makes me recall this article about keith'
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They say the older you get, the faster time goes by. But it?s not difficult to understand why the last 10 months have been the longest of of Rob Ramage?s life.
December 15th, 2003 started out as a sad day anyway. Ramage and retired Blackhawk Keith Magnuson were at a funeral home outside of Toronto to pay their respects to fellow NHL Alumni executive Keith McCreary, who succumbed to cancer six days earlier. On the way back, Ramage?s rental car crossed into oncoming traffic and struck an SUV, killing Magnuson instantly. Ramage suffered a dislocated hip, but was otherwise physically unharmed.
He was charged with impaired driving causing death, though. And dangerous driving causing death. And operating a vehicle over Ontario?s .08 legal limit for blood-alcohol content. If convicted, Ramage faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.
Although far from a run-of-the-mill story, it wasn?t as uncommon as we?d prefer. The otherwise anonymous names newscasters read out barely register to most of us as the images of wrecked cars and ambulances creep across our TV screens. We?re used to automatically and abruptly ostracizing those tainted by the accusation they were drunk and behind the wheel. It?s easier to digest when our tragedies break down into good guy/bad guy terms.
They don?t break down nearly as easily in Ramage?s case. This was someone renowned in his playing days for being one of the most thoughtful teammates you could ever hope to have. This was someone who found the time, between his job as a St. Louis stockbroker and his commitment to coach a local pee-wee hockey team, to help his fellow retired NHLers in any way they needed. They didn?t come any classier than Rob Ramage. They still don?t.
That?s what?s so hard to reconcile, 10 months after we lost Keith Magnuson. You can?t simply dismiss Ramage as just another guy whose selfish decision deserves the harshest of punishments, because you understand the makeup of the man. His countless good deeds, on and off the ice, shouldn?t be dismissed simply because of one horribly unfortunate move. People are far more than the sum of their worst or best day.
Besides, anyone who thinks the former Maple Leafs captain?s worst punishment isn?t already upon him is terribly mistaken. Like Craig MacTavish and Dany Heatley, Ramage will have to bear the mental weight of his involvement in an accident that resulted in a loss of life. There is no parole from that sort of sentence. There is no set fine you pay to bring back a deceased friend.
Magnuson?s wife Cindy found the wherewithal to forgive Ramage. Her unimaginable sadness wasn?t enough to stop her from empathizing with the other person in the car. We could do worse as a society than to follow her example. We could do much worse than trying to help Ramage put his life back together, as opposed to shattering it any further.
Shortly after Magnuson?s death, The Hockey News received a letter from Eric Simpson of Los Angeles. In case you missed it, here?s an excerpt:
I worked for three years in the visitors? dressing room at the Forum in Los Angeles. As such, I had friends on every visiting team; every night of the week, I was either out to dinner with a player or up in the Forum Club having a drink with them after the game.
One night when the Flames were in town, (Ramage) and Joey Mullen pulled me aside and set me straight, as I seemed to be on course for a lifetime of alcoholism. Rob could see I didn?t look right and went out of his way to let me know of his concern for me. With their assistance, I saw the error of my ways and now live a very healthy lifestyle.
In my mind, Rob Ramage is a class act all the way.
Knowing the kind of person Rob Ramage is, we?d bet everything we owned that there are hundreds more people out there who know what Eric Simpson is talking about. Simpson?s letter is worth remembering in the coming months, when the spotlight refocuses on the tragedy. It is worth keeping in mind when the case goes before the courts, when the lawyers try to illustrate Ramage?s actions using only black and white paint.
It?s easy to say Rob Ramage didn?t pay the ultimate penalty, the one paid by Keith Magnuson, on his way home from Keith McCreary?s funeral 10 months ago. But that may not be accurate. With every beat of his heart, Ramage pays for what happened in that rental car. He cannot undo the past, so he copes as best he can and tries to make the positive impact he made so often before that awful December day.
And that should be penance enough.
