Watchlords

In memory of 911, Big Joe who spent several months at the site and responded to the call for help on 911 as did his and many other fire departments. Big Joe died from 911 complications.








Just in case the geeks forgot to post something to the guy they all claimed they loved.

As I recall, the Powers That Be at WGs thought Big Joe was a fucking moron, and PM'ed each other how he deserved a kick in the nuts. This about a good guy, a firefighter (which means he had balls of brass) and one of their top fuzzy bunnies.

conjurer wrote:As I recall, the Powers That Be at WGs thought Big Joe was a fucking moron, and PM'ed each other how he deserved a kick in the nuts. This about a good guy, a firefighter (which means he had balls of brass) and one of their top fuzzy bunnies.

And after the barn door was open, they made him an ambassador, or something like that.
Classy of him to accept it and stay on......I sure as hell wouldn't have

JAS1125 wrote:

conjurer wrote:As I recall, the Powers That Be at WGs thought Big Joe was a fucking moron, and PM'ed each other how he deserved a kick in the nuts. This about a good guy, a firefighter (which means he had balls of brass) and one of their top fuzzy bunnies.

And after the barn door was open, they made him an ambassador, or something like that.
Classy of him to accept it and stay on......I sure as hell wouldn't have

Agreed. Joe shoulda fucking pimp-slapped those assholes, because was was twice the man those hucksters will ever be.

conjurer wrote:As I recall, the Powers That Be at WGs thought Big Joe was a fucking moron, and PM'ed each other how he deserved a kick in the nuts. This about a good guy, a firefighter (which means he had balls of brass) and one of their top fuzzy bunnies.

They were jealous of him. He lived the life of a hero, that they could only read about. He had a lot of peoples respect, he earned an honest living that provided well for his family. His honest reality was their fantasy.

I need to be straightened-out here, but first want to state he following comment is outside of Big Joe's brave work as a fire fighter that made him more of a hero than I could ever aspire to be. In my mind, most peace officers, fire fighters and in-country military ride the apex of heroism to me.

Back in the day when I had Geek Fever and was an active member of WGs, even I thought Big Joe was overboard and a bit wack-o. Despite seemingly being a kind gent, he certainly appeared to be the architype WatchGeek that justifiably gets reamed here. He was the definition of the forum's namesake.

Why do most here have such a soft spot for him and his ultimate Geekdom? I'm sincere in requesting schooling on the matter.

Hard to believe its been two years since he passed away.

ChronoMATT wrote:I need to be straightened-out here, but first want to state he following comment is outside of Big Joe's brave work as a fire fighter that made him more of a hero than I could ever aspire to be. In my mind, most peace officers, fire fighters and in-country military ride the apex of heroism to me.

Back in the day when I had Geek Fever and was an active member of WGs, even I thought Big Joe was overboard and a bit wack-o. Despite seemingly being a kind gent, he certainly appeared to be the architype WatchGeek that justifiably gets reamed here. He was the definition of the forum's namesake.

Why do most here have such a soft spot for him and his ultimate Geekdom? I'm sincere in requesting schooling on the matter.

An honest question, Matt; I can't speak for anybody else, but to me, a guy who runs into a burning building is somebody to be respected for his courage and selflessness. As you so perfectly point out, they ride the apex of heroism. A guy like that can be, outside of his job, a total boor, a prick who kicks puppies, a drunken lout, somebody who dresses like a hayseed, a watch geek, whatever--it still doesn't detract from his service, probably for chump change. As Sovie points out in his perceptive post above, he was the Real Thing, and the jerkoffs who run WGs couldn't compete.

conjurer wrote:

ChronoMATT wrote:I need to be straightened-out here, but first want to state he following comment is outside of Big Joe's brave work as a fire fighter that made him more of a hero than I could ever aspire to be. In my mind, most peace officers, fire fighters and in-country military ride the apex of heroism to me.

Back in the day when I had Geek Fever and was an active member of WGs, even I thought Big Joe was overboard and a bit wack-o. Despite seemingly being a kind gent, he certainly appeared to be the architype WatchGeek that justifiably gets reamed here. He was the definition of the forum's namesake.

Why do most here have such a soft spot for him and his ultimate Geekdom? I'm sincere in requesting schooling on the matter.

An honest question, Matt; I can't speak for anybody else, but to me, a guy who runs into a burning building is somebody to be respected for his courage and selflessness. As you so perfectly point out, they ride the apex of heroism. A guy like that can be, outside of his job, a total boor, a prick who kicks puppies, a drunken lout, somebody who dresses like a hayseed, a watch geek, whatever--it still doesn't detract from his service, probably for chump change. As Sovie points out in his perceptive post above, he was the Real Thing, and the jerkoffs who run WGs couldn't compete.

