Thursday, February 02, 2006

My Dad's Celtics, and Mine

You don't read much here about the Boston Celtics because I don't follow them with the fervor I did in the magical '80s, when every game was an event unto itself. DJ and Danny Ainge were the guards. Kevin McHale and Larry Bird were the forwards, and the Chief, Robert Parish, was the center. Now that is a starting line-up!
The Celtics always came to Hartford to play four games each year, one pre-season and three regular season games. We had seats in the mid-1980s that were three rows behind the Celtics' bench, just far enough up so that we would not be blocked by the seated players. One game I'll never forget was on a cold snowy night. I was sitting with my Dad. There were 2 seconds left against the Knicks, we were down by one, and Larry arched a shot from the corner near the bench. We were sitting not 6 feet away, and my Dad and I, standing, watched as the ball flew upward, reached its peak, and softly settled into the bottom of the net. Green team wins. It was a magical moment for players and fans alike, as the Civic Center erupted with an earthquake of cheering. And leave it to my Dad to go over to where Red Auerbach was sitting and hand him a cigar. Red promptly slid off the band and lit up. Right there! Priceless memories.
My Dad is gone now. And the Celtics, those multiple World Champions of the eighties, are gone too. In their place have been scores of pretenders. But they can never be MY Celtics. Or as my Dad used to say, our boys.

6 Comments:

At 2/02/2006 4:08 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You said there are no sweeter victories for the Sox then the ones Randy Johnson starts and loses.

You are aware, Randy Johnson last year was 5-0 versus the Red Sox.

Where's the loss?

-Evilsnare

 
At 2/02/2006 4:20 PM, Blogger Peter N said...

He was not charged with the loss, but the Sox battered him for double after double, and he was gone rather quickly. Because of time constraints, I cannot look up the specific info, but I do remember the Sox battered him. He was good against us, that's for sure. We shall see in '06. Good point, Evilsnare. I think one of his no decisions reflects the beforementioned battering.

 
At 2/03/2006 8:35 AM, Blogger JessieE said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 2/03/2006 8:36 AM, Blogger JessieE said...

This is such a nice memory, Peter.

I think Evilsnare is a pain in the ass. Does he ever say anything NICE?

Evilsnare, didn't you ever hear the saying: IF YOU CAN'T SAY SOMETHING NICE, DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL.

 
At 2/03/2006 11:17 AM, Blogger Peter N said...

Thanks for the nice words, Jessie. You're a sweetheart. As for Evilsnare, I can take some not-niceness, and it will provoke more comments from my would-be defenders, we Sox fans. In fact, I actually invited him here for his pro-Yankee comments. The guy knows his baseball. I think. No, I'm fairly certain he does. So fire away, Evil, but admit if you're wrong, which you weren't. This time.

 
At 2/05/2006 9:30 PM, Blogger Kim said...

Oh, Peter, just give it time. I predict that the C's are going to have an Championship team (with a capital C!) in the next year or two. You wait and C!

 

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