Re: The Boston Celtics Mailing List Digest V5 #150

[Patrick Goggin <gogginpd@email.uc.edu>]

	There's been a lot of talk about Antoine lately and I just wanted
to put in my 2 cents worth.  We all know all about his many strengths and
his much publicized weaknesses so I won't rehash all of that and will state
up front that we absolutely have to sign him long-term this off-season in
my opinion.  But let's talk a little about his boorishness for a minute.
	Mike mentioned the incessant talk on this list of Celtic Tradition
and Celtic Pride and wisely reminded us that The Garden, the 98 degree CBS
games, Larry and DJ, KC and Most are gone forever.  This does not mean that
Tradition and Pride are gone with them but Mike is right--it will never be
like it was again.  The "Tradition" that is often cited on this list seems
more to me like self-righteousness at times.  We all want Walker to be like
Larry or Kevin.  I've got news for you--he is more like the old Celtics
than we realize.  You think the 80's Celtics would have given 2 shits if
they pissed off the Detroit fans or players, Hah!  You think they cared
what the other NBA players thought about them?  We've all heard how Kevin
knew it was "us against the world" in the early days and how it always
pissed him off to see Shaw and Dee shmoozing with players on the other
teams before games in the later years.  Larry, Kevin, and Danny weren't
well liked around the league and they DIDN"T WANT TO BE.  Dust off some old
tapes of Kevin--you may notice that the greatest low-post player ever was
also one of the game's biggest whiners (forgive me).  He disputed EVERY
SINGLE CALL that didn't go his way.  The difference--he was white, he
didn't wiggle, and we were all ten years less stodgy.
	The old Celtics were Boorish!  Look back on your tapes of the '84
Series or watch "Pride and Passion" closely.  During timeouts, ML would
rush to the laker's bench  to taunt them.  After winning the all-important
game 4 to pull even, ML rushed and got in the face of the CAMERAMAN!?  He
screamed, "That's right!  We're coming back!  We're coming back!"  ML was
the defintion of boorish and was hated around the league and we loved him
for it and IT SERVED A PURPOSE.  Antoine shows many of the same
qualities--undying confidence, uncontrolled exhuberance.
	Remember before the '84 playoffs how that one writer (I forget who)
wrote the piece about how DJ was not "Celtic-Material."  Can you think of a
sillier statement in retrospect?  In years to come I feel we'll look back
on our recent discussions of Antione in the same light.  Early in his
career, DJ was seen as a ME guy, immature, with an eye on the stats.  He
was called a "cancer" and run out of two towns.  Imagine what the
forgettable Seattle and Phoenix teams of the 80's were thinking of seeing
Dennis win 2 rings in Boston and then try to imagine what we would be
feeling 2 years from now with Antoine in a champagne-drenched bulls'
uniform.
	The idea of losing Walker would set this team back further than the
death of Bias--we're talking about another 10 years of misery.  In closing,
I agree with Paul M.--we all need to take a step back and get off Antoine's
case--either that or we should see how our old heroes would stand up
against our new set of values.  Sorry I took up so much of your time.

Goggin in Cincinnati