BJ's Sort-Of Eulogy for Shronk

[BJ Nemeth]

I have some great and funny Shronk stories (as do many of you), but I'm not going to share those here. And I won't be writing about the first time I met him. When I found out Shronk had died, all I could think about was my most recent memories of him.


Friday & Saturday, March 27th & 28th

The last time I saw Shronk was here in Las Vegas for the Dream Team Poker event at Caesars. Even though a lot of industry/media people were playing in that relatively inexpensive ($550) event, neither of us were. He was doing what he always does (producing PokerRoad Radio), and I was doing what I always do (covering the tournament).

We didn't hang out much, as we were working on separate things, but we did chat for a few minutes here and there and we promised to catch up on the show "Lost" when we got a chance.


Thursday, April 9th, 5:24 pm ET

My iPhone lists this as the last time I spoke to Shronk. He was one of the very few "poker people" that I spoke with regularly when I was back home in Atlanta.

While I was flying home from Foxwoods, Shronk sent me a text message asking me about Chip Reese's son Casey passing away. (Casey had died a few days earlier at the age of 20.)

I called Shronk back when I landed in Atlanta, and we talked about how unfortunate it was that Casey Reese died at such a young age. Normally, this is where most people would say how "spooky" that was, or call it some kind of premonition. But Shronk shared my thoughts on things like this -- it's called a coincidence. Yes, in retrospect, we can assign all sorts of symbolism, but there is absolutely no causal relationship between Casey's premature passing, our discussion of it, and Shronk's premature passing. I am 100% certain that Shronk would agree with me on this. One of the reasons we got along so well is that we're both such literal, scientifically-minded people.

We then moved our conversation over to the previous evening's episode of "Lost." Shronk was a huge fan of this show, as am I. One of the big reasons I am so keyed up to watch this show ASAP is that Shronk would often refuse to talk to me until I was caught up with the most recent episode. I'm tearing up right now as I write his, knowing that he won't be able to watch the final season or the series finale.

No, I don't believe in heaven, and I don't think Shronk is watching the finale "somewhere." Shronk and I thought alike on this issue too, and we discussed it when we talked about Casey Reese. Death sucks. Period.


Friday, April 17th, 6:34 pm PT

The day before the WPT World Championship, Shronk sent me a text while I was napping at Bellagio after a long flight.

SHRONK: You in town yet?


Friday, April 17th, 7:10 pm PT

BJ NEMETH: Yes! I just woke up from a nap at Bellagio.

SHRONK: Read my tweets for update on my last two days : (

I had been away from Twitter and the forums for a few days, so I had no idea what Shronk had been up to. If you check his Twitter feed now, you'll see the same things I saw. His final tweet (an observation that his assigned parking spot was occupied by a van that ironically said, "Parking Solutions") was sent at the same time that our texting started. I replied with two messages.

BJ NEMETH: You went to see the doctor (and Adam Junglen), and 2 days later you went to the ER? I know nothing about pancreatis.

BJ NEMETH: But spending the night in the hospital implies it was pretty serious. (Off to Wikipedia ...)

While I was reading the Wikipedia page on Pancreatitis, he sent me two more messages.

SHRONK: Just means "inflamation of the pancreas" same way hepatitus just means "inflammed liver" refardless of cause

SHRONK: Extremely painful

BJ NEMETH: Is it temporary, or do you have a a bad pancreas that will likely give you future problems?

Shronk never answered. Before you think the worst, I now know that Shronk was alive and posting in the PokerRoad forums for another 2 1/2 hours, so thankfully his final words weren't "Extremely painful."

Moving ahead in the timeline, here are his final two posts in the PokerRoad forums:


Friday, April 17th, 9:55 pm PT

Shronk started a thread called "Best BPS Episode?" BPS is the abbreviation for "Big Poker Sundays," one of the radio shows at PokerRoad.

SHRONK: If you were gonna turn someone onto BPS, what 1-3 episodes would you start them off with?

Here it was, a Friday night after Shronk had just been released from the hospital, and he was working on something for PokerRoad, the company/website that he loved so much. He didn't just love PokerRoad, he embodied it. While Joe Sebok and Barry Greenstein are the public faces of PokerRoad, Shronk is the behind-the-scenes face -- all the hard-core fans knew Shronk, and he knew them. He loved interacting with the fans, because he was a fan himself.

Shronk never forgot that he was fortunate to make a living doing what he loved. PokerRoad wouldn't be what it is today without Shronk, and it will never be the same without him.


Friday, April 17th, 10:05 pm PT

Another member of the PokerRoad forums had started a thread called "Biggest Game I Ever Played" in which that person described sitting down at a poker game that was out of his league so he could play with some famous players he knew. While everyone else was commenting on the situation directly, Shronk summed everything up with a single quote from the movie "Rounders."

