Bob Ryan: Genius or Jerk?

[Patrick.Ryan at westover.af.mil]

Hey look - it's another "answer must be somewhere in the middle" post
from that other Ryan guy (no, not that one - me).

As I already posted - controversy sells. My sister has turned that
philosophy into a very nice career in public relations work. At the same
time, the underlying argument currently raging "is this good or bad for
the Celtics" is a much more sticky issue and has been on this board for
a loooooooong time.

There are some truths to stick with - the trade put us into the luxury
tax.  We traded multiple players for one. We have three players taking
up the majority of our salary. We have roster spot(s) to fill to get to
the league minimum.

I don't think those are necessarily judgemental issues. They are what
they are (Bill Parcells makes an appearance). The question then does
become (and for me, the non-futurist, this is a big admission) what is
done with those facts? It's yet another in a long line of legitimate
questions that Egg tends to pose to our GM. This is "Plan J" - now how
do you bring that plan to fruition? And that is a great observation
because maybe it's not that Ainge has had so many plans, it's why can't
he complete any of them?

For me personally Ainge has come back into good graces even with those
"completion steps" looming (and I've been savaging his name recently).
He has always said he would turn "youth" into "established" - and he did
that. All the follow-on issues that go with that should be judged as
they play out.

So then what is the definition of "good". We KNOW it's good PR - the
Celtics have been front and center news-wise for a week with buzz
rivaling and even eclipsing a 1st place Red Sox team acquiring a
top-notch bullpen guy in Eric Gagne. Good on the court? Remains to be
seen - same with on the owner's pocketbook.  They can crow all they want
about future riches, but IOUs don't pay the bills. Good play? Again -
who knows - do the new three mesh? What is the impact on the bench? How
is the bench? 

In the end, that's kind've our role here - to debate these very issues
as they unfold before us.