Meet the Herrens

I've been meaning to relate a story to the list since the awful loss against Philly. I was at the game, helping a friend run a "Pop-a-Shot" hoop shooting game to raise money for Special Olympics. If any of you were at the game and played, we probably met and didn't know it.

I got to do some neat things, like enter through the employee entrance and see some parts of the Fleet Center you wouldn't normally see. I got there early enough to watch some guys warming up from directly under the basket. Mark Blount was practicing post up moves, one after another after another, and missing a lot of them! It's strange, but when you get that close to a seven footer, he doesn't seem as huge as you'd expect. Bryant Stith was also practicing specific moves from different parts of the court. Antoine came out and shot some three's from the corner, while he was talking to some guy. Chris Herren was talking to someone sitting 30 feet to my left. I was going to approach him and say some kind of "glad you're with the team" crap, but decided it would be just too goofy, so I left him alone.

Anyway, while I was trying to drum up some business before the game, two women came over with a small child. The boy was looking at the game and I asked, "Does he like to play basketball"? One of the women answered, "His daddy plays". Something about the way she said it made me ask, "Oh yeah, who's his daddy"? (I really did phrase it that way, too; As soon as it came out, I cringed) Anyway, the woman says, "His daddy is Chris Herren"! So I sent Chris' mother and son over to the game so the kid could have a few shots and was talking to the other woman, who turned out to be a family friend. I let her know how the fans are really happy to have Chris on the team and understand how much pressure he must be feeling. I asked if he was as excited to be playing for the Celtics as I'd imagine, and she said he was.

It was a pretty odd experience for me. I always knew that the players are real people, but this brought that home in a concrete way. In the brief time we talked, I got the impression that Chris' mom is extremely proud of her son, and probably enjoys the celebrity that she derives by relation. I was really struck by how this guy must be feeling the responsibility of not just doing the best for himself and his team, but representing his family and friends and providing them with a kind of distinction that comes from being associated with a star athlete. These were just ordinary folks that you would pass in the Taunton Galleria mall without batting an eyelid and here they are with a son who's the de facto starting point guard for the Boston Celtics. That doesn't happen around here, does it? It must be awesome and thrilling.