UPON FURTHER REVIEW: THE LITTLEST, BIGGEST FAN.Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. LOCAL He was the kind of guy you couldn't miss but could've gone too long without really noticing. The kind of guy who can fade into the background, but always seemed to be there. Not everybody talked to Virgil Barbour. Some took their time in approaching him. He looked different from other people. He talked in a high, nasally voice and took a long time getting around. But those who did talk to him never regretted it. Barbour was the littlest and biggest fan of San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. sports there ever has been. At a little more than 4-feet tall, with just one kidney and a number of other congenital health problems, he was never destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. to be an athlete. But sports aren't just for those who are lucky enough to play. For nearly all of his 67years, Barbour went to games. Every day he'd prop up the pillows in his old, white Honda and find a game to go to. It didn't matter what sport, although baseball was Baseball WA is the governing body of baseball within Western Australia. Baseball WA is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation External Links Baseball WA Australian Baseball Federation Claxton Shield | his favorite. He probably loved being at a ballpark as much as anyone who ever has laced up a pair of cleats. ``Every day, he'd have to find a game to go to. It didn't matter if it was baseball or girls' volleyball,'' said his longtime friend, George Voita. ``He'd even go to men's slowpitch games at the park on Sundays. He was just such a sports fan.'' He didn't have any personal ties to the players or coaches, but it didn't take him long to build them. There's probably half a dozen baseball teams in the area who claim him as their No.1 fan and say he was always at their games. ``He was at all our games. You could count on him being there with a smile on his face,'' Chatsworth High baseball coach Tom Meusborn said. ``He'd wear a Chatsworth hat and sit right there in the front row. He just enjoyed being at the ballpark, it didn't matter who we were playing.'' He'd get to all the high schools that were near his house in Granada Hills. That's how Voita met him in 1991. His son Sam was a junior on the baseball team. One day, Voita noticed Barbour sitting up in the stands all alone, and started talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to him. Barbour thanked him for coming over. ``When anyone talked to him, he became their friend,'' Voita said. ``He was the sweetest man.'' Barbour spent the next decade or so following Voita's sons, Sam and John. He'd go to all their games, even following John's career at Cal State Northridge. ``He was my biggest fan,'' John Voita said. ``As a player, they tell you not to look in the stands, but he was always one of the first fans in the stands so I always saw him.'' One summer, George Voita introduced Barbour to the summer baseball team that he ran through his nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. , Children of Promise, which helps teenage boys who don't have a father. Barbour started following the boys on the summer team. ``He really kept up on things, people's stats, how they were doing,'' said German Rizo, a former Sylmar High standout who's now "Who's Now" was a daily series aired during SportsCenter throughout July 2007, in which viewers helped ESPN determine the ultimate sports star by considering both on-field success and off-field buzz. playing for Highland (Kan.) Community College. ``He was everybody's biggest fan.'' Every once in a while, Barbour would invite the summer team over to his house to watch a ballgame and eat dinner. George Voita would bring pizza or hamburgers. Barbour had lived on his own since 2000, when his mother, Mary Charity Barbour, passed away. ``That was the first time he'd lived on his own,'' said his younger sister, Mary Dapas, who helped care for him. ``And I think he really wanted to show everyone he could be independent.'' Virgil had never been a charity case, and he'd shudder at the thought of anyone thinking of him like that. Friends or neighbors would give him little odd jobs odd jobs npl → chapuzas fpl odd jobs npl → petits travaux divers odd jobs odd npl → , like cutting their lawns or pumping gas Pumping GAS was a two-hour programming block on the Nickelodeon spin-off network, Nick GAS. "Pumping GAS" was commercial-free, with only a thirty-second "pit stop" every now and then. at the local Exxon station. Larry Van Roy was one of his closest friends. They met, where else, at the baseball field. Van Roy works the concessions for CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge baseball games Noun 1. baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League . ``He always had to have his Dr. Pepper and a hot dog,'' Van Roy joked. After a while, they got to talking and a friendship developed. They'd hang out at Matadors games and talk about the team, meet up for dinner at ElTorito or Jack and the Box. Barbour was the kind of guy who befriended all the waitresses and busboys. He'd tell Van Roy stories about all the games he'd been to. ``He'd always tell me about the 1963 Rose Bowl between USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. and Wisconsin and what a great game that was,'' Van Roy recalled. ``He was just a fanatic sports fan. He had so much memorabilia, old USC football USC football refers to either of two NCAA Division I-A college football programs:
Barbour had gone to USC football games for years. First he went with his father, Everett, who died in 1968. Then he went with friends and nephew Darren Dapas. ``It would take so long for him to walk to the Coliseum,'' George Voita said. ``It was so hard for him. But he wouldn't use a wheelchair. People would stare at him, but he was so courageous, he was so determined to go to his games. He was really an inspiration to me. '' About 25 years ago, Barbour started going to CSUN baseball games. He hardly ever missed a home game. ``There's not a lot of shade at our field, but it didn't matter how hot it was, Virgil was there, up in the stands with a smile on his face,'' CSUN baseball coach Steve Rousey said. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. about you, but I'm kind of up and down. I don't know how he did it, but Virgil always had a smile on his face. He always seemed so happy to be at the ballpark.'' So last weekend, when he didn't show up for the Matadors' games against UC Davis, Van Roy became concerned. It was no secret Barbour had been slowing down over the past couple of years. He'd been in and out of the hospital a few times. But this time, Barbour never made it to the hospital. Tuesday morning, his sister Mary found him dead at his home in Granada Hills. The heart that had so much love for sports and all the athletes he cheered over the years had finally given out. He was 67. Later that day, CSUN observed a moment of silence for him before its baseball game against San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. . ``He would've liked that,'' Van Roy said. ``But I know he'd be saying, `Man, just a couple more weeks and I could've finished out the season.''' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Just over 4-feet tall, Virgil Barbour, who died this week at 67, was a fixture at sporting events in the San Fernando Valley. Photo courtesy of Dapas family |
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