Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season was always my favorite day of the year.

It is the time of eternal optimism, when everyone’s team is still in the running. It also means nice weather is coming, and there will be something good to watch on television nearly every day for the next six months.

Opening Day of the NFL and college football seasons are also days that I look forward to. Other than the weather aspect, the reason I count down the days to football season is pretty much the same as baseball.

For at least a few weeks, the Chicago Bears are not yet mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

For as long as I can remember, I always looked forward to the Butte High vs. Butte Central basketball games. When the boys and girls of those two schools get together, something great always happens. Plus, the games always bring the attention of the entire city together.

Over the last decade, though, my favorite sporting event is none of the above. Instead, I look forward to the Boyle’s Buddies game that is played every Aug. 10 in Butte.

The Boyle’s Buddies game is a Special Olympics game that was started as the warmup act for the Burgman/Boyle Classic, which was first played in 2016. The Burgman/Boyle Classic was a Butte High-Butte Central alumni game that started on the one-year anniversary of the tragic death of Butte friends Kyle Burgman and Casey Boyle.

Burgman and Boyle, both 28, were killed in an early-morning crash where East Park Street turns into Shields Avenue on Aug. 10, 2015.

While the alumni game never returned after the COVID pandemic wiped out the 2020 games, the Boyle’s Buddies game lives on. The latest addition will be played again at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10 at East Middle School.

The game is special for many reasons. A couple of them stand out to me.

First, the game is an incredible example of turning a tragedy into something good. Like the McCarthy family did following the death of 14-year-old Mariah McCarthy in 2007, the Burgman and Boyle families scrambled to find a positive in an unspeakable tragedy.

The strength that it took those families to do that is impossible to measure.

The Burgman/Boyle Classic started as a fundraiser for the Burgman/Boyle Scholarship. As of this Aug. 10, the scholarship will have awarded $122,000 to students of Butte High and Butte Central. That is pretty amazing, to say the least.

Second, the game is a celebration of two incredible and memorable young men. Kyle was so much fun to watch when he played basketball at Butte High. He was gutsy, tough and clutch.

As a sophomore, Kyle hit a 3-pointer in the opening game of Class AA State tournament in Missoula. That baseline shot signaled to the Bulldog crowd that Butte High was about to beat Bozeman. He was then part of what I think is the best Butte High basketball team since the 1989 and 1990 teams in 2006.

Burgman and the Bulldogs did not win the State title. The team was shaken when junior star Tyler Gilder fractured his skull on the Butte Civic Center floor after he was undercut by a Great Falls High player, and the Bulldogs dropped the opener of the State tournament.

But Butte battled back to take third place, destroying tournament favorite Billings West along the way.

Butte High beat Butte Central 53-51 that season in the Maroon Activities Center. While our city fought about where to play the boys’ and girls’ games that year, the Maroons and Bulldogs just focused on playing. The result was maybe the greatest game in the history of the boys’ rivalry.

Kyle scored a career-high 30 points in that game, and BC coach Brodie Kelly called him “unstoppable” after the game.

Casey’s name did not show up in the boxscore of that game, but he was a member of the team. He was not a star, but he was one of those selfless role players who came off the bench.

I noticed Casey a lot more when he was in the student section, cheering on the Butte Central girls’ teams. He was always the life of the party in the student section.

Casey was also the life of the party in the classroom, as far as the special education students are concerned. Those students loved Casey as a teacher and a coach. They loved him so much, that they will never forget him.

They will also never let the Boyle’s Buddies game ever go away. It is just too important to them.

Players like Zach Stenson, Dalan Dagen, David Macumber, Christian Schock, Tristan Grogan, Bryce “Smiley” Bailey, Josh Mota, Kallie Robbins, Joe Gibson and Jalen “Hollywood” Foley will make sure the game is played every Aug. 10 until the end of time.

I’ve been to the game so many times that a handful of those Special Olympians are now my good friends. There are no more kind and loyal friends than Special Olympians, either.

When I go out to an event like “Music On Main,” I usually end up hanging out with my friends from the Boyle’s Buddies game.

Special Olympians are also the best when it comes to sportsmanship. Just about everyone can learn a thing or two about the true meaning of athletic competition by watching a Special Olympics event.

They play to win, but most Special Olympians are more concerned with involving all of their teammates and having fun than they are with the final score.

You very rarely — if ever — see any taunting of opponents. You very rarely see parents complaining about playing time or points scored. Instead, you see sportsmanship at its finest.

Watching the Special Olympics will help you put sporting events into better perspective. You can see some pretty amazing athletes compete, too.

If you have never been to a Special Olympics game before — or even if you’ve been to bunch — you should check out the Boyle’s Buddies game this Aug. 10, and every Aug. 10 that follows to see what I mean.

The game will put a smile on your face, even if the Boyle’s Buddies game comes with the reminder of such a sad day. The game will show you that something truly amazing can come out of a terrible tragedy.

So, come out and join me for this year’s Boyle’s Buddies game. It just might turn out to be your favorite sporting event of the year, too.

— Bill Foley, who also cannot wait unit the Bears open the season, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74. Listen to him on the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.