Thoughts and Prayers to Richard Zednik

Richard Zednik of the Florida Panthers last night took a skate to the carotid artery and almost lost his life. He skated to the bench, glove covering his neck -- a move that doctors say may have saved his life. Imagine 5 seconds more and he'd have possibly bled to death.

A totally freak accident. Horrific to see. There are some horrific photos and as bad as poor Zednik looks, the shock on his face evident, the pools of blood all over, the reaction of the audience is the real horror. The on AP shot shows peoples' faces and you can just tell they're realizing "this guy isn't going to live."

Happily, Zednik will make it. The Panthers hired a jet to fly his family to Buffalo.

I am a bit shocked that they stopped the game for 10 to 15 minutes and then cleaned the ice and resumed. I'd have cancelled it. Yeah, we lost. A forfeit would have been fine. No real fan would have said word one.

I've been hard on Zednik this year until the past few games. But he'd awoken from his slumber and was playing well. I hope he can, one day, return to the game.

I must warn you some of the links below contain graphic text, horrific photos and/or gruesome video with enormous amounts of blood.

• http://tinyurl.com/yqvt9r <-- two photos / one graphic -- The Full AP article
• http://tinyurl.com/ysgy85 <-- Boston Globe with photo blood all over ice
• http://tinyurl.com/ytueuj <-- ABC with gruesome photo and link to video of the play
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzU5z8byUkI <-- You Tube of the play just before to two minutes after (2mins)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzhuviXi3hc <-- from the time he hits the bench until the game resumes (10 mins).
• http://tinyurl.com/2vgzrt Zednik makes the Wall Street Journal

A very complete collection of Zednik Videos (various angles, etc) and photos.
http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212129784.shtml
Some of the above images are especially gruesome in nature.

This isn't the first time he left the ice on a stretcher. When he was with the 2002 Montral Canadiens....
http://tinyurl.com/ytvcxz <--- photo only

Feel free to add your link (TinyURL please) and commentary here. Support Zednik by posting a get-well message at the Panthers official website and/or our message board on this thread.

This post was updated 12 February 2008 with additional links. For the most up to date information check the Panthers Message Board under the above mentioned thread or the Official Press Release thread on the board.

Flickr: Photos from darsys (round three)

Today I have posted a new set of 12 photos on my Flickr account. In an older post, I explained the project. My last post was about three weeks ago: I got in my last few photos as I had mentioned at the end of that post.

I also got some awesome videos that just won't fit on a DVD -- though a few will fit on Dual-Layer DVDs. Contact me for information about those. I suggest bringing your own external hard drive if you want those.

As I said in the previous posts, I encourage you to add any comments/notes to the photos if you remember something that I didn't, especially when it comes to identifying people. Also, you can buy prints of any photo on Flickr where there's an "Order Prints" button. This is not something I make money on nor approve of or object to, but if you want an actual printed copy it's the fastest and best way....

I will post the last few photos tomorrow. After that I'll take requests if you have any. (Such as "please don't post any more of yourself")

7-24-07: As promised, the last batch was posted today.

The Last of Photos For Now

Today I have posted the last 12 photos on my Flickr account. In a previous post, I explained the project.

Again, I encourage you to add any comments/notes to the photos if you remember something that I didn't, especially when it comes to identifying people. If it became a group project, that would be fine, too.

Also, you can buy prints of any photo on Flickr where there's an "Order Prints" button. This is not something I make money on nor approve of or object to. It's entirely Flickr's gig, but if you want an actual printed copy it's the fastest and best way....

I am sending in one last batch for digitizing and you should see those in 4 to 6 weeks. If you think there are photos missing you'd like to see, please let me know via e-mail and I'll add more.

Here We Go Again: More Photos II

Today I have posted another 16 photos on my Flickr account. In a previous post, I explained the project. With over 3,000 photos. That is not a typo. I am still looking at EVERY SINGLE one and picking the best, but I should be done in the next few days. The response from friends has been overwhelming.

And please, I encourage you to add any comments/notes to the photos if you remember something that I didn't, especially when it comes to identifying people. If it became a group project, that would be fine, too.

(Also, you can buy prints of any photo on Flickr where there's an "Order Prints" button. This is not something I make money on nor approve of or object to. It's entirely Flickr's gig, but if you want an actual printed copy it's the fastest and best way....)

PS: Double thanks to Randy who helped with some people identifying in the group photos.

6-30-07: I posted the next batch of 18 photos today. I'm almost done posting as I think I have a fair representation. There are about 2 or 3 more days with of photos left. I am sending in one last batch for digitizing and you should see those in 4 to 6 weeks. If you think there are photos missing you'd like to see, please let me know via e-mail and I'll add more.
7-2-07: A batch of 14 photos was added today. 12 more tomorrow and then I'm done for awhile. Added bit in dark grey above.

Here We Go Again: More Photos

Today I have posted another 18 photos on my Flickr account. In a previous post, I said that I sent all my photos and negatives in to be digitized. These come from the second batch that was returned. There are some priceless photos in here, and they are making me happy and sad and sentimental at the same time. I will posting selections in groups of 16 every day or two over the next week. There are nearly 3,000 photos. That is not a typo. I am looking at EVERY SINGLE one and picking the best, including some very rare photos as well as some that I probably ought to be embarrassed by.

At some point, if I've known you more than five years, you can expect that at least one photo of you will work your way in here. Again, I've said it before: some of these are meaningful to almost nobody but me. I've found some amazing stuff. I've got pictures I didn't remember: lots of them. If you're part of my life now (or were) and have stuff you want to see, I'll take requests. I'll also provide the original files if you want. Take a look if you're interested.

6-27-07: 16 more photos today.
6-28-07: 16 more photos today (15 new, and 1 corrected).
6-28-07: Italicized text was modified from original post

Flickr: Photos from darsys (round two)

As you know, because I mentioned this in my blog previously, I sent all my photos and negatives in to be digitized. These come from the first batch that was returned in my digitizing project. The first batch returned consisted of negatives only and it was a great success on one level. On another it was a failure -- many of these negatives are damaged irreparably and I am crushed. But many more were saved. And the ones that weren't I still have the digitized version and about half of those can be saved if I am moved to pay someone using Photoshop.

As a result, I have added a lot of new pictures to Flickr today -- nearly two dozen. Some of these are meaningful to almost nobody but me. I've found some amazing stuff. I've got pictures I didn't remember: lots of them. I have pictures of my friends when they were kids, but I won't post those here yet. I've found vacation pictures -- including my trips to the 1996 Olympics, 1994 Paris, and others -- that I thought were lost forever. I found pictures of people I'd long since forgotten but suddenly remember like yesterday. There were over 1,000 negatives I've gone through so far, some involving seminal moments in my life.

I've realized something and it's too late to fix it. Most of the pictures of my friends don't include me. The pictures of me don't include my friends because they were taking them. What a fucking idiot I was. I'd give anything to have the immortal "Wabbit Trip"* with all of us in one shot. I've found photos of friends who are now dead. I've found photos of people I miss terribly. I've found photos that I could use as ransom. It was really, really interesting to experience.

If you're part of my life now (or were) and have stuff you want to see, I'll take requests. I'll also provide the original files (4 to 10MB per file) if you want. Take a look if you're interested.

2 June 2007: I have added more pictures.


* I will not explain this to anyone. Ever.