A tribute to a true hero. Brendan Burke (1988-2010)

TSN has just broken a story that Brendan Burke,the youngest son of Leafs GM Brian Burke has died as a result of a car accident in Indiana. This news has hit me very hard. Brendan was only 21, and this November, he mustered up the immense courage to come out as a young gay man, saying that he quit hockey because of the difficulty of keeping his homosexuality a secret and that he had hoped to be the first openly gay NHL executive in history. I never really was fond of Brian Burke's brash style of business, even though I knew he got the job done better than almost any one else in the league. I truly believed that Brian would not speak publicly about his son's life and maybe fuel the fire that suggests his mantras of "toughness, tenacity and truculence" made him homophobic. When Brian came out and said that no matter who Brendan was, he would always love him and support him, he immediately jumped in my books from an annoying "act" of a manager to a truly genuine "class act" who tells it like it is. Brendan stood out as one of the bravest young people in this world today who through his dreams and ambitions not only changed life for the gay community in sports but possibly all minorities. I am not a hopeful Hockey player, nor am I a Homosexual and I am definitely not a Leafs fan, but I am a Jew, and there was something uplifting about a person belonging to a minority demographic standing up and saying "What I am is not important". "Who I am and what I am able to do is important". Brendan's loss is a tragic one for the Gay community, the hockey world and young people everywhere. My thoughts and prayers are with the Burke family, and let us try to open our minds for the future, so that Brendan Burke's story can live on as a testament to the human spirit and a rallying cry for us to treat ever single person on this earth equally.

Sleep well and have a safe weekend,

E

A Tribute To Chris Henry

I was just prepping for my beloved San Diego Chargers taking on the Bengals on Sunday, but after the untimely death of one of their players, I feel like I should be one of the millions who will give a public memoriam.

Chris Henry was a player who made a lot of mistakes, and I truly thought he was a lost cause who would never realize how to be a mature role model in sports. Over this past year Chris Henry and other troubled Bengals like Cedric Benson have seemed to try and make a turnaround in life. It is seems sad that when he had finally realized that things like family were more important than partying, he has his life taken away.

Hopefully other athletes who live a carefree lifestyle with no intrest in cleaning up their act should take this as a massive reality check and try to turn their lives around before it is too late.

Peace everyone, and take care of yourselves

E