Archive for the ‘Brendan Burke’ Category
February 14th, 2010
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Author: Less than a week after burying his gay son Brendan, Toronto Maple Leafs coach Brian Burke was working again on Friday night, as general manager of the U.S. Olympic hockey team.
Said Burke: "My family needs me to be strong right now and my teams need me to be strong — Toronto and this team,". So I think part of leadership is dealing with personal adversity or personal difficulty. So no, there was never a thought of not coming or doing anything different. The one change I made was that I didn't feel like marching in the Opening Ceremonies (Friday night). But my son would have wanted me to be here."
Burke discussed his son's death on Sunday following a news conference: "I cry less every day. It's been … it's been tough. I just think about him. He would have wanted me to do this. … He was a courageous kid — a very gregarious kid, a very compassionate kid. He was very bright and cared a lot about people. The saddest part about it was that his future was so bright. The sky was the limit for this kid…We're putting one foot in front of the other, that's what we're doing. "I was asked to do a job here and I'm going to do it. The fact that I've had a tragic event in my life shouldn't change that. USA Hockey asked me to do a job and I'm going to do it."
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On Wednesday, I posted about an ESPN story onToronto Maple Leafs and U.S. Olympic Team General Manager Brian Burke, and his son Brendan's coming out. Brendan is on the staff of Miami University's #1 hockey team.
The story has received much attention in the hockey world. Brendan and Brian did an interview with The Sports Network (TSN) in Canada, talking about the decision to go public with their story.
Watch it (as well as some commentary on reactions to the story), AFTER THE JUMP…
Said Brian of Brendan in the article: "I had a million good reasons to love and admire Brendan. This news
didn't alter any of them.
I would prefer Brendan hadn't decided to discuss this issue in this
very public manner. There will be a great deal of reaction, and I fear
a large portion will be negative. But this takes guts, and I admire
Brendan greatly, and happily march arm in arm with him on this.
There are gay men in professional hockey. We would be fools to think
otherwise. And it's sad that they feel the need to conceal this. I
understand why they do so, however.
Can a gay man advance in professional hockey? He can if he works for
the Toronto Maple Leafs! Or for Miami University Hockey. God bless Rico
Blasi! And I am certain these two organizations are not alone here.
I wish this burden would fall on someone else's shoulders, not
Brendan's. Pioneers are often misunderstood and mistrusted. But since
he wishes to blaze this trail, I stand beside him with an axe! I simply
could not be more proud of Brendan than I am, and I love him as much as
I admire him."
Brendan also gave an interview to Canada's Globe and Mail. "Like I've said before, my experience [with homophobia in the locker room] was basically with homophobic
slurs and that kind of stuff. I think as soon as the stereotype of a
gay person was replaced by someone they knew, or were friends with, it
changed. Once they realized there might be a gay person next to them or
a gay person in the locker room, the homophobia decreased greatly."
Watch the TSN interview and viewer reaction, AFTER THE JUMP…
Reactions:
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