There are lots of stories out there about Ralph Beard, who died yesterday at 79. Lots of them, all over the Internet, some good, some bad.
Don't worry if you don't read any of them. Very few are worth even the time it takes to read the headline ... except for one.
Everybody in the media has long since made up their mind about Ralph Beard, and for most, this is merely an exercise in re-writing what they have already written over and over again through the years.
Rick Bozich has penned what is perhaps the most moving and honest story about Ralph Beard I have ever read. It brought tears to my eyes, and improved Bozich's standing with me (and most likely among the Big Blue Faithful) more than he can ever know. It remembers Beard exactly the way he would want to be remembered, and how most of the Big Blue Nation remembers him themselves. It is a story that takes the good, and the bad, and looks at them honestly and without prejudice. Finding that in the media today is the proverbial needle in a haystack.
If you don't read another article about Beard, read this one. But bring a hankie.