RIP Ed McMichael - the Tuba man

by marc w on Nov 4, 2008 8:57 AM PST Comment 44 comments

If you've been to a sporting event in Seattle, you've probably come across Ed McMichael, the guy with the beard and Tuba playing before (and after) each game.

Sadly, he's been murdered. Story here. Some kids beat/robbed him at a bus stop, apparently stealing his 1979 Sonics championship ring. Two have been arrested, but police are looking for more scum/suspects.

He was 53.

What are your favorite tuba man memories? Where did you first hear him? Have any other favorite buskers around Qwest/Safeco?

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:(

I used to give him tickets to games whenever I had a spare.

by Robert on Nov 4, 2008 9:05 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Ed was so cool. I remember him as far back as the 80’s at the Kingdome.

Time to polish up my rifle.

by Sec 108 on Nov 4, 2008 9:10 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Me too - 80s M's games. That distinctive sound you could hear a block away that reminded you

you were about to watch some sports.

He really got around – from UW games, to Sounders games, sounds like he’d play in front of McCaw hall for concerts, etc.

by marc w on Nov 4, 2008 9:33 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

What was the trumpet player's name? Richard?

by Sec 108 on Nov 4, 2008 9:54 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Richard Peterson.

He played with the Young Fresh Fellows a few times, too.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Nov 4, 2008 10:10 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

That's the guy. I saw him and Ed play a bunch of tunes together once.

Pure Gold.

by Sec 108 on Nov 4, 2008 10:26 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Oh my God.

I talked with him a bunch of times before games. He was such an awesome guy. Just…damn.

This is awful.

by BrianL on Nov 4, 2008 9:32 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Oh, shit.

What a tragedy.

God…

Man, this makes me incredibly depressed. I loved his thumbs-up every time I dropped money into his bucket.

Shit, I’m actually on the verge of tears here.

by Phildopip on Nov 4, 2008 9:33 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

I remember being six years old

and being incredibly excited to see Tuba Guy every time my dad took me and my brother to the Kingdome. What a terrible, awful world we live in.

by BrianL on Nov 4, 2008 9:40 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Amen

Tuba Man is inextricably linked to my very first memories of going to baseball games back in the 80’s. I always brought my mitt (I had crossed out the Jose Canseco stamp and written in “Lyman Bostock”) even though we were sitting up in the 300 level. After all, we would easily sneak down to sit along the 1st base line by the 2nd inning. I’d come across the ferry from Bainbridge Island and walk down to the stadium with a few friends from high school.

Tuba Man was a fixture of that carnival atmosphere outside any sporting event. I can’t remember a game where I didn’t hear him from at least a block away from the stadium. I remember Mark James and I asking him if he would play Stairway to Heaven. He had this baritone chortle of a response… he laughed “How does it go?” It was the only time I ever talked to him.

He seemed like one of those super fans, like Red, who you can’t help but love. It seems grossly unfair for him to leave this world in such a way.

My idea of justice (I have to state here that I don’t believe in revenge) would be for those kids to attend the funeral… and there should be thousands of people there addressed by some long-time public servants like Ron Sims or Seattle historians like Greg Palmer… so that their eyes might be widened.

by johnbai on Nov 4, 2008 10:00 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

With all due respect

That kind of justice has no effect. I live in the inner city; these types aren’t moved by that sort of thing. The only thing you can really do is take action to prevent the behavior before it develops, or isolate those fuckers once they’ve turned into monsters. Or maybe they’ll go to prison and become Bernard Hopkins, which is cool.

by spittle8 on Nov 4, 2008 11:08 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Sub thread closed.

by Matthew on Nov 4, 2008 11:46 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs

The kids are just 15

so there is limited punishment that can be applied……. but can we please find the douchebag absentee fathers of these kids and throw their asses in jail for life please?

My memories of Ed almost invariably involve me smiling. He was truely a part of our community growing up. I no longer live in the Seattle area, but I keep those memories with me more than the actual sporting events I intended. We will miss you, Ed.

by JeffHagan2 on Nov 4, 2008 9:45 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Um, good luck finding their fathers.

by Sec 108 on Nov 4, 2008 10:27 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

My prayers go out to his friends and family. I will always have great memories of Ed.

Screw you, Mariners. I'm back in football's loving arms. *edit: well, shit. This isn't going well.

by kevin_ess on Nov 4, 2008 9:50 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Horrible...

I will never understand how anybody could justify doing such a thing to another human being.

Fans are typically idiots.

by The Typical Idiot Fan on Nov 4, 2008 9:53 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

This is terrible!

So, what happens to his tuba? He needs to be enshrined somewhere near QWEST and Safeco, and have his tuba be part of that memorial.

This signature space for rent.

by PositivePaul on Nov 4, 2008 10:04 AM PST reply actions 1 recs

Sounds like it's time for some sort of grass-roots effort on this.

