The All Spin Zone: SpinDentist: Pray for Herb (via Philly Future):

No, that’s not a stoner’s lament as he scrapes up the last of his stash and wondering where his next hit will come from. It is an emblem of a cyber-phenomenon, where a community residing on the internet, in this case the Philadelphia Eagles Message Board (EMB) (registration required), is mourning for one of their own. Herb, a member of that community for many years, is dying (article by Dave Spadaro is here.) The outpouring of love is amazing, and while this cyber-community has many members who have met each other, it is not like these people are lifelong friends. They all met on a Message Board, yet their love, support, grief, it is very real and touching. It makes me dizzy in a sense, that so much connection can be felt by so many whose real world connection is mostly through a modem.

..He’s a member of the military, a husband of Jess, and the father of three little ones aged seven and below. Today he lies in a bed, and I imagine there are tubes connected. His cancer is in the very last stages, and he may not make it through the weekend. But he will be taking phone calls from his friends on the EMB, all day probably. They will call to cheer him up, and they will call so that Herb can cheer them up, just as if they are real friends. “Real” friends? Well, it seems we aren’t in Kansas anymore, and those definitions we so comfortably hold do not hold any longer.

… I met Herb first in late November of 2003 at an away game in Charlotte, the “MOFO Roadie.” A bunch of us gathered to attend the game, but also to meet. It was odd addressing others by their screen names. I met NotPlainJane there for the first time, and subsequently married her. But EaglesFeva, FastFreddie, Beermonkey, DieHard, RSbirdman22 and Emerald Eagle were also there. So was “73,” Herb, and he was healthy and in remission, but he was already a strong focus for the group, because we’d rallied for his first bout with the big “C.” We joked about his big feet.

Several months ago it was discovered that Herb had a tumor. the cancer had come back and it has now invaded throughout his internal organs. Herb is at the end. And yet, he brings the people of the EMB together in his ending. I expect we’ll run some sort of fundraising for Herb’s kids in the next week or so. We’ve done that before for one of our own, and that fundraising ultimately ended up in inspiring the organization of a charity, Fans Helping Fans. I’m guessing we can raise $10,000 entirely online to help establish a college fund for the kids. In a global sense that’s not much, not “Abramoff-like” money for damned sure. But doing so entirely on the internet among a group of people who first met there is a phenomenal feat. It is the face of the future, where emotion and caring burst from the confines of family and neighborhoods and extends through the internet, as it has here.