Re: Mercer/Battie

[j.hironaka@unesco.org]

> As for Walker, you can really say that based on this past year he is
> worth the max?  I don't think he is.  for a player with so many skills
> we never seem to see them that much.

Don't go there. :-)   Walker had a crappy season, but bottom line he
could have played a lot worse and still had a more productive year
passing and rebounding the ball than Ron Mercer.

If there is a silver lining (frankly, I'm having trouble finding it too)
in Antoine Walker's crapola 1999 season, you could argue that he showed
Boston's finicky fans he would 1) play hurt without any hesitation, 2)
stop turning the ball over so much through poor judgement, 3) stop
getting stupid technicals, 4) hit from downtown with consistency, 5)
develop a much more proficient dribble than we've seen before.

One thing AW honestly didn't do this year compared to last year is hit
even a fraction of big fourth quarter shots in close games (especially
in the first half of the season), although that Miami game I have on
video will be worth something someday. :-) Although I'm starting to
doubt if AW will ever have a 15 triple double season as Pitino predicted
in his last show of the season, who else among the great young stars has
that kind of potential?

Also, remember that the "max" these days is significantly lower than
what plebeians like Rasheed Wallace get paid. What worries me are
reports that "Thanks Dad" has reportedly given Pitino a budget of just
three million (for veteran exceptions) over the present salary cap. For
a fifteen-man roster like the Celts presently have under contract, that
averages to 2.4 million per player. Good luck, Ricky.

Personally, I don't think the Celtics will compete today until "Thanks
Dad" realizes that 1) the cap was set artificially and unrealistically
low (I'd wager the average team payroll will be 10 million over the cap
next season), 2) the gargantuan TV deal is just kicking in, and 3)
basketball is an international phenomenon growing by leaps and bounds
even without Jordan and despite the lockout. Personally I think "Thanks
Dad" is getting a little carried away with his bottom line. Last season
he made 14 million in profit even after paying lap dogs like ML Carr a
one million salary. Gaston lost money this year, but he could easily
pocket another multi-million dollar payday next season over 82 game.

Owning a pro sports franchise is a way for otherwise, unremarkable men
to go from rich, middle-aged nobody to rich, middle-aged big shot in
their community. As I've said before, it is the splashy equivalent of
buying a vanity license plate or a trophy wife.

The bottom line is that owning a franchise like the Boston Celtics is
not solely about profit, so stop whining "Thanks Dad" thank-you very
much. In the case of the Celtics, it is about a heck of a lot more.
Walter Brown freaking knew this. Gaston took over from his dad in the
90's and look what he has done. If Michael Holley is to be believed,
poor "Thanks Dad" even has to rely on "Mighty Lapdog" to do his hatchet
work for him. I guess ML's salary is one millionaire contract Gaston
feels is perfectly well spent.

In any case, owners wouldn't be in a position to acquire a pro sports
team in the first place if they (or their dads) weren't regularly making
multi-millions elsewhere doing something far more prosaic (for example,
selling "paper products" like the NE Patriot's owner Bob Kraft).

Since we don't have a billionaire presently living in Boston, I'm in
favor of one of the old New England universities offering to buy the
team. A local school like Harvard for example not only has a 13 billion
dollar endowment but also a tradition arguably approaching that of the
Boston Celtics.

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