Dave the Zamboni King

Noooooooooo.

Not Zamboni Dave. Damn you, recession. Damn youuuuu all to hell.

It appears Zamboni Dave has accepted Cornell's voluntary retirement/buy-out/please-retire-so-we-don't-have-to-fire plan. And Zamboni Dave, master of disguise, proprietor of many hats, and the guy who usually got the loudest ovation at Lynah Rink, took it. He took it, with his foot, and he's retiring

As it stands, however, we lose another character of almost equal renown. I certainly miss hitting the plexiglass in greeting whenever Zamboni Dave drove glided (?) by in his awesome Zamboni, dressed as a king, knight, jester or superhero.

It is rumored that if you shot "Zamboni Dave!" in a bar crowded with Cornellians, someone will buy you a drink. He frequented Cornell bars. A group of friends and I were out at Dunbar's once, and there he was, wearing a funny hat. We resolved to invite him over to our table for a drink, since we were the only ones there and he was awesome. But when we looked up again he was gone.

I wish we could have had a drink with him then. I have this image in my head of Zamboni Dave getting done with the ice and leaving through the doors on the west side of Lynah, like he always does. Except this time, he keeps going, and drives that Zamboni out west and into the sunset.

God knows who is going to drive the Zamboni now, but he's got some big hats to fill. Here's to Zamboni Dave.