You either loved him or you hated him, but there was no denying that Larry Brooks was a legend in both Rangers and sports journalism. Brooks, who passed away last night at 75 years of age, was as much of a fixture for many Rangers fans as Sam Rosen, John Davidson, Joe Micheletti, and many, many others. Brooks’ coverage of the Rangers spanned decades, and there is not one person who talks about the Rangers–be it on social media, professional journalists, bloggers, podcasters, or casual fans–who hasn’t read an article written by Larry Brooks.

From a personal standpoint, I will always admire the fact that Larry Brooks never truly engaged in the main stream media vs. blogger “wars” as the rise of fan written content took hold in the late 2000’s-early 2010’s. While others made it their personal mission to discredit anyone without journalism credentials, Brooks was always polite and responsive when approached in the same manner. I had numerous conversations with Brooks, and he never once put me down or ignored me because I was simply a fan that wrote about the team.

Larry Brooks has an immortal legacy both in sports journalism and his coverage of the Rangers that spanned over 30 years. You may not have agreed with him, but you cannot deny his legacy. I did not know him personally or even professionally outside of a few Twitter DM conversations, but he will most certainly be missed.

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