Creativesports Staff Remembers Lawr Michaels

It’s been a tough couple of days in the fantasy community as its members mourn the loss of Lawr Michaels. The quirky character from the best-selling “Fantasyland” literally come to life, Lawr made a lasting impact on the industry and, more importantly, the world around him.

There are too many social media posts recalling Lawr’s graciousness, humanity, humor and wide-ranging interests to even demonstrate a cross section. Friends and colleagues have remembered his love of family, food, travels and music. He supported friends during their toughest days and seems to have taken great care to recall the family lives of even his newest acquaintances. And he clearly had many standing breakfast and lunch reservations with colleagues across the country, from Spring Training to the biggest annual fantasy drafts in the industry.

Steve Gardner’s remembrance at USA Today paints a beautiful picture of the larger-than-life person we all knew and loved. But the continued outpouring of celebrations of Lawr’s life — and the sadness so many are feeling after losing such an astounding person — is larger than the sum of its parts. “Lawr Michaels” was probably trending on Twitter on Wednesday. He would have laughed about that.

Lawr was a pioneer of fantasy sports over the past quarter century, having founded CREATiVESPORTS.com in 1996 and written for numerous publications throughout the years. In 2009, he merged with Todd Zola and Mastersball.com before re-launching the CREATiVESPORTS (2.0) brand last fall. That’s where the rest of us come in.

I reached out last year after Andy Behrens recommended that anyone looking to break into the fantasy industry should reach out to Lawr, who was launching his new site and looking for contributors. Lawr took me on, taught me a ton about his approach to fantasy analysis and the importance of backing up your takes with reason (“If you wanna say the earth is flat, I am down with that, but show me literally how and where I can see how you crunched it.”).

Eventually, I became his defacto assistant editor, copy editing, publishing and doing social media for the site. And, of course, with such a connection to Lawr I was able to join expert fantasy leagues and participate in early-season mock drafts with the best in the industry. It turns out, that’s exactly how so many of today’s fantasy writers and analysts got their start — “Lawr sent me.”

The current crew at CREATiVESPORTS has only been together for the past year and a half. Even so, you’ll find in our remembrances that follow all of the themes his longtime friends and colleagues have recalled. Lawr was such a progressive and dynamic person that it was easy to forget the deeply personal ways he affected individuals — when Elaine Corales mentions that Lawr specifically solicited female sports writers to contribute, I remembered how excited he was to re-publish a longform article I wrote for a magazine about an all-women fantasy football league that banned players accused of violence against women.

You don’t expect your fantasy editor to be a feminist or a rocker or a self-described “Berkeley hippie.” Lawr made outsiders feel like insiders, freaks and geeks feel cool and sports feel as much a part of life as family, friends, music and food. I wanted to fly to California to meet this dude within two months of working with him. I’m sad it never happened, but I’m so happy to have known him.

I posted a brief tribute to Lawr on Twitter on Wednesday, linking to one of my favorite pieces he wrote for CREATiVESPORTS2.0 — a narrative about cooking for his family on Thanksgiving Day 2017. You can read it here.

The following are thoughts from the rest of the CREATiVESPORTS2.0 staff:

Elaine Corales: I didn’t know Lawr long, but we all know you didn’t have to. I saw a tweet from him looking for women who like playing fantasy sports and would like to write. I would soon learn that Lawr is a champion of women, amongst many others. I responded to his tweet, we exchanged a few emails, I started writing and a friendship began. Lawr… you just immediately know he’s “good people.” I’ve never known anyone so high on life and down to earth at the same time. Lawr was so wonderful and good at so many things, but what I admired most was his expertise at Living. On a personal level, I will never forget how Lawr gave me a chance, believed in me and instilled confidence. We all need someone like that in our lives. Lawr encouraged me to enter a few fantasy leagues playing against some formidable experts. Although I was hesitant, my larger-than-life friend didn’t blink. When I was actually doing well, I was more proud of his excitement for me than anything else. That’s just part of Lawr’s magic. I wish I could have known Lawr longer, and I was hoping to meet him in person someday. I am lucky and happy that I did get to meet such spirit. I would have like to tell him, “Thank you.”

Marc Melzter: I have lost count of exactly how long I have written for Lawr under the CREATiVESPORTS and MASTERSBALL umbrellas. I know that it is somewhere around 20 years. I started when CREATiVESPORTS was just a baseball site and Lawr was looking for someone to write football material. Without much of a writing background, but already an avid fantasy football player, I jumped at the chance to send Lawr a sample article. I remember it was a writeup of rookie wide receivers, and I also vaguely remember including Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson, so that would have been around 2001. 

For many years I wrote football and spring training baseball for the site. The strange thing was that, with Lawr living on the West Coast and me living on the East Coast, I had never met Lawr until two years ago when he and some others were visiting Florida for some spring training games. in 2017 I finally got to meet Lawr in person.  We also met for a spring training game again in 2018. Lawr was one of the kindest and most even-keeled person I have ever known. We spoke on the phone a few times a year about the direction of the site and the plan for the next season. I was looking forward to seeing Lawr again during 2019 spring training.

