Many of you who have seen the UMK3 Combo Videos on darktemplarz.com will notice in the credits of each video special thanks to "The Prophet". Here is an excerpt from an online gaming community I run which I posted for the people who knew him. Even though he was not a big fan of MKOnline, I have decided the community should know they have lost an integral component of the revival of UMK3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
A close personal friend of mine, gamer, and co-worker, with a lot of inner turmoil has decided to take his own life. The Prophet, a frequent visitor to shoryuken.com, tekkenzaibatsu, and various other high level competitive gaming sites passed away. He was an honorary DA member, even though he did not play online, he represented us in various different games at tournaments on the East Coast. He was an avid Mortal Kombat fan, and had exceptional skills in one of the most extensive lists of games I have seen including, MK1, MKII, MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK4, MKDA, MKD, SFA 1 2 and 3, SF3:3S, SF2-SSF2T, Tekken 3, Tag, 4, and 5, Soul Calibur 1 and 2, MvC2, CvS 1 and 2, GG, Time Killers, KI, and others still. To me, when I met him around 2000, he was an inspiration. At this point in my life I hadn't met anyone who could challenge me in UMK3, and he made me into a better player, to the point where I started teaching him. I will continue to persue more UMK3 players and keep the community going. He was considered to be one of the best remaining UMK3 players on the planet, and one of few non Chicago native players to hold the distinction of defeating Lex in casual play.
He had a very unique and strong perspective on society, philosophy, politics, literature, music, spirituality and generally all things. We shared many common interests and a very special bond with our choice of entertainment, and humor. I celebrated many good times with him over the years, along with fellow DA member DreemerNJ. He also met other DA members along the way such as Battousai and Dragon Angel. I can still remember the first time I met him. I was cashiering at a supermarket here in NJ, and he came on my line wearing a Mankind WWF t-shirt, buying a wrestling magazine. He was not your typical wrestling fan. He was far more interested in the politics and legitimacy behind the business, and the athletic value, than the hype, and onscreen egos. I told him I was an independent wrestler and he found that very interesting, only a few weeks later getting a job at my store. From there we became good friends. I wish I could understand what kind of pain he was in because I cannot fathom anything that would be so severe to warrant his departure from this plain of existence. The only aspect I can comprehend is that he was very unhappy with the direction his life was heading, and he must have saw no way out of it without burdening the people around him, but did not realize the burden of death is so much greater. He had, and still has many people who care about him. He has left us with much confusion and incompleteness in our lives. He left us too soon and he will never be forgotten. If there is an afterlife, may it welcome him with open arms.
R.I.P. Ryan Thomas Hutnick, 1979-2006.
-your best friend
Matt Luongo
