Christopoulos: ‘Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant’
LARAMIE -- The last text I received was short, sweet and meaningful.
"What a comeback by the Sabres!"
It was in reference to my favorite hockey team, which overcame a 3-1 deficit on the scoreboard that night in Montreal by scoring seven straight goals and forcing a winner-take-all Game 7 back in Buffalo.
Why was that brief message so special to me?
It came from my dear friend Dan Christopoulos, a man secluded in a hospital bed somewhere in Minnesota, fighting for his precious life. Just a day prior, May 16, he told me he was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. It had already spread to his liver. The symptoms started in March. Chemotherapy treatments were on the horizon. So was an all-too brief stay in hospice.
The outlook was grim yet his faith never wavered.
Dan, who spent the better part of two decades serving in parish ministry for the Greek Orthodox Church, dedicated so much time to looking out and praying for others. Now, unfortunately, it was his turn to be on the receiving end.
"Appreciate your prayers. Kind of a tough road ahead," he wrote to me. "God is good and has blessed me abundantly. I know He is with me. I will fight and put my trust in the Risen Lord."
Late Saturday and into the wee hours of Sunday morning, Dan left this earth to be with the Lord. He recently turned 69 years old.
Dan and I met, via social media, in the summer of 2019, less than a month after I launched 7220sports.com. He reached out to thank me for naming him an honorable mention for the best player in Wyoming football history to wear the No. 12.
Back in 1977, he boomed through what is still today the longest field goal in the school's record books. It was a 62-yarder. To make that accomplishment even sweeter, it came against the Cowboys' Border War rivals, Colorado State. Wyoming won that day in Laramie, 29-13.
The Cheyenne native, along with his beloved brother, Lou, both starred at Central High School before fulfilling a lifelong dream of playing for their lone home-state college.
When he made trips home to visit his daughter and grandchildren, he always made sure to give me a call. We'd meet at local restaurants and talk for hours. Nothing was off limits. His inviting smile and calm nature allowed for deep conversations with zero fear of judgement. I divulged my many faults and transgressions. Dan always reassured me and urged me to forgive myself.
Many of our conversations, of course, revolved around those Pokes.
He played for the legendary Fred Akers. Don Clayton, Marc Cousins and Robbie Wright helped lead Wyoming to an 8-4 record and a share of the WAC title in 1976. The grand prize was a trip to the Fiesta Bowl and a meeting with national powerhouse Oklahoma.
That went about as you would expect. Barry Switzer's Sooners rolled to a convincing 41-7 victory in the desert.
I recall Dan joking with me that linebacker Ken Fantetti was the scariest football player on the planet. He told tales of battles in practice and attempting to just steer clear of the future second-round NFL Draft Pick. Intense, he would say, didn't even begin to describe Fantetti's playing style.
Three days ago on Facebook, Fantetti penned the following in a post about Dan: "You've always been someone who is faithfully strong, someone to look up to. Always positive, always strong, someone you could count on to come through when things didn't look good. You've brought the courage, the confidence to share faith with a lot of young, wild, and crazy Cowboys in your day. That's had an everlasting, unspoken impact that won't be seen on this side, maybe, but certainly and hopefully seen forever on the other side. Keep the faith. We, the Cowboys, got your back, brother."
I'm not sure if Dan ever saw that message, but I can picture the grin that would crease his face if he did.
When Dan broke the news to me about his dire diagnosis, I was in the middle of watching my hockey game. It was Game 5. My anxiety was pegged. My team was on the wrong end of a bad night. I'm a poor sport. Always have been. I was already fuming, pissed off that anyone would even dream of texting me during the playoffs, let alone when my team was about to lose.
It all seemed so small after reading his words. It is small.
"Here I am stressing out through my hockey game," I wrote to him. "This just punched me in the face with perspective. I'll be praying hard for you, my friend. I know you're so comfortable in your faith. He will certainly be with you. Stay strong."
With tubes in his nose, IV's in his veins and all but a sure death sentence hanging over his head, he thought of me, a man he met in person maybe five times. That truly says it all, doesn't it?
Dan was selfless. He was intelligent. He was gentle. He was real. I admire him. Always will.
I hope that meaningless hockey game at least took his mind off the reality of his situation, if only for a couple of hours. It certainly meant the world to me.
Dan's daughter, Zoe, summed it up perfectly in one social media message after his passing: "Well done, good and faithful servant. Memory eternal, daddy. I sure do love you."
Rest easy, Cowboy.
University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com
- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
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