Larry French column: 'Team Brucie' scores with a fitting tribute to Corning's Devin Brucie
Losing a close and dear friend is a very difficult endeavor to say the least. It’s almost like losing a member of your family. Many people in this community were very saddened by the unexpected death of Devin Brucie in April of last year.
Devin was a wonderful young man who enjoyed working with youngsters and his untimely death affected a great number of people. It truly affected two of his closest friends and fellow self-confessed basketball junkies. After the loss of their close friend, John Abercrombie and Brian Rose spent the better part of a year trying to come up with something to do to honor their late friend.
After a few ideas that didn’t make sense, they came across a flyer about a Gus Macker 3 on 3 basketball tournament that was scheduled to take place in Ithaca. These events are very popular and are held all over the country with a number of them in the Northeast. And these guys have played in a number of Macker events over the years.
Needing a third guy, John and Brian reached out to another close friend of Devin, Pat Coates from Norwich. Pat loved the idea and was all in. Team Brucie was born.
Games on Saturday were played to determine the seeding for the finals that would be played on Sunday. Team Brucie lost its first game by two points. They got off to a great start in game two, but an errant elbow created an interesting situation for the good guys. John, not as quick as he used to be, caught a sharp elbow under the hoop attempting to block a shot.
It was nasty, with blood gushing out.
He was advised by Bob and Deb Brucie, Devin’s parents, who would not have missed this event for anything, to get to the medical tent. Good advice. After the Cayuga Medical Center staff closed the wound with a couple of butterfly bandages and glue, John was good to go.
During his absence, Brian and Pat were stuck in a two on three situation. Who needs a sub, anyway? With Adrian’s encouragement (just kidding, she was still hanging with Rocky) John got right back into the fray with Team Brucie trailing by three buckets. That contest turned into Comeback City, with all three guys nailing big shots and they went on to win by two. Game three was another close loss, so they would go into Sunday as the third seed.
Seeding is just that. They plant the seeds and see what grows. Team Brucie just grew stronger with every game. After winning their first two games on Sunday, Team Brucie found itself in the title game. It turned out to be a back and forth affair that ended with Team Brucie claiming a close victory and the championship trophy. My guess is that trophy has found a prominent place in the Brucie household.
What an appropriate tribute to a friend.
So, three basketball junkies (are they too old be called gym rats?) got together to honor the memory of their friend. Their mindset going into the event was "If we win, we win, If we lose, we lose." It was a gamble not having a fourth player who might be needed in case of injury. That case did happen, but things happen for a reason.
That fourth player wasn’t on the floor at that tournament, but that fourth player was there. You have to believe that.
Losing a close friend can be devastating, but you will always have the memories. No one can take that away from you. Being able to honor a friend in any kind of situation is truly remarkable. John, Brian and Pat showed that, with the attitude of not winning or losing being the ultimate thing, they were able to honor their friend Devin with the perfect tribute.
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Golf tournament to support Corning food pantry
Circle this date on your golf calendar: Saturday, Sept. 16. That’s the date for the Annual Corning Community Food Pantry Golf Tournament.
This captain and crew format will tee it up at noon at Willowcreek Golf Club in Big Flats. Entry fee is $400 per four-person team which will include golf with cart, lunch at the turn, dinner and awards.
For more information, check out their website. Just google Corning Community Food Pantry. Entry blanks are available on the site and at the golf course.
— Larry French writes a weekly column.
This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Friends honor memory of Corning's Devin Brucie with Gus Macker title
