Crikey!

[Doug Jones]

Steve Irwin passes away. I alway thought he lived too close to the edge. But I truly enjoyed his shows and his desire to educate the people about the animals.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060904/..._tv/obit_irwin

[kwgeorge]

Well I do not like to hear about anyone dying but in this case it was in the cards. You just can’t play with your life the way he did and not expect something to happen no matter how good or smart you think you are. I think this is especially true for this guy who was tempting his fate with something as unpredictable as deadly wild animals. I have watched his shows and always thought to myself “This guy has a Death Wish”.

Ken

[cabinetman]

Steve was great and a great entertainer. I liked it when he would shout "Whoa". He will be missed. I guess I'll have to watch my other animal buddy - Jeff Corwin.



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[Knottscott]

Sad for his fans and family. What a strange way to go....he endangered himself so many times in situations that seemed soooo much more dangerous than to be swimming with stingrays.

[Pappy]

He was in a class with racers and others that tempt fate regularly. like ken said, it was in the cards. Although I never cared for his shows, he did some great work and will be missed.

[LCHIEN]

Well I do not like to hear about anyone dying but in this case it was in the cards. You just can’t play with your life the way he did and not expect something to happen no matter how good or smart you think you are. I think this is especially true for this guy who was tempting his fate with something as unpredictable as deadly wild animals. I have watched his shows and always thought to myself “This guy has a Death Wish”.

Ken

In this case I read that he was killed by a sting ray in a freakish incident.
He swam too close to the sting ray. Normally a sting ray sting would be very serious and painful but not fatal. In this case the sting ray's barb pierced his heart, between the toxin and the physical damage, there was no hope.

I said incident, not accident, because when when get as close to dangerous animals as he did, it's not an accident.

Foolish? I don't know. He did make his living be appearing to be somewhat of a daredevil. And he was quite entertaining to watch, his enthusiasm was infectious.

[Mrs. Wallnut]

I know that my children will miss his programs. We would watch his shows and just be amazed at what he did. When I told my kids they were worried about how sad his children must be right now....He will be missed by millions I am sure.

[leehljp]

In this case I read that he was killed by a sting ray in a freakish incident.
I said incident, not accident, because when when get as close to dangerous animals as he did, it's not an accident.

Foolish? I don't know. He did make his living be appearing to be somewhat of a daredevil.

The Japanese news stated that they had the stingray kinda trapped - with the camera man in front and Steve behind or over.

He was very entertaining but he stayed too close to the edge. Loring hit the nail on the head with the word "incident".

[jseklund]

I don't know what to think about this....there are a few levels. Obviously, the first level is that I am very sad. He WILL be missed, and it is always sad to loose someone, especially someone who seemed to be such a great guy.

The other side involves irony. I don't want to say it's funny- I don't want to appear insensitive- but the irony that while he was known for taking a bunch of risks with things that are KNOWN to be deadly, a stingray finally got him. And the further irony is that it wasn't the poison really- it was the pierce. I think everyone would have expected poisoning, but not like this.

ANd finally, I hate to say it, but I can't fault him for "living on the edge". He obviously loved what he did, didn't let fear stop him from living, and gave a lot to the world in the process. There should be more people like him. Let's face it, we take risks every day- getting in our car is a risk. How many people drive around on motorcycles or even bicycles without helmets? When is the last time you made a cut on the table saw or band saw that you knew you really shouldn't have?

Too many of us let "risk" (fear) stop us from living and loving life. I am sure that this man knew the risks, but he was clear on what he wanted in his life. For a man to overcome fear in this way, and give to the world as he did, we cannot be saddened. I hope that I can say I've done something incredible when I go- even if I go doing it.

[dkhoward]

I spent 25 years as a professional firefighter. Every working shift I faced the possibility and the need to weigh risk versus reward in situations which could be deadly. Risk can be managed and I believe that he was very professional in managing the risks he took. However, as firefighters we all knew that you can never anticipate or plan for every variable and it is usually the unforeseen or out of the ordinary situation that turns deadly in a hurry.

I mourn the loss for his family and childrens sake. I applaud that he did what he loved to do and he did it with flair and aplomb.

The world is often a richer place for those who live life in this manner. THe Crocodile Hunters among us let the rest of us live life a little vicariously. THey also provide to us those who are willing to step into danger and risk themselves on the chance that they can save a life, hence those fire fighters, police officers and paramedics who continued to climb the WOrld Trade CEnter when they knew they probably wouldn't come down.

My soapbox piece

[Hellrazor]

Dennis, there is a big difference though. Firefighters, Police, Paramedics, Military, etc are doing their thing to save lives, etc. He was just tempting fate in front of the camera. His show was entertaining to a degree, right up until he decided to feed the crocs while holding his infant. He crossed the line doing that and I have questioned his stability since the incident.

[RodKirby]

Definitely NOT my kind of guy, but it's all there is on talk-back radio today.

Some (idiot!) has suggested "it's like Diana and Elvis" Oh, really

[kyle.w]

when i found out today that he had passed i was shocked=[

[drumpriest]

I was very sad to hear this, and Mike, if you were to ask Steve Irwin, he'd say that he did his thing also to save lives. I'm sure that there have been a ton of animals saved and cared about thanks to the exposure that he provided though the show.

We all certainly take risks every day, we are WOOD WORKERS. We often work with machines that can easily end our life. I'm sure there are more table saw related deaths per year than death by sting ray attack. (granted, more wood workers than sting ray swimmers, but still...)

Regardless of how careful we are there is always a possibility that something "freakish" will go wrong with one of our mass produced tools and seriously injure us. And I cannot say that I have saved any lives through wood working.

In interviews Steve Irwin has repeated said that he does the show to raise awareness, and I believe him. I think he'd be playing with Croc's anyway, but I don't doubt his motive.

[jseklund]

DKHoward- I couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you for your service.

DrumPriest- I agree. In a direct sense, he saved a lot of conservation land, animals, etc. However, in an indirect sense, he will be remembered for his passion and doing what he loved- which is an example that CAN save lives. When people see this kind of enthusiasm, it can be contagious, and may inspire many people....some of which may have been lost without inspiration.

Yes, he took risks. Yes, I am sure he went over the line many times. Would I do what he did literally? NO! Would I repeat his underlying, maybe symbolic, actions- YES!

Many of the people who think he took unreasonable risks got up this morning and drove to work. A large number of those people didn't wear seatbelts. ALL of these people took great risks to get to a place that most of them don't even like to go to. How many people die on the way to work every day? At least Steve took risks to do what he loved.

Now like I said- I don't love what he loved as much as he did, so I would not do a literal copy of what he did. However, I look at him and would copy the fact that he took risks to be happy and do what he truly loved and was called to. It is all about perceived risk/reward. I don't get the reward from fighting with alligators that he did (I don't love it), so I won't take the risk because it is too great. Some people feel that the security of a job is a great reward, and thus are willing to risk their lives in the car for it. Some people feel rewarded in saving lives, so they will risk their own. And sometimes, we swing too far in the other direction (no one's perfect) and take on too much risk (such as the baby/croc incident). I am sure he died happier than most people though.