Hard to believe it’s been a year since we got another dose of sadness in the GTP community.
For those who didn’t follow GTP, or if you’re new to our community, I did find a small sampling of Ranger Russ’s eloquence in the dark arts of communication:
Poetic.
As a follower of Get the Picture, you hadn’t lived until you made a comment that either (1) solicited the Senator to respond to your idiocy personally in the comments, (2) got into a long an ongoing debate with commenters like Derek or the general commenting community, or (3) had Ranger Russ cuss in your general direction, if not at you. Although it could be pointed and darkly eloquent, you had the general impression that he wasn’t mad at you, personnally, but as Popeye liked to say, “I yam what I yam”. It seemed like it was genuine, but also in good fun. He was passionate about Georgia football and had a hilarious way with words that is truly missed. I’ve seen many a comments around here of “I wonder what Ranger Russ would’ve said”. I’ve wondered often about that many times, as well.
Leave your memories in the comments. Godspeed, Ranger Russ. I think heaven’s relaxed their rules around profanity since you arrived.
Rangers lead the way!
Dam Good Dawg!!!
Nice J.P., and shortly after a million blog hits too. Karma is real.
Rest In Peace RangerRuss. 🙏
Maybe GotCowdog will supply us with a couple of tall tales. 😉
HBTMFD’S
Sure do miss those posts. RIP.
Russ and I discovered some mutual friends. It turned out we were going to Destin and stopped at Ranger Joe’s in Columbus and bought him a set of jump wings.
Ranger Russ loved the USA, his Dawgs, and hated the Gators, and for that he will always be loved. Cheers up above, RR, we salute you!
When I learned of the Senator’s passing and had a few days to think about it what began to set in was a worry that we would never all be together again. And specifically I couldn’t stand the idea that I would lose contact with Ranger Russ.
I never met Russ personally but over the years I got several of the coveted “My dawg.” posts from him. And during quite a few comments sections he and I got our own separate conversation going about hunting and fishing. I mentioned one game day morning that I was sitting in a deer stand over a creek bottom and we had a particularly good back and forth.
As much as I loved GTP it did have something of a wine and cheese feel in the comments a lot of times. Much more than this place. And I wondered where the rest of my kind were posting and reading. Then I ran across Ranger Russ. He was hilarious, brutally honest, and a force. That came through loud and clear.
I can’t tell you how many times it would be late Saturday night after a game or very early Sunday morning some time around one thirty or two and it would be me and Ranger Russ the last two left standing in the comments section of the Senator’s game day post. When I would get up the next morning around eight or so I would see that Russ had been up at least two hours and had been commenting.
Hard to believe he has been gone a whole year. This place misses him. I miss him. Russ was one of the first to talk GTP Refugees up and recruit people who were still wandering over in the comments at the last GTP post.
As I sit here and have a cup of coffee about to head down to Florida to turkey hunt it’s appropriate that what was waiting for me was this post about Russ.
I miss you old friend. But your memory and spirit live on here. My dawg.
I got a few “My Dawg!” replies from RR on comments I made…it felt like a real badge of honor. What a colorful character; wish I could have met him.
Same. Seemed like a genuine good guy.
when Ranger Russ gave your comment a « My Dawg »…it felt like you had been touched by an angel in St Michaels brigade
I ran across GTP years ago when I would look at the Dawgbone. I clicked on and enjoyed it so much it became an everyday thing. Didn’t comment because I went through the Dawgbone site. But found it was a place where people loved the Bulldogs as much as I did. What a colorful character The Ranger was. Never held a punch, but respected what was thrown back. DGD!
Thank you, I’ve liked many a post but I love this one. Here’s to RangerRuss up in Bulldawg Heaven – waiting until Gators are close enough to touch, then letting them have it and jumping out to finish them with his hatchet. #FTMF #GoDawgs
We miss our troll enforcer in perpetuity, RangerRuss. A couple of times he went into that Bama troll would make a sailor blush.
EE, wasn’t his name ArchMartyr or something like that? Anyway, when the Ranger busted his ass, it was legendary. And the Sumbitch never replied if I remember correctly. Who could? 😂
Can’t believe Bluto let that troll comment as long as he did. Hell, he probably did just to see RangerRuss ream him a new one.
You got it.
RR was a dear friend with one of my McWhorter hall roommates, Mike Steele. They both were Rangers and we all kept in touch via text. We were going to eat BBQ in Athens when I moved back from Texas. I’m back and no RR. He was one tough hombre that worked in the granite quarries in Elbert County.
Life is short…shorter for some than others. The only thing you can do with death is ride away from it!
That’s how I found out we had mutual friends. My buddy “Bear” sold equipment to the granite guys and I did the eulogy at his funeral. Russ and Bear were tight.
Ol’ RR was as tough as Tarzan’s feet. He was crass, unashamed, authentic, and one of the funniest ball busters to ever type at GTP. That dude was the perfect counterbalance to the inside the perimeter way of thinking on GTP…and I reveled in his debauchery.
Russ reminded me that the world still needs dudes like him, and like many of you I miss him specifically. What a great thought it is to imagine him and Bluto enjoying several green beers yesterday, arguing about who the DGD Mount Rushmore four would be…
Never had any doubt how the Ranger fell about anything or anybody, he gave this old Dawg a lot of good laughs.
I too miss Ranger’s comments. Thanks for posting this tribute. Too many great commenters have come and gone in this community without us ever knowing what happened.
