You didn't know him, he's dead and gone. Get over it.

Um... no. You got 1 out of 3 right, but sorry, that's a failing score my friend.

I don't know about you, but I'm a bit sick and tired of people who were NOT viewers or admirers of Steve Irwin trying to pick and prod at those of us who are so affected by his death. A rather noisey minority criticize the way he lived, the way he died, and then berate the rest of us for caring so much.

Here is the first thing they need to understand. We love Steve. We love his family. We love his work. Ok, go ahead, attack his work if you are ignorant enough to feel you need to do so. Not everyone understands the value in what Steve did. If they did, the world would be a better place. But you're human, so go ahead and rip his work to shreds. Play the family card and say he recklessly widowed his wife and left his kids without a father. Fine. Do you know what I say to that? So what! We love him. We care about him. We don't need a reason for that. We hurt because we love. We feel the loss because we'll miss him. Nothing beyond that need be explained.

To the critics I would ask, have you ever loved anyone? Someone who is human? Now, I see Steve as an incredible inspiration, made huge achievements in conservation and endangered species awareness in this world, saved the lives of who knows how many tens or hundreds of thousands of animals directly, and in his determination sent positive effects rippling out across the planet... but we'll set that aside for now. Say he wasn't, but we love him. Have you ever loved an imperfect person? Their death would still effect you. How they died wouldn't matter, be it car wreck, plane crash, stingray, or rended by a croc. You loved them. You would mourn them, as we are. I wish these people would start pulling their heads out of their asses and at least comprehend this simple fact.

Beyond that there are the achievements of the Irwin family. I admit, these feats being so misunderstood or unappreciated really bothers me. So how about this, instead of complaining, I challenge the critics, the cowards, the armchair fear merchants, the rude and disrespectful people who don't have enough class to wait until a man is burried before they start saying cruel things about him. I challenge them all. Come talk to me. I'll interview you, you interview me. I don't care which. Stop taking shots from the cheap seats and actually come down to the floor. Maybe we can go volunteer at an animal rescue organization for a weekend. Just the two of us. I'll help roll up your sleeves so you can get your hands dirty. That way the next time you talk, you might actually know something about the topic you're speaking about.