Re: fan on the edge (not short, but not long)

[Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

    I think that what you write hits a chord. I don't know, at the same time I
think we have a good enough team. No truly bad characters among our players,
which is nice. A few talented players who I find fun to watch, and who really are
still young. We have a coach who is failing badly but I can't accuse him of not
working incredibly hard or caring, and he has succeeded before. The Celts are
just one thing you don't give up on, despite heartfelt pessimism over
Pitino-ball. I think we'll have a fast start in the opening month no matter what
shape Walker is in, disappoint somewhat against
objectively-beatable-but-better-organized teams in the latter part of this year,
and then fade into oblivion in the new year and give up a high FG% and rebounding
differential overall by season's end. Lots of steals and turnovers forced, I
actually anticipate pretty good numbers next year from our stars, more or less
the usual. A big, big final push to get to or hold onto the 8th seed, but it
should be close. To make the playoffs and to brighten our overall future, another
young guy other than Antoine or Pierce needs to shock us with a breakout year, or
at least a 8 rebounds and/or 2 blocks per game type of impact over the full 82
games (not just a quarter of the season like Griffin last year).

    Anyway I'm going to follow every game and invest emotions in the outcomes,
just as I trust Bill Cooper, Gene for sure, Cecil and the others will. I mean
gimmeabreak, why wouldn't we!? It's the Celtics.

   But just don't get me started on that smug, rotisserie geek in charge of the
Red Sox 90 million payroll. ;-)

Joe


    BTW, the "headless chicken outbreak" thing just kind of evolved out of a
phrase Shaquille O'Neil used to describe our "defense" against him last year (the
"monkey outbreak" system). Apparently he was referring to a phrase from a movie
about the Ebola virus or something.

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Douglas342@aol.com wrote:

>     As training camp draws nigh, along with our annual prediction derby
> (Theresa, you didn't really go away, did you? Say it ain't so!) some thoughts
> from one who mostly lurks.
>     I have been a Celtics fan since the early 60s.  I remember "Bob Cousy
> Night" at the Garden, and my last game in that building was the 1976 triple
> overtime game against Phoenix.  I moved to California a few months later.
> But I fear my age (50+) is catching up with me.  Pro sports in general have
> become so distatseful to me that it is tough to remain a fan.  I haven't
> watched any football in ten years.  I haven't been to a baseball game in 8 or
> 9 years.  Too many athlete arrests, too many athletes taunting opponents, too
> many athletes working for the bucks and not the team, too many ads at the
> games, too many agents and clients talking about respect, too many
> commercials on the broadcasts, and too much money in the athletes' pockets.
> I pay, as a co-holder of season tickets, something like $65/game to watch
> something called the Clippers play basketball in an arena that is a monument
> to corporate greed.  (I go to two or three games a year, and almost opted out
> this year.)  They may as well build an arena of all luxury boxes and pipe in
> crowd sounds for the few who care.
>     But for all of these years there have been the Celtics.  16 titles.
> Cooz, Heinie, Russ, Hondo, Bird, Tiny, Cowens, Red.  But now we have Pitino
> and Walker.  And a crappy team. This year they add Moiso, who was an
> indifferent contributor on a mediocre UCLA team, and provides the Cs with yet
> another beanpole to along with Battie and Walter.   (Hey, we did get rid of
> Travis, though!)  We added some backup guards and (I bet) a big slow guy
> (Blount) to complement the big, slow Pots.  And everyone wants more and more
> money.  And Antoine Walker compains that he gets no respect and shows up out
> of shape in camp.
>    Maybe this team will surprise us.  Maybe another year will make everyone
> hungrier.  Walker will have that breakout year he hasn't had in his career.
> Maybe Pitino's sytem (is there REALLY something called the headless chicken
> outbreak, or was that a terrific creation of a list member??) will emerge.
> Maybe Battie will have his breakout year.  Right.
>    But for this long time fan who is losing interest in sports anyway (even
> my beloved NASCAR shows signs of this same big-money disease), I will say
> this much:  if the Celtics don't make the playoffs this year, I will quit
> this list at the end of the season.  I will remove the Globe and Herald
> sports pages from my bookmarks.  I will glance at Celtic scores in the
> future, but mostly will gaze at my picture of the Garden c. 1990 as my sole
> memory of the Celtics.  I just can't generate the enthusiasm for any more
> dark and dreary years.  I will no longer be a fan.  Sorry.
>      To see if anyone else joins me, I will be posing my own poll question
> sometime towards the end of exhibition season.  Stayed tuned and hope for the
> best.  And thanks for listening.
>  - Doug