# Steve Irwin: The man's dead, stop picking on him! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 5, 2006, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-irwin-the-mans-dead-stop-picking-on-him/371470 "2006-09-05T03:16:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-irwin-the-mans-dead-stop-picking-on-him/371470/161 "2006-09-08T09:02:44Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] Pfft, just about everyone’s initial reaction is to pull the knife, barb, whatever out, that doesn’t anything. Wax maudlin much? Christ. [/QUOTE] While I’ve not been stabbed or stung by a sting ray, I have been splashed by molten steel and do regularly dig hunks of metal out of my body and I can tell you that when you experience the level of pain that Irwin probably did, your first reaction is **not** grab at the object, it’s to scream and thrash about, both actions would be fatal for a diver. When I got burned by the steel, I was holding one end of the shank which held a ladle filled with about 100 lbs of molten steel. It took everything I had not to drop the damn thing and run around screaming. Of course, had I done that, I would have sent molten steel spraying all over the place, which would have burned myself and everyone else in the vicinity. I stood there, screaming for help, holding onto the thing, until one guy was able to relieve me, then I ran off the pouring floor stripped off my gear, and dug the steel out of my back. At that point, all I wanted to do was just curl up and pass out some place, however, one of the guys came over to me and said, “You coming back?” and because I didn’t want to appear the wimp, I nodded “yes,” put my gear back on and went back to pouring steel. If the pain Irwin went through in his final moments was anything like mine, he had to figure out what happened to him, control his body’s instinctive pain reactions (screaming and thrashing about), grab the stinger, and yank it out (ignoring the additional pain that this would be causing him), then head for the surface. It is _not_ an easy task. ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-irwin-the-mans-dead-stop-picking-on-him/371470/162 "2006-09-08T12:07:27Z")
This needless death could have been prevented if Steve had applied SPF Factor 25 Sunblock. Guaranteed protection against harmful rays. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-irwin-the-mans-dead-stop-picking-on-him/371470/163 "2006-09-08T17:11:22Z")
[QUOTE=Rilchiam] (And just _par avance_, when Ruth Rendell dies, I am going to lose it. Who? you ask? Doesn’t matter. She means a great deal to me.) [/QUOTE] Me, too. Oh, and I enjoyed watching Irwin, but I never considered him a serious scientist. Wasn’t his dad basically a sideshowman with a petting zoo (or sorts)? I do think he helped raise awareness and sympathy for the not so cuddly kritters. Me, I loathe snakes, but I just leave 'em alone. Others don’t. So maybe he helped a bit. On with the thread. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-irwin-the-mans-dead-stop-picking-on-him/371470/164 "2006-09-08T19:48:17Z")
Pete Brock was still alive until quite recently? I was a bit of a fan back in the day but, as I undoubtedly said back during the Dale Sr. canonization, “back in the day” it got so that if you didn’t hear about a driver for a while you just figured you missed a news report. It was hard to get worked up every time one got killed and Hell’s bells, it was a stupidly dangerous sport and if you didn’t think a driver got what was coming at least you knew he knew the risks. Irwin knew the risks and danced on the razor as long as he could and it was part of what made him fun. My problem was with him endangering his child. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-irwin-the-mans-dead-stop-picking-on-him/371470/165 "2006-09-08T21:04:24Z")
[QUOTE=Mellivora capensis] This needless death could have been prevented if Steve had applied SPF Factor 25 Sunblock. Guaranteed protection against harmful rays. [/QUOTE] [No shit.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7753546&postcount=148) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-irwin-the-mans-dead-stop-picking-on-him/371470/166 "2006-09-09T05:06:09Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] [No shit.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7753546&postcount=148) [/QUOTE] [Ahem.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7746204&postcount=116). Even **haj.** was 3 days late. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-irwin-the-mans-dead-stop-picking-on-him/371470/167 "2006-09-09T11:35:54Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] [Ahem.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7746204&postcount=116). Even **haj.** was 3 days late. [/QUOTE] Dang. So not only am I an officious busybody, I’m a _clueless_ officious busybody. That sucks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-irwin-the-mans-dead-stop-picking-on-him/371470.md?page=8)