SHRONK: I'm sorry John, I don't remember.

Typical Shronk. In just six words, he was able to say far more than anyone else in the thread could say with six paragraphs. Those of you who know the movie will understand the quote, and why it works so well on multiple levels. (The original poster in the thread even had a screenname based on the film: "TeddyKGB8")

Shronk will be remembered in the poker community as a funny guy, but he is sometimes mistakenly seen as a class-clown type who went for the easy laughs. That wasn't the case at all.

Yes, he would occasionally do something crazy like snort Strawberry Quik in a funny prop bet, or suggest himself as the butt of a joke in a radio segment. He was always willing to sacrifice himself for his friends, and even for the radio show/website that he loved so much.

But the humor I'll remember Shronk for is his sharp wit and his clever comments. Like his final forum post, he got maximum effect out of a minimal number of words. I know Shronk respected some of my technical skill as a writer, but that can be learned with time and practice. If I live to be 100, I don't think I'll ever have a wit as sharp as Shronk's.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That was the last we heard from Shronk. Nobody could reach him at all on Saturday, and when he was discovered in his apartment on Sunday, his body was in a sleeping position. (Out best guess is that he passed away sometime Friday night.) The paramedics said that all signs pointed to a peaceful death in his sleep, so there is some comfort in that.

Joe, Amanda, and Ali didn't want the bad news to go public without making sure that his family knew first. They also didn't want to let the news out in the middle of the WPT World Championship, as many of the players who knew him might be unable to continue after hearing the news. They told me and a few others who were close to him, and I can tell you that I was pretty ineffectual as a reporter for the rest of the day as my brain had trouble processing the information. If you check the WPT Live Updates for Day 1b, you'll see a significant dropoff in the coverage at some point -- that's when I found out that I'd never see or talk to or hear from Shronk again.

That last sentence still doesn't make sense to me.

The denial stage is relatively easy, in the scheme of things. I didn't eat for the next 24 hours or so, and I managed to get through that day trying my best not to think about it. The next morning (Monday) was rougher, because at that point everyone else knew what had happened -- the secret was out, and I could no longer pretend it didn't happen. There were several times throughout the day when I was on the verge of busting into tears. Gavin Smith's somber announcement to the tournament room and the moment of silence that followed was the toughest. I have to fight back tears just thinking about it.

This will take days, weeks, or possibly months for me to wrap my mind around. No matter how many years I live and breathe, and whether or not I remember the name "Justin," I will never, ever forget the force of nature that was ... Shronk.

[theboybarnes]

That's one hell of a post BJ. You've conveyed a hell of a lot in there about Shronk and what's hit you.

I wasn't following Shronks tweets and it's really weird looking at them now knowing that that's it. I hope you don't mind, but from those tweets I found this was one of Shronk's favourite songs - nobody read anything into the title please (another co-incidence) but as it's one of mine as well, it'll always remind me of him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkogKAZGm_g

[WTFFantasiaBarrino]

wow. Looking at the timeline of events, this hits me even harder. I "met" Shronk on another , much smaller, poker forum. I stumbled upon poker road when my car was in the shop and the rental had no satellite radio so I downloaded every poker podcast I could find. I found the poker road shows and fell in love. When I came to poker road, I saw Shronk and thought it might be the same guy I knew. I pmed him Friday and confirmed it was him, and we got to talking.

I told him how much I loved poker road radio, and how I was very jealous of his job as I have always had love for radio and a love for poker. He started telling me about the shows and sending me links to the best shows, including telling me about big poker sunday. He started that thread to find the best shows to recommend to me.

We imed for hours. We shot the ****, he told me about what he had been up to and we made plans to play a home game next time he was in town (his family lives about ten miles from me).

One thing I expressed to him was that finding poker road had renewed my passion for the game. He thanked me and told me that my enthusiasm for the things he had been working on had renewed his passion for his work, which he loved.

We talked about the wsop internship which I had expressed interest in. Again with great passion he described the work he had done and how much he loved it.

We talked until about two in the morning before I had to sign off. Learning that likely passed away that night has me even more broken up

I think my conversation with Shronk is so poignant now in retrospect because it just typified so much about such a great guy.

He was easy to talk to and so approachable. I am a poker fanboy and would love to be involved in poker the way he was. Despite reaching a certain level of success in the poker industry he didn't hesitate to talk to someone like me. Not only would he talk to you, he really cared and it meant something to him. He really wanted to help and he wanted you to share his passion. In that conversation, I felt his passion, and it was contagious. He absolutely loved his work, he loved poker and he wanted everyone else to share that love. He was a lucky one in that he went to work every day thankful that he was doing the job be had.

