Longtime NCAAF Poster - COMBATO - has passed away...

A longtime poster and good friend, who utilized the Username COMBATO, here on the NCAAF Forum and who's first name was Ross,  passed away on Monday, July 15, 2024 due to complications from prostate cancer after a five year valiant fight!    He was 74 years old, and lived in Plano, Texas.  We started talking here on the NCAAF Forum back in 2015, and we determined that we lived a mile away from each other.  We shared a passion for college football and wagering on games, including the strategic, fundamental, and technical analysis of the lines each week.   As many of you know, I am a heavy favorite guy, and focus on fundamentals in my capping.   COMBATO, like many of you, was a big underdog player who was always looking for value on the technical line movements and fading the public.   When we agreed on a pick, which was rare, it became an auto play.  I think we hit about 65% of the time on those, which was excellent.   Starting in 2017, we would meet for lunch here locally during the college football seasons and talk for hours on the match ups.   Because we had divergent capping strategies, we helped each other by identifying the weaknesses of the others cap, which often made them stronger, or kept us off weak bets.     We were both passionate Texas fans, and we were both often highly critical of the way they played.   I am an alumnus of UT-Austin and Ross attended UT for a few years and then graduated from another university.    May he rest in peace and may his memory be a blessing to his widow and his descendants.    I know Ross made some contributions to this NCAAF Forum over the years.    We have a tradition at The University of Texas to salute good friends, and family and other prominent folks with an "Eternal Horns Up".   So I toast my friend Ross, AKA COMBATO with an Eternal Horns Up on his passing, and I will assume that he will be spiritually guiding my picks up there in Heaven going forward.   I know his username COMBATO probably implies that he was passionate about his picks and sparred with some of you, but if you like, and you can recall your interactions with Ross, please post below.    We are about a month away from the commencement of the best sports season of the year!   Hook em'  - LHH

 Sorry for the loss of your dear friend. 

I remember COMBATO well. He would frequent my thread a lot. He was a very nice person 

Step

Thank you for the sentiment.  In addition to my post above, Ross was heavily into sports analytics.   He was a retired pharmaceutical industry oncologist and executive.  He was very intelligent and a good man.

LHH

My condolences 

My older brother just received a call seconds before I saw this thread, he has to go to John Hopkins in Baltimore for a plan to deal with Prostrate cancer. Cancer sucks.

Sportschat

Yes indeed, it does... Have him follow the Jim Valvano model...

"And its motto is, “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” And that’s what I’m going to try to do every minute that I have left. I will thank God for the day and the moment I have. And if you see me smile and maybe give me a hug cause that’s important to me, too. But try if you can, to support, whether it’s AIDS or the cancer foundation, so that someone else might survive, might prosper, and might actually be cured of this dreaded disease."

I am 55 with a family history of prostate cancer...ie paternal grandfather, and 3 paternal uncles all died due to prostate cancer...My dad is a survivor, at least for now at 80 years of age.   So it may be my future...and my end...My PSA is .7 which is excellent...I live a healthy lifestyle, and according to my primary care physician, that is paramount...Every man over 40 should have his PSA checked on a annual basis...Prostate Cancer is preventable and treatable.   The survival rate is a lot better than it use to be.  

I wish your brother a positive and sustainable prognosis...Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and MD Anderson in Houston are among the best in the world to receive treatments for cancer.

Peace

LHH

@LonghornHoosier

 Thanks, good health to you 

I hope this is the case...if not, I am screwed...

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancer types among men. Most prostate cancers are not associated with a hereditary predisposition, but prostate cancers that have spread or are more aggressive are more likely to be associated with a hereditary predisposition. The aggressiveness of prostate cancer is determined by what is called the Gleason score.  Those with score of 7 or higher are considered more aggressive.

https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/risk-assessment-screening/genetic-counseling-and-testing/hereditary-cancer-genes-and-hereditary-cancer-syndromes/hereditary-prostate#:~:text=Most%20prostate%20cancers%20are%20not,is%20called%20the%20Gleason%20score.

Tough to hear.

He was a good poster, straight forward and to the point.

My condolences friend. I do remember a few posts from your bud COMBATO.

Nice of you to share your story. You have great memories. Thank you for sharing 

My sympathy Longhorn.  

I do not recall interacting with said poster but regardless sorry to hear of his passing and for the loss of your friend LH