Rest in Peace- Coach Eddie Burke

I lost an important person in my life yesterday, and a great man, Eddie Burke. He was my high school basketball coach, and as Phil Martelli, the coach of St. Joe's University, said about Coach Burke in the Philadelphia Inquirer article this morning, "anyone that has played high school sports knows, your coach is so much more than that," that was what Coach Burke was to me, he was more than just a Coach, and thankfully became a great friend. I will miss him tremendously! One great story, and there are millions, because he was Irish.

My senior year, we were 4-0 to start the year, and in 1st place in the Catholic South, we were playing Roman Catholic on a Friday afternoon, who was ranked #5 in the country, with 2 future NBA players, and 6 future division 1 players. It would not be an overstatement to say they were loaded. The school had to close the doors to the outside, because the gym had become so crowded, and we went on to play one of our best games of the season, but we lost at the end of the game. As our team sat in the locker-room, we were so disappointed because we had one of the best teams in the country on the ropes, and Coach Burke came in,I can still remember it like it was yesterday and said, "I am really proud of you guys," and that was all he said. What an amazing lesson, we did our absolute best, and he knew it, so I think it was one of his proudest moments as a coach, in a lose, because he cared more about teaching, than he did about his own ego, and he knew he was teaching. I learned so much from Coach Burke, and he was a great gift in my life!