Beyond the passion for his work, he just wanted to be helpful. I wasn't family. He'll, I wasn't a "friend" so much as I was an Internet acquaintance. That didn't matter. He took hours out of his day Friday to find me good shows to download for my long drive the next day. We made plans to talk later in the weekend.

I know I am rambling a bit but I want people to know that your experience with Shronk was the same as everyone's. That is to say he was a happy, talented, helpful guy who loved what he did and wanted to share his passion with everyone.

[jujuizraw]

wow what a post bj.....really touched me.....it hit me hard when i heard he passed....he was so young....thanks again bj.....shronks spirit will live through poker and poker road radio forever

[JLBlades]

Amazing BJ. Everybody who reads that will feel closer to Shronk. I didn't know him beyond the internet, but I always knew he saw what I wrote on the forums. I think that helped keep me in line, knowing how much he cared about this place. This place will never be the same without him, but know his memory, will always be here.
I don't have much of a Shronk story, but the other day I was watching the stream from the Beer Pong. Shronk was panning with the laptop, got to Liv Boeree, and stopped. She turned around and saw the camera stopping on her at the same time. The camera jerked away like Shronk had just got caught looking. It was hilarious. He also did a crazy little dance for a few seconds for us. I'm getting emotional now, so that's enough. I've never been upset in this way for someone I've never met.

[Lorskyfink]

Just to add, ever so slightly to your timeline...

I sent Shronk a facebook message last week to tell him I was coming to Vegas this weekend. Did he want to get together? On Saturday morning, at 12:30 am he wrote me back the simple message "call me" with his phone number. I wasn't online and didn't get to call him back until Sunday, by which point, well you know.

It sounds like he just went to bed and passed away in his sleep, so I don't imagine there would have been any difference had I gotten the message sooner and been able to call him right then. But still, it saddens me that I didn't.

[scott diamond]

BJ.......... A wonderful eulogy my friend.

When the heart writes it is a powerful tool. I am truly sorry for your loss. You all had such a tight nit little group and you became more than friends, you became apart of one another.

You know how I felt about Shronk, the banter we had back and forth, the video I made for him, but I was no where near as close to him as you and the rest of the PRR family.

His loss has given me a feeling in my body I have not felt for a very long time. I showed my family and my twins remembered Shronk from last year's World Series when we went to the Rio to see the Radio Show Live.

He was so happy to finally meet them and although he was busy getting things ready, he took time out and came over and hugged them all.

He will DEFINITELY be missed, but the memories I have of him and him being one of the main reasons I became a fan of Joe's and Huff's from the Circuit show at the Bellagio that July, will always be with me and I look forward to reading and hearing other Shronk stories in the future.

Thank you BJ for sharing this story with us.

[lisa_loves_uk]

Originally Posted by JLBlades

I've never been upset in this way for someone I've never met.

I feel the same way. I had to think about him all day, even though I've never met him. But still, because of his posts on the forum and his tweets and all things like that, you feel like you know him. He was always the guy behind Pokerroad, he worked in the background, but nevertheless, he was a part of the pokerroad heart. That part is missing now.

[Lon VanPatten]

I know I can't be as eloquent as BJ, Seebs, Huff and others have been, but will certainly try my best to add my tribute. All of the stories and tributes that have appeared online since I saw Seebs' blog yesterday afternoon keep bringing me to tears. You know you're respected in the poker community if posters on 2+2 don't say a bad word about you or start some sort of inane flame war.

It was Shronk who asked me if I wanted to help moderate these forums last year, and I'll always be thankful for that. As others have said, he was so dedicated to making this site a success, and it's going to be extremely hard to fill that huge hole that he left behind.

We were going to work on an article together (he would write it up, I'd do the statistical stuf) for Bluff regarding the WPT that he hoped would be my chance to break into the poker media. He had the drive and desire that was so greatly lacking in me to follow his desires and actually make it happen. I was digging thru the database and would hit him up on AIM with some random stat and the excitement he got about it just shone through. I was eventually going to get some stuff together to get the article in motion when I saw Seebs' post on Pokerroad and it stopped me dead in my tracks.

It's going to be hard not to AIM him about some poker story, or hope for him to AIM me something. Not knowing he'll be there in front of the computer talking with the chatroom when a PRR show is being recorded or the planned pro player chats just makes me so damn sad and depressed.

I'll miss you Shronk, way more than you'll ever know.

[angus]

BJ that was a great eulogy, ur words really hit home. I never met shronk or spoke to him directly, but i somehow felt like i knew him. Its amazing how losing some one you don't know can have such an affect on you...