Optimism and Progress

[Snoopy the Celtics Beagle]

That's something that brings a few things to mind.  First, I never 
heard of Red saying, "I hired a Black coach", or "I drafted a black 
player."  Other people remarked about it.  Red never made a big deal 
about it.  Bill Russell was once asked if being named the first Black 
coach was progress.  He replied (paraphrased) that it would be 
progress when people stopped thinking of him as the "black" 
coach--and thought of him as the "Celtics" coach.

Or, he could have as easily said, "Look at me like my friend Red 
Auerbach does."

Until Cecil mentioned his color, I had no idea, and it makes no 
difference--we share similar tastes in sports and culture and I 
consider him a friend, albeit one I've never met in person.

As for that progress, I'll share a story about my wife, Mrs. Celtics 
Beagle.  When I met her, she knew almost nothing about the Celtics, 
as she was not a sports person.  She would listen to my occasional 
rambling (or grumbling) about the team, and she jokingly says her 
knowledge extends to "Yay Celtics, boo Lakers, and yay anyone playing 
against the Lakers."  She watched games with me sometimes, but this 
was during the Pitino years, so she spent most of the time keeping me 
from putting my foot through the television.

Some time ago, she was watching some game show--Hollywood Squares, I 
think--when the question was asked "Which of these players has the 
most championship rings?"  When I came home from work, she proudly 
announced that she had known the answer right away--"Bill 
Russell--the white guy!"

She had confused her mental picture of Russell with Kevin McHale.  It 
was hilarious in and of itself at first, but I thought--she didn't 
care enough about what color his skin was to remember it.  She knew 
Russell was a Celtic, period.

That's progress.

And, perhaps symbolically, P.W. Botha , the bigoted idiot whose 
racist government made life a living hell for the Black citizens of 
South Africa and made that country an international embarrassment, 
died; even as Red Auerbach, who stood up for Bill Russell, Chuck 
Cooper and so many more, not because they were Black--but because 
they were Celtics--was mourned worldwide.

That's progress, too.

And as Cecil suggested, I'll stand up for the Celtics, metaphorically 
alongside my friends here and elsewhere.

Let's keep making progress, together.


At 04:15 PM 11/1/2006, Cecil Wright wrote:

>Great job Steve!!!  It would be nice, if only for one night, in 
>honor of Arnold "Red" Auerbach, if we could squelch the negativity 
>and direct some positive energy toward the team.  Just try it for 
>tonight.  I've gotta go now....for I am on my way to purchase some 
>Cuban cigars...we can buy them here in Canada...so I have one to 
>light up late in the game... along with my memories of Red.
>
>You know, as a black man, I have taken alot of flack over the years 
>from people when I advise that I am a Celtic fan.  They, particular 
>other blacks, will ridicule the team, especially, and ironically, 
>when we had Bird, McHale and Ainge as starters with Sichting and 
>Walton off the bench.  They would tease me about the C's having the 
>whitest team in the league.  They shut their lips quickly when I 
>would inform them of what Red did and how he did it...flying right 
>in the face of the naysayers and justifiably saying that he was 
>trying to win games regardless of what color the players were.  It 
>was in 1961 when we moved to Boston and I began my love affair with 
>this team.  And I LOVED it when Red would admonish the ref for 
>calling a foul on Satch Sanders when he was playing outstanding 
>defense on the Elgin Baylors of the league.  Red stood up for the 
>Celtics.  Maybe we should try doing the same.
>
>Cecil

Snoopy the Celtics Beagle
Please visit the <http://www.celticsbeagle.net/>Celtics Beagle Website