A Friend
 

As I walked through the door last nite to see a friend I was greeted by a wife , a son, and a daughter. We talked a little and brought up how when asking my friend a question he would say, " look it up in the book". I saw the same gleem in his son's face as I saw in my friend. Mick was the first contact in officiating, I called him up and told him that I wanted to become an official, he came over to my business and brought me his old books to begin reading. The number games that we did, I got the same gleem that I saw in his son tonight. I WILL MISS HIM ! Dave

I'm sorry for your loss.

Is this the same Mick that's the moderator on many forums here?

Yes, it was our very own Mick. A shocker. He will be missed.

Charles Michael ?Mick? Chambers - MiningGazette.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Michigan - The Daily Mining Gazette

A shocker indeed.

Many of us here are Facebook friends with him and nothing has been mentioned. I am very surprised. Mick was a great guy and I have over the years talked to him through email about his family.

Prayers go out to his family as he will be missed here with his wit and kindness.

Peace

I don't have the words.

Wow. I'm broken up about this.

Had a great vacation up there about 8 or 9 years ago and was planning to go back.

Condolences to his family and friends.

I don't have the words either. I'm stunned.

What a shame. My thoughts are with his family. That so many people here could have been so attached to a man they never met speaks to his quality, and to the correspondingly great loss for his close family and friends.

I am so deeply saddened to hear this news. My heart goes out to his family. In this day and age, 63 years old is way too young. I miss him already.

Ditto that. Gotta go think on this one...he was a great guy and I will miss him.

Very sad news. Thoughts and prayers for Mick and his family. He will be missed. Even though I never knew him, other than this board, he was a gentleman and always a voice of reason.

He will definitely be missed. His family is in my prayers.

Mick Chambers 1947-2010
 

For those that did not know Mick Chambers, he was a long time moderator of this board and most of us knew him only through this board. Mick was a member long time contributor to the McGriff forum and then this site since the mid-90s. Many of us only knew him on this forum but his kindness and personality was unmatched. We get into some very big time discussions here and most of us have gotten into it with each other at one time or another over something silly or some officiating opinion. Mick was not one of those guys. I do not think I have ever had a serious disagreement with Mick on any board. And if I did he would say just the thing that would be on point where you would not know if he was upset or disagreed but perfect for the situation.

Now I have never personally met Mick. But over the years Mick and I would correspond through email and PMs on the forum. Recently I saw Mick on Facebook and we corresponded there from time to time over the last few months. And we almost never talked about officiating but family and faith. I know that is family will miss him much more than the people here will that only knew him on this forum. But I learned some valuable life lessons from Mick even if those lessons were without hearing his voice or looking him in the eye. Mick was 63 years old and that is just too young for anyone to pass, but when God wants you He will take you. And it is clear that God needed him than we do here. Mick was a very humble and wonderful guy that would often comment in a couple of words about most subjects but say more than most of us would say in a paragraph.

We love you Mick and we have lost a very good friend to this site and officiating as well as humanity. If the word was more like Mick we would be a better world.

Peace

I also came upon this site because of Mick. Even though we never personally met, we traded many an email.

Thoughts and prayers for the family (and all his friends, here, and as he would always say, "U.P. there" in Houghton)

Well said Jeff. He will be greatly missed.

63 years old is just too young. There's no doubt that Mick was a good man that consistently gave back. I'm sure that God is reviewing his life now and giving him an Attaboy Mick.

Sad and shocking new
 

Chuck gave me this sad news. He touched a lot of peoples lives in many ways. Condolences to his family.

I'm speechless.

I'm very sad to hear of this news.

I'll be praying for the repose of mick's soul.


In nomine Patris
et Filii
et Spiritus Sancti. Amen

Absolve, quaesumus Domine
anima famuli tui Mick ...
ab omni vinculo peccati
quod attollatur in gloria resurrectionis,
et refrigeretur in sanctis et electis.
Per Christum Dominum nostrum.

Amen.

I've traveled to Michigan many times for many different reasons over the past 10 years.

I e-mailed him every time to tell him that I enjoyed my time in his state. He always replied and more often than not, had shared similar experiences in his state.

Thank you mick for listening... every time. I'll see ya U.P. there and let's aim to work a game together.

In many ways, this is just like a visitation. I've seen old friends show up here that haven't been here in a long time, and it's all because of Mick. Many times I've been to visitations, and the sorrow that results from knowing you've lost someone is offset somewhat by seeing familiy and friends you may not have seen for a long time.

I've also had the priviledge of e-mailing Mick outside this forum, and my guess would be he's smiling about our little "gathering" here. Let's try to keep his memory intact as we continue to use this forum as a way to enrich all of our lives, both in and outside of officiating.

My prayers are with his family. Next spring I will also be planting a couple of flowers in his honor.

I'm planting tomatoes. He gave me enough advice over the years on what kind to plant and when. Along with pictures, of course. :)

He had many, many friends in our little officiating world.

Ditto on all the nice things everyone here has said about Mick. He was always fair in being a moderator and his contributions to this board were many and on point. I'll miss him, too.

Never one to draw attention to himself, he no doubt would not want this thread to have a 'sticky'. With many of his posts, he could issue the 'stop sign' to turn a heated discussion back on point and with civility. Sometimes, he did issue a T [the lock], but it was always well warranted. Always a gentleman. That is what I will remember.

Loved the sense of humor, not to mention the steady tiller in his hand. It was easy to see very quickly that he was a great guy to hear from.

M&M, you hit the nail on the head about the "visitation" aspect of this thread.

