TuffTigerJR
Walk-on
I’m not sure how many of you will be interested in this post, but I felt obliged to write and share it for those who are. Years ago, there was a grammatically-challenged poster here named TuffTiger.
He was my dad.
Sadly, he passed a couple of months ago. As our family has exchanged stories of his amazing life in recent weeks, I recalled the time he spent posting on this board. If you want to know the truth behind TuffTiger, read on. If you’d prefer to keep your memories untarnished, scroll past.
Prerequisite context:
Coin the term “Tuff as Rain?” That’s the ticket! (He didn’t know what it meant either.)
Again, he crafted a career and life that was, by any objective standard, successful. To say this was a peculiar way to spend your golden years would be an understatement.
Instead of taking the obvious route of being a generally obnoxious trash talker, he opted to go in the side door and create a character so jaw-droppingly asinine that he could say the most ridiculous things and people wouldn’t get mad at him. TuffTiger was born.
At first, I tried to join him in the antics (can’t remember my handle), but quit after a week or two. Honestly, I felt I was blowing up his spot. So I just lurked and laughed. After a few months I stopped checking in. I assumed he did, too.
A couple of years passed and upon coming home to "Columbia, MU" for a visit, I asked if he was still going on the Husker Board. He sheepishly grinned. “Yeah, you might say that.” He pulled up the board, and I was floored – perhaps disturbed – by the volume of activity and the affection you guys had for him.
I was like, “Is this what you’re doing with your time?” Sure was. He got such a kick out of watching people try to figure out if this was real or not. He suspected most people assumed it was a gag, but chose to believe. Kinda like a kid when they question Santa Claus.
Something you should know is that he took TuffTiger posts pretty seriously. He told me the posts required a nuanced level of intentional error and feigned stupidity. They couldn’t be too smart, but they couldn’t be too dumb. He had to strike the right balance to maintain brand consistency.
He had to make sure random capitalization, misspellings and punctuation errors were “just right.” IE, “I"ve been long time best Tiger fan and that"S fact.”
Or coming up with weird names for emojis: “rabbit with pancake hat.”
But this was totally Dad. He was a perfectionist. You should have seen his lawn. Not a blade out of place. Ever. If he did something, he did it until it was exactly how he wanted it.
He low-key loved this ultra-niche online status he got for pretending to be a moron. It was really the oddest thing about him. But it’s probably the funniest.
Also, it’s worth noting that Tuff as Rain became a long-running inside joke that we’d use to describe any challenging situation, from sports to medical issues to traffic.
While he wasn’t the adorable numbskull he pretended to be, he was one heck of a guy. What should be obvious is that he knew how to have fun and, most importantly, never took himself too seriously. You would have enjoyed a beer or several with him, promise.
Suffice it to say, it’s been a rough couple of months. Despite his curious online cosplay, he was my idol. Writing this has been cathartic.
As TuffTiger might have written, “bEn a good talking and hope you”re GBR kicks but in Big10 seson.”
Stay TAR, folks.
He was my dad.
Sadly, he passed a couple of months ago. As our family has exchanged stories of his amazing life in recent weeks, I recalled the time he spent posting on this board. If you want to know the truth behind TuffTiger, read on. If you’d prefer to keep your memories untarnished, scroll past.
Prerequisite context:
- Dad really was a HUGE Mizzou fan (sadly, so am I).
- He was the opposite of stupid; he was sharp as a tack.
- He was the funniest person I’ve ever met.
- He really didn’t care for Nebraska football (but he came to love you guys)
Coin the term “Tuff as Rain?” That’s the ticket! (He didn’t know what it meant either.)
Again, he crafted a career and life that was, by any objective standard, successful. To say this was a peculiar way to spend your golden years would be an understatement.
Instead of taking the obvious route of being a generally obnoxious trash talker, he opted to go in the side door and create a character so jaw-droppingly asinine that he could say the most ridiculous things and people wouldn’t get mad at him. TuffTiger was born.
At first, I tried to join him in the antics (can’t remember my handle), but quit after a week or two. Honestly, I felt I was blowing up his spot. So I just lurked and laughed. After a few months I stopped checking in. I assumed he did, too.
A couple of years passed and upon coming home to "Columbia, MU" for a visit, I asked if he was still going on the Husker Board. He sheepishly grinned. “Yeah, you might say that.” He pulled up the board, and I was floored – perhaps disturbed – by the volume of activity and the affection you guys had for him.
I was like, “Is this what you’re doing with your time?” Sure was. He got such a kick out of watching people try to figure out if this was real or not. He suspected most people assumed it was a gag, but chose to believe. Kinda like a kid when they question Santa Claus.
Something you should know is that he took TuffTiger posts pretty seriously. He told me the posts required a nuanced level of intentional error and feigned stupidity. They couldn’t be too smart, but they couldn’t be too dumb. He had to strike the right balance to maintain brand consistency.
He had to make sure random capitalization, misspellings and punctuation errors were “just right.” IE, “I"ve been long time best Tiger fan and that"S fact.”
Or coming up with weird names for emojis: “rabbit with pancake hat.”
But this was totally Dad. He was a perfectionist. You should have seen his lawn. Not a blade out of place. Ever. If he did something, he did it until it was exactly how he wanted it.
He low-key loved this ultra-niche online status he got for pretending to be a moron. It was really the oddest thing about him. But it’s probably the funniest.
Also, it’s worth noting that Tuff as Rain became a long-running inside joke that we’d use to describe any challenging situation, from sports to medical issues to traffic.
While he wasn’t the adorable numbskull he pretended to be, he was one heck of a guy. What should be obvious is that he knew how to have fun and, most importantly, never took himself too seriously. You would have enjoyed a beer or several with him, promise.
Suffice it to say, it’s been a rough couple of months. Despite his curious online cosplay, he was my idol. Writing this has been cathartic.
As TuffTiger might have written, “bEn a good talking and hope you”re GBR kicks but in Big10 seson.”
Stay TAR, folks.
