Thomas Hilton
Jan 2, 2009 Awesomeness, Awfulness, Dancing With the 'Tards
To be honest, Matt and I have struggled with what to say about Thomas Hilton. First of all, he was far too young to go. Secondly, it’s no secret that this not so humble blog had some serious disagreements with Thomas in the past. However, a dialog between us was created, one which I believe was beneficial to both sides, making us all stronger in the process. In fact, it turned out the Thomas and I have several commonalities, and I was saddened to learn about his father’s passing during Hurricane Ike.
Addressing the disagreement directly: what ticked Matt and I off the most was that we considered Thomas to be a blogger, not a chron columnist. As such, we expected him to raise his game to that of a blogger, not lower himself to the obviously minimal bar set by the chron’s current group of newspaper contributors (Jerome Solomon, to a large extent, excepted).
And, ultimately, this is what makes the situation for Matt and I so “weird.” Absolutely no offense to Bigthrawn01, who announced what had happened, but maybe that forum wasn’t the best way to make such an announcement. Even reading Bigthrawn’s comments, one can plainly see the lack of class portrayed by the chron’s pathetic management. Thomas had plenty of devoted readers, and the chron’s decision to wait two weeks to say anything, and then brush off the announcement? Compound this with the fact that the geniuses at the chron moved the blog off the front page without a single word explaining the change. The chron sports department continues to be a major embarrassment to the city of Houston, and, in all reality, that’s par for the course for those brainless, sorry-assed fuckstains.
Thomas was, first and foremost, a fan of the Houston Texans. He wrote about them with passion, which can be a difficult trick to pull. Speaking on behalf of DGDB&D, I extend my best wishes and heart-felt compassion toward Thomas Eric Hilton’s family.
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January 2nd, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Well said.
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I also had public disagreements with Thomas about some of the speculation he had on his blog, but it was never anything personal. I can’t believe a guy his age could just go so quickly. It’s incredibly sad. Like you said, he was incredibly devout and passionate about the Texans, and since that’s about the extent of our experience with him, it’s about all we can go by.
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Positive thoughts are with the Hiltons in their time of loss. This was just such a stunning, shocking thing. RIP.
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January 2nd, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Well said, bfd. My condolences to the Hilton family. For whatever issues I might have had with his blogging, he was ALWAYS willing to step up and take whatever flak I was throwing out there. And he always did it in a classy manner.
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Which is more than I can say for the Chron. Those people can go fuck themselves.
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January 2nd, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Stephanie has written a blog on the “main” site about Thomas. It includes an email address for condolences.
http://blogs.chron.com/texanschick/2009/01/there_are_no_words_but_words_a.html
Also, there’s an interesting suggest to the Texans organization that I’ll foward.
You are a Texans Thomas, rest well and in peace…
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January 2nd, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Tragic 2008 for his family. The world lost an upstanding person, and the Chron lost one of it’s only contributors worth reading.
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January 3rd, 2009 at 8:49 am
Yeah, nobody told me to write anything, but gee, his readership truly did need to know what happened.
There’s no Emily Post for how to deal with this sort of situation, but shutting down a blog with no explanation is probably not the best option.
Very sad.
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January 3rd, 2009 at 8:52 am
@Steph: I didn’t see your post until this morning, but I thought it was excellent and classy.
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January 3rd, 2009 at 9:11 am
Well said BFD. That’s really sad to hear. I disagreed with much of his writing, but I really respected how he came on this blog that one time to face his critics straight on.
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My condolences to his family.
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January 3rd, 2009 at 11:23 am
This is truly sad.
Thomas was a great Texans fan and he will be missed. His was the first blog I ever exposed myself to (not that way, Matt) and began commenting on. It just had a different feel than all the other Chron blogs and comments, and that was all due to Thomas. He was a breath of fresh air in the Bog of Eternal Stench that is the Chron. His loved ones are in my prayers.
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January 3rd, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Jerome Solomon has rectified a wrong and made it right! I alerted him today and sent both Stephs and DGDB&D blog accounts of this to him and he (or a staffer at chron.com) has posted (under TH former blog) an obituary and will follow up next week with an entry about TH.
If you read this Jerome…thanks!
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January 3rd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
All my best to Thomas’ family.
Very eloquently said, BFD, Steph, and everyone else.
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January 3rd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Here’s the link:
http://blogs.chron.com/fanblogtexans/2009/01/funeral_services_for_thomas_hi.html
Rest young Thomas, in our Fathers loving arms…
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January 3rd, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Rest in peace, Thomas. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.
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January 4th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Rest in peace Thomas. May you sit at the head table in Valhalla.
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January 5th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Found this blog from google on eric’s name. I’m not much of a blogger but would check his out from time to time. We’ve been best friends for 30 years and appreciate the kind words. I tried emailing the chron for 2 weeks after eric dies to atleast take his blog down. Anyway, I emailed lance z. To see if he could do something and he emailed me right back that he had no idea what had happened. Anyway, not sure if it was the call he made to conway or not, but the next day the info was posted on the site. I know his mom will appreciate all these kind words, especially on a day when she will be laying her husband and son to rest on the same day. Godbless her, she is a strong women.
Dave
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January 5th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
@cougar dave: Thanks for writing, Dave.
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Especially from the emails, texts, and chats I’ve gotten, I can honestly say that the blogging community is shocked by what happened. I can’t remotely fathom what his mother is going through right now.