Re: [...]''He's in fantastic physical condition,.. ."

[Kestas <Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu>]

At 22:34 10/5/2001 -0400, you wrote:

>Facts are facts -not self righteous remarks. 

I was referring to comments  like "incensed with  stupid dicussions" and
"vile bile and BS of the highest order".

> Red was a trailblazer for black
>athletes in the NBA. How come your rancorous comments make no mention of
the facts
>in my post.  Do you deny what Red's history was? 

No, I don't deny it, but I'm also aware of the other, less publicized side
of it. I recommend that you acquaint yourself with that side (e.g., by
reading "The Selling of the Green" by Araton and Bondy) before showering
people with "holier-than-thou" remarks. Although, given your deification of
Red and all things Boston Celtic, you'll probably just dismiss it as "vile
bile and BS of the highest order". 
The problem with your argument is that hiring  the first something or other
doesn't prove anything. It only suggests that Red was smart enough to
recognize that talent counted for something in basketball and to cross
societal boundaries to get it. It doesn't mean that he's Mr. Racial Unity.
To his credit, this is a leap that many coaches were unable to make in the
50's, to the detriment of their reputation and winning %. 
A less charitable interpretation would be that it was a practice called
"showcasing". In one company that I used to work for, my black co-worker
friends who'd worked there for decades used to tell how the management
would "showcase"  them by putting them in cubicles near the front door, so
that the "first thing governement inspectors would see is our black faces".
This is  while quietly continuing a policy of racial discrimination.  I
don't think it was that in the case of Red,   but that such things go on
even today, both in the NBA and the society at large, is indisputable. 
 
> This guy is the polar opposite of
>Tom Yawkey. I'm not ignorant about anything in Celtics history and I'm not
one to
>bury my head in the sand.and ignore facts. I think about what I have to
say and I
>don't knee jerk anything. Local boy makes good is an age old public relations
>angle that is mined often. 

Only, somehow, a rich vein was left unmined in Dana Barros's case, as I
mentioned in a previous post.

> Why all the cynicism about the sinister motives behind
>his signing? 

I'll repeat it again: because Herren is NOT GOOD ENOUGH to be bypassed in
lieu of several very available free agents who could've helped the Celtics
a lot more. 

> I also can't believe that you are trying to portray your acidic
>comments as "fair" .

I believe they're fair because what I just said in the paragraph above. 

>  Accusing someone of playing the race card is not "fair", it
>is libelous.

Really?? I thought what I accused the Celtics of was currently the law in
this country, at least when applied in a different context. 
Kestas