TIS, Plaw was the best at everything and on the odds on favorite to win everything (in his own mind) lol. Every sport we'd play, he would rank himself number one to win. It could have been any sports, baseball, football, tennis....heck it could have been a sport where the concept of the game is to win by not having the name Paul, wanna guess who would have been ranked #1? lol

So true DMC. I remember when I asked him to join my fantasy hockey league. He replied that he really didn't know much about hockey --- and then came the big BUT "I'll come in first place anyway" reply!

I can tell you this; the man knew his sports. And when it came to numbers, being it odds or stats, he was right on the money.

He was missed at last night's draft, but I do believe he was screwing around with some people's picks.

How else do you explain Soriano?

Or my picking of Derek Lee in the second round when I already had Pujols in the first round.

Joking aside, we miss you buddy.

Looking at the ps for today's fantasy baseball league and seeing Johan Santana's name made me think of Paul. A few years ago he was the first one to jump on the Johan bandwagon, and never ceased to make the rest of us aware of it. Watching opening night's game last night made the fact that Paul wasn't around for baseball this seaason all the more real. It was like a kick in the gut.

[OT]Aside from my posts in the YouTube thread, just wanted to say hello again to everyone. I've had a lot of personal shit to deal with in the last few months so apologies for the absence. I hope to contribute a bit more from now on. Nice to see all the familiar faces are still here. [/OT]

I just wanted to once more give my respect to Plaw's memory. I didn't know him as well as you guys but whenever I read his posts, or he replied to mine, I sometimes didn't agree with him but I sure as hell respected his opinion. I carry fond memories of him and this place is much poorer for his loss.

Having said that though, kudos to you, all of his friends, for keeping his spirit alive. Apologies if this is a bit hokey, but a quote from one of my favourite films applies perfectly here:

'If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn. People die. But real love is forever.'

Miss you, Plaw.

I don't even know how long it's been but I know I haven't even posted any kind of reply to this thread. I never knew what to say back then.

What drew me back here was that I went to see Bob Dylan on Saturday and something clicked in me through the show that reminded me of him. He had to sell his tickets last year.

Still miss you Plaw.

Yeah, him having to sell his tickets was very sad. Especially since it would have been a father/son outing for him and his son. Everytime I hear a Dylan or CS&N song on the radio I think of him.

I went and saw Dylan back in August. Plaw would have loved it, I know he would have. RIP buddy.

I went to a party for my brother tonight. The cocktail hour was served buffet style and there on the buffet - fried zucchini. That was Paul's absolute favorite. I had a second helping, just for him.

With graduation season upon us I've been thinking of him and his son Steven. I believe he graduates this year. I know he turns 18. I wonder how Steven is doing, and thinking how much of a proud moment this would be for Paul. He was teaching his son to drive and he hadn't yet gotten his license. It's these moments ascending into manhood that brings a father and son together. I'm sure Paul is up there with that 1000 Watt smile on his face thinking of it all.

I should've worn the Nets cap that Plaw and Steven got me one time at a game... maybe they would've won tonight. Sorry, Plaw - maybe next year!!

Sorry Paul. There's always next year.

Watching the "Sopranos" last night, I was reminded of Plawrence's avatar of Paulie. It was the episode where Paulie and Christopher went to collect on behalf of Silvio from a Russian guy. Things got out of hand and they went to kill the guy in the woods of South Jersey in the middle of winter. Paulie and Chris go through some trials and tribulations in this episode.

Yeah, I watched it as well. I can never see Paulie Walnut's face again without thinking of him. But I thought Paul struck a real life resemblance to Ritchie, so he reminds me of him as well.

Watched the Sopranos last episode on Sunday as well and it reminded me of this website and I thought I would re-visit it. I surprised myself and remembered my login and password - there is something to be said for consistency, I guess.

I was surprised and saddened to hear about PLawrence - always a voice of reason and a wonderful source of sports and trivia knowledge. Somewhere there must be a master plan for us all - I just wish I understood it sometimes.

Welcome back, Don Marco.... its good to see you here again.

