In this business, you often have to cover unpleasant things. And sometimes, people you genuinely like get caught up in them.
Good reporters are supposed to put those feelings aside and focus on the story. Needless to say, that’s not easy.
I had my share of those moments in 41 years at The Item — 19 as sports editor. However, there were none harder than the winter of 2009-10, when Lynn English was aiming for a state title in boys basketball, with Buzzy Barton in the midst of a fabulously successful run as head coach.
From the minute he took that job until the time he left, Buzzy was in the middle of a maelstrom — not all of it his fault.
He got the job under strange circumstances. Charlestown’s Jack O’Brien was supposed to be the legendary Ron Bennett’s successor. Principal Andy Fila even had a good old-fashioned media party in the old English gym — now the library — to introduce O’Brien — who was a legend in his own right.
But O’Brien got cold feet, didn’t show up on the first day of tryouts, and Fila turned to Buzzy. Then, as soon as Buzzy was introduced, former mayor Edward J. “Chip” Clancy tried to have the appointment rescinded because Buzzy was collecting disability pay from the city for a back injury suffered while he was a firefighter. Clancy said he was protecting the city in the event Buzzy hurt himself while in the act of coaching.
Were there other, underlying reasons? Perhaps. I’ve been at this a long time and I’ve never seen a mayor object so vociferously to a coaching appointment. Buzzy took the high road, choosing not to comment, and ultimately prevailed.
Next came rumors that English was importing players from Boston. And while nobody ever accused Buzzy of initiating this skullduggery, the general feeling was that he had to have known. To be fair, English is certainly not the first school — nor the last one — to be accused of recruiting illegally.
These things are never truly cut and dried. How can anybody prove, or disprove, that a player is struggling in an abominable family situation? Or that a coach in Lynn has “discovered” the player and found a kindly Dutch uncle to take him in?
Another principal called out English, and, after a hearing, Buzzy was suspended by the MIAA for the 2010 tournament, likely costing the Bulldogs a second straight shot at a Division 1 state title (the ‘Dogs lost the state final in 2009, and ended up falling in the sectional semifinal in 2010).
Buzzy could have named names if he really wanted to. But all he ever wanted to do was coach. This isn’t to say he was oblivious to what was going on, but if no one had done anything, I’m convinced he’d have been just as happy.
I’m sure he said things off the record to friends he trusted. But I, as a media person, was obviously not in that camp, even though we had a warm, very cordial relationship. Officially, he took the bullet and stayed home.
There were always whispers that Buzzy was not a good Xs and Os man, and to some degree that was true. But he had assistants who more than made up for that — first Jimmy Silvio and then Mike Carr Jr.
Buzzy was the “good cop,” the guy who kept things under control and all the egos in check. High school kids, even the best of them, can be fragile and Buzzy had the knowledge and instinct to see that and handle it. Thus, Silvio and Carr could focus on strategy.
Buzzy has been lauded for all he did for Lynn — and justifiably so. He was one of those people who simply held the city together behind the scenes. His death doesn’t just leave a void in Lynn; it carves a chasm that extends right through its heart.
More than anything else, Buzzy Barton was a beacon of class wherever he went. May he rest in peace.
