steve irwin dies - with a follow-up

Steve Irwin died this morning, having been struck in the chest by a stingray while shotting a documentary at the Great Barrier Reef.

Time.com reported the "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin's death. Apparently, he just got to close to a bull ray and caught it right in the chest.

More on the Steve Irwin:

I really felt bad about Steve Irwin's death, and a lot of people seemed to be making jokes about the guy, or at least they ragged on his lifestyle. They were saying that he deserved it for screwing around with deadly animals and such, and I have to say that I disagree.

I don't necessarily equate Steve Irwin's death with Dale Earnhardt's, but I don't think they deserve to be that far apart. They both took chances and did things that most people wouldn't, and they died doing what they loved. For that, I don't see any need for ridicule.

And Steve Irwin did not chase down Crocodiles to make money or to look like an idiot on television. He did it because it's what he loved doing, and if he died that way, then he died with dignity.

Kroike, indeed.

A Hopeful Follow-Up:

The Times Online has a great article about Steve Irwin and a secret purchase he'd made to preserve a stretch of wildlife in Australia:

AS AUSTRALIA mourned the death of the naturalist and film-maker Steve Irwin it emerged yesterday that he had quietly purchased 90,000 acres of land to save threatened species.

Irwin, 44, who was killed on Monday by a stingray while filming an undersea documentary, had bought the land,about the size of the Isle of Wight, to preserve the habitat of koalas and porcupine-like echidnas threatened by land clearance.

I know it seems as though I'm going overboard with this stuff, but I think it deserves to be reported when a good man has done some pretty cool things. To maybe step back and be a little less cynical.

Once in a while. And if the bad can be reported, so can the good.