So here’s the thing; I never watched Crocodile Hunter, at least not any more than most people I know did. It was sort of a curiosity thing. As wacky as I thougt Steve Irwin was, I always thought he seemed like such a nice, genuine guy. He had a real enthusiasm and passion for the work he did. An exuberance.

I heard today from our friends, Ben and Jessica Lambeth, that Irwin had died. They said when they heard it on the news, the clip that was being shown was from the controversial clip when Steve Irwin was feeding a crocodile while holding his infant son, Bob. I think it was distasteful of whichever news network it was to use that, with the hundreds of hours of clips available, to go along with the announcement of the death of someone who was such a positive, respected person. Sure he had a couple controversial incidents, and sure he was a bit simplisitc at times, but I think he had a good heart.

For those who don’t know, Steve Irwin died while taping a show about the coral reef in Australia or some such. A stingray stabbed him with its barb, which is generally not a life-threatening move, but the barb went between his ribs and got him right in the heart. He most likely died within an hour. It just seems like a pointless way for him to go, but considering how many dangerous things he’s done in his life I suppose chance just caught up with him.

Amanda and I were watching some shows on Animal Planet tonight, one that was done in 2000, the other in 2004, about Steve Irwin’s life. Like I said, he just seemed like such a great person and he obviously had so much love for his family and for what he did that you just hate to hear of such a fruitless death. My prayers go out to his wife, his two kids, his father, the rest of his family and his friends.