Saw the big guy Friday and he was doing pretty good. He remains deeply appreciative of cards, calls, prayers and other forms of encouragement. He is so blessed to have the friends he has. The following column on Nick ran in Saturday's Palatka Daily News. A screwup kept if off the paper's Web site, so it appears here in full: The good fight of Orange and Brew Ron Zook called. So did Jeremy Foley. Three slabs of ribs, packed in dry ice, have been shipped from Tuscaloosa's legendary Dreamland Barbecue. Complete with sauce and bread. Friends have traveled down from Marianna, up from Mount Dora, over from Palm Coast. A priest known as Father Gator has visited. Orange and Brew is no ordinary Gator. This is Orange and Brew the superfan, not to be confused with the Reitz Union pub a football field or so from his tailgating spot. He weighs in as "Orange and Brew" on Internet message boards both within Gator Nation and on rival boards. Pick a number, any number, between 1 and 99 and Orange and Brew can name two or three who have worn it for the Orange and Blue. Orange and Brew knows no strangers wherever he's tailgating, whether it's in Gainesville or Baton Rouge or Columbia or Knoxville. He's made at least one road trip to every SEC venue except Vanderbilt and Arkansas. He's loyal to a fault. He doesn't leave his seat until the last Gator disappears into the tunnel and has little use for "fans" who bail. Orange and Brew was in New Orleans to savor every last drop of 52-20; he stuck around until the bitter end of last year's LSU game. And Lord, he's funny. His imitations have made him something of a legend in Jacksonville sports talk radio, gotten him invitations to address Gator Clubs and howls even from sober fans on game day. Close your eyes and you'd swear Spurrier was in the room when Orange and Brew gets going. He does a good Beano Cook, too, though I still think his Bowden needs some work. He's fielded calls while imitating Greg Larson on Larson's radio show. He makes up characters, too. He had Frank Frangie going for weeks calling in as "Floyd," an embarrassingly uninformed Seminole fan from Lawtey. You may have met Orange and Brew without realizing it. If you're a Palatka High football fan, chances are you've seen him on the sidelines for big games (and some not so big), hanging out with your humble correspondent. Orange and Brew is no ordinary Gator. He's my brother. My baby brother, Nick. He has leukemia. Hence the calls, the visits, the imported ribs, the Internet encouragement and hundreds, maybe thousands, of prayers. My baby brother. Nicky, we called him for years. I'm 12 years his senior. I fed him, changed his diapers. (OK, Mama did most of that, but I'm going for a mood; work with me here.) I remember playfully tossing Nick around as a tot -- delighting to his laughter the way I do now with my three-year-old boy. Now this. Nick was diagnosed a week and a half ago. He'd been feeling rundown for weeks, prone to headaches and coughing spells, but figured the trouble was at least partly because he was overweight. He'd planned to see a doctor, planned to get in shape. He was going to come watch the Panthers in the spring classic with Live Oak the day another brother, Steve, a pharmacist and onetime med student, instead drove him to Flagler's emergency room for an EKG. They wound up running some blood tests, then obtained a bone marrow sample. Now this. The fight of his life, literally. It will be a long fight, but he'll fight hard. No question about it. Nick is passionate. Passionate about his Gators. Passionate about his work, his country and his family. Especially his family. And we're passionate about him. Ours is a big family and, like Nick's Gators, we stick together in all kinds of weather. We're learning, too, just how passionate Nick's friends are about him. The calls. The cards. The visits. The ribs. The prayers. Such friends Orange and Brew has -- none better than Salt Water Gator. Members of my family not ordinarily wont to lurking on message boards -- particularly the couple of token Seminoles among us -- are finding out about Nick's friends. They have all manner of Gator-themed Internet names - InvestiGator, BosnGator, Skowgator, Mims Gator, JaxGator, Darkgator, GatorCane (?) and Mudlizard among others. Some are clearly from other camps, such as Nole Man and ReVolVer, The things they are saying: "Keep your faith and enjoy each and every day that you are alive. And keep saying to yourself, I will win this battle," writes Haile Gator in one post. Nole Man's every post these days includes a picture of my brother, calling him, "An American Original. Hang in there, Brew." "You are in our constant prayers. We'll see you soon," writes Dark Gator. "I know that you have a great support group... just look at this Web site!" Look at it, indeed: Mudlizard.com. They're writing about Nick on other sites, too, extolling his humor, his friendliness, his knowledge of Gator football. Most of all, they're assuring him he's in their prayers and asking others to join them in praying. I thank them all. From the bottom of my heart, I thank them all. Nick, after all, is no ordinary Gator. No ordinary brother. Andy Hall writes for the Palatka Daily News.