Dave Fay Eulogy

Jason LaCanfora delivered long-time Washington Times Caps' writer Dave Fay's eulogy on Saturday. Fay gave way to a long-time battle with cancer last week. Fay, as LaCanfora put it, was an institution in the Caps' community, covering the teawm since 1982.

Even if you didn't get to read Fay's coverage of the Caps, LaConfora's eulogy is still a good read.

And as the Caps' blogging community has grown over the years, the decrease in print media took a huge hit with the loss of Fay.

One piece from the eulogy that I enjoyed very much:

I'll never forget a game in Toronto about six years ago when Sergei Gonchar, one of Dave's favorites of this era, was getting pummeled by borderline hits. The Maple Leafs eventually knocked Gonchar out of the game - a dirty shot from Darcy Tucker finishing him off - and the game ended late, right on deadline.

Dave and I sat in the back of the media workroom afterwards, where Leafs Coach Pat Quinn conducts his post-game press conferences. We were scrambling to file our stories, every second vital to us, while half listening to Quinn, who, for those who might not know, was an imposing figure with an uncanny gift for browbeating and intimidating the media.

So Quinn was rambling on and making excuses for his team, trying to defend Tucker's ugly antics, when suddenly I heard the chair next to me go skidding back towards the wall.

The coach was still yapping away, but now Dave was on his feet in the back of the room, yelling above him.

"Quinn, I haven't seen a worse hit than that since you cheap shotted [Bobby] Orr in 1969," Dave bellowed out, leaving Quinn speechless and the assembled Toronto media horde stunned.

Dave laid into Quinn for a few more minutes, standing up for Gonchar and for what he believed in - this was by all accounts Fay's press conference now - then filed his story, packed his bags and left like it was just another game. Quinn, flabbergasted, absorbed the lecture and barely looked up. I nearly blew deadline taking it all in, but man, was it worth it.

The scene was hilarious, sincere, ballsy and a little bit surreal all at the same time. That was Dave.