Thursday, July 19, 2007 | The article on Mike Long by Don Norcross in the Union-Tribune was truly on the money in regards to his personality and zeal for life. But what people should also know is the effect he had on many of the kids that grew up in the Mission Beach area. His son Scott Long is one of my very best friends and Mike was as good a friend to me and several others as Scott. He would not blink at Scott’s friend’s staying at the house for extended periods of time during our youth. He was alway’s there for us and never judged why we needed his help.
I remember numerous times spending an evening at the barbeque arguing over my Dodgers and his Padres or lamenting the latest Chargers move. He was as fun to have those candid discussions with as an E ticket at Disneyland.
He will be truly missed by a larger group of people than can be imagined and his memory will be some of the best for most.