CSFBL Community

Today I have the unenviable job of reporting a tragic loss to me personally and to the entire CSFBL Family.
Randy James McDermott (BROXTON) passed away on November 17, 2005 in a tragic car accident. He is remembered below:

McDERMOTT, Randy James Randy James McDermott, 28, of Windsor Locks, formerly of New Britain, died unexpectedly on Thursday, (November 17, 2005), at Hartford Hospital. He was the son of Gail (Bosse) McDermott, of New Britain and Robert McDermott, of Noank. He was born in New Britain, on December 29, 1976, where he attended Holy Cross School and graduated from E.C. Goodwin Tech in the class of 1994. He was employed by Shaws Supermarket as a grocery manager. He was an avid sports fan who particularly enjoyed watching baseball and his Yankees. He loved to fish and had fished professionally. Besides his parents, he is survived by his daughter, Somaya McDermott, of New Britain; his fiancé, Jennie Gabrielson of Windsor Locks and her children, Gabriella and Karl Gabrielson; a sister, Nikki Vaillancourt and her husband, Gregg and daughter, Noelle of Southington; his grandparents, Lawrence and Jacqueline Bosse of New Britain, and Eleanor McDermott of New Britain; his aunt (godmother) and uncle, Sharon and Scott Goetjen, and their son, Evan, of Simsbury; an aunt, Carol Bosse, of East Hampton; and many other aunts, uncles and cousins. He also leaves his canine companion, Czara. Additionally, Randy is survived by a wide circle of friends who will miss him dearly. His kindness and loyalty to his family and friends will be long remembered. He was devoted to his family, in particular to his daughter, whose love and interest he followed with great passion. Randy's family would like to extend their gratitude to the Windsor Locks Volunteer Fire Department and the Police Department. The Family will receive friends and family on Sunday, November 20, from 3 - 7 p.m. at the New Britain Memorial/ Sagarino Funeral Home, 444 Farmington Ave., New Britain. The funeral service will be held at 9 a.m., on Monday, November 21, from the Funeral Home. Followed by a liturgy, of Christian Burial, at St. Jerome Church, 1010 Slater Rd., New Britain, at 10 a.m. The Rev. Thomas Cieslikowski, as the celebrant. There will be a funeral procession to St. Mary's Cemetery following the mass. Funeral Directions- I84 to exit 37 Fieneman Road, right of the exit, funeral home 1 1/2 miles on the right. Please visit our online memorial at www.mem.com.

******

I have contacted his girlfriend and offered the following correspondence to this tragic event:

I received an email regarding Randy. I am deeply saddened by this situation as I was a pretty good “online” friend of his and we conversed a lot about the game as well as his beloved dogs (as I know he loved dogs). I just want you to know that we at CSFBL will always miss him. He was a great, great guy.

Sincerely, 
  Eddie Evans 
  Online name: Realmwalker 
  CSFBL Dev. Team

Any well wishes can be sent to the following email: broxton@snet.net or via the web site given above. This is very sad news indeed as I considered Randy a good friend ( an online one) ... he will always be remembered in Moneyball by myself and all those folks he touched with his candor, humor and general good nature ...  Moneyball contains his Franchise Player Namesake: RJ Mack (short for Randy James). We are gonna miss you Broxton! 

Please stop by the family's guestbook ... I am sure they would enjoy knowing all the people he touched with his all too brief time here: http://www.legacy.com/HartfordCourant/Guestbook.asp?Page=GuestBook&PersonID=15694454

UPDATE 11/24, 2:33 PM: As Chris noted below, the Guest Book has been paid for by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous, and Realmwalker is sending flowers to Randy's family.  After some conversations with members of the CSFBL community, we think the best thing to do is to buy a Christmas gift for his daughter Samaya.  We are hoping to get an Authentic Yankees jersey customized with MCDERMOTT on the back.  The link has made its way to Randy's family, who also has been donating.  Please continue to donate, and we assure you that this money will be used in the best way possible.  Thanks again.  -Wayne 

The family's guestbook has the option for sponsorship:

For a one-time, $79 fee, you can sponsor the Guest Book of Randy James McDermott to remain online permanently. A sponsorship will allow family and friends to visit and sign the Guest Book on holidays, anniversaries - any day of the year.

I would love for the community to be able to gather enough money to do this for his family.  The Guestbook will have a message that says: "This Guestbook Maintained by the CSFBL Community."

I set the donation amount to $5, which is a level I think many of us can afford, but of course you can choose to donate more.   

I will post the names and amounts of all donors in this thread.  If you do not want your name posted, please let me know. 

