Sports Friday: Sleeping Through A Classic

I grew up a crazed Boston Celtics fan.

I became a Celtics fan because of my admiration for John Havlicek, in my opinion the single player who did more with his natural talents, through sheer determination, hustle and hard work, than anyone I have ever seen in any sport.

(It was not necessarily a safe thing to be a Celtics fan in Madison Square Garden during the Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, etc. era. But that's what I was.)

After the death of Len Bias and the consequent Len Bias Curse, I stopped following the Celtics as closely and never really again cared much for the NBA.

Until this year.

The Celtics have been nothing short of phenomenal, taking three glorious veterans and using a stifling defense and unselfish offense, to dominate the league (and, as importantly, play the type of game that I really enjoy and respect).

After last nights shocking come-from-24-points-behind-victory over the accursed Lakers, the Celtics are on the brink of their 17th championship.

The problem is, I've slept through it all.

The games start close to 9 p.m. I get up every morning at 5:10 a.m. Ich kenesht.

I went to sleep last night with the Celtics trailing by 18 points with 6 minutes to go in the third quarter. It was already past 11. Driving to shul this morning I nearly swerved off the road when I heard that the Celtics won the game.

I promise to try to stay up on Sunday night when the Celtics finish of the Lakers once and for all.

Sports Friday Extra: The Len Bias Curse

The Celtics, whom I worshiped as a kid, have been miserable for many, many years. You can trace their decline back to 1986 when they outfoxed a bunch of teams and manuvered to get the second overall pick in the draft. They selected the great Len Bias, a 6'8" forward from Maryland. He was going to be their ticket to sustained greatness for the next ten years.

The problem is, he accidentally killed himself with an overdose of cocaine two days after the draft. The Celtics have never recovered.

Sports Friday: Beyond Putrid

If my company ran the way the Knicks run, I would be out of a job and my boss would certainly be out of a job.

Only on the Knicks do you not only continue to be gainfully employed, you get your contract extended. Last night's game against the Celtics was almost beyond belief.

By the end of the third quarter, the Celtics had about double the knicks 40 or so points. It was a humiliation the likes of which I've rarely seen.

Now it's true that the Celtics have assembled a great team this year (finally, after 20 years of suffering from the Len Bias Curse). But yesterday's performance by the Knicks was something you would have expected from a mid-level college team.

How can an owner continue to stand by after witnessing something like that?

(BTW, I couldn't care less about the Knicks; I've been a lifelong Celtics fan).

Celtics Pride

The greatest one-season turnaround in NBA history culminated with the Celtics utter destruction of the hapless Lakers last night.

It isn't often that a team wins by 39 points and you can honestly say that the game wasn't as close close as the score indicates. Demolition? Humiliation? Pick your term. They smothered the Lakers and crushed them in every single aspect of the game.

(I was actually tempted to go to sleep at the end of the third quarter because the Celtics were up by 29 and clearly in control. But that wasn't going to happen).

So, the Len Bias Curse has finally been exorcised after 22 years and Celtics Pride restored.

I didn't end up seeing that much of the series so it's hard for me to comment (which doesn't mean that I won't) but, notwithstanding how great a series Paul Pierce played, it's clear to me that the heart of the Celtics in this series was Kevin Garnett. He is the main reason why the Lakers interior players were totally outclassed and played like sissies. The good news is that I'm sure Garnett couldn't care less who got the MVP as long as he finally got the elusive championship.

(The other thing that I loved about last night was the ridiculous shooting of Ray Allen. After a number of playoff series where he mysteriously lost his touch, he finally got it back against the Lakers, never more so than last night when he hit 7 threes. It seemed that any time the Lakers tried to put a few points together in the second half, Allen nailed a long range bomb.)

Finally, the most poignant moment of last night's telecast (which made it worthwhile staying up) was when Garnett went over to Bill Russell after the game, hugged him and said, "I finally got my own. I finally got my own. I hope we made you proud."

Classic.

Twenty Years Later

The truth about Len Bias.

Hat Tip: Big Bro