A Living Legend
When I think about topics to write about it usually ends up being about something fresh, something up to date, something that just happened.
The recent Open Championship gave me a treasure chest of material to work with. The American underdog grinds out a victory for the ages against the world’s best. I can really sink my teeth into that type of storyline! Nothing changed yesterday to make me think anything else would serve up a better topic… until today.
This blog goes out to mostly fellow Bostonians but I do know that a few of my loyal golf pool members are out of staters so for you all, please indulge me with this local post. Today, a Boston sporting legend decided to hang up his skates; Patrice Bergeron announced his retirement bringing sadness to not only Bruins fans but hockey fans worldwide. Bergy did everything right, he played the game right, he handled the media right, he gave back to the community he was truly a special person.
As I’ve gotten older, I get reminded of the years flying by in a number of ways. One is that I have now seen the beginning and the end of many sport careers. I saw the full spectrum of players like Ray Bourque, Tom Brady, John Havlicek, Larry Bird and many others and now Patrice Bergeron. His selflessness and team first persona were his calling cards. The goals and the assists didn’t really matter, it was always the wins and losses as a team. He never embarrassed himself, he never put in anything less than 110% effort night after night. I was blessed to watch many of his games over the past 20 years and it was hard to find a bad one. If there was one, he would blame himself; the good ones were always shared as a team. His countless visits to Boston area hospitals were never a media spot, just something that he felt he should do. Patrice’s Pals, his section at the Garden for every game to be used for people with bigger problems than most of us will ever know.
He has been my favorite Boston athlete for all his 20 years on Causeway Street, it was never even close. Whether winning with class or losing with dignity, he exemplified all that is good in sports. No police blotters or TMZ reports for him, he played hockey like he played the game of life; with grace.
In a previous post, I spoke about the never ending craving of some athletes for respect. Their daily agenda to gain the most notoriety and focus on themselves. Not the captain, he showed up for work and asked nothing more than another chance to put on the same uniform he wore his entire career and perform to the best of his ability.
His successes were many, a Stanley Cup, two Olympic Gold Medals and the unprecedented feat of winning six Selke awards. For those that don’t know, that is given to the best two way player in hockey each season. The one that cares about defending his end as much as scoring on their end; the ultimate “all around“ award; of course. Off the ice, he is a happily married man with 4 children and though I don’t know the inner workings of the Bergeron household, I’ll go out on limb and say he’s probably a world class husband and Dad as well. Do yourselves a favor, if you have not read Bergy’s retirement post, read it! If the depth of his words does not reveal the measure of the man to you then something is very wrong.
I will miss watching Patrice as much as I’ve missed watching any player in my lifetime. I always admired him as a player and more importantly as a man. We in Boston should thank our lucky stars that we had the chance to watch him perform over these past 20 years. The Bruins will still open up the season in October and the fans will still fill the stands but until the number #37 is hanging in the rafters above, it will feel a bit emptier.
Adieu Patrice and Merci Beaucoup!!