Is there any way someone can bring his family's attention to it? Granted, it's not been created specifically with them in mind, yet I get the feeling we'd like them to know how far his influence spread and how widely he was respected. They would be gratified, I'm sure.

Actually we can do something a bit more tangible than that. If you look at the link JR posted at the bottom it has 2 charities we can donate to in Mick's name. I would suggest we designate someone to collect the money & send it in 1 check... except the only one of you SOBs I would even consider trusting with my money is no longer with us.

So write a check & send it in.

Omega House - Hospice home located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Habitat for Humanity International-Local Affiliates

Houghton, Michigan:
Copper Country HFH
PO Box 231
Houghton, MI 49931-0231
Phone: (906) 482-5376

So no excuses, do it now.

:( My prayers go out to Mick's family. Whenever, I saw that Mick contributed to a thread I paid close attention to his thoughts. God Bless you Mick...

Indeed a sad day. Mick, although I never corresponded with him outside of this forum, seemed like he was a wonderful person. I'm sure those close to them have lost a treasure.

And that is in the spirit of Mick's humor. He certainly would have found humor in that. ;)

Man he will be missed.

Peace

A little more composed now but still deeply saddened...

About 6 or 7 years ago, my phone rang about 11:00pm one night. A voice I had never heard asked, "Tony, you doing alright?" I said, "Great...who is this?" "This is mick. I hadn't seen you on the boards much lately, just wanted to call and see if everything was okay." "Yeah, doing great, just been busy." "Alright, see ya on the boards." Click. :)

That was mick. And you notice I type his name the same way he typed his name, because that said a lot about the man. He had the most gentle spirit, always the voice of reason, and always the one who looked out for everyone else. The man went out of his way to find my phone number, call me to see how I was doing, because he noticed that I wasn't posting very much.

That was the only time we ever spoke in the 14 years we knew each other, going back to the McGriff board in 1997. But we talked via AIM, PM, or email quite often. He would send me pics of 6' of snow U.P. there or his vegtable garden. He was proud of Abby and Matt and spoke often of the two of them living in western NC. We always said we needed to get together and work a game, sometime when he came down to visit them.

I thought I had regained my composure but I guess I was wrong...

I posted last week on his Facebook page, because I noticed that he hadn't posted in a while. Looking back now, his last post was in a thread I started regarding my daughter, who I was so proud of for being the salutatorian in her high school graduating class. He was just as proud.

I miss him already.

Blow one for me, mick.

Thanks for sharing, Tony.

I am going to miss those pictures of the snow in his yard and his garden also.

thanks, I like to think so

Yeah I'm sure of that.

It's nice to see you back posting again too, Slappy, even if it's for a short time and under circumstances like this.

Seriously.

Signed: Two-legged Woody

God Bless ...
 

Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

Wow.... Very sorry to hear of Mick's passing. He was always a gentleman.

RIP friend! You will be missed!!

Four legged Woody sez hi

http://www.aroundhawaii.com/assets/a...s/Wet_Nose.jpg

Rest in peace, Mick. Thank you for making me a better official. Sincere condolences to his family and friends.

I am lost for words.
mick, I will see you U.P. there someday.

I'll miss you mick. Way back to the McGriff days, you were always a voice of reason. RIP

Can't add much more to what has already been said.....

RIP, mick......

Truly one of the good guys. Going to miss him.

The post above by Tony made me cry.

The brotherhood of officiating has never been more manifest to me.

+1000
Amen!

I still get teary eyed everytime I open this thread.

Glad I am not the only one.

Here's what I wrote elsewhere:
Mick was a moderator for an officiating board that I’ve participated in now for almost eight years. You might be surprised to know the passions that can flare between referees when discussing the intricacies of a backcourt violation, a pick-off move to 2nd base, or the newest offensive formation. In the middle of that, mick was an arbiter of arbiters; keeping a level head and reminding us when we crossed a line. He was a good friend; always willing to offer his insights and knowledge.

One of the weird things about the way the internet has evolved is just how close we can get to people we’ve never met face to face. It’s an amazing phenomenon, and I have dozens of people whom I consider close friends that I’ve only seen in text and digital pictures. There are a few more whom I’ve only met once or twice, yet their influence on me has been profoundly positive and positively profound. Life in the 21st century is vastly different than even at the end of the 20th.

With this comes a fairly new experience; experiencing the loss of friends we’ve never actually seen face to face. That such a loss could shake me this much is a testament to the power of the internet and, even more so, the nature of the man. I’ve been involved in social interaction on the internet for 13 years now, and mick is the first such friend of mine who has died in all that time.

Rest in His Peace, Mick Chambers, the final horn has sounded. Knock back a cold one for the rest of us.

When I came to the board back in 2004, mick was someone I always turned to when needing help with an interp or situation. He told me to contact him anytime either through the board or e-mail.

We sent each other messages off and on and he checked up on me every now and then just to see how my season was going and the progress of my young career.

Rest in peace, mick. You will be missed!

Well said, Adam. You captured the uniqueness of the relationships that many of us here have developed with each other. It truly is remarkable.

That's the way mick was. I bet everyone here who had the same relationship with him, felt the same way....that he was their best online friend. I'll bet he had more best friends that we can imagine. What a testament!

Years ago, I posted an off topic rant about, of all things, our local baseball league's ridiculous policy about all star uniforms. The thread ended with my exchange with mick.



With all due respect to everyone else here, it is difficult to imagine making the above post to anyone else.

The tear has returned.

bye, mick