CeltsPride

[Jo Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

I know that there are legit differences of opinion on this list about
the meaning of "Celtics Pride", but the quote below by Rick Pitino
following the Detroit game IMO epitomizes what it means to be a fan of
the Celtics, the first NBA team to break the color barrier and the first
major professional team in any sport to have a black head coach.

"Sometimes we get carried away and try to impose our own values. As long
as (Walker) plays hard and doesn’t hurt anyone...I’m not going to tell
Antoine how to celebrate....He’s one of the most intelligent players
I’ve ever coached." (Pitino to the ProvidenceJournal 4.6.98)

Tolerance, baby ! That's what the words "Boston" and "Celtics" ought to
add up to mean IMO.  Believe it or not, it took a little bit of time
(well, okay, not much time) for some of us non-white Celtics fan to feel
totally comfortable about rooting madly for a trash-talking, gloating,
money-grubbing, aloof-and-immature-for-his-age, too-white-boy named
Larry Joe Bird.

IMO, there are plenty of similarities but maybe only two obvious
differences between young Bird and young Antoine:

1.Bird never glared at refs (let's face it, they were white too).
2.Bird played alongside hall-of-famers in their own right (Cowens,
Archibald, McHale, Parish).

I don't want to start a firestorm by putting down Saint Lawrence or the
glory of those three championship seasons. I'll be the first to argue
that there will be another Michael Jordan in the NBA before there is
another Larry Bird of any color. (BTW, the full extent of my wife's
knowledge of or interest in the NBA is how to say "Numba33, Larry Bird"
with a good Boston accent).

But if two years ago someone told us all that the Celtics would soon
draft a versatile 6-10 forward who at age 21 would lead his team in
total scoring, rebounding, steals, assists and "Hail Mary" game-winners,
I might have thought it was the second coming of da Bird himself.

Go 'Toine and Ron !!

"Beat LA in 2000"

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