A hole in our media lives: Dark Star died six years ago today

This was one of the first things I saw on Twitter this morning:

I didn't know Dark Star as well as many of the people you'll hear talking about him today on the sixth anniversary of his death.

In the days after he died -- and soon after a service at Interlachen Country Club that included an open bar before the memorial -- the Star Tribune opened a story about him this way: "Once he was plain old George, and then, foibles and all, he turned himself into one of the Twin Cities' most flamboyant sports media personalities. Like the name he took to his death, he was full of contradictions. "

You can read the full story by Mike Kaszuba here.

As FOX Sports North's Kevin Gorg, a media colleague and friend from their time at Canterbury Park, told Kaszuba: "You knew, deep down, that probably three-quarters of [what Dark said] wasn't true. You just kind of went along with it."

I was mostly sucked into his orbit through the invitations of others: His apartment for the Mike Tyson comeback fight in 1995 and an afternoon at the 3M Championships with Dark as tour guide. And there was the time when he pretended to take a whispered tip from my months-old son -- who sat on his lap and who he referred to as "The Sinker baby" -- during a Canterbury Park replay segment that never actually was shown. (The "Sinker baby" is 28 now, so it was that long ago.)

Few people changed the Twin Cities media sports landscape like Dark, whose real name was George Chapple and who was known for his radio work at WCCO-AM and KFAN, his horse handicapping, his ability to rile Sid Hartman on their cable TV show, his overtipping and his spirited affection for excess.

Witness: Dark Star vs. Sid Hartman:

Many of the stories about Dark centered on his bigger-than-life moments. But the memorial service would be remembered, as much as anything, for a tribute paid by Ryan Lefebvre, a former Gophers baseball player who is now play-by-play announcer for the Kansas City Royals.

Kaszuba wrote: "The depth of Dark Star's impact transcended the outrageous. A hush fell over the crowd at Interlachen when Ryan Lefebvre, a former Gophers baseball star and now a broadcaster for the Kansas City Royals, spoke of the help that came from Dark Star as Lefebvre fought depression. "He would say, 'I love you, dude.' And I would say, 'I love you, too, Pops,'" Lefebvre said of their frequent phone talks.

"When Lefebvre turned 40, Dark Star wrote and explained why he had bothered coming to the aid of a 'cocky, look-at-me, look-at-me punk.' Said Dark Star: 'I saw all the things I did wrong.' "