I really enjoyed writing for Lawr and our email exchanges regarding baseball prospects and projecting future outcomes. He will be missed by the fantasy sports industry, and very much by me.

Greg Morgan: I initially encountered Lawr Michaels in the early days of the NFBC as a high-stakes auction moderator and subsequently as a speaker at the First Pitch Forums in Arizona. It was shortly after joining the Mastersball staff that I got to know Lawr better. Right after joining the team, Lawr and I both hit it off since we were both musicians. Lawr was eager to share his sonic creation, “Downward Facing Dog,” a compilation of songs Lawr wrote while dealing with the loss of family members. From tragedy emoting sadness, but overcoming with a triumphant and optimistic spirit, the latter foreshadowed the fantasy baseball industry icon and friend I would get to know as a fellow writer over the next few years. For the better part of a decade, I never had a single negative interaction with him. As one of the founding fathers of fantasy baseball, the fantasy community and those fortunate enough to call him a friend will miss Lawr Michaels.

Zach Steinhorn (first published as “Lawr Michaels: The Approachable Man from ‘Fantasyland’”):

I was first introduced to Lawr Michaels while I was a junior in college. It wasn’t an in-person introduction, but after reading “Fantasyland,” I felt like I knew him pretty well. He seemed like an interesting guy. Maybe I’d meet him for real someday.

Six years later, I was working at MLB.com. Our offices at the Chelsea Market in Manhattan were hosting the 2011 Tout Wars drafts, and while my real job duties consisted of managing and writing for the Fantasy 411 blog and assisting with the production of the show, for that weekend I was playing the role of elevator operator. After greeting the Touts as they arrived at the elevator door, I’d use my access card to take them up to the fifth floor and show them to Conference Room B.

Shortly after I started this new and thankfully temporary job, the elevator doors opened on the ground floor and there he was, Lawr Michaels! From what I remember, Lawr was in the middle of a lively conversation about the Chelsea Market’s excellent food options that he was looking forward to trying. It struck me as odd that Lawr, just minutes away from embarking on the four-plus hour journey otherwise known as a Tout Wars auction draft, wasn’t talking about baseball. He was talking about food, and I’d soon learn that food and cooking was indeed a very important part of his life.

About an hour later, during a break in the AL auction, I went over to Lawr and introduced myself. I told him about my job and my writing, and he asked me to send him some writing samples. Perhaps I’d be interested in writing for Mastersball? I definitely was interested. He asked if I had a business card so he could contact me when he returned home to California. I handed him one.

He then asked if I had any more cards. He might lose that one. I handed him two more.

A month later, I’d write my first article for Mastersball. Lawr played a key role in my development as a fantasy sports writer and always encouraged me to write about whatever topic was on my mind. He was also quick to compliment an article that he especially liked, which means a lot when you’re in the early stages of your career. In 2012, about a week before Tout Wars, a spot opened up in the Mixed Auction league. I was invited to fill it. Lawr never said it, but I know that he played more than a minor role in recommending me. 

A couple years later, I’d take over as the main editor for Mastersball and had the pleasure of reading every one of Lawr’s articles. His passion for sports, fantasy sports, and, most important, life, was clear, though some of the sentences were way too long. I had to add in plenty of periods!

When I moved along with Lawr to Creativesports 2.0 to join a group that was a mixture of Mastersball veterans and newcomers, I wasn’t at all surprised to see how quickly he made the new writers feel at home.

Although our email correspondence was frequent, I only got to see Lawr once or twice a year (living 3,000 miles apart probably had something to do with it), once during Tout Wars weekend and sometimes when he came into New York for the FSTA summer conference. At least one of those meetings would include lunch at Virgil’s Real BBQ, his favorite restaurant in the city. Lawr was always quick to point out that he really did eat healthy at home, but when he came into New York, he just had to make some exceptions.

I’m usually hesitant to write these sorts of tributes. But for Lawr, I had to make an exception. I’ll be missing you. All of us will be missing you.

Brian Walton (first published as “Lawr Michaels: The Man and His Brand”:

Over the last two days, many of us were informed that our friend, colleague and the leader of this site, Lawr Michaels, would soon succumb to his health struggles. Yet words uttered long ago by another friend, Jason Grey, continued to ring in my ears, supporting me as I resisted against all reason what was inevitable.

“Lawr, you cannot be stopped by conventional weapons,” Jason would say. Lawr often repeated these words over the years, reflecting a quiet pride in his decades of fighting Crohn’s Disease and the many, many complications that followed. However, Lawr passed peacefully on Wednesday morning, Dec. 19.

In our last exchange, late last week, I provided Lawr with graphics for the site rebranding he planned to implement on Jan. 1. Creativesports.com was to be renamed “LawrMichaels.com.”

It seemed the right thing to do for Lawr to “leverage his brand” in this manner. Known as “The Zen Master” for his unorthodox success in high-level fantasy baseball competition, Lawr was a major figure in the industry, writing about and analyzing the game for a quarter century. He began Creativesports in 1996, and I joined the band a few years later.

