Submitted by Derek J. McCracken, Feb 5, 2008 16:31

This man has almost singlehandedly kept our hopes alive that the "beautiful game" will survive the constant onslaught from the defensive-minded, the slog-it-forward-minded proponents of the "ugly game". He has been the White Knight that has continued to wage the fight against the Dark Side.

I take my hat off to Gardner and say, Thanks for all you have done. I'm sure many times it felt like it was you against the world.

Your depature is the NY Sun's loss. I always look forward to reading your columns and I hope that you will continue to write in other print media.

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