Brent Sopel said the Chicago Gay Pride Parade was “awesome, amazing.”
The Stanley Cup champion from the Chicago Blackhawks, who actually was traded to Atlanta earlier this week, rode on the Chicago Gay Hockey Association (CGHA) float for the parade on Sunday. Sopel brought the Stanley Cup and raised it over his head no less than 10 times along the route.
More and pics after the jump.
“I had a great time, way better than I expected,” Sopel said in an exclusive post-parade interview. “It was more (fun) than I expected; it was a blast. Everyone was fun, everyone was dancing. But, at the end of the day, I hope it raised some awareness.”
For Brendan Burke, the son of Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke. The younger Burke, who was a manager for the Miami (Ohio) University hockey team, revealed he was gay last November and sadly was killed in a car crash this past February in Indiana. Sopel wore a green shamrock with the initials BB inscribed on it on his red Blackhawks uniform in the parade. Members of the CGHA also had BB printed on special white parade t-shirts and red jerseys.
“I wasn’t here to advocate (anything), but if coming here helps break down walls in the meantime, so be it. I was here for Brendan,” said Sopel, who rode on the float with his wife. “I hope he is smiling (from heaven).”
Sopel met the late Burke several times. “He was a very unique individual,” Sopel said. “For him to come out, and then die a few months later …when you’re a parent and you have to bury a kid, it’s just heartbreaking.”
So, when will there be an openly gay athlete in one of the four major sports?
“I don’t know. I’m sure someday there will be, but when that time is, I’m not sure,” Sopel said. He added that he would support a teammate who came out of the closet while playing.
Added Andrew Sobotka, president of the CGHA: “It worked out perfectly, better than we expected. The weather. The crowd. Sopel. The Cup. Everything was in place. It was great.”
You can read more from Ross Forman on his blog.
on Jun 28th, 2010 at 8:48 AM
The parade was actually Sunday (6/27), not Saturday (6/26). But it was, in fact, awesome to see the Cup and Brent and the CGHA float.
on Jun 28th, 2010 at 11:31 AM
Question, I’ve always been curious and this is as good a time as any to ask: Why are some words in the quote in ( )?
“I wasn’t here to advocate (anything), but if coming here helps break down walls in the meantime, so be it. I was here for Brendan,” said Sopel, who rode on the float with his wife. “I hope he is smiling (from heaven).”
Is that the writer’s addition? I see this done in other articles and I’m wondering why they need to be in () if the person actually said it. Is it the writer just adding their own assumption? Like, does Sopel really think Brendan is in heaven? Or was the writer adding his two cents?
on Jun 28th, 2010 at 12:37 PM
Mike,
If I said “I believe they are used when a speaker leaves something out in order for the quotation to make sense to the reader.” You would write:
I believe (parentheticals) are used when a speaker leaves something out in order for the quotation to make make sense to the reader.
on Jun 28th, 2010 at 1:51 PM
Way to go Brent – great story. Welcome to Atlanta!
on Jun 28th, 2010 at 7:22 PM
Where’s the Ernie Banks photo? Did the Cubs back out on Pride?
on Jun 28th, 2010 at 7:41 PM
Ernie Banks was there. The Cubs didn’t back out.
on Jun 29th, 2010 at 1:13 AM
Brent Sopel is the classiest guy in America right now. Not only did he ride in the gay pride parade, with the Stanley Cup, but he broke down a huge barrier with the perception of professional athletes. This has to be the first time a major sports team was represented in a gay parade.
And he did this the week AFTER he was traded away from Chicago. Your kids are looking for heroes? Here is a great example of someone they can look up to. Patrick Koehn makes jokes about beating up cab drivers and everyone falls all over him. Brent Sopel shows respect for a friend by honoring his son-let’s make sure he gets twice as much attention for it.
on Jun 29th, 2010 at 2:32 PM
Well, here we go again with everyone has to accept that gay is right but no one has to accept that God himself said that man should not lay with man. I do not believe that Brent did anything good for any child to look at him as any kind of hero. Why does this particular group always seem to be demanding that everyone accepts them but but they can not and do not accept that others think and feel that they are a joke and a perversion. Stop letting the minority rule.
on Jun 29th, 2010 at 5:14 PM
Different Mike? Yet another goofie brain dead Christian wing nut on a GAY sports site making moronic comments?! I was hoping they would stick to haunting towleroad and theadvocate
on Jun 29th, 2010 at 9:24 PM
Ignorant Mike, the same God who said that a man lying with a man is an abomination said that eating shellfish is also an abomination. I assume you’ll be firebombing Red Lobster when you stop cruising a gay sports site. Oh yeah, and He sanctioned owning slaves. OK with you?
The Parade was amazing. Brent Sopel was and is amazing. The Cubs and Ernie Banks were amazing. (Sorry, Ignorant Mike, but the Cubs are now part owned by a lesbian. That must really bum you out.)
This is a moment that we will look back on and recognize that it was an important step forward. We were so happy to be part of it.
on Jun 30th, 2010 at 12:37 AM
We need more people like Brent Sopel, and less like ignorant Mike.
on Jun 30th, 2010 at 2:33 AM
I’m just beginning to realize that so many people love sports – I’m more a techy and not terribly interested in all those people who are screaming while some super-multimillion $$ guy catches a ball.
But lots of people do that very sort of thing – worship their sports hero.
And that is my enlightenment for me tonight.
Bottom line – getting gay players out of the closet is perhaps the single most important thing we can do to get all those macho dreaming guys, and chicks, realizing that their heros are gay.
And another of the wicked gates of the virtual ghetto that is called the closet, will be blown open.
And the homophobic churches will see themselves becoming like the churches in Europe.
Crumbling structures, where – this is what I hear from my friends in Europe – the only people who show up are widows etc looking for a new partner .
And manking will have made a great advance.
on Jun 30th, 2010 at 7:48 AM
Mike-Usually the parentheses are in place for context. He probably either explained what was in the parentheses later on in the interview or (more likely) as a response to a follow-up question asked by the interviewer. Usually it’s something the interviewee actually said and not the interviewer filling in their own thoughts.
I don’t know if you’re the same Mike who asked the ignorant questions later on, but I don’t see anyone asking for “special” rights, only equal rights, protection from discrimination and acceptance. The bible also says that you shouldn’t eat shellfish, wear clothes with different kinds of fabric or cut your hair. If you went to the parade, you would have seen a lot of religious people and church groups supporting the gay community, with many of them supporting same-sex marriage.
Either way, it was so great he came to the parade, brought his family and was able to share the Cup with the great crowds lining Halsted and Broadway and remember a friend who died too soon. I was also glad to see Ernie Banks representing the Cubs, and hopefully in the future, we will see floats from the Bears, Bulls and Wolves. I’d even be a big enough man to cheer for the White Sox if they brought a float up to the north side!
on Jun 30th, 2010 at 1:22 PM
For the record, I’m the Mike that asked the question about the parenthesis use…not the basher. Two different people.
And thanks for the answer
on Jul 3rd, 2010 at 10:28 AM
Those parentheses are odd because the standard for inserted or substituted words, in both literature and journalism, is to use [square brackets].
This makes sense, because that leaves parentheses available for, well, parenthetical material. Those (of course) are more usual when quoting from writing than from speech.
on Jul 3rd, 2010 at 3:41 PM
Yes Mike the supposed Christian-
i suppose you think the children would have been better off somewhere closer to god, like maybe with a catholic priest. I am sure in a few years when you stop hating yourself, you will come out of the closet and join the parade. In the mean time, keep “accidentally” visiting these gay-themed websites. Everyone is welcome.