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

["Michael A. DiZio" <mdizio@rcn.com>]

Kestas wrote:

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

   I want to apologize somewhat for for this particular bit of overexuberant
hyperbole. Despite my
continuing disagreement with Kestas's assertions on this thread, his arguments
are thoughtful and seem to be motivated by
honest opinion.  He is just wrong.  :)    I think that we should separate the
discussions of Red's history with the actions of the media, whose motives
I would assert are more in line with the less than noble actions Kestas has
ascribed to Red. The media is willing to pander to those
who always see things racially. It is good for circulation. A basketball team
though, has a narrower focus . Red used every trick he could find
to win. I truly believe that talent was his bottom line, and that winning was
having the best talent, right down to the last guy on the bench.  Red would turn
up the heat  in the opponents locker room , or  orchestrate distubances in the
visiting teams hotel the night before to rob them of sleep. I do not believe that
some guy who couldn't honestly contribute ,white or black ,would take up space on
a Red Auerbach team.

>
>
> 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".

I have that tome. I picked it up for two dollars at Buck A Book. After I read it,
I realized I paid two bucks too much for it

>
>
> 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 discussion was about Red and the Celtics. You "don't think it was that in
the case of Red'. That's what I was saying!  I never said that racism didn't
exist
in the NBA and society at large.

I don't buy  the showcasing bit . As I said in my post,  Red was the first guy to
have an all black starting five. How are you showcasing when ALL your main
components are black? One or two  players would be "showcasing."

>  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.

This is the media's fault not Red's or the Celtics. There were a lot of stories
about Dana's roots initially, but his mediocre play and his huge contract
mitigated against any follow up stuff. Wait and see, if  Kestas and others are
correct about Herren's talent, the same thing will happen to him.

>
>
> > 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.

This remains to be seen. Herren knows the players and the system, and he showed
some talent before his shoulder went south.
He also comes cheap  Give him an honest chance . You may turn out to be right
about his ultimate abilities, but hold off on the cynicism until he gets into a
few meaningful games.

> Michael A. DiZio