Terry Frei of the Denver Post fired for tweet about Japanese Indy 500 winner

I know Terry. I wouldn't say well, but enough.

We'd talk whenever we ran into each other on the hockey beat, and actually DM'ed each other several times in the days before the Tweet in question because I was reporting on a story about the Avalanche and he was looking for info.

The first time I saw the tweet, it was a screengrab because he'd deleted the original. I thought it was a joke like some of the fake ones shown here. Didn't see any of the apologies until the last one, missed it all. When I realized the truth, I was sick to my stomach.

Terry wrote a great book about the 1942 Wisconsin football team called "Third Down and a War to Go." Several years ago, I saw him write about it and asked where I could get a copy. I was surprised to receive one from him a few days later, complete with a nice note. (He also sent "Horns, Hogs and Nixon Coming" -- about the 1969 showdown between Arkansas and Texas.) They are both terrific reads.

His father, Jerry, played on the Wisconsin team. Much of the book is centred around Dave Schreiner, an All-American. Towards the end, it is revealed Schreiner died in Okinawa...and evidence suggests Japanese soldiers raised a white flag, faking a surrender that lured Schreiner to his death. It is, by far, the most passionate and memorable part of the book.

When I realized what Terry had done, I immediately thought of that passage.

It's no excuse. You can't do what Terry did. He deserved his punishment. But I feel very sad that his is how people are going to associate his name. Terry is a good, conscientious reporter, who, days before being fired, did an excellent/informative one-on-one with Josh Kroenke about the state of the Avalanche.

He made a terrible mistake, but I hope he climbs his way out of what must be a very deep hole. It's very hard to watch.