Lawr as a brand has so many elements, which together make up a portfolio every much as diversified as Berkshire Hathaway.

From the pure corporate perspective, he experienced many successes running large projects in his years with Kaiser and AT&T. Among his many other benefits from time in the business world before retiring was meeting the woman who would later become his wonderful wife, Diane.

Lawr had many loves, one of which was music. He did not just know music in and out — which he demonstrated in the Rock Remnants website he founded with a number of our friends — he was an active participant, as well. We all understood that the week of Band Camp in the summer meant all discussions about fantasy sports and the website would be stopped as Lawr headed off to jam with his mates. His love of playing the guitar led to the creation of some very enjoyable music, several discs of which are in regular play in our household. We also knew that Thursday night band practice was another sacred event in Lawr’s weekly routine.

Literature was an early and longstanding love of Lawr’s, as he secured his degree in English Literature and, of course, was highly conversant in the subject — not that I felt qualified to engage. But, again, he did not just observe, he jumped in, with his most recent work a novel using golf as a background against which to relate some of his many life experiences.

Speaking of golf, it serves as yet another facet of the Lawr Michaels brand. Golfing became a passion in his later years, a game at which he became quite proficient. Several years ago, he made the decision to diversify Creativesports to cover a variety of fantasy sports beyond its core of baseball, with some football sprinkled in. Lawr was energized and proud as he recruited a young corps of writers to cover soccer, basketball, hockey and, of course, golf.

Another diversification of the Lawr portfolio was podcasting. Not satisfied with getting his message out via the written word, Lawr developed and co-hosted the Tout Wars Hour on the Fantasy Sports Network and participated in countless industry-related audio and video vehicles, sharing both his in-depth knowledge and considerable wit. This long-form of entertainment enabled Lawr to not only riff, but to go off into long jams on whatever topic interested him. It may have frustrated hosts at times, but it captivated his devoted listeners.

But all this talk of branding is not to equate Lawr Michaels with some cold, faceless corporate entity. In fact, he was just the opposite. With no exaggeration, he was as warm and caring of an individual as I have ever met. He remembered every person’s spouse and their kids’ (and grandkids’) names and would ask how they are doing in context — even if the last conversation on the matter was six months earlier.

Lawr was the single most positive person I have encountered in my entire life — and was totally genuine. I think that is one reason why we made such a quick and long-lasting friendship. Lawr had a way of melting my inherent cynicism while I grounded some of his less-practical ideas.

The most amazing thing about it is that Lawr had plenty of reasons to be bitter. His early years left scars both mentally and physically over the countless surgeries required to manage his Crohn’s Disease. He lost both his long-standing companion Cathy and his son Joey much too early, incurring tremendous pain. Yet, when Lawr learned of a friend or the wife of a friend battling cancer, he presented them one of Cathy’s scarves to help give them strength. He did this for individuals as diverse as the wife of a former Major League Baseball manager and the spouse of a close personal friend of both of ours – and those were just ones I witnessed.

Here is just one further example of Lawr’s sensitivity, which endeared him to so many. I was greatly honored when he confided in me his plan to ask Diane to marry him that evening during a horse-drawn carriage ride in Central Park, following a dinner at Tavern on the Green. Lawr worked out every detail to ensure it would be a memory they both would remember forever. (Of course, it was, and she said “Yes!”)

Countless times over the years, as we discussed the merits of candidates we were considering adding to the writing staff, I would gravitate to a clinical analysis of each person’s portfolio. Lawr’s focus was elsewhere – pondering their potential and how he might help them – as much or more than how they could help him. He gave many young writers their start in the business, with a particular interest in encouraging aspiring female sportswriters. In his choices, Lawr was almost always right and many benefited from his mentoring.

There have been so many times in my life I have drawn upon Lawr’s strength to help guide me through tough stretches that I cannot even remember them all. One of our shared favorite events twice a year was to sit together in the ballpark, away from the others in our group, and spend three hours just catching up on the minute details of each other’s lives, only partially paying attention to the action on the field. Lawr always made me feel more special than I really am. Those are times I will miss so dearly.

A central tenet of the Lawr brand was his never-ending plans for the future. Despite all of his personal and professional success, he always had further hopes and dreams — in seemingly every aspect of a diverse, exciting and enriching life.

This November, Lawr’s declining health precluded him from traveling to our annual fantasy baseball conference in Phoenix. While at a red light in traffic there, I spied a car in another lane that sported a license plate which said, “LAWRUP.” I clumsily leaned out my rental car window to take a photo, which I texted him back home. To me, it meant that Lawr was always “up,” and I knew he was, even as he battled his last failing kidney rather than join the friends he valued so dearly.

Now, I interpret the message to mean that Lawr is up above us. During his time here on Earth, I would hazard a guess to say that there is not a single person he encountered whose life was not enriched from knowing him. Lawr, you will be missed by so many, and we have all benefited so much from the brand of life you embodied and spread so generously and unconditionally.