Well stated, just to add that people (being kind here) like Skelton and Turdling interpret politeness as weakness (it's a trait that is foreign to them and as con men they equate that to being a mark). Cant imagine either heading towards a fire to help others, they would be knocking over women and children to save their miserable asses

Horse Feathers wrote:Cant imagine either heading towards a fire to help others, they would be knocking over women and children to save their miserable asses

Big Joe was certainly in the pantheon of fuzzy bunnies and he slurped every bit of koolaid he was offered, but he NEVER had anything but a kind word for others, at least that I ever saw.

Virtually every other ubergeek has the side effect of also being a raging douchebag in addition to their near-criminal naivete.

RIP Big Joe.

BigCheez wrote:Big Joe was certainly in the pantheon of fuzzy bunnies and he slurped every bit of koolaid he was offered, but he NEVER had anything but a kind word for others, at least that I ever saw.

Virtually every other ubergeek has the side effect of also being a raging douchebag in addition to their near-criminal naivete.

RIP Big Joe.

El Queso Monstro nailed it - A bunny to the core, but a gentleman through and through.

He was the guy who organized gatherings in his area. Funny thing is he owned some very high watches such as a Corum bridge and others in that price range. I think as his disabilities took their toll on him, the geeks became a way for him to communicate with others.

He called a group of us once and called me after I exposed what the bunny overlords at the time said about him. He thanked me for it and let me know that he was going to stay because many of the lemmings had reached out to him.

I joined WG's in 2009 right about the time Joe was reaching his Zenith. I must say it is disheartening for me to read the ugly things some of the mods wrote about him. And some call us haters...

Big Joe was never a formal member of Watchlords but he did contact several of us from time to time including phone calls. He lurked at the forum and used to email me about jokes and comments made here. He may have purchased a lot of junk from tv, but he also owned Corums, Rolex, Omega and a few other high end watches. He was not the fuzzy bunny he was called by a former tv shill.

Some other members here have also met or been contacted by Joe and as such and for his contribution to helping people at the cost of his own health and ultimately his death at the 9/11 site, I think he should be remembered. No one else does.

Man it's been that long? Did get to exchange some email information with Joe. Joe knew what he was buying when we talked. Unbelievable how they treated members there.

eddiea wrote:I'm sure Big Joe was a nice guy , never knew the dude , it looks from here he was the quintessential geek and his taste in watches suck accordingly, along with his long term kool-aid drinking association with that now dead forum not missing him but, RIP nonetheless....

He was a good guy. Geeks was about all he had after 9/11 where many of his friends died and he became disabled from the poison in the air and debris.


He owned many top of the line watches including a corum bridge, jlc, several rolex as well as a PP nautilus. His were rwal not replicas like those of cali kid and horsetrack.

That time once again where we honor those who passed on after running out of time. Big Joe was not a member here but many remember his and several had interactions with him. Unlike some aviators, this man put his life on the line during the 9/11 days and the aftermath as well as during his time at the fire department.

He was an honorable man.

In memory of all who died on or because of 911

Let's not forget that unsung hero of 11/9 and former Watchlords member!

I remember Joe called in and spoke with all of us at the first gtg I ever attended. Can't recall the exact locale but it was a restaurant somewhere in Salem. Koi, smellody, barnbuilder, nwguy, jaw, myself and others were in attendance. This was well before watchlords. To some degree, we were all fuzzy bunnies then. Classy guy.

Mark1 wrote: ↑

September 12th 2021, 6:58pm

I remember Joe called in and spoke with all of us at the first gtg I ever attended. Can't recall the exact locale but it was a restaurant somewhere in Salem. Koi, smellody, barnbuilder, nwguy, jaw, myself and others were in attendance. This was well before watchlords. To some degree, we were all fuzzy bunnies then. Classy guy.

It was at Bentley's Grill.

A bit late to this thread, but anyone who was involved in helping others during 9/11 deserves to be remembered as a hero. I do know there is a moderator named Richard on MWR who was a psychiatrist counselling front line workers there, and a member of TZ died in the towers.

A tragic time that changed the face of the World we live in.

Pete26 wrote: ↑

October 20th 2021, 8:46pm

A bit late to this thread, but anyone who was involved in helping others during 9/11 deserves to be remembered as a hero. I do know there is a moderator named Richard on MWR who was a psychiatrist counselling front line workers there, and a member of TZ died in the towers.

A tragic time that changed the face of the World we live in.

Indeed. The Australians stood shoulder to shoulder with us after 9/11, as did many in the civilized world. In Kenya, the Maasai people sent word to the United States; they said, please send us the terrorists you captured, so that we could slaughter them. More movingly, and just as stunning, in his fine book The Only Plane In the Sky, author Garrett Graff recounts of Mexican illegal immigrants in Texas going to see an American aid worker, asking her how they could help the New Yorkers in need, because, they said, "Nobody can do this to our country."

Such kindness and comfort should never be forgotten; likewise, the honor and courage of the firefighters and policemen who ran into the wounded towers shall never be bested.