Ticky Burden's record falls
It had been eight months since I thought about Ticky Burden, the former Ute All-American basketball player.
I wrote a story in February about his struggle to help his wife overcome breast cancer, and the fact he hadn’t been named to the school’s All Century team.
Then last weekend, someone brought him up, in conjunction with the story I wrote.
Yesterday, I Googled his name to see if any progress had been made toward his goal to make a movie about his life, and in the process defray the cost of their medical bills. There wasn’t any mention of that. But a New York Daily News article that said Burden’s Team USA scoring record was passed by Kevin Durant this year.
When Burden talks about his career, it may seem boastful in print. But in person he is both likable and good natured. He chuckles when he talks about his scoring stats and leaves you to make your own conclusions.
I don’t know what to believe regarding his claim that he was falsely accused of a crime as a younger man. He did end up doing time. But his claim seems believable to me, because I’ve seen what he’s done afterward, raising a family, working at a YWCA, living what appears to be a good life.
Here’s hoping he gets the assistance he and his wife need to help lighten their burden.