John Gearan's Rebuke Of Bill Russell & The Celtics

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

Russell tribute was too late and too much

 
       Russell tribute was too late and too much 
            Friday, May 28, 1999



            By John Gearan
            Telegram & Gazette Sports Columnist 
            The belated Bill Russell tribute has spawned an unusual amount of 
            exaggeration, ill-fitting comparisons and ludicrous analysis.
                     Being extracted from mothballs in his Sleepless-in-Seattle 
            hideaway, Russell found himself cascaded with overflowing accolades. 
            This seemed to be an apparent attempt by some to absolve Boston from 
            past charges of racism while supporting a worthy cause, the National 
            Mentoring Partnership.
                     Flat-out, The Boston Globe labeled Russell “greatest 
            athlete in the history of team sports.” Columnist Bob Ryan, a noted 
            hoopologist, called him “the greatest team-sport athlete this 
            country as even known,” excluding aliens like Pele. Elegant Frank 
            Deford threw a flowery bouquet to Russell in a one-sided Sports 
            Illustrated feature. “The only thing we know for sure about 
            superiority in sports in the United States of America in the 20th 
            Century is that Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics teams he led 
            stand alone as the ultimate winners,” a doting Deford wrote.
                     Maybe so. Maybe not. Who really knows? What I do know is 
            that I saw Russell play over a longer period of time and in more 
            games than either Ryan, Deford or lots of other Johnny-come-latelys 
            who are crowing about Russell's genius.
                     After hearing and reading all the quotes, including one 
            from real-life artist Tommy Heinsohn comparing Russell to Vincent 
            Van Gogh, I can observe that it's getting very deep. And this comes 
            from someone who absolutely adored watching Russell perform. 
            However, in a deluge, sports history is being misinterpreted and 
            revised to suit this gala occasion that struggled to draw 10,000 
            fans at the FleeceCenter. 
                     What the first public raising of No. 6 did was provide some 
            positive spin to a franchise that has been dying an agonizing death 
            for more than a decade as its rosters have been replete with spousal 
            and child abusers, druggies, felons and a variety of other 
            undesirables.
                     All right, that's PR and marketing and it was for a good 
            cause, led by Russell's Harvard-educated daughter, Karen, who called 
            Russell “the greatest daddy in the whole wide world.” There was no 
            talk, of course, about Rose Swisher Russell and her three children 
            -- Jacob, Kenyatta and William Jr. -- the children from Russell's 
            first marriage.
                     There was, though, plenty of discussion about “The Greatest 
            Team Athlete,” a dubious title thrust on Russell by acclamation 
            during the past few weeks. Have all these basketball brainiacs 
            already forgotten Michael Jordan, just to use one example. Do you 
            think for an instant that Bill Russell was anywhere near the total 
            package that Larry Bird was? Magic Johnson and Bill Russell both 
            stand 6-foot-9? Is there any question who was the more versatile and 
            talented player?
                     In terms of sheer athletic skills, Russell had three Celtic 
            teammates who could do a lot more things. Bob Cousy revolutionized 
            the game, had extraordinary vision and excelled in several other 
            sports, including tennis and golf. Bill Sharman played professional 
            baseball and basketball and performed as outstanding quarterback, 
            high-level tennis player, golf pro, boxer, track athlete ... you 
            name it. Sam Jones was a better athlete than Russell in many ways. 
            And let us recall that K.C. Jones and John Havlicek were both 
            drafted to play in the NFL.
                     My only point is that Russell had glorious talents for his 
            position, triggered a avalanche fast break and played peerless 
            defense. He was not smarter than Cousy, though, and did not win in a 
            vacuum. To be perfectly frank, Russell and the Celtics played in a 
            developmental stage of a wildly and universally popular sport. They 
            were pioneers, but they played in an eight-team league with rosters 
            filled by white guys who would be regarded as dreadfully slow by 
            today's standards.
                     To subtract nothing from the pros of yore, today's athletes 
            are much better and play much more intense and quick defense that 
            they did when spacing was never a problem. 
                     Calling Russell the best team athlete does him a 
            disservice, not to mention Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays and a host 
            of others who would regard such comparisons silly.
                     Another vast difference is that today's athletes are in far 
            better shape. Take for example, Nomar Garciaparra, Red Sox 
            shortstop. Garciaparra is a prototype athlete of the '90s, a kid who 
            grew up playing soccer, developing skills other than just those 
            required to play shortstop or hit a baseball.
                     Like others, Nomar is not satisfied with that “natural 
            athlete” level of perfection. He knows he needs more to emerge as a 
            superstar in today's competitive, overkill world of sports. So 
            Garciaparra has signed up for tutoring at the International 
            Performance Institute in Bradenton, Fla., run by fitness guru Mark 
            Verstegen.
                     The Institute opened in 1995 at the Bollettieri Sports 
            Academy, a “sprawling palm-tree-lined campus where 350 young tennis, 
            soccer, baseball and golf prospects from around the world train,” 
            according to the recent issue of “Smithsonian.”
                     Garciaparra became exhausted while completing his first 
            season in the minors. He turned to the Institute for help. Verstegen 
            “investigated Garciaparra's past training history; his injuries; his 
            percentage of lean body mass; his speed over 60 yards; his vertical 
            jump; his lateral speed through a series of cones; and his power 
            output as measured by throwing different sizes of medicine balls.”
                     The testing showed Garciaparra is a well-coordinated 
            athlete, who, at 155 pounds, “lacked power and speed to compete” in 
            the bigs. Verstegen trained Garciaparra to accelerate forward and 
            sideways from a standstill. He show him how best to change 
            directions, to accelerate off his feet using his whole body. He 
            worked him endlessly, through a series of random-action moves, tied 
            to a bungee cord. He used resistance training extensively.
                     The result: Garciaparra hit 30 homers as a rookie in 1997 
            and became known as “spiderman” because of his fielding range. “It 
            was unbelievable. I say Mark is responsible,” Garciaparra is quoted 
            in the magazine as saying.
                     The point is simple and salient. Back when Russell was in 
            his glory, players smoked in the lockers and even had a halftime 
            beer or two. Though Auerbach worked the Celtics hard, most didn't 
            work constantly to improve their games. Russell himself would often 
            walk upcourt, “pacing” himself. His opponents were hardly 
            well-conditioned. In the offseason, Heinsohn blew up like a Peter 
            Paul Rubens painting. 
                     Put it this way: The Celtics were a great dynasty. Perhaps 
            Russell was king, but they were a great team with a great coach and 
            general manager. Isn't that enough?
                     I remember being at the old Garden, watching the Celtics 
            drill the Minneapolis Lakers, 173-139. Those are amazing numbers. 
            Imagine scoring 173 points against the Lakers with Elgin Baylor. 
            Indeed, the Celtics never played a better game, ever. And they did 
            so without Bill Russell, who sat out injured that February 
            afternoon. 
             
             
             
     
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