Larry's Shoes

[Theresa Lee <tjoyce@mit.edu>]

By Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Columnist, 08/19/98

His sneakers have been bronzed, and they're right next to the life-sized
statue of Red
Auerbach in Faneuil Hall's South Market outdoor mall. Larry Bird found some
humor in
that.

``Red gets a statue, Ted Williams gets a tunnel, and I get a pair of
shoes,'' Bird said with a
 laugh. ``But sneakers are fine, even better.''

What about the bombardier pigeons of Quincy Market?

``Red will take care of the pigeons,'' Bird said.

A couple of hundred diehard Celtic fans and inadvertent tourists waited
through a Biblical
 rainstorm yesterday afternoon, and their reward was 10 minutes of speeches
by a Converse sneaker guy, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, and Bird. Needless to
say, Larry was the highlight. The mayor proclaimed it ``Larry Bird Day,''
and Converse placed a permanent bronze tribute near the left foot of Father
Arnold.

 ``It's great,'' Bird said. ``A lot of people spend time there with Red and
come down to look, and now they can look down and see me.''

 Think Bird has had enough honors? This year alone, he's already walked off
with the NBA
 Coach of the Year Award and been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
And who could forget the Larryfest of 1993, when New England came to a halt
for the most over-the-top farewell celebration in sports history?

 By comparison, yesterday's ceremony, held on the sixth anniversary of
Bird's retirement
 announcement, was puny. But he's always been loyal to Converse and to
Boston. And he's
 tickled by the placement of his permanent plaque. Bird admitted that in
his youth - during the Rick Robey years, no doubt - there might have been a
few nights when he'd have stumbled over his own bronze sneakers after
careening out of a Boston nightspot.

 He even managed to laugh when it was pointed out that the location of his
bronzed Cons is just a block away from the site of his infamous Chelsea's
fistfight during the 1985 playoffs (``It didn't affect my shooting,'' he
said. ``I hit that guy with my left hand.'')

Bird's eternal footrest is bordered by Waterstone's booksellers, the Ames
Plow Tavern, Cuoio, and Victoria's Secret. The monument weighs 800 pounds,
but Bird said, ``That thing will last probably three weeks down here.
Someone'll have a jackhammer trying to chisel it out.

``But Boston is great. Twenty years ago, I started out here and didn't know
what was going on. Here we are 20 years later and I like it just as much
now as I did then.''

  After the ceremony, Bird ducked through the South Market and into a limo
waiting on Chatham Street. He was en route to a PR gig for Wheaties. He's
also got a new book in the works with Sports Illustrated's Jackie MacMullan
and looks forward to winning a championship with thePacers once the NBA
lockout is over.

``We had some success last year and can do better next year,'' he said.
``All we need is a better coach.''

By now, Bird knows the drill with fans and media. He told us that it's
always great to come back to Boston and that he roots for the Celtics
unless they're playing the Pacers. He said he's relieved he wasn't around
for the destruction of the Old Garden.

 ``I seen the picture in the paper,'' he said. ``I'm glad it's gone and
done with. It would have been a sad sight to drive by there and look down
and see it half-open. One of the hardest times  I've had was coming back
here the first time with the Pacers and walking into the FleetCenter. It
was overwhelming and I was happy when the day was over.''

 He inquired about Los Angeles Times sports columnist Jim Murray, who died
Sunday night.
Typical Larry. All those years he pretended to be a hick from French Lick,
but he took time to notice the god of Los Angeles sportswriters. Somehow I
don't think Allen Iverson will ever know who Bob Ryan is.

 They don't make 'em like Larry anymore.

 No doubt there will be more honors, more ceremonies, and more plaques.
Bird can coach 25 years with the Pacers, but he'll always be in the
pantheon of Boston sports gods - right alongside Ted Williams and Bobby
Orr. Someday maybe he'll get his own tunnel.