The Dark Ranger: Rest in Peace, Brendan Burke

Bio of TDR

TDR is a working professional in entertainment and is obsessed with the game of hockey. More fourteen years ago, this site emerged as a means (or an outlet) to tell some truth'isms about the game post-lockout, rather than the crud fed to us through knuckleheads like Jimmy Dolan and his lemmings universe. Today, there are a hundred Rangers sites and is thankful and grateful to all those that have come after him, but honorable thanks go to his fellow Dark-writers, Graying Mantis and J_Undisputed. And "Let's Go Rangers!"

Bio of General Ganz

General Ganz is a cynical yet well-informed student of the human spirit. He's a professional of sorts, with a post-graduate education, some experience working in real companies, and some limited athletic ability. The total small package. He got picked on a fair bit as a kid, and he experienced his first human-non-relation kiss in his teens. He also grew up on the other side of the tracks, thereby helping to cultivate a healthy contempt for dreamers and optimists whose rosy upbringing gave them something to smile about, even when "life produced lemons." Like it or not, his only mission is to point out the potholes you're lucky enough to miss on your drive to work. To find the blemish on your daughter's carefully-stitched (and not-yet-paid-for) wedding dress. To take that little smidgen of hope that your favorite hockey teams fill you with, and pour orange paint on it. Oh, and he is a Blueshirts fan, and takes most of his fashion direction from Ron Duguay (whose name he dropped as a way to close the deal on that first kiss).

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Rest in Peace, Brendan Burke

Funeral Mass held for son of Maple Leaf GM [Yahoo News]

CANTON, Mass. (AP)—Brendan Burke, the son of Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke and an advocate for gay rights, has been remembered at a funeral Mass.

The Mass at St. John The Evangelist Catholic church in Canton, Mass., on Tuesday came four days after Burke died in a car accident on a snowy Indiana road.

The funeral was attended by Maple Leafs players and staff, as well as players and coaches of the Miami University of Ohio hockey team, where the 21-year-old Burke was the team’s student manager.

Burial was private.

Burke lived in Canton and graduated from Xaverian Brothers High School.

He was in the news last year when ESPN.com ran a story about his decision to tell his father he was gay. Brian Burke said it didn’t change how he thought of his son.

===============================

Only the heartless could fail to empathize with the Burke family over their loss. The above article refers to a story in ESPN.com about Brendan telling his father he was gay. The article was by John Buccigross and the link is here. It is well worth reading.

Despite Brian Burke's tough outside, he is a father that loved his son, no matter what.

"Imagine if I was in the opposite situation, with a family that wouldn't accept me, working for a sports team where I knew I couldn't come out because I'd be fired or ostracized. People in that situation deserve to know that they can feel safe, that sports isn't all homophobic and that there are plenty of people in sports who accept people for who they are." -- Brendan Burke

The world appears to be a bit gloomier without Brendan's presence. May the love, support, devotion and tolerance that is apparent in the Burke family and his former teammates become a model for all of us. May the Burke family and everyone touched by Brendan's life find solace in celebrating his life and memory.

--- The Graying Mantis