Fluff Honored in Memorial Service Outside Coleman Coliseum
The Alabama family lost a family member on Friday night.
Cameron Luke “Fluff” Ratliff was a superfan student at the University of Alabama, known for his plaid jacket and hard hat who attended every single one of Alabama's basketball games, home or away. One of Ratliff’s closest friends, Matthew Travis, immediately decided it was only right to hold a memorial service in honor of Ratliff upon finding out of his passing.
“Last night, I was trying to figure out what I could do to honor him and the legacy he left behind here at Alabama and I realized the best way to cope with tragedies like this is through being surrounded by others that were impacted and telling your stories,” Travis said. “I realized the best thing to do would be to set up a memorial outside his favorite building in the world… It meant a lot to me, it meant a lot to his family, it meant a lot to his friends, and I’m eternally grateful that I was able to help set that up because it was beautiful to see so many people honoring a guy who deserved every bit of it.”
Among those in attendance were UA President Stuart Bell, Athletic Director Greg Byrne, Herb Jones, Tyler Barnes, and many more Alabama players and students.
Alabama's assistant men's basketball coach Bryan Hodgson has started a GoFundMe to help raise money for the Ratliff family. There are currently over $30,000 in donations.
Over his time as the president of Crimson Chaos, Ratliff developed a very close relationship with Greg Byrne.
“He was such a great example that you can do anything at this place and who would have thought that a guy who calls himself 'Fluffopotamus' would have the following that he did," Byrne said. "Fluff was a reminder of how special sports is and how it was all about bringing people together.”
Byrne ended by saying: “We’re going to make sure we find a way to recognize and we remember Fluff and do it the right way. The way Alabama would. And the way Alabama should.”
Byrne shared a warm embrace with Pamela Ratliff following his speech.
A moment of silence was held in Ratliff’s honor today at Alabama’s softball and baseball games. Softball’s head coach Patrick Murphy honored Ratliff during the pregame, sporting his signature plaid jacket out to hand the lineup cards to the umpire at home plate.
ESPN2's play-by-play announcer Ben McDonald shared his thoughts on Ratliff's passing during Friday night's Vanderbilt vs LSU baseball game.
Many others who shared a common love for not only Alabama sports, but sports in general, shared their thoughts on Ratliff's passing.
Here is the full live stream of the Luke "Fluff" Ratliff memorial outside of Coleman Coliseum: Full Luke "Fluff" Ratliff Memorial Video
Luke Ratliff will not only be remembered for the passion he brought to sporting events each night, but for the kind of person he was. Ratliff was the face of Alabama’s student section and he embodied exactly what it meant to be a student at the University of Alabama.
He was kind to everyone around him and always had time for people who wanted to talk and take pictures with him. "I truly don't deserve this," was always his way of expressing how thankful he was for everyone around him.
Coleman Coliseum always had a different atmosphere when Fluff was present. When he got loud, everyone behind him got loud. When he booed, everyone behind him booed. And when he got quiet, you could hear a pin drop in the arena.
He was a true maestro of the game, and he will be terribly missed.
Rest easy Fluff – we all know you’ve already got half of heaven wearing their hard hats waiting for Alabama basketball to tip-off in the winter.
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