My fellow Boston fans... the 2000's are over

When the game ended at the Staples Center Thursday night and Kobe and company were crowned as repeat champions, a thought crept into my head:

This wouldn't have happened in the 2000s.
If this were the 2000s, the Celtics would have drained a bunch of threes in the last minute and the Lakers would come up just short.

That's the way the 2000s were for Boston teams it felt like.
But it is 2010 now... and despite some nitwits insistence that it isn't a new decade yet, the results on the field, on the court and in the rink suggest otherwise.

For so long, the Boston sports scene was a place of futility. And after the 1986 Celtics title it was barren of titles.

After the Celtics beat the Rockets that year you had the 1986 World Series and the legacy THAT gave Boston.

You had Magic's hook shot over the Celtics. That along with the deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis, the breakdown of Bird and the M.L. Carr and Rick Pitino years turned the once proud Celtics into just another team on the schedule.

You had the two Stanley Cup Finals where Edmonton waxed the Bruins (and the lights were shut off in the Garden during one of the games.)

You had the Patriots in the Super Bowl against the Packers, only to lose and the Bill Parcells/Robert Kraft Soap Opera hanging over the entire game. And let's face it, the Patriots were an afterthought in New England.

For 16 years that was it. The 1990s saw each Boston team sinking into irrelevance and the Yankees AND Lakers transformed themselves into dynasties by the beginning of the 21st Century.

It was tough being a Boston fan. We thought Drew Bledsoe, Joe Thornton, Antoine Walker, Mo Vaughn and Nomar Garciaparra would be the next great Boston sports hero... but all fell short.

Then came the 2000s.

And the change in Boston sports came without warning. The tuck rule went the Patriots way, but the Super Bowl was going to be yet another mismatch like the Bears in 1986 and the Packers in 1997. The Rams were going to kill them.

But when Vinatieri's field goal went through, I remember my friend and current workmate Jon Corbett yelling with disbelief "I can't believe the Patriots won the Super Bowl!"

It is hard for young Boston fans to understand how unbelievable this was. Using my theory that you don't really follow a sports team until you are 8 years old, there are 16 year olds who only know Boston sports as a place where championships are expected.

But between the 86 Celtics and the Patriots first Super Bowl win, there was a grand total of zero victory parades in Boston.

That's a 16 year gap. There were 24 year Boston fans where that Super Bowl was the first real memory of one of their teams winning.

Then they did it again... but when Grady left Pedro in too long, it looked like more of the same for the Red Sox. Sure the Pats could win, but the order of the universe was still the same.

Then Dave Roberts stole second... and anything became possible.

Could the Red Sox beat the Yankees?

Yes and in humiliating ways never seen before.

Could the Red Sox win a championship?

You bet... and like the Patriots, they could have MULTIPLE titles.

Could the Celtics be champs again? Why not? And why not have one of the biggest thumpin's in NBA history for a clincher against the Lakers no less?

Could the Patriots go undefeated in a regular season? Check the videotape!

Could the Red Sox win an elimination game where they were down 7-0? Do you even doubt it?

The Duck Boats got a lot of miles on them and we Boston fans showed we could be just as obnoxious in victory as we were in victory.

There were so many new heroes in Boston sports lore that they threatened to push many older legends out of everyone's memory.

Tom Brady! Tedy Bruschi! Richard Seymour! Curt Schilling! Big Papi Ortiz! Josh Beckett! Paul Pierce! Ray Allen! Kevin Garnett!

And cult heroes like Kevin Millar, Ty Law and Big Baby Davis!

But it was more than just victory... remember with every victory there is a team defeated and for a glorious period of time some of the most hated figures in Boston sports kept wetting the bed.

The Yankees had two of their biggest collapses in team history in the 2000s with the 2001 World Series and the 2004 ALCS... and after 2004, they couldn't make it out of the Division Series and missed the playoffs altogether in 2008.

And the pick up of A-Rod seemed to blow up in their face as he kept folding like a tent and slapping wrists in the playoffs.


The Lakers imploded in the 2004 Finals and the team was dismantled to please Kobe... and the titles dried up as Kobe couldn't deliver a title without Shaq.

And Peyton Manning had the stats, but Tom Brady was the CHAMPION.

Phil Jackson and Joe Torre wrote books about how rotten things were behind the scenes.

It was a glorious time and it was a petty time.

It was a time of happiness for our team's victory and for schadenfreude for other fan base's misery.

It was a perfect storm of our ability to celebrate and be pricks.

And it's over now.

Manning? He's a Super Bowl champ now and he's won one more recently than Brady because of the OTHER Manning.