Welcome back Don Marco. Seems like this is gangsterbb old timers week!

Yes, we were all saddened with the passing of our good friend Plawrence. He was an integril part of these boards, and they haven't been the same since his passing.

Hope to see you posting on these boards again more often.

I disappeared from a variety of reasons - one was that the company I worked for blocked everyone from accessing bulletin boards. I rarely go online once I am home.

A bigger reason was a tragedy in my family a little over 2 years ago and I find that I am just recently getting back into the swing of things.

There are a lot of new names here, but still a lot that I remember. The last time I was on here I didn't have HBO and hadn't even seen an episode of the Sopranos!

Well I hope that things are getting better for you as time moves on.

Welcome home.

Happy Father's Day Paul.

You are in our hearts today and always.

I got a new cellphone the other day. I was transferring over all my Contacts, and I came to Plaw's name. I didn't know what to do. I've never had the heart to delete it from my Contacts, but I felt foolish to put it in my new phone. I missed him so very much at that moment!!

I know exactly what you mean, SB. I went through that when I got a new phone in January. I didn't transfer his number (to the new phone) and felt kind of guilty about it.

I still have his number on my cell phone. I have a fairly new phone, so don't have the worry of wondering if I'd copy his number onto a new phone. I often find myself thinking of dialing the number just to see who now has his number.

I never had his cell phone number, but I can tell you this, as far as instant messenger goes, I was never able to sign on after Paul passed away. I can't bare to see his name, and I'd never delete it from my contact list.

There is a song by Kenny Chesney called "Who You'd Be Today" and the first time I heard it I thought of Paul. I don't know why, it seems to be about this person who died when he was a kid growing up with him but for some reason it just reminds me of Paul. He died way too young, and I don't know how this sounds but anyone who knows me will know what I mean. I think "Who You'd Be Today" because when I met him, he was already into the later stages and was just a fraction of the man he used to be, and I think any man alive would have killed to be just that fraction that Paul was, I can't even imagine what he was like before that.

I have never gotten back on IM either. He was just one of a few that I talked to on IM. Since I saw him online every morning when I got into work I couldn't bear it loading up and not seeing the smiley face next to Paul's name. I don't think I'll ever get back on it again.

I'm so mushy that every song that even remotely mentioned death made me a basket case. I could barely turn my radio on for awhile.

I remember one time we were on IM and for some reason one of us hit the "voice" activation function. Neither of us had a microphone, s we couldn't talk to each other. But I had a cd playing in my computer and Paul said for some reason he heard this song. I don't remember what it was, but it was the song I was playing. We found out the with that function activated we could hear music if the other had it on their computer. Paul got a kick out of that. He would find a song he had on cd and play it and ask me if I knew it. Of course, they were mainly CSN&Y or Dylan. We were doing that for a good hour or so. It was very freaky..haha.

The 3 things I remember most about IMs with him were

1) I'd stay up until his 2 a.m. "Pee Break" which was only 15 minutes, but SOMEHOW we'd play online poker until 4 a.m. lol

2) At around 5 p.m. when his girlfriend would get home he'd always say something about being the King of the Castle and then having to get off to see his girlfriend lol

3) When we'd talk sports from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m. the next morning lol He'd mention players and teams, and I'd be googling them as fast as he can talk about them. Some infielder in Double-A thats going to be huge in 5 years and he's talking about him as if he's Alex Rodriguez..I could barely talk about A-Rod and he knows about all of those people.

And for some reason, staying up that late talking to him I'd get up the next morning and I'd be fine. Other times I'd stay up that late I wouldn't be able to function the next day.

While in Yellowstone, I was walking on one of the trails and I noticed a little chipmunk so I started to watch it. Someone taps me on the shoulder so I turn around and some man asks me what I am looking at and I swear this man is the spitting image of Neal before he got sick. Same hair color same skin color same moustache same smile. I was freaked out for a couple minutes.

I didn't know plawrence very well, but I did read his threads/replies very often and I was a fan of his writings (My Godfather Sequel) and I thought he contributed a lot to Gangster BB.

Rest in peace, plawrence.