A little more than a week ago, Bernie Boyle asked me to officiate the “Boyles’ Buddies” basketball game.

The game is the Special Olympics version of the Burgman/Boyle Classic. The Butte High-Butte Central alumni portion of the event is no longer played, but the Special Olympians are making sure that the Burgman/Boyle legacy carries on.

Being asked to officiate is one of the best honors of my life because I think so highly of those Special Olympians. I also think the world of the Burgman and Boyle families. 

Immediately, a fun column popped into my head about refereeing that game, which will be played at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at East Middle School.

Special Olympians are the salt of the Earth. If they ruled the world, there would be no war and no hate. Rather, we would live in a world where everyone loved one another.

Just before I sat down to write that column, though, I watched the KXLF News and saw that the daughter of my old buddy Mark Doherty was killed in a head-on collision near Manhattan.

Delaney Doherty was only 17. The young woman, who was elected student body president at Manhattan High School for the 2023-24 school year, posed for her senior pictures just a few days before her death.

Hearing the news of her tragic passing brought me back to the morning of Aug. 10, 2015. That is when word spread that Kyle Burgman and Casey Boyle were killed in a crash while turning the corner from East Park Street to Shields Avenue.

Casey and Kyle both graduated from high school in 2006 — Casey from Butte Central and Kyle from Butte High. They were the best of friends who once faced each other in one of the best Butte High-Butte Central basketball games of all time.

Known as the “Burgman Game,” Kyle Burgman almost singlehandedly led the Bulldogs past the Maroons in a game that came down to the last shot at the Maroon Activities Center. While an ugly feud about playing the game in BC’s new arena threatened the rivalry, the players for the Bulldogs and Maroons made sure the game was one for the ages.

John Thatcher, Burgman’s coach at Butte High, said Kyle was one of the top 10 basketball players in Butte history. Nobody in his right mind would challenge Thatcher when it comes to basketball in the Mining City.

Kyle was also a great interview, much like his father, Dale. He was a young man who was nice to everyone. He was smart and funny.

Those same qualities defined Casey Boyle, who was particularly loved by the special needs students he taught and coached at Butte High.

Eight years after his death, those Special Olympians still love Casey like no teacher I have ever seen. That says so much about him because Special Olympians can seem to spot authenticity better than most. They are not fooled by the disingenuous.

While Kyle was one of my favorite athletes I ever covered as a sportswriter, Casey stood out to me because of his big heart.

In February of 2015, my grandpa passed away at the age of 89. It was a great run by a great man, but I was still heartbroken.

Casey was bartending at the Knights of Columbus the afternoon we held my grandpa’s funeral reception, and we had a long talk about my grandpa and life that, to this day, gives me much comfort.

It was during that conversation that Casey also strongly suggested that I watch Peaky Blinders on Netflix. That ranks as one of the all-time great recommendations.

Aug. 10, 2015 was one of the darkest days in the history of our town. We didn’t lose just one incredible young man with a bright future. We lost two of them.

We all hurt for the Burgman and Boyle families and the many friends of Casey and Kyle.

On Aug. 10, 2016, the first Burgman/Boyle Classic was played at the Butte Civic Center, and it raised money for the Burgman/Boyle Scholarship.

In the eight years since the tragedy, the Burgman and Boyle families raised and awarded more than $100,000 in scholarships to students of Butte High and Butte Central.

You cannot put into words how remarkable that is. They turned their hour of despair into a vehicle to help others.

It could never truly ease the pain or comfort the loss, but that scholarship speaks volumes about those families. They salvaged something good from an unspeakable tragedy.

Like with the Burgmans and Boyles, I also think the world of the Doherty family. Mark’s brother Scott was my best friend in high school. There were times when I spent more time at the Doherty residence than I did at my own house.

His parents, Dennis and Lynn, always treated me like I was one of their own. So, too, did his younger brothers, Mark and Mike.

Dennis started my first KC basketball team, and we had so much fun playing and fighting with some of the older players in the league alongside Dennis, Scott, Bill Melvin, Tommy Mullaney, Mikey Drew and an occasional ringer like Brian Noctor or Eddie Dunfee.

In 1997, I got to cover the Butte American Legion Old-Times Game for The Montana Standard, and I led the story with Mike striking out his older brother Mark. That was a big deal for Mike, a Butte Miner, because Mark was an outstanding player at the University of Jamestown.

I probably played up the brother angle more than I would have because I had so much fun talking with the brothers and their parents during and after the game.

Mark was a grade behind me, and we always got along well. He graduated from Butte Central in 1994.

For years, I followed Delaney growing up Mark’s Facebook posts, photos and videos. I think I paid more attention because my oldest daughter has the same name, and the same spelling.

I stopped seeing those posts in 2020. That’s when Mark and I got into an online argument about COVID-19.

Regrettably, I got a little self-righteous, and it cost me a Facebook friend. But it didn’t cost me a friend. Later that year, I wrote a column about a health scare that I went through, and Mark was the first person to send me a note wishing me well. 

In May of 2022, I saw Mark for the first time in years. He was at Stodden Park to watch his Delaney play softball for Manhattan during Butte Central’s LaVerne Combo Invitational. He introduced me to Delaney, and it was so great to see him beam with pride when he watched her roam the outfield for the Tigers.

What Mark and his wife, Chantel, are going through now is impossible to even fathom. My heart aches for them, Dennis and Lynn, the Doherty family and all of Delaney’s friends.

Their wound will never completely heal. A wonderful young woman was taken away from them way too soon.

Manhattan Youth Softball is already looking to honor Delaney by raising money to construct batting cages in her name at the high school field. You can donate money via Venmo (@manhattanyouthsoftball) or by sending a check to P.O. Box 810, Manhattan, MT, 59741.

There is absolutely no way that such a project will ease the great pain that will surely last a lifetime. Your donation, no matter how large, cannot bring her back. It cannot dry the tears.

But the project can help make sure the memory of Delaney Doherty lives on for generations to come. You can help turn the Doherty family’s hour of despair into a vehicle to help others.

You can help salvage a little bit of good from an unspeakable tragedy.

— Bill Foley can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74 before that billionaire weirdo ruins it. Listen to the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.