Tuesday Afternoon: Where The Butterflies Are Starting

--It was May 19, 1985, and the Philadelphia 76ers had just defeated Boston 115-104 in Philly to cut the Celtics' lead in the best-of-7 series to 3-1. The next game would be in Boston and a sixth game, if necessary, would be played in Philadelphia.
As the Celtics left the Spectrum floor in defeat, a Sixers' fan yelled at him: "Hey Larry, we'll see you back here for Game 6." Bird, not missing a step or an opportunity, shot back: "You've got a better chance of seeing God."--

From Larry Bird: An Indiana Legend


I know I said on Sunday night that I felt content, but forget all about that. These are the goddamned Boston Celtics we're talking about and I'll be damned if I'm going to let them go quietly against this bunch of pansies from a fake mickey mouse city where fans buy their spoiled kids (I will now always think of that kid as Spaulding from Caddyshack)front row seats, dress them up in "Beat Boston" shirts, and then complain about being too close to the players.

Bill Simmons said it best: if you want to know why people hate America so much, look no further than Orlando.


GET IT UP!

It's Spring

I got a text from LaRocque today that simply said, "It's a perfect day to take down a D'angelo's number nine for lunch." Three thoughts:

1. He's right.

2. The expression "take down" doesn't get enough play. Yes I'm the same guy that tried to get people to transition away from "spread like wildfire" to "spread like herpes". But in this case there really is a ton of untapped potential with "take down".

3. The text motivated me to write the following post, which has been in the back of my mind for a week or so.

Last Wednesday I walked out my front door to make the short walk to work and it hit me - it was nice outside. I should preface this by saying I live in New Hampshire and the last couple of winters have been abysmal. Maybe it's because I don't like outdoor winter sports. Maybe I'm just getting older. Whatever the reason San Diego or any other place that's warm and has reliable water is looking more and more appealing. However, back to last week. For the first time it was warm and there was not a doubt in my mind what I would be doing that night - grilling steak. It was noticeably more upbeat at work, the day went quicker and I can't adequately describe how awesome it was to break out the grill for the first time all season.

Not to go all Hallmark here but the coming of spring made me think about the Boston Celtics. Stay with me on this one. I loved everything about the 2008 Celtics squad and a lot of other people did too. Yet I'd argue that banner 17 meant a lot more to people who watched large chunks of the 2007 Celtics, got excited by the 1998 season opener and have opinions on Orien Greene, or anybody else who walked through the door since Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish stopped doing so. I beg you to look at those previous two links. The former is downright comical at this point. The latter sums up the Orien Greene era better than I ever could. Regardless I'm convinced that people who stopped watching the C's sometime in the early 90s simply didn't enjoy last season as much as I did.

And that brings me to the point of this post. I don't care what happens from this point forward. Even if Kevin Garnett is forced to retire and the Celtics fall into mediocrity I will never say a bad thing about the KG trade. It was fantastic to watch Paul Pierce change his entire legacy with a Finals MVP performance. It's impossible to judge how much playing for a winning, defensive juggernaut did for Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo, and to a lesser extent Glen Davis and Leon Powe. Bottom line Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Al Jefferson, and whoever else was not winning a title.