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| Bobby Orr scores the game winning goal in overtime on a pass from Derek Sanderson to win the 1970 Stanley Cup. |
Happy are those
who do not follow the
advice of the wicked,
or take the path that
sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of
scoffers.
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their
fruit in its season,
and their leaves do
not wither.
In all that they do,
they prosper.
Psalm 1:1, 3
Robert
Gordon Orr played his first game for the Boston Bruins fifty years ago this
week.
When
it comes to sports heroes I cannot escape a completely unrealistic naiveté. I
want to cheer for the athletes who are both good and great.
Not
surprisingly, I am often disappointed.
I
still haven’t fully recovered from the Lance Armstrong scandal. And Tyler
Hamilton, for heaven’s sake.
Joe
Paterno.
The
list of disappointments is long.
But
there are some great names on the other list, the coincidence of goodness and
greatness.
Al
Kaline, and Roberto Clemente, and Stan Musial.
Bill
Russell, Bob Cousy, K.C. Jones. Actually, I could include most of the old
Celtics teams. Tenley Albright. And most of the UCONN women’s basketball teams.
But “Number
Four, Bobby Orr!” has a special place on that list.
His
knees gave out after just twelve seasons, but over that span he was simply
amazing. He revolutionized the game. His end to end rushes were astonishing. You
did not have to know anything about hockey to know that you were watching
greatness. He was a defenseman who could outskate and outscore the forwards.
When he was killing a penalty, he was always a threat to score because when
they were short a man he had more ice to skate.
He
was not only the best hockey player who ever played, he was one of the most
dominant players in any sport. He won the Norris Trophy as the League’s best
defenseman eight times. In 1970 he won the Norris Trophy, the Hart Trophy (Most
Valuable Player), the Art Ross Trophy (scoring), the Conn Smythe Trophy (MVP of
the playoffs), and the Stanley Cup.
Three
years ago, on Bobby Orr’s sixty-fifth birthday, Bob Hohler wrote a story for
the Boston Globe talking about the quiet way that Orr has gone about doing
good.
Among the many stories that Hohler recounts, these are just snippets:
“When social studies teacher Christa McAuliffe died aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, Orr learned that members of her family were Bruins fans and he quietly traveled to Concord, NH., to visit.
"When former Bruin Ace Bailey died aboard a hijacked airliner that struck the World Trade Center in New York during the 2001 terrorist attacks, Orr turned up the next morning at the door of Bailey’s widow, Katherine.”
“‘Bobby will always have a place in my heart,’ she said.
“When Orr learned last year that James Gordon, a hockey player at Hingham High School, was fighting testicular cancer, he called Gordon’s mother, Terry, and asked to visit.
“Orr chatted for several hours with James, his family, and friends, spending much of the time holding Terry’s daughter, Jenna, who has Down syndrome.
“Orr posed for pictures with everyone in the house. He later mailed them autographed photos with personal messages, having remembered the name of each family member and friend as if he had known them for years.
“Terry Gordon, still in awe months later, said, ‘Who does that?’’’
Decades ago he rescued
teammate Derek Sanderson from drugs and booze and took him to detox.
Hohler reports that Sanderson
relapsed over and over and Orr picked him up every time and paid for his
treatment. Eventually he was able
to help Sanderson begin a new life as a financial adviser. “He helped save
me,’’ said Sanderson, who has been sober since 1980. “Bobby knew it wasn’t
going to be an easy process, and he never gave up. He was always there.’’
Among all of the almost too
good to be true stories about Bobby Orr, one of the best is told by Robin
Young, who now works for NPR.
She sat next to Orr on a
flight to Martha’s Vineyard where he was participating in a charity event
hosted by Celtics great John Havlicek. The plane encountered extreme turbulence
and mechanical problems and they shared an intense moment together.
The next night as Young
left her hotel to go out for a walk, Orr surprised her by heading out with her.
She thought, “Oh, God,
what’s going on here?”
“I always thought of
Bobby as a gentleman, happily married, the golden boy,” she said. “I’m
thinking, ‘Please don’t disappoint me.’ ”
They walked down a
narrow lane to the harbor. It was a beautiful evening. The water, Young said, was
shimmering in the night, and she was afraid that Orr would make a pass at her.
As they stood uncomfortably,
Young suggested that they should go back to the hotel and Orr agreed.
When they got back to
the hotel, Orr said, “Listen, Robin, you’re a young, lovely woman. Please tell
me you’re not going to walk alone by yourself again after dark. Good night.’ ’’
Thank you for reading. Your thoughts and comments are always
welcome. Please feel free to share on social media as you wish.
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