A-Rod? He's a World Champion now and he hit key game tying homers and game winning hits in the Division Series, ALCS and World Series to get his ring.

Kobe? He has back to back titles now, the last one coming at the expense of our Celtics not being able to hold a 13 point second half lead. People are now talking about him in the same breath as Michael Jordan.

Since October 2009, Papelbon let up 3 ninth inning runs to eliminate the Red Sox, the Patriots got blown out at home in the playoffs, the Bruins blew a 3-0 series lead and the Celtics blew a shot at the NBA championship with less than 6 minutes to go.

The swagger is gone and that sense of impending doom has sadly crept back into our consciousness.

It's kind of like the movie Awakenings. For a brief moment we were able to come out of our slumber to experience the joys of winning teams, only to slip back into our immobile state.

Now in full disclosure, I am not a Boston Bruins fan. I am a San Jose Sharks fan and they have their OWN issues!

And my devotion to the Patriots is tenuous at best. I would trade all three Super Bowls for J. D. Drew to get a double off of David Price in the 8th inning of Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS... or for the Celtics to hang on to the 4th quarter lead on Thursday night.

And I am sure my friends who follow the Bruins primarily would trade the 3 Super Bowls, 2 World Series titles, and the NBA title for one Stanley Cup.

Maybe it will be good for us Boston fans to take a few lumps. It will help us appreciate what an amazing decade we experienced. What a huge class of water we had after a long thirst.

I'm not saying we shouldn't root hard for our teams. We should.
I'm not saying we won't see our teams win this decade. I bet some will.

But perhaps it was appropriate that Manny showed up t Fenway the day after the NBA Finals loss.

It was a reminder of that glorious decade where everything seemed to go our way.

We may never have a decade like this again.

Think of how lucky we are that we could experience it.

I feel bad for the kids born in 2002 and are 8 years old just following teams now. They missed out on a great decade.

Turn the page and let's give those kids some memories of their own!

Alright... buckle up!

Celtics vs. the Lakers.
I wouldn't want it any other way.

Actually that isn't true. I wanted it another way. I was rooting for the Suns tonight. I wanted that series to go seven games.

I wanted the Suns in the Finals.
Why?

Because I am a coward.

But none of that matters now... it is Boston vs. Los Angeles in the Finals. (The Lakers, NOT the Clippers.)

Let's hope the Celtics can party like it is 2008...
and 1984
and 1969
and 1968
and 1966
and 1965
and 1963
and 1962
and for good measure 1959 when the Lakers were in Minneapolis.

(Not so much like 1985 nor 1987.)

Well... no baseball tonight BUT-

Let me say Ohhhhhh yeah!

It is a sweet sight to see that banner go up to the rafters.
Maybe this year I get to have more fun at Sonny McLean's.

I can't imagine it would get sweeter than beating the Lakers but it is fun to have the Celtics be relevant again!

OK... back to baseball... weather permitted.

Sweet 17

I woke up this morning and the Celtics were still NBA Champs!

There were so many amazing things about last night that the only thing I can do is list them...

- The Celtics won the NBA Title.
I am savoring it. When I was younger during the Bird/McHale/Parish years it seemed like the Celtics were going to be in the Finals every year... or at least have a 76ers or Pistons stop them in the Conference Finals.

I never thought it would be 22 years... 22 years?
Kids born when the Celtics beat the Rockets in 1986 are now graduating from college.

- The Celtics won by 39 points
Read that sentence again. They were up 43 in the 4th... there was a chance that this would have been the biggest ass kicking in any finals game in history before the Celtics had to settle for the biggest ass kicking in any elimination game.

How do you lose by nearly 40 when your season is on the line?
20 would be bad enough.

I called Michael Bernard, one of the biggest and most loyal Celtic fans I know, after the third quarter when it was 89-60. He said "This might be an interesting experiment. Don't have the Celtics shoot. Just dribble the ball out for 24 seconds each possession and hold the Lakers to 28 points to win."

Instead the Celtics put up 42 4th quarter points and getting nearly 15 minutes of playing time for Glen "Big Baby" Davis.


- It was the Lakers

It isn't enough that my team is happy... someone else's team needs to be miserable.
The Celtics putting on the biggest ass whippin' elimination game in history would have been awesome if it were against the Hornets.

But it was the Lakers.
It was that history. It was payback for the Sky Hook.
It was a chance for Boston fans to chant "You're Not Jordan" to Kobe.
It was a chance to deny Kobe his Shaq-less championship while you know Shaq-Fu was grinning even wider about the 2006 Heat title.
It was a chance to see Phil Jackson fail to pass Red.

And, like in 2004 when I was in New York during the greatest fold in baseball playoff history, I'm in LA.

