadium will be built got up to speak and said that Shane was a major reason that the stadium bill passed and gushed about how great he was. Never saw anyone blush as much as Shane did that night.

He accomplished the one thing that many bloggers go into the "business" for, to make a difference. He did so and asked for nothing in return for himself (well, except for the stadium, but not that it's actually "his"). I have more respect and admiration for Shane than just about anyone else I can think of. He had a dream and through hard work helped make it happen. He'll say he was simply a blogger and didn't have all that much to do with it. His readers, the developers and the Minnesota Twins all beg to differ.

Needless to say that his blog has served it's purpose and he's off to new adventures. I just know that my internet surfing is now a bit less interesting and enjoyable.

Thanks for being an inspiration Shane.