Re: RED ALERT: BIRD BASHES GASTON, DEFENDS PITINO, WANTS TO BUY THE CELTS

[Dan Forant <dforant1@nycap.rr.com>]

If indeed this story has some validity, there is hope at the end of the
tunnel. Let's start a Fund Campaign the help the Bird Man get this
done.........Seriously. 

At 03:40 PM 2/19/00 -0500, you wrote:
>In a very interesting column in tomorrow's Globe, Larry Bird professes
>to Peter May, his interest in owning the Celtics. He 
>could "'get people together to buy the team (Celtics) in a day,'" 
>and  could "'get it done tomorrow." Bird further states: "'Let's get 
>the ball rolling.'" He says he would have no problem selling off
>his stake in the Pacers and sees himself as an active owner like
>Jordan. 
>
>Defending Pitino and Blasting Gaston:
>
>Bird says: "'What kills me... is that (Rick) Pitino is taking all the 
>hits there. yeah, he's made some moves that didn't work out. But the
>reason they're in the state they're in is because of the owner. He's the
>one who put M.L. (Carr) in there. When we has a championship team
>in 1984, those owners {Gaston's father and two other} did only one thing
>over the next five years - they brought in DJ... They got Bill Walton,
>too, but he called them. They knew what was going on."
>
>Bird says that Gaston "continually ignored" his advice and suggestions.
>Bird also laughingly derides Gaston's approach at making the team
>competetive while running it like a business:
>
>"'That sounds like the Clippers to me...'" and that Gaston's Celtics
>have "'been a cash cow there for years. He wants people to buy tickets,
>get good crowds, and make $8 million - $10 million a year....
>
>"'I always thought that the owner of the Celtics wanted to win a
>championship, not just to be competitive. Tell him I'm ready to
>buy.'"
>
>Very very interesting. As Jean Luc Picard, would frequently say, 
>while at the helm of the Enterprise: "Make it so."
>Ray
>
>