Sure it sucks that the source code and the entire game including unannounced things like CS and HL ported to Source, and Ritual's version of CZ, and an early version of what became the retail CZ, were stolen. But the fact is HL2 was never going to be released on Sept. 30, no matter what. And Valve had the gall to LIE to people at trade shows as close as two weeks before the date that they knew they had no hope of making. Without the game theft, my guess is we would have seen the game this May at the absolute earliest, and that's being very gracious. Anyone who thinks they had to recode the game from scratch is an idiot.
Anyway, nin's comment (which seemed to spark 75% of this debate) is what I like to call a "joke". See, jokes are things people say to try and be funny, although sometimes unsuccessfully. Usually they take something in real life, and view it from an intentionally incorrect or skewed perspective (sometimes taking advantage of people's own false understanding of a situation) to entertain people. See sometimes jokes require you to say to yourself "I realize that statement is based on something factually incorrect, but that does not necessarily undermine the comment's comedic value. HL2 is indeed a year late (at least), and while the merits of how and why are debateable, it's popular for people to blame it on the 'source theft', so I can understand how it would be amusing if it were stolen again and the game delayed for another year. Haha! I will move on with my life instead of posting 300 word essays on why 'fanboys' need to stop 'bashing' HL2!"