A Time to Honor Charity

Visiting Kings had been entertained by the White House on many occasions before, but this one was in town for the day from Los Angeles, not Sweden or someplace.

Actually, Bob Bourne was supposed to be elsewhere a week ago Monday, playing the New Jersey Devils, instead of playing the Washington capital. He was supposed to be shooting pucks, not schmoozing with the President at the oval office.

At one point he even decided not to go to D.C. for the day, since he felt an obligation to the Kings, but the team’s new coach, Robbie Ftorek, persuaded him to take the time off, acknowledging that it’s not everyday the Prez is waiting to shake your hand.

So, Mr. Bourne went to Washington, where he had “one of the best days I’ve ever had.”

The day began with a luncheon, at which the King center/wing met, for the first time, the seven other Sports Illustrated sportsmen and sportswomen of the year for 1987, Olympic runners Kip Keino and Judi Brown King, baseball player Dale Murphy, college football player Chip Rives, golfer Patty Sheehan, basketball player Rory Sparrow, pro football player Reggie Williams.

They compared notes about what had merited their selection--mainly, a willingness to supply faith, hope and charity to those who really need such things, at a time when the world can use all the unselfishness it can get.

“Everybody was leafing through copies of the magazine, catching up on one another’s stories,” Bourne said.

Afterward, the athletes and their spouses walked across Pennsylvania Avenue to Rancho Reagan. Even though they were there to be honored, all of them had been asked to supply in advance their social security numbers and birth dates, just to be safe, and had to step through the obligatory metal detector.

Only the eight athletes were planning to attend, but, at the last minute, their partners were invited, too, and that meant another hasty security check. Janice Bourne hadn’t been sure she could go, because she and Bob were having some difficulty finding somebody to look after their children. Eventually, though, she was able to make the trip.

After a short wait in the Roosevelt Room, the athletes, one by one, were asked into the oval office for a brief private visit with President Reagan, and to be photographed with him. A football player on film and in real life, Ronald Reagan had no hockey experience, to Bourne’s knowledge.

“Not unless he played some with that gorilla,” Bourne said.

Gorilla?

“You know. Bonzo,” Bourne said.

Later, the whole group assembled for a team picture. And that was when the President said how proud he was to have these eight people in the same room with him.

“My eyes were already huge at that point, just from looking around,” Bourne said. “Then to hear the President of the United States say he’s proud to know you, well, it sounds corny, but it really gets to you.”

Feeling a little guilty about missing that night’s game, Bourne was glad he didn’t have to race for a plane to New York. His sore knee was bothering him, and standing up all afternoon at the White House hadn’t helped it any.

So, he and Janice just went to the Smithsonian museum and played tourist for a while, and then Bob rejoined the Kings for the rest of their nine-day trip.

Most of the other players asked him about the White House, which their 33-year-old teammate had just seen for the second time. After he and the New York Islanders had won the fourth of their four straight Stanley Cups in 1983, they spent a day in the Rose Garden.

Also eager to hear about the experience was the Bournes’ 8-year-old son, Jeffrey. It gave Bob a big smile to hear his son ask, “So, Dad, how was the President?” especially since he was the true inspiration behind his father’s sportsman-of-the-year award in the first place.

Jeff Bourne is afflicted with a cruel malady called spina bifida, an imperfect closure of part of the spinal column. He has had to endure a dozen operations, and still has spine damage and leg braces. On top of that, a few weeks ago, Jeff also was discovered to be suffering from scoliosis, a lateral curvature of the spine, which has added a plastic chest brace to the ones that he already wears from thigh to toe.

As a family, the Bournes for many years have been devoted to charity, much of it to the nonprofit New Interdisciplinary School for Handicapped Children in Medford, N.Y., where their son underwent a great deal of his therapy. Involving the Islanders and their wives in several fund-raising functions, Bob and Janice were able to help donate more than $80,000 for research, equipment and classrooms.

It was a hard adjustment, as well as a culture shock, when, after 11 seasons in New York, the team decided not to protect Bourne on its waiver list, freeing the Kings to stake a claim to him. Little by little he has gotten used to his new environment, and at times it is even a preferable one, as when he got off the team plane Tuesday and “didn’t see a trace of that snow that we left behind.”

Funny thing about Los Angeles, Bourne said. Although the crowd support isn’t nearly what it was back East, in some ways he senses a dedication that wasn’t there in New York.

“Ever since we came out here, we’ve actually found more support, more interest in charity projects than we ever saw back in New York. I have no idea why. The people here just seem to be very interested in what you’re doing away from the game. They always act like they want to get involved, like they want to know more about whatever you’re doing. It’s nice.”

He wishes, naturally, that he could offer the fans a little more on the ice, regretting that the Kings happen to have the National Hockey League’s worst record.

“I think we’re headed in the right direction. I can honestly say that,” Bourne said. “We’re not going to fool ourselves and say we’ve got everything straightened out. Right now we’ve got a lot of young guys who haven’t been around enough, guys who try to do more than they should out there, because they’re over-anxious. But, it’s coming. They’re getting there.”

Bourne probably won’t be around when the Kings finally arrive. He has only one more year left on his contract, and calls the odds on retirement about 50-50.

A licensed stockbroker, Bourne is just about ready to go into business near the family’s new home in British Columbia. Considering what the market has been up to, he is glad he kept his skates on this long.

“My wife was just telling me a few weeks ago, ‘Thank God you didn’t quit your old job yet,’ ” Bourne said.

They say good things sometimes come to those who wait. Even better, good things sometimes happen to good people.