Received an e-mail from Yale SID Steve Conn with some terrible news. Dave Poole, a local Yale fan who was a press box attendant for many years at the Yale Bowl and could be found pretty much wherever Yale had an athletic event. I will remember Dave for two things - one of the firmest handshakes I have encountered and a perennially sunny personality.

Here is the e-mail Steve sent out.

I regret having to inform you that our friend, Dave Poole, died Sunday of heart failure at his apartment on Whalley Avenue. He had not been ill nor had he experienced any heart problems, other than intensely following the fortunes of his favorite Yale teams. Dave was a volunteer press box attendant at Yale Bowl, a season ticket holder at Ingalls Rink and a “vocal” Bulldog baseball fan. His devotion to Yale teams included putting “the whammy” on opponents, watching every possible game (on TV or in person) and wearing every article of Yale clothing he owned at one time. Dave, who had worked at McDonalds for about 30 years, regularly called the sports publicity office to let us know about things he noticed out at the Yale fields or was concerned about. His voice mail messages put smiles on our faces to say the least. We will miss those calls almost as much as we will miss his presence (constant smiling face) at home events.