The Garden is almost gone!

[REDBEACH2@aol.com]

   Greetings celts fans,

    As a former Bostonian i still wear my green proud living here in L.A. for
the last 12 years. As with all Celts fans across the country (and the world),
i still wear the green proudly. Why even the other day here in L.A. i had two
Laker fans shouting "Celts suck" from their car in reaction to my Celtics
World Champion bumper sticker.  I laughed, it is all in good fun.  The Celts-
Lakers rivalry of the 80's is not forgotten in La-La land. Although not
cherished here, the Kevin McKale's clothes line foul to Kurt Rambis is also
still not forgotten either! 

    A few days ago i came back from my 3 week vacation to Boston. On my annual
visit, i always make the trip to Causeway street and the Boston Garden. A
religious experience, i usually head to Celtic - Bruins pro shop for shirts &
trinkets.  In the past few years they had summer tours inside the Garden,
including a visit to the locker rooms, through the arena, and down on the
floor. In the final transition summer to the new Fleet Center, they still had
the parkay laid down in the Garden. 

    However this year i was much different.  I was saddened to the see the
infamous Boston Garden walls barely standing, and currently in process of
being dismantled.   Demolition started months ago, and now it is down to just
two corners of the historic building.  Behind it looms its predecessor.

    Although i feel fortunate to have visited the Gardens new replacement, the
Fleet Center, believe me it just don't compare!  Sure its larger, air
conditioned, and Hi-tech as they come.  Why even the same teams still play
there!  Yet it is still not the same.  In my visit last winter i paid $28 to
this new home of the Celtics to again become part of the game. I might add my
great seats also allowed me to touch the Fleet Center ceiling. "I must be in
the front row" crossed my mind often that night!  Yeah, yeah, i know, we gotta
pay the high salaries of immature team captains!  

    Unfortunately for the tired old Boston Garden, they said progress was
needed. Although updating the building was discussed, it was never fully
considered. Decades of use had brought on opportunistic power outages,
visiting teams recieved warm welcomes from their cold dressing room, and the
fog above the ice during the Bruins playoffs ... well it all painted a bleak
picture for a certain future of the historic arena. 

    Yes, i agree there were many sweltering springtime playoff games there.
With the Garden seating packed so tightly together, there seemed little need
for a new heating system in the wintertime.  I think it may have been one of
the only arena's in the world that used their patrons body heat to warm the
building?  And No, there were no "Dancing Barrys", or megawatt sound systems
blaring the tired old "We will rock you" sports theme.  Just a organist, and a
lot of diehard basketball fans!  Ahh.. when it came to crunch time, nothing,
and i mean NOTHING could ever compare to how the Garden rocked in the 4th
quarter though decades of Celtic basketball.  If you were ever there, you know
exactly what i mean!  Why for years the arena still seemed to rumble & roar of
games long gone bye.  

   Additionally for many years you could watch Johnny Most calling his "Play
by play" in what had to be the best announcers seat in sports, high above the
parkay. Still in the many times i was a honored guest of the fabled Garden, i
never heard anyone complain about obstructed view seats.  If you had a ticket,
then you were part of history!  Yes, sadly there will never be another Boston
Garden for Celts fans, or even for basketball players.  Only in dreams could
such a place still exhist.

    As i stood on the platform of the green line subway stop that overlooked
the remains, i watched the wrecking ball and steam shovel do their job.
"These unconscionable workers must be Laker fans" i thought?  Brick and
mortar, steel & cement, they were dismantling the Celtics best 6th man ever!
A passerbye stop to see what i was watching, "Interesting how they do this
stuff, huh?" he said.  I thought to myself  "Geeze, this guy is obviously not
a sports fan"! 

    Out of the corner of my eye i saw a 10 year old boy climbing a 14 foot
chain link fence. It must have been 4 times his size!  Once over, he quickly
grabbed a single amber brick that had inadvertently fallen into the cordoned
off "forbidden zone" surrounding the building.  Just as quickly he jumped back
over the fence, and ran up Causeway street with a cherished piece of the
Celtic puzzle.  I wondered, "Would he keep it for himself, or sell it to the
first taker?".  I heard one friend mention that a 10 year Bruin season ticket
holder was able to purchase his actual seats for $500 a peice when the
interior was finally dismantled. Hell, i'm sure i'll see one again in the
future at some sports memorabilia store! 

    Sad to see the last pieces of a past dynasty now getting carted away by
dumptruck and off to some landfill.  I snapped a few pictures of the wreckage,
and decided to leave the "Scene of the crime" to search for my Celtic trinkets
in the pro shop.  As i walked through the shop, the usual sports fan
paraphernalia abounded.  Amidst the tee-shirts, photos, stickers, & key chains
i found a discount rack. "What, a Filenes basement in the Fleet Center?".  No,
just Dee Brown's jersey now on a clearance rack. It was marked down from $37
to $27 dollars, and still no takers.  In a daze i walked up and down each isle
many times, but could find nothing that appealed to me this year.  "Maybe i no
longer bled green?" i thought.  Could it be the hot California sun had finally
converted me?  

    In my final pass through the shop i stopped at a glass cabinet. There in
the darkest corner was an amber brick.  I asked the salesman "Is it from the
Garden?", he said "Sure is, want one?".  "How much?" i replied, "$60 bucks,
and it comes with a specially numbered commemorative plack glued on!". Hmmm...
but as quickly as the boy jumped the high fence, out came my credit card.  I
paid quickly, and soon left the scene of another crime.  It was a hot summers
day on the Tee that afternoon, but i was clutching my amber brick as if i had
the crown jewel in my possession.

   A few hours later i got on a plane heading west.  I carefully placed this
piece of history in my carry-on bag.  It was not gonna leave my sight for a
moment!  Now in its final resting place, it will be a prized piece of sports
history in my personal sports hall of fame.  It will stand proud next to the
Larry Bird personally autographed basketball from the 80's, the Boston
Herald's Ted Gartland classic 1984 photo of Bird & Doctor J with their hands
around each others neck titled "Arms control", Celtic Banners and Christmas
bulbs from champion seasons past, an oversized Championship ring, the Bird &
Magic rookie card, and a arial photo of a moment in time inside a packed house
at the Boston Garden.    

   Yes Celtic fans, the Boston Garden is almost gone. May your memories be
just a grand as the home it was for all of us over the many championship
seasons of yesterday! 

   AL Bottcher