Man. I’m not sure where to even start. I guess I’ll work backwards…
The last time Russ and I hung out was after he had fucked up his thumb with a bandsaw. He asked if I would go with him to pick up a tablesaw (“Why? So you can fuck up your whole hand next time?” “Fuck you Cowdog. Are you gonna help me or not?”) Anyway I had brought him some persimmon from the farm so he made me a cutting board and refurbished an old butcher knife for the deal of a good bottle of scotch, his choice, so off to the East Athens Lowes we went.
A couple of things I should note here: I don’t like riding with other people, especially when they apparently have a death wish or are deliberately trying to make me shit my pants. RR loved him some Marlboros and didn’t want to smoke in my ride, so he drove. By the time we got back I needed a Marlboro and about half the scotch just to un-jangle my nerves.
We got the saw loaded and headed across the street to the liquor store to get the scotch. So we’re staring at the selection, Russ grabs an expensive Macallen.
“I thought you were a JWB guy?”
“I am, but you’re buying. Have you ever tried this stuff?”
“No”
So RR pops the cork and has a sample, which I shared. The guy behind the counter says “Hey you can’t do that in here!” RR says “Pay the man” so I put a Benjamin on the counter. Russ, still holding the open bottle of scotch continues to peruse the selection, sipping. The guy behind the counter says, a little louder “You can’t drink that in here!” So RR, being RR , ignores him. RR fishes around in his pocket, comes up with a Marlboro and fires it up. “YOU CAN”T SMOKE IN HERE!” says my guy behind the counter, whose English is not great and he’s pointing art his nose saying something I can’t understand but sounds kind of like “Vapors”. I still haven’t put two and two together so my guy behind the counter says very clearly: “YOU”RE GOING TO BLOW UP MY STORE!!! GET OUT GET OUT I’M CALLING THE POLICE!!!”
At the mention of constabulary involvement Russ eased out the door with the ersatz Molotov Cocktail which calmed the clerk somewhat. I picked up some JWB, settled up and headed for the truck. Russ is sitting in the truck pretending to talk in the phone with the doors locked. This ordinarily would not be a problem ’cause I’m normally a patient and considerate person, but I’m holding a bag of liquor and a pocket full of cash in a dim lit parking lot, in East Athens, after dark and I’m the only Honky in sight except for my good buddy RangerRuss. Who is sitting in the locked truck ostentatiously ignoring me. Because I didn’t want to show any fear I texted Russ to “Open the got-dam door-you-asshole before I get my ass kicked out here”. So Russ calls my cell, grinning like a jackass eating briars and says “You carrying?”
“No.”
“See? this is why I always carry.”
“Just open the door.”
“What’s the magic word?”
“Please?”
“That’s not it.”
“Oh for fucks sake. Go Dawgs?”
“That’s it! Get in the fucking truck before you get murdered, you pussy.”
🤣 🤣 🤣!!!
Uncle Got, the boys down at Brandeee’s appreciate you letting us all know about RR…seriously, thank you
When Bonnie told me the news I asked if it would be OK to let you guys know.
This community was as important to him as he was to us. I personally am very fortunate to have counted him as a friend.
To reiterate what I said a year ago, when we lost the Senator my enthusiasm for maintaining this community was driven in large part by ensuring that I would continue to be blessed with Ranger’s oft quotable contributions. We certainly never agreed on the “off the field” issues, but we damn sure agreed on the important shit:
Georgia Bulldog Football.
And never, ever, ever say anything around here like: “I hope florida beats us so the coach gets fired.”
That, we do not forgive.
To have lost Russ so soon after the Senator was quite the blow.
But to paraphrase Gunnery Sergeant Hartman:
A Bulldog dies. That’s what we’re here for. But the Bulldog Nation lives forever!
Uh Oh, got a small Gremlin showing up. When I liked a comment, it did some strange reset deal before it finally worked. Looking back through now, ‘Loading’ is superimposed on top of ‘Like’.
What the hello???
Russ was a good one. He and I met years ago and then met again on here. RIP RR!
There will only be one Ranger Russ. FUCK THOSE MOTHER FUCKERS!
RR once told me I was a Damned Good Dawg during one of our many discussions at GTP. I felt as if I had received a papal blessing.
I come to praise the literary eloquence of Ranger Russ. His pride in country and the Bulldog nation is beyond reproach. Where he was unique for me was his ability to string phrases, idioms and non sequiturs together with the most colorful profane language, and to do it cohesively.
If you were not getting a “My Dawg” you were probably getting your ears roasted off by his tirade. I didn’t sense that his tirades were mean spirited, though. I felt like it was similar to one of us saying “well bless your heart” while clucking our tongue. RR was just able to take his chiding to a whole new level – somewhere in the Harry Crews “Feast of Snakes” stratosphere.
He and the Senator are sorely missed, but we are lucky to have kept the group together and to be able to sing their praises around the campfire.
RangerRuss and I talked pretty much daily for 5 years. We pushed each other’s buttons a couple of times. If he was pissed off? You knew it.
R.I.P.
Among many wonderful memories of RR’s writing eloquence was our shared reaction to many of the Senator’s MPCs….”Gotdam Hippies!”
RIP soldier.
How I met him was he lived beside some friends of mine who at least outwardly and from the terrible WSP music that blared from their stereo were hippies. Russ and I were a la carte in regards to what part of the hippie culture we liked. He pulled an AK or SKS on me one night or morning but I reacted I guess in a way that he respected (I am not real smart) and it was not an issue. We reconnected here based on his name and my memory of what we/ he called him which was “Goddamn RR.” He was a good one and will be missed.