R.I.P. Al Featherston (aka Olympic Fan) - a Dukie through and through!

[BeachBlueDevil]

Like many others, I loved to read Al's articles. When I would come here and see new article from Al was posted, it was a MUST read.

REST IN POWER, Al.

[DukieInKansas]

RIP, Al/Olympic Fan. Your generous sharing of Duke/ACC history was appreciated and will be missed.

Condolences to your family, friends, and fans.

[Highlander]

"Tobacco Road" is by far the best book on ACC basketball I have ever read. So sad to see Al go. I did not know his board pseudonym either.

[Tripping William]

Terribly sad to hear this news. Hoping he and Bill Brill are swapping stories right about now. RIP, Al.

[Faison1]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Was he sick???? I'm more than stunned....

Al was must-read material every time I saw something from him.

I am so bummed. I can't imagine what his family must feel.

Thank you, Al. Rest in Peace.

[blazindw]

This is a huge loss for the DBR community and for the Duke community as well. He was one of the great minds on Duke sports and I still look back fondly at our interview we did with him for the podcast.

I knew he was OF here on the forums and always respected his candor and his spirited debate. I never left a thread with his words or finished one of his articles where I didn't learn something new about Duke sports. He made our community better and kept it well informed. It's a sad day, and he'll be missed by a lot of people on here, myself included.

[kako]

Extremely sad to read this. My condolences to his family. His columns were the best ones on DBR. His knowledge of the history of Duke and ACC sports was unsurpassed. I hope DBR can archive them for viewing on demand.

[Lauderdevil]

I got to know Al a bit back in the late ‘70s, when I was a sportswriter for the Chronicle. At the time, he was assistant sports editor at the Durham Sun, which was a welcome alternative to the rabidly pro-Carolina Art Chansky-led Durham Herald sports section. Even back then, close to 40 years ago (before Coach K — yes, there was such an era), the Feather was an incredible font of historical knowledge about Duke and Duke basketball. His articles were always well-grounded in reality, always written at a level or two above the other local sportswriters. He just added to his lead in the years since. He’s been an incomparable source of wisdom, insight, perspective, evenhandedness and rationality about Duke and the ACC for two generations. I can’t imagine who will follow in his footsteps.

[DangerDevil]

Sorry to hear about his passing, add me to the list that admired his work and Olympic Fan’s posts; I will miss them all.

Apparently Al had been battling numerous health issues, ALS and heart trouble.

http://bluedevilnation.net/2018/11/r...l-featherston/

[Kedsy]

Put me among those who did not realize Olympic Fan was Al Featherston, but in retrospect it makes some sense. I only met Al once, in the press room during the first two rounds of the 2013 NCAA Tournament. He gave me some good advice and seemed like a good guy.

I've also had a family member with ALS. It's a terrible disease. I'm happy for Al and his family that his illness didn't get to the late stages.

[Indoor66]

I knew Al in the 70's and he was a great guy. I did not know that Oly Fan was Al's board name. He will be missed. May he know an earned peace.

[gam7]

Put me among those who did not realize Olympic Fan was Al Featherston, but in retrospect it makes some sense. I only met Al once, in the press room during the first two rounds of the 2013 NCAA Tournament. He gave me some good advice and seemed like a good guy.

I've also had a family member with ALS. It's a terrible disease. I'm happy for Al and his family that his illness didn't get to the late stages.

This is very sad (and unexpected for me and I assume much of the DBR community). My thoughts are with his family and to the folks on this site who knew him personally.

I suspected he was Olympic Fan when he mentioned in a post several years ago that he had attended one of those mock NCAA tournament selection committee experiences that they offered to the media, and of course, for his incredible recall/knowledge of long ago Duke games, ACC happenings and sporting events.

Anyway, I'm very sorry to hear about this

[MChambers]

I didn't know him, except through his articles. He was a great writer, though.

[CathyCA]

I knew Al when I worked in the Basketball office at Duke. Back then, our offices were downstairs in Cameron Indoor Stadium, and Coach K's weekly press conferences were next door to our offices in the Hall of Fame Room. Al always stopped in to say hello to the office staff on his way out of the press conferences. He usually brought a few slices of leftover pizza from those press conferences to share with us.

My prayers are with his family.

[camion]

Oh my. I'm very sorry to hear this. As a good many others I only knew Al through his writing where I found him to be passionate, knowledgeable and decent. This seems like a more than a page turned, perhaps a book or series completed.

Thoughts are with his family and friends.

[summerwind03]

I am sorry to hear this. I always enjoyed his writing, and his board persona too. I was sad when he left the boards earlier this year, amid some drama. He will be missed by many.

[75Crazie]

I remember when the Sun merged (or was subsumed by) the Morning Herald, and the two heavyweight sports writers of the Sun, Dascenzo and Featherston, both came over to the Herald. While I liked both writers, I found Al the superior of the two, as Dascenzo seemed to me to be too enamored of his own writing style. I don't believe it was long after that when Featherston was dismissed, and I remember being stunned that they kept the inferior writer. I don't think it was until sometime after that when I learned that Al was pro-Duke … I think he took great pains to not show his bias while he worked at the paper. His talent should have made him a giant in his field, but at least he was a giant to those of us that favor the correct shade of blue. RIP Al.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

RIP Al. You will be missed. Loved reading his articles. I am among those who did not know he was OlyFan.

Losing Brill and now Feather takes so much Duke history knowledge to the grave. Glad they wrote it down for us to share. LGD GTHc!

[dukelifer]

I very much enjoyed Al's writing and perspective. He will be missed on this board and in life. Condolences to his family and friends.

[ice-9]

Al and Olympic Fan were one of the main reasons I loved DBR. His passing is a shock, a reminder that there is a mortality even on the Internet. He will be dearly missed.

My mother passed away after battling ALS for over seven years. It’s a difficult disease.