Another 1 Bites The Dust

[RUFFIAN]

A LONG TIME DEAR FRIEND, WHO YOU KNOW AS CRIMINAL TYPE (Rankyn)
ONCE TOLD ME THAT IF THEY EVER HELD A MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR HIM, ---
THE SONG HE WANTED TO BE PLAYED WAS: ''ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST''

THE IRONY OF THIS NOW BELONGS IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE
AFTER JOHN HENRY LEAVING US THIS WEEK

CT HAD BEEN ILL SINCE NOVEMBER SPENDING MOST OF THE TIME
IN THE HOSPITAL UNTIL HIS FRAIL BODY COULD NO LONGER FIGHT ~
~ FINALLY GIVING IN TO RIDE THE TRAILS WITH JOHN HENRY

A QUIET GENTLE MAN, FAIRLY INTROSPECTIVE, WHOSE JOURNEY
THRU LIFE TRAVELLED MANY DIVERSIFIED PATHWAYS

A HORSE WRANGLER TRAIL GUIDE, RODEO RIDER, SECURITY GUARD,
SHERIFF DEPUTY, CASINO DEALER, CAB & TRUCK DRIVER,
AUTO MECHANIC AND MORE

HIS HEROS WERE MR SPOCK, DR WHO, ARAGORN & GANDALF

A MAN WHOSE WALLET WAS OFTEN EMPTY BUT HIS HEART WAS FULL
AND WILLING TO SHARE WHATEVER HE HAD

HOW DID HE CHOOSE THE NAME CRIMINAL TYPE?

MANY YEARS AGO WHILE VISITING MY HOME, THE RACES WERE ON TV
AS THE POST PARADE PROGRESSED, HE IMMEDIATELY CHOSE HIS
WINNER ===> 'CRIMINAL TYPE' ~ WHO THEN WENT ON TO HOTY

I THINK HIS CHOICE WAS BASED UPON HIS PAST EXPERIENCE AS
A SHERIFF DEPUTY & SECURITY GUARD

GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN
HAPPY TRAILS MY FRIEND

[JolyB]

Ruff, I'm very sorry about the loss of your good friend. He was always a gentleman when he posted on our forums.

[DonGuido]

It's always tough to lose a dear friend or relative. My thoughts are with you and I know how you feel. He was a fun player and it was a joy to try and figure out why he would pick the horses be did to win and even better . . . they'd often WIN?!

[Real Quiet]

Very sad news indeed. Criminal Type never had a bad word for anyone on the forum and was quite creative in his posts. When he and Ruffian arrived at the Final Turn together they never ever missed a race day. The day CT didn't post picks I feared the worst. Add dedicated to the description that Ruffian provided. Criminal Type will be missed as part of our extended family.

[Plenilune]

I'm so sorry to see this news. Thank you Ruffian for letting us all know about him, his life and his passing. My thoughts and prayers are with you and his family. RIP Rankyn.

[gamblin4ever]

My condolences to his family and friends.

[mclem0822]

Deepest condolences.

[Kasept]

Greatly saddened to see this news.. Sincerest sympathies.

[DonGuido]

OK now, the passing of Criminal Type makes me go back and treasure how close knit the core group of this Call To Post Forum is, called by many other names prior but who care about those. I'd like to say again and you all know this is coming from DG how much I love all of you, the very few I've met in person and those I truly want to meet (that's all of you). This is and has been a tight knit group for years and years and for some reason taking over for Final Turn, I have had the honor to kinda guide this family along (with the help of others) and you know who you are. Thank you Kasept for giving us a new breathing chance awhile back that is now unfortunately on a little life support . . . but we'll carry on.

I'm not the oldest here, RQ is I know that, and he's got me by just a little. We all have real lives outside of this I know. I know I do and as real as they are, I so look forward to mixing it up and the challenge every week to beat all of you down (not always but I enjoy my share) but stop that and back to Criminal Type, who few if any of us will ever really know except Ruff, he epitomizes what this family is all about. Not winning every week, not taking the easy road, not expecting much but just playing along with his off kilter picks on a forum that involves one of the most wonderful sports that ever existed, enjoying it and picking this horses definitely his own way.

Now I'm getting DG sentimental once more, but we are all so lucky to have stuck together this long and I'm an "old" newbie since 1999 to have enjoyed this togetherness of this cyber family. It's truly more than you may think and I can tell you when Anet (Patty) and I met JolyB at Saratoga a few years back, here we go, I had a cheshire cat grin seeing him and his son in standing deep from the rail (and wouldn't ya know we all hit off like spades) . . . not that he was particularly good looking??? but it was like meeting a long lost brother, one you knew was out there but didn't know how to find and then you knew you found him. It was very, very cool! But I must say Anet was the real attraction.

Ok, OK, I will stop but this is an example of how close knit we are and it's oh so too bad that many of us could have said we really knew CT . . . but then again we did know him by simply seeing his picks. Some of them were real DOOZIES (creative for sure as RQ said) . . . RIP CT my friend, we will all remember you and miss you and let this be a lesson to us all . . . a good one at that. Think about and think about it again. I love you "guys".

[RUFFIAN]

What most people don't know about him is
that he cheated the Grim Reaper three times

The first time was a horse accident when he was kicked in the head
he was pronounced dead ~ Then, Somehow he came back to life!

Next time was when he was working as a security guard at night
As he began to enter an elevator an invisible "Force" held him back
from entering the elevator which then dropped many floors to the bottom

The third time was when he was a cabdriver and it was his night off
so another driver used his cab and was murdered that night in the cab

[Indian Hemp]

Always sad to learn of a friend's journey taking a different trail. Not final, just new. It's been almost 20 years since the forums started and a lot of us found a common place to share our interests. And we'll all have a seat in the Turf Club one day. Enjoy every race accordingly.

[Roamin42]

Ruffian, sorry to hear about Criminal Type. I did not know him personally but always knew he was a cool dude.

[DonGuido]

Originally Posted by Roamin42

Ruffian, sorry to hear about Criminal Type. I did not know him personally but always knew he was a cool dude.

And Roamin, I am so glad to see you here!!!