I get to read the local papers who trashed the Celtics before the series and whined about Paul Pierce getting a wheel chair grumble about their team.

Sometimes seeing the team you hate lose is as rewarding as seeing the team you love win.

I'm not saying I am proud of that part of my personality that loves to see teams squirm... but I admit it is there.


- The Celtic greats who were in attendance
Russell, Havlicek and Heinsohn were all there. I'm sure there were more as they were on the court celebrating with the others.

It was like an initiation to live on Mount Olympus.
Whenever there is a gathering of Celtic greats, Pierce-Garnett-Allen et al are invited until their beard is whiter than Russell's.


- Celebrating at Sonny McLean's

I went with Kenny Mack, a buddy of mine from Junior High... the last time the Celtics won, to Sonny's to celebrate with our people.

High fives, hugs from total strangers and chanting Beat LA was the order of business.

One guy hugged me, stopped and said "You were in Curse of the Bambino."

It was fun looking around and seeing the people my age and older who had experienced Celtics titles before so happy that we can celebrate another one.

And it was also great seeing the faces of the younger fans who never had this moment and was probably sick of hearing about how great the past was.

And then there were a lot of guys named Murph and Fitzy who were just drunk.

OK, enough basketball for now.
The Celtics are the champs... along with the Red Sox and the Giants, so I got 3 out of 4 of my Championship Grand Slam

Back to baseball!

Best Laid Plans Derailed By A Twit

The biggest basketball game for me in the last 22 years was on.
My Celtics, who I stuck with during the Dino Raja- M. L. Carr - Rick Pitno years, could clinch their first title since 1986 against the Lakers IN LOS ANGELES on Father's Day

Here was my Father's Day dilemma:

I've been working in Los Angeles and living with my brother in Santa Monica, but my family is still up in Silicon Valley.

I was back up north for Father's Day and had to fly back Sunday night to be able to get to work.

And I was going to be in the air during the 4th quarter...
So how do I get to watch the 4th quarter with the same excitement and intensity as if it were live.

I needed a plan and it needed to be mapped out like that briefing before the Rebels attacked the Death Star.

First of all, I needed to set my brother's TiVo to record Sunday's game on Friday before leaving for San Jose.

Next, on Sunday night I watched NOTHING about the game.
Not tip off... not the first half.
I spent time with my kids and earned good daddy points.

Then, off to San Jose airport. Had headphones on and avoided that bar next to California Pizza Kitchen. The game was on... but I was avoiding it.

On the airplane obviously I was safe from getting the score.
The woman I was sitting next to asked me if I knew anything about the game and I said I don't want to hear anything, explaining my strategy.

We touched down in Burbank and I had my escape plan mapped out.

1. Call my brother and make sure the game recorded and that the TV was on a different channel when I walked in. CHECK.
2. Walk down the ramp and put headphones on full blast.
3. I had no bags checked so I could just walk past the bars showing the game and the baggage carriers without overhearing anything.
4. Go to the self parking lot right across the baggage carrier and grab the car.
5. Do NOT put the radio on when driving from Burbank to Santa Monica. Listen to CDs. Probably Talking Heads Remain in Light.
6. When driving into Santa Monica, avoid Wilshire, even though that goes directly to my brothers place. The reason being if the Celtics won, people would be celebrating in front of Sonny McLean's. Best take Montana.
7. Get into Ted's place and watch the game with my phone off. No crazed calls from my Celtics buddies wanting to celebrate while I am in a time warp.

It was a great plan.
It would have worked... if not for a twit.

I was still on the plane and had just hung up the phone with my brother and was fishing through my bag for my headphones when I heard it.

Some 20 something girl squealed loudly "Oh my God! The Lakers won!"
That was it.
Plan destroyed.

I looked around pissed off trying to figure out who said it.
I bet she wasn't even a big fan.
I bet her next question was going to be "How did Shaq play?"

Shouldn't that be part of 21st century etiquette now?
You don't just announce stuff like ball game scores or who got voted off American Idol because someone might be TiVoing it.

And yeah, TiVo is now a verb.

I called Ted and told him to erase it.
"You're not going to watch it?" He asked.
"Yeah, I really want to watch the Celtics lose."

If the Celtics had won, and I found out because the same Valley Girl said "Oh my God... the Lakers lost" there would have been blood spilled.



Game 6... I am watching live.

My favorite pairing of courtside celebrities at the Laker/Celtics game

Steven Spielberg and John Salley! And Spielberg is evidently talking Salley's ear off.

SPIELBERG: I really think that the Piston teams had such an extraordinary bench. When you think about you think about a starting 5 with Isiah, Dumars, Lambier, Dantley and Aguirre... and you'd have Rodman, Edwards, Mahorn, Vinnie the Microwave Johnson and yourself coming off the bench. I mean you'd constantly be putting a playoff caliber rotation out there. I know the Jordan Bulls teams won more games, but I'd take that 1989 team in ANY head to head matchup.

SALLEY: Thanks man. E. T. was awesome.

We interrupt the baseball discussion to talk Celtics

Um... HOLY CRAP!

I am in Los Angeles now.
I am in enemy territory.

Then again I was in New York during the 2004 ALCS so maybe there is something to being on unfriendly soil during my teams unlikely wins.

I was at work last night and I clicked on the Yahoo ticker and I saw the Celtics were down by something like 24 points in the first quarter and I thought "Yeeesh. Better concentrate on work!"

I threw my token "Don't worry" to pessimist Celtic fans Dan Cronin and Michael Bernard all the while thinking "Well, maybe we'll win game 5."

I finished work and it was already the 3rd quarter and the Celtics were still getting walloped.

I drove to the gym I go to in Sherman Oaks and I didn't even put the game on. I don't need to hear the home announcers going nuts and heaping more praise on Kobe.

Now the gym I go to is in a mall in Sherman Oaks and is the Magic Johnson Gym. Therhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gife is something odd about a Celtics fan watching a Celtics/Lakers final in an establishment run by Magic Johnson.

Needless to say all of the TVs were on the game. I checked in, looked up to see how badly the Celtics were getting creamed.

The game was tied.
Somewhere in the 10 minute drive from my office to the gym the Celtics went on a run. And now it was a game.

I didn't want to take my eyes off the tv and I weighed the pros and cons of getting dressed right there in the lobby. I could look around and say "Hey folks, I'm going to be naked for a second. Hope that is cool."

Changed I got on a treadmill. I figured with my heart already racing, it is better to watch the game while running and burning calories instead of going to and being tempted by nachos or a lobster roll.

So I watched the last quarter running 6.5 miles per hour with my heart in my throat... all the while trying hard not to cheer too loudly.

I was indeed in Magic's gym.

When Ray Allen did that layup past Vujacic, I couldn't resist a yelp.I didn't care if Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott, Kurt Rambis and Mychal Thompson were standing behind me.

The drive back I got to hear all of the Laker fans calling into the local show much like I heard the stunned in denial Yankee fans in 2004.

I don't think it reflects on me well that I get a perverse pleasure out of that.

I called my friend and current Santa Monica resident Kenny Mack, who I went to Weston Middle School with, to gloat.

He said he wanted to take a victory lap for both the Celtics and Obama.
I warned him... neither the Celtics nor Obama have won yet.

And let me tell you something else... the Lakers and John McCain... neither are the Colorado Rockies. Both have a shot to win.

So my Celtic fans friends out there, I don't want to hear ANYTHING about "I want to win it in Boston."

NO! I want to win THIS SUNDAY!!!!
I want to win in front of Jack!
I want Kobe to do his Jeter 1,000 yard "I thought I was going to win so many more titles" stare.
I want Phil to say "F this, I'm out."

I want a stunned silent Staples Office Supply Center.
I do not want this sleeping giant getting up!

And if Kobe's press conference was any indication, the Giant might have a hangover.
OK, back to baseball.

We interrupt the baseball discussion to say...

LEON POWE?
Are you kidding me?

2 more wins! Come on Celtics!

And a quick note to some of my fellow Red Sox/Celtics fan friends.
Please spare me the "I hope we win at home" sentiment.

I got that enough during the 2004 and 2007 World Series.
Sox fans, good Sox fans and smart Sox fans, would say "Man, I wish they won at home."

In other words they were kind of saddened by THE RED SOX SWEEPING THE WORLD SERIES!!!!

Someone asked me last October when the Sox went up 2-0 (thanks to a nifty Papelbon pick off move) "Wouldn't you rather see the Red Sox win in Fenway?"

I countered with the question "What game am I supposed to be rooting AGAINST the Red Sox?"

In order to be rooting for a six game series, by definition I am rooting for my team to lose two.

It applies to the Celtics series.
I want a sweep.
I want four games and done.
I want Dyan Cannon to be very sad. Nothing against Ms Cannon. She's great in Heaven Can Wait.

But I will be rooting for the Celtics every night they play... ergo I am rooting for 4 and out.

Trust me, the title wasn't any less special for the Red Sox when they celebrated in St. Louis or Denver.

LET'S GO CELTICS
(And Leon Powe for that matter.)

OK, we now return to baseball discussion, already in progress.

I interrupt talking baseball to scream...

LET'S GO CELTICS!!!!

We now return to Sully Baseball already in progress.