Re: On Bird and Gaston, et al.

[damekmo@teleport.com]

Josh, you opened the lions den...so let's walk in. When talking about the
Celtics and Boston, race is always a factor. For example, free agents. Now,
I know that Peter May thinks no one is interested in the Celtics because of
Carr and Gaston. This could very well be part of it, but let's be frank:
Boston is percieved throughout the country as a vehemently racist city.
When he left, Robert Parish didn't have particularly nice things to say
about life in Boston. Sure everybody wants to win, but they also would
rather not raise a family in the middle of all the racist bs that goes on
in Boston. Gaston and Carr could leave tomorrow, but "the bigoted fans" as
Josh correctly calls them are there to stay. Now I'm not saying that the
people in the front office of the Celtics are racists, but like it or not,
the perception is that race is a factor in decision making, because of the
community. And to be honest, I'm not so sure it wouldn't be if Carr were
simply fired and replaced by Bird and Pitino with DJ just sitting there.
You can bet that players around the league would think, in the words of our
former deranged president, "There they go again."

>As far as race, it's not an issue.  It's a matter of talent and ability.

I"m not sure who wrote that, but it seems to be the concensus on Carr.
OK...talent and ability is the reason they kept Gavitt around for so long?
Talent and ability are the first words that come to mind when you hear the
name Chris Ford? Someone else wrote that Bird could do no worse than
Carr...yes? Jesus, you know, I remember when Carr took over that's exactly
what people said about him in relation to Gavitt...right? No, damn it...I'm
wrong...on day one they began with the towel waving unqualified stuff and
now it seems that idiot is the adjective of the day. Gavitt's tenure was a
complete failure guys. He gave us Dee Brown and we watched the team get old
and shrivel up while he did nothing. Carr's made mistakes....but he's also
given the Celtics a future. Opie, I mean Gomer...ahh, Larry wants in, now
that the team has two high draft picks and a few young players with ability
and promise. Why is it that Carr was an idiot from day one and Larry and a
college coach are considered saviours? You don't think race would have
anything to do with it...huh? Just a question.

>I don't think race has anything to do with it.Wake up & look at our
>record!We are terrible & Carr is the one that put us there!

Just once more...please, Carr was supposed to tank this season.
Convenient?...sure. But I'm beginning to question the faith Bob Ryan had in
the Boston fans when he said something about them being intelligent enough
to understand that the team had to have a really bad season in order to
begin rebuilding. What was it McHale said...reach high, aim low. Please,
the guy's record indicates nothing this year. Carr has given you all
Duncan. Look guys, Carr is not Jerry West or Pat Riley, but he deserves
better than being replaced by some guy who spent the last few years living
like my grandfather after retirement. How about this, ML moves back
upstairs, DJ becomes the coach, and Larry joins KC as assistant coach. He
could probably actually go to some college games when the team was on the
road. And as for Pitino?..are you sure he's better than Chris Ford.
Wait...how 'bout Pat Summitt of the Lady Vols at UT...she's won more than
Big Rick.

Paul M.