Celtic tradition, Bob Ryan et. al.

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>]

Hello Dorine,

Let me take this opportunity to say I've always enjoyed your contributions
to the list and you haven't disappointed this time round. I thought that
what you had to say was well said and well worth the saying. 

I think your contributions in general and this one in particular exemplify
the value and strengths of a "living tradition" - a community bound by a
shared adherence to certain principles. A living tradition remains alive
and flexible because it's adherents understand that there can be room for
reasonable debate since such principles require adaptation to the
exigencies of the present moment. A living tradition reflects a positive
process of people coming together in order to further their shared
principles. Bill Russell is a good example because he is literally the
living embodiment of such a tradition centered on the principle of the team
concept. 

Unfortunately, a tradition can also become calcified. I think one can
observe this when the term "tradition" is abused by those "defenders" who
see it as a carte blanche to trumpet their own "virtue" by means of beating
up on others. In such situations a tradition no longer remains the site for
positive growth by means of exchange of ideas and rather degenerates into a
petty, vituperative contest for moral preferment. This negative concept of
a tradition functions as a means of maintaining one's threatened feelings
of self-worth through the denigration of others. Under such circumstances a
tradition can lose the life - the principled give and take - that sustains
it and become a mere parody of itself: rigid, moralistic and
self-righteous. (Trust me - with half of my family descended from the
Mayflower I've had plenty of opportunity to observe this negative aspect of
tradition!)

Now it should be obvious that I don't consider tradition per se to be a
problem. It should also be obvious that I consider your contributions to be
an exemplar of what it takes to maintain a healthy living tradition - the
kind of tradition that makes it a joy to be a member. Unfortunately some
others seem to have lost touch with the meaning of a living tradition.
Let's take Bob Ryan for example; his basic point may be sound (selfish
basketball is bad basketball) but his means of expressing it obscures the
validity his perspective has to offer - instead his focus seems to be
almost entirely and unrelentingly negative, in a peculiarly pompous,
self-congratulatory and self-righteous way. One comes away thinking that
Ryan derives more joy than is healthy from the opportunity to bash the
"undeserving". This presents quite the contrast with Bill Russell, who
seems much more intent in actually "schooling" Antoine in a positive way -
and I hardly think that Russell is some push-over!

I have never thought that Ryan was a racist. That question was simply my
silly ploy for goading Joe Hironaka (and any others he may have convinced)
to rethink his earlier - and to my mind - baseless and irresponsible
assertions of racism concerning the source of fan antagonism to Antoine
Walker. In other words, how was such fan antagonism towards Walker any
different than Ryan's? As a rule I enjoy everything Joe posts but his
seemingly cavalier charges of racism in defense of Walker proved to be the
exception. He and I had a series of amicable exchanges off-line on the
subject where he told me his own set of truly horrible encounters with
Boston racists and I tried to point out that although Boston is certainly
racist, the claim - apparently elevated to the status of gospel over the
past quarter-century - that Boston is especially racist actually
perpetuates the comforting (for both "Hahvard types" as well as the rest of
the nation) stereotype of the Irish-racist-as-"worst"-racist. It was
therefore all the more interesting to see in his defense of Bob Ryan that
Joe inadvertently "de-racinated" the Irish Ryan, as pointed out by Andy
Shaw, by assimilating him to the "true bleeding-heart Beantown/Hahvard
liberal type". 

Racism, like hate, is a very strong word. I can understand the source of
Bob Ryan's and the Fleet center fans' frustrations with Walker - even if I
don't agree with their means of expressing it - and I honestly don't see
that racism enters into EITHER situation. My spiel on tradition and "youth
culture" was simply an attempt to explain why such frustrations - justified
or not - may sometimes boil over in such viscerally boorish ways. 

Best wishes - Tom Murphy