Inside Chris Wallace

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Inside Chris Wallace

Jason Martin <jmartin@dailymail.com>
West Virginia Daily Mail sportswriter

Saturday July 20, 2002; 10:00 AM

Any general manager who works for the Boston Celtics better know more
than Larry Bird's jersey number and how many championship trophies need
to be polished. (No. 33 and 16, of course.)
Chris Wallace, 44, is a self-described "hoops nut." He started
publishing the now wildly successful Blue Ribbon College Basketball
Yearbook from his parents' Buckhannon basement in 1981.
He parlayed the contacts he made into a scouting position with Portland
in 1986, and later worked for Denver, the Los Angeles Clippers, New York
and Miami, where he eventually served as director of player personnel.
In 1997, Rick Pitino tabbed Wallace to join him in Boston.
Pitino didn't last; Wallace did.
We set out to test Upshur County's finest -- and find out a little more
about him -- with the following Celtic Trivia Quiz edition of 10
Questions.
1. What's the best name in team history?
Chuck Connors. The Rifleman. He was not only one of the great players,
but one of the all-time great TV characters.
2. Best nickname among all-time Celtics?
We have so many numbers retired I can't count . . . it's in the high
teens. That's actually one of the difficult aspects when bringing in new
players is that it's almost impossible to fulfill their desire because
the number they want is probably retired.
That said, the best is Jim Luskatoff, one of the original enforcers.
They didn't retire his number. On his jersey, it just says "Lusky."
3. Best bank shot?
Sam Jones. No question.
3a. Best jumpshot?
That has to be Larry Bird. Maybe an old-timer would pick somebody else.
But I still maintain and argue vehemently that the best long-range
shooter I've ever seen is (former Salem College star) Archie Talley.
4. Best cigar?
Red Auerbach, but he doesn't smoke top-of-the-line cigars. So it's not
the most fragrant aroma you've ever had the pleasure of inhaling.
5. Favorite Irish food or drink?
Guinness.
6. Best Celtic haircut?
I'd have to go with Pervis Ellison with those braids.
7. Most popular pro sports franchise in sports-crazy Boston?
The Red Sox, although the Patriots have a special spot in people's
hearts. They not only won the Super Bowl, but they won it in such an
endearing way with a cast of low-budget free agents and a quarterback
out of Central Casting.
They won in so many improbably ways like the Snow Game, Adam Vinatieri
kicking field goals in the most difficult conditions ever, winning the
Super Bowl on the last play of the game.
No matter what else happens in the history of this sports town, that's
right up there.
8. Pick between these '90s lunky Boston forwards: Alaa Abdelnaby, Acie
Earl or Pervis Ellison?
Pervis, I'll take him. He had an excellent sense of humor. It's just a
shame his body betrayed him at the end of his career.
9. Better M.L. Carr Clone for towel waving from the bench: Mateen
Cleaves or Mark Madsen?
Madsen.
10. Will Boston's years-long interstate construction project, The Big
Dig, ever be finished?
Uhh, no. It doesn't feel like it.