GQ on Brendan/Brian Burke

[Moderator1]

Jeeezus. Read this and don't cry at least once and you're made of tougher stuff than I am.

http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/201101/brian-burke-nhl-gay-players-athletes

 

[maberger]

it is an amazing read. Brian's words about Brendan's last moments and about Matthew Sheppard are heart-rending.

 

[Moderator1]

It took me a long time to get through it. The died alone in the snow part? Wow. Like someone turned on a faucet. I have kids that age. I still ask them to call me when they get home after long drives.

 

[Boomer7]

Well done, but who told the writer that the Leafs are "the most storied" franchise in the NHL?

 

[Huggy]

I linked it on the NHL thread last week, but I think it was overlooked there. Great stuff....

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

I read this the other day. It seems he is still reluctant to talk about it (his son coming out_, but seems as if he is using it as a kind of catharsis.

Good stuff.

 

[imjustagirl]

I didn't get choked up at all until the last graf. That is a hell of a kicker right there.

 

[maberger]

Well done, but who told the writer that the Leafs are "the most storied" franchise in the NHL?

isn't she from toronto?

 

[ringer]

I'm sure it's a well-done story, but here's what I don't get:

How come NBC gets universally reamed for airing features like this during the Olympics, but everyone genuflects when the same story runs in print?

Anyone? Anyone?

 

[mb]

Because when I watch a sporting event, I expect to see ... wait for it ... a sporting event. When I pick up a magazine, I expect to ... read a story.

 

[Boom_70]

I'm sure it's a well-done story, but here's what I don't get:

How come NBC gets universally reamed for airing features like this during the Olympics, but everyone genuflects when the same story runs in print?

Anyone? Anyone?

Because we turned on the Olympics - not the Lifetime Network. What NBC does is manipulative.

 

[JR]

I'm sure it's a well-done story, but here's what I don't get:

How come NBC gets universally reamed for airing features like this during the Olympics, but everyone genuflects when the same story runs in print?

Anyone? Anyone?

Well, maybe if you read the story, you'd understand the difference.

 

[qtlaw]

That was an awesome story. That scene with Burke talking for the first time at that Toronto school was so moving. I'm sitting in my office here hoping that no one comes to my door because they'd see a 47 yr old father of two with tears in his eyes in the middle of the day.

 

[ringer]

I'm sure it's a well-done story, but here's what I don't get:

How come NBC gets universally reamed for airing features like this during the Olympics, but everyone genuflects when the same story runs in print?

Anyone? Anyone?

Well, maybe if you read the story, you'd understand the difference.

I read it and my question remains.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I'm sure it's a well-done story, but here's what I don't get:

How come NBC gets universally reamed for airing features like this during the Olympics, but everyone genuflects when the same story runs in print?

Anyone? Anyone?

Well, maybe if you read the story, you'd understand the difference.

I read it and my question remains.

Because NBC's credibility gets shot to hell with their relentless cheering for Team USA and their act that the sport you are watching is live when in reality, the event ended 12 hours before.

 

[mb]

I read it and my question remains.

If I want to see the **** NBC produces during the Olympics, I'll watch Dateline: Olympics. When I turn the channel to a sporting event, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to see ... a sporting event.

 

[JR]

I'm sure it's a well-done story, but here's what I don't get:

How come NBC gets universally reamed for airing features like this during the Olympics, but everyone genuflects when the same story runs in print?

Anyone? Anyone?

Well, maybe if you read the story, you'd understand the difference.

I read it and my question remains.

You mean you don't know if it's a well done story after you've read it?

And your question is, well, irrelevant.

 

[D-3 Fan]

NBC, ESPN, to name a few, will beat a story into the ground. A good example was last night's MNF, when the real story was about Atlanta and their quest to go undefeated at home. MNF opening was about the Saints post-Katrina.

It took away from what the Falcons have done up to last night.

 

[JR]

I still am scratching my head as to why someone would compare this terrific profile on Brian Burke, his son and the issue of homosexuality in sports to the NBC blow-jobs during the Olympic games.

 

[Boomer7]

NBC has actually done some really good, long-form features in its Olympic coverage. The Sam Waterston-narrated retrospective on the 1994 cross country relay race was well done in 2006, and they also had a good piece on a Greek runner who survived WW2 internment and won the Boston Marathon (I think it aired in 2004). And to be fair, the network vastly scaled back the cheap, manipulative short features that really blemished the coverage in the early to mid-90s (I'm looking at you, John Tesh.).