There Comes A Time In The Life Of A Young Athlete. . . When some hard truths come into focus. It's a moment when one realizes that the sport you've loved to play all your life has begun to get away from you. The kids are bigger and faster, and you begin to realize that there is an absloute ceiling to your physical talents. It's at that moment that you make a decison -- to give up the game and lose yourself in other pursuits; or to bear down, and rely on sheer force of will to stay competitive.
For me, that moment came pretty early, sometime around my 11th birthday. And when it happened, I can distinctly remember thinking that I might not be the most talented, but if I work as hard as Terry O'Reilly, maybe one day I can play in the NHL.
Well, I did bear down as hard as I could, but in the end I just didn't have the desire anymore to stick with it. But then again, we honor athletes like O'Reilly because that sort of spirit of dedication and sacrifice is an uncommon virtue. And that's why tonight in Boston they will raise #24 to the rafters to take his place beside all of the other greats in Bruins history. Over at the Boston Globe, John Powers and Kevin Paul Dupont do their best to put his career in perspective. Meanwhile, the Boston Herald goes all out in dedicating it's entire Bruins section to O'Reilly's career.
Congratulations to one of the toughest and most dedicated men to ever don the black and gold in Boston. You've earned it, Terry.
UPDATE: Check out the great O'Reilly story in the comments box below.
