My interest in hockey waxes and wanes. My interest in the NHL is currently at an all-time low, but with the NHL All-Star Weekend descending on my little hamlet, I guess there’s no point in resistance. So, in the spirit of surrender, I giver you Gary Dimmock.
Gary Dimmock is a crime reporter with the Ottawa Citizen. More importantly, he’s a damned fine writer. He maintains a blog, Crimegarden (currently residing here, but his older posts can be found here). About a year ago, he wrote about the life of Mike Danton (nee Mike Jefferson), a troubled professional hockey player who went to jail for his role in the attempted murder of his agent, David Frost. It’s a sad but riveting story of a deeply troubled young man:
Mike Danton was a mistake.
And on the day he was born, Oct. 21, 1980, his father, Steve Jefferson, got kicked out of the hospital for showing up late after a night of drinking.
In many ways, Mike’s story begins with his “real,” or biological, father, Steve Jefferson. Since his son’s arrest, trial and conviction, Steve Jefferson has been on television and in the news pages blaming Dave Frost for all of his son’s troubles.
It’s not that simple. Frost may have come to dominate Danton’s life when he was young, but sons don’t disavow fathers — or drop their father’s name as Danton did — without some compelling reason. In the case of Mike Jefferson-turned-Mike Danton, that reason might well go back to the day he was born.
I read that article. It was excellent, very emotionally compelling.