Donation Link 

Donors So Far:

• Realmwalker
• Stavro99
• Jerham21
• ChrisGEleven
• Blaago
• GTLeonard
• Mertz
• Thater
• Mobius
• Oblivious
• Yisman
• Chrisz
• RedHawk
• N8Held
• BigStive
• SlickLaptop
• MetsGM
• FurnitureGuru
• NLCummins08
• JStark5150
• GEnglish
• Jspratjr 
• Skritchy
• Passball
• Blade
• MikeP7394
• Elwood41
• MBerry69
• TeamGene
• BabarFloyd
• Rewster
• JoseGrapanino

ComputerSims will cover all funds above what the community donates in order to meet the $79 fee. We'll put a target date of Nov 30 2005, at which time all donations will be assembled, and we'll coordinate the sponsorship of the memorial page.

Further, over the next few weeks, I will work with the Community Managers to create a "Broxton Memorial" league, which will forever keep Broxton as a part of CSFBL history.

Reading Broxton's last post does so much to illustrate his character. He clearly was dedicated to his family and friends. To see a life taken from so prematurely when they had so much life in them and ahead of them is a tragedy indeed. It's eerie to think that he wrote, "The purpose of this post , I guess,  is to just let everyone know I am still around," early in the morning on the day that turned out to be his last. Life is to be cherished, every moment of it. It is our most valued asset, and our most vulnerable one.

On behalf of the entire CSFBL community, I extend my condolences to Randy's family and friends. He will certainly be missed.

Finally, I have been able to correspond with Randy (Broxtons) father (Bob) and he writes to me the following:

I found an article that interviews Randy's fiancee.  If you have a minute, it's worth reading.

"We were just meant to be together," Gabrielson said, fighting tears. "It was just one of those things where you bond with somebody, they're your best friend ... personalities click."

The two were "soulmates" who met two years ago while working together in New Britain as managers at Shaw's Supermarket, Gabrielson said.

They began dating about a month after they started working together, she said.

"It's going to sound stupid but, I'm an only child ... I used to say I was never going to leave home ... never needed a man for everything," said Gabrielson, who was transferred to Shaw's in Glastonbury earlier this year. "He just changed my life."

Flowers were delivered to Broxton's family on behalf of all of CSFBL on Saturday, November 26th.

I want to take a moment on this Thanksgiving to highlight some of the work the CSFBL Community has done in the past 24 hours to honor Broxton, who tragically passed away on November 17th.

• Through donations by many members of the CSFBL Community, the guestbook created by Broxton's family members has been sponsored and fully paid for. You can still send in a donation.

• Flowers have been ordered and will arrive Saturday, November 21st.

• In the next week, there will be work by the CSFBL Development Team to create a CSFBL Memorial web page for those members we have lost. There also will be work done to make several of Broxton's team names permanent and unchangeable to honor him.

• There are plans in the works for a new league to be created named the "Broxton Memorial League." More details to come on this.

• The Remake Leagues, a group of leagues that simulate real life major/minor league baseball, is planning on creating a "Broxton Memorial Award." The award will be given to the Remake owner who best exhibits sportsmanship, community spirit, and character each season. Broxton has been nominated to be the first recipient of the award, posthumously.
  

• The Negro League Tribute, a league that honors the famous Negro Leagues and those who played in them, has renamed Broxton's favorite award to the "Broxton Memorial Trophy Award." It is awarded to the top tribute player every season. Fats Jenkins, one of Broxton's players, had won the award 3 out of the 4 seasons it has been given out. His team, the New York Black Yankees, will also keep its name permanently.

• The Moneyball League has renamed Broxton's team, the New Britian Gladiators, to "Broxton's NB Gladiators" permanently. The league is also working on getting Broxton's photo to be his team's logo on the team page for the Gladiators.
  

• The Knights of the CSFBL League has announced that Broxton is the first owner inductee to their league's Hall of Fame. His team in that league will also be renamed Broxton's Black Magic.
  

As I look outside, the first snow of this winter is falling where I live and I can't help but think that his family will be going into holidays without one of their loved ones. It is a sobering thought.

I hope everyone has a safe and great holidays with their families.

Please remember we are trying to get all donations in by November 30, so if you are so inclined, please donate soon!

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed so far.  The response from the CSFBL community (that means you!) has been impressive. On December 1st, I will announce the totals and, consequently, our finalized plan for Samaya's present from all of us: the (framed?) Yankees jersey with Randy's name on it. 

Of course, if I have left your name off the donor list it wasn't intentional.  Please let me know by PM and I will fix it ASAP.

I just got home, so please forgive the lateness with this.

We raised a total of $300.00 for Broxton.  With this money, we will be getting a customized Yankees jersey and a very nice case to put it in.  The jersey will have the number 05 and his last name on it.  The frame will have his name and the Yankees logo etched at the bottom.  These will be delivered to Randy's daughter Maya as a Christmas present from all of us at CSFBL.

Jersey Link | Frame Link

I spoke with Randy's father and he is very moved by the support he has been getting from all of us and he wants everyone to know how much it means to him.  All of your support really did made a difference.

Thank you everyone, you guys are great!