If I had to ramble about my known history with Jon, well frankly that'd be the only way to do it.
I'd examined college football boards on and off, but never really joined in until the Aggie Bonfire tragedy. I think Jon was using his "Hooky Hornstein" label then on CNNSI (the whole "comments" part of the Internet was really still in its infancy - some would claim it still is)". The story he told was that he didn't realize that he wasn't supposed to publicly identify himself, so he originally registered with his real name and initials - JCG.
Of course, at that time Ray (aka Winged Helmet) ran his own site. That was a very tight group that stayed together for quite some time. Ray's generosity kept it together, and Ray's acid tongue went a ways toward breaking it up. The core of that group, from the Big 12 and Big 10 largely, tried to stay together as Dustin started his own place for awhile. WorldCrossing opened a free forum - with the added bonus of not only hosting College Football discussions, but since anyone could create a forum, lot of other esoteric topics as well! Jon and unindicted co-conspirators took delight in invading other boards and discussions, lying low and pretending to be serious for a week or two, before turning each thread into some insane parody.
Collegefootballnews became a permanent home for awhile. Eventually, like all the others, it got sold and lost message board functionality. That led us to our present place. CFB51 seems stable and enjoyable.
I've got to believe that Jon enjoyed his personality in chat and text form! I'm sure a lot of his tales were "theater of the mind" where a nugget of truth developed a more hilariously detailed surrounding, or many simply never occurred at all - but would have been too cool to simply pass over! We met together in person as large or small groups presented the opportunity, and Jon always made everyone feel welcome and like family. He was just the same in person as you'd hoped he'd be!
Time passes. Young(er) posters with worlds full of possibilities and passions become old(er) with responsibilities and works. Names with whom we'd chat in the past are either sporadic or absent entirely. We miss (most of) them, but it just happens. Through it all, Jon was largely the guy at the controls of the carnival ride. He kept the wheel turning. It may have been the same ride every day, but Jon made sure the possibility of new entertainment was always there. We were fortunate to have been part of his presence. There will always be a hole where his wit and wisdom should be.
