I am sad to announce we have recently lost an irreplaceable member of our fan community here at The Zone. Michael Baer, aka “CouchCoach” has passed away after a long illness which was confirmed by his son today. Like me, many of you have noticed his absence of late and missed his always fun and interesting insights here.
I have known CC for over a decade going back to the days of the old Cowboys forum on the team site. He was always gracious and funny with a sharp and insightful wit and a wise contributor to all the topics he visited.
Reading his posts were not only interesting and smile inducing, they also were often full of wisdom and insight to life itself. His writing style was incredibly witty, clever and off beat, often bringing insights into not only football but many topics of life. We communicated frequently through PMs the last year and a half talking about his health and the challenges he faced. He never lost his sense of humor or wit in the face of pain and decline.
Many times in the last year, Couch Coach wrote in great detail and eloquence in the “Morning Pops” thread of his long and difficult health journey. If you’ve never read them, it might be worth your time to revisit what he wrote and take note of how gracious he remained to the end.
His last post on our forum was made on Sept.19th when he welcomed a new member (which he often did) by simply saying, “Welcome to the best sports site.” It was the last thing he wrote here.
His kindness was always upfront. His humor was quick and top shelf; never at the expense of someone else and often self deprecating. He loved the Cowboys but had long ago let go of basing his happiness on their success.
One way we can ALL honor our dear friend is by following his example - don’t take yourself or your points on this forum too seriously. Being kind to our fellow fans is way more important than being right.
Any time any one of us takes the time to welcome a new member to the forum, or encourages someone here, or reminds us that life is more important than what happens to the Cowboys each week, we should remember Michael “Couch Coach” Baer.
Rest in peace brother. You are deeply missed.
Go Cowboys!
Now you get to chill for eternity. Rest In Peace in The Zone up in the sky.