Something special needs to be done with that tuba.

by BrianL on Nov 4, 2008 10:07 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I have an opinion of what should be done with the tuba

but since it involves losing it up the nether regions of the bastards that did this, I think a memorial is a much better idea.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Nov 4, 2008 10:19 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed, but because he brought cheer to all teams, no one team ought to be able to show it.

Maybe the SAM?

by Two Rs and Two Ls on Nov 4, 2008 10:24 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

SAM is good, perhaps Pike Place

You’re right, it needs to be in a team-neutral place.

by BrianL on Nov 4, 2008 10:28 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

MOHAI

it’s a good repository of all things Seattle and historic. It’s where the Rainier Brewery “R” lives, among other artifacts.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Nov 4, 2008 10:30 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Perfect.

by BrianL on Nov 4, 2008 10:30 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Also the entrance to one of my favorite parks in Seattle.

by Sec 108 on Nov 4, 2008 10:35 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

This was my original thought...

This signature space for rent.

by PositivePaul on Nov 4, 2008 11:08 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

That R was always one of the most iconic Seattle things, for me

I’m somewhat surprised it was salvaged.

by spittle8 on Nov 4, 2008 11:09 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

If I remember right it was one of the provisions of the building's sale

not specifically that MOHAI get it, but that it be preserved somewhere.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Nov 4, 2008 11:15 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Fuck those kids.

Send them away for life.

by Wilder. on Nov 4, 2008 10:15 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Agreed (unless rectal execution by tuba is an option)

I just heard about this and I couldn’t be more upset.

Man do I love midgets.

by Thingray on Nov 4, 2008 10:53 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

They should be hooked up to exercise bikes wired to batteries that could produce cheap power

lighting the statue/memorial in front of MOHAI or wherever we decide to place the tuba.

by marc w on Nov 4, 2008 11:09 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I prefer banishment

Make them live on an isolated island in the Aleutians, and provide them with the basic tools and necessities to survive, then say goodbye. Or send them to adult prison and show them what it’s like to be preyed on by bigger predators.

by spittle8 on Nov 4, 2008 11:11 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Anger, fear, aggression...

The path to the darkside, are they. Calm yourselves, and find you will, the answers.

Fans are typically idiots.

by The Typical Idiot Fan on Nov 4, 2008 12:06 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

And

It would be cool if people who knew Ed could read this thread and see it as a testament to the fact that he was a beloved figure… not turn away after reading so much hostility (however justified it might be.)

by johnbai on Nov 4, 2008 1:29 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm hoping that someone can find out/let LL know

if there’s some sort of fund we can contribute to, or memorial, or something – I’d like to be able to give even something small in honor of a guy that I never knew but always knew would be around when I went to a sporting event.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Nov 4, 2008 1:39 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yes

Carlson(?) on KOMO1000 was talking about setting one up earlier today.

by Robert on Nov 4, 2008 4:44 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, woulda been nice if those little shits calmed themselves instead

by Gomez on Nov 5, 2008 11:36 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Wow this is just awful

I used to see Ed every Monday for the half price pizza deals at Alfy’s on 15th (probably around 1996). Every time we’d see each other we’d engage in some type of banter, usually nothing too serious but it would always bring a smile to my face. I would always see him outside of Safeco (I’d never bother him b/c he’d be playing), and years later I asked him if he remembered me and he brought up some of the inside jokes we once had. I even snapped a photo of him at my high school graduation — he was playing outside of Mercer Arena as soon as the ceremony ended.

RIP Ed, you’ll be missed.

by SankTheTank on Nov 4, 2008 12:47 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

This makes me really sad

Truthfully I probably didn’t appreciate him as much when I saw him as I should have. My friends and I would joke about his tuba playing and his always present gallon of juice. When it comes down to it though, it takes something like this to realize how much a person like him is ingrained in our life and who deeply the death of a total stranger can touch us. I will always have the memories of him associated with Seattle sports. I’m amazed how much I am affected by his death. Seattle sports really has lost a piece of what makes it special.

by Edgar for Pres on Nov 4, 2008 2:25 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I can't believe this

by Fett42 on Nov 4, 2008 3:06 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

There's been a memorial fund set up

Details here if you want to show your gratitude.

Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.

by pdb on Nov 4, 2008 3:22 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Thanks

by Sec 108 on Nov 4, 2008 3:35 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

So are we arranging a mob to avenge this guy?

Guys I have dibs on the pillowcase full of door knobs. I’m really sad to hear about this. I used to look forward to seeing this guy as much as anything back at games in the Kingdome. He was always very nice when I spoke to him, and was just plain entertaining. I saw him 10 times this year, because I would always go out of my way to find him when I went to games. He’ll be sadly missed

HA HA HA, your Grandpa's an ASS!- Tourette's Guy (R.I.P)

by tootthekazoo on Nov 4, 2008 4:20 PM PST reply actions 0 recs