Bird likes Hub heat: Fan, media attention is OK with legend

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bird likes Hub heat: Fan, media attention is OK with legend
By Steve Bulpett
Monday, October 13, 2003

INDIANAPOLIS - Larry Bird took full note of complaints this summer by various
athletes that Boston is a difficult town in which to play and essentially told
the plaintiffs to, well, cowboy up.

     The Celtics legend is well aware of the city's critical media and
demanding fans, but he doesn't see them as such negatives. Bird, now the
Pacers' head of basketball operations, once lamented during his coaching
tenure here that the Indy writers didn't get on players when their
performances warranted it.

     ``Guys here come in on media day, will say, `Wow, look at all the press
here,' '' Bird said. ``I tell them, `In Boston on media day you can't even
move on the court.' But you knew they were always going to be there, and you
knew the fans were always going to care. The fans there are always going to
support their teams and you know what they expect out of you.''

     Danny Ainge, the C's director of basketball operations and a former
teammate of Bird, uses how a player reacts to press and public pressure to
assess how he'll react to the postseason. Bird claims the push from the
outside didn't match his own.

     When it was suggested that the fans will cheer a player but complain at
the first missed shot, he said: ``They don't bitch as much as I did when I
missed one. You know, I tried to play the perfect game all the time, which is
almost impossible. I put the pressure on myself, so anything that came from
other people wasn't nearly as much as I put on.

     ``But, hey, when I called on the fans they supported our team. I had a
lot of respect for them and I think they had a lot of respect for me.''

     While radio shows have blurred the line between media and fans, Bird
makes a distinction.

     ``Boston is a tough media town, and that's part of it,'' he said. ``You
know, you guys have got a job to do. My thing was that I never listened to the
talk shows. I could care less, because most of the people that are calling
them never go to your games anyway. But I knew the press had a job to do. As
long as you were fair, I never had any problems. But that's all part of the
game. You've got to live with it.

     ``I do think it's changed a little over the years. When I came in the
league you could go out and have a beer with a writer. That was just part of
it, but it changed some. The thing is, I still had a respect for the (media)
people out there. They did their jobs. They were tough when they had to be
tough, but they were fair when it was important and you really needed them to
be. It's a tough media market and the fans are tough. Ain't no question about
that. But if you work and you do the things necessary to win ballgames,
they'll support you a hundred percent.

     ``As far as playing in Boston, I don't think you could ever play anywhere
else to even match the intensity of you fans and the media. But if you play
hard and do what you're supposed to do, everything will be fine.''

     Celtics notes

     What has coach Jim O'Brien learned in the Celts' first three exhibition
games (all losses)?

     ``I learned that we need practice,'' he said. ``We're not getting enough
practice.''

     That said, the coach still gave the club yesterday off.

     ``The point of emphasis is for a lot of our guys to get off their feet
for the first time this season,'' he said. . . .

     Tony Delk was certainly grateful for the break. He was hobbling around
the dressing room following Saturday night's 91-90 loss to the Pacers, his
first game appearance of the preseason.

     ``Not good,'' he said when asked how he felt. ``I strained my groin, but
now that's feeling better, and it's my calves that are bothering me. They've
been bugging me all through training camp.''
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx