Becks & KG

Two of my worlds collide when David Beckham and Kevin Garnett filmed a commercial for adidas last year:



hat tip to The Spoiler which has a fuller explanation of the shoot.

Number 17

The Boston Celtics get their 17th NBA Championship Trophy and the players get their rings. Paul Pierce was overcome -- then went on to lead the Celtics to victory over LeBron James and the Cavaliers.

It's Basketball Season

Once the Red Sox season ended, baseball ended for me and basketball season started! Tonight the Boston Celtics raise their 17th championship banner at the Garden. (formerly known as the Fleet Center Enema, and many other blasphemous names, but all true Celtics fans just call it the Garden. Or the new Garden. But not any of that other crap.) To get you pumped for basketball season, watch this great new ad with Kevin Garnett: "Boston is a Brotherhood":


I still cannot believe that I barely knew who Kevin Garnett was until the Celtics traded for him last summer.

Pierce & Garnett on ESPN

I want Kevin Garnett's earrings.

A Few More Celtics Videos

LA: You just got Rondo'd


Kevin Garnett & Ray Allen on Letterman:


Big Baby is GOING TO DISNEYLAND:


hat tip to my favorite Celtics blog, I*Heart*Celtics

Celtics Get Their Own Rolling Rally

The "rolling rally", now a Boston fixture, took place this morning. The entire team was aboard duck boats and a huge crowd lined the parade route. A TV announcer said the most common sign was "Marry Me Rondo"! The players smoked cigars in a tribute to Red Auerbach's famous victory cigar.

I guess I'm getting old. I never even seriously considered going. I hate the crowds, and I had to be in front of the TV for Portugal-Germany, the best semifinal of Euro 2008.


Boston Herald Photo Gallery

Boston Globe: Crowds cheer as Celtics roll through Boston

Boston Globe Photo Gallery

Boston Globe: Sox to honor Celtics on Friday

How Sweet It Is

Boston Herald Photo Gallery

Boston Globe Photo Gallery

Celtics Crush Fakers, Win 17th NBA Championship

Paul Pierce is the Motherfucking Truth.

(apologies to Shaq who originated the phrase)

Don't talk to me about that rapist from LaLaLand. Paul Pierce is the MVP of the series, and Kevin Garnett was the MVP of the league. And if you had one guy to pick to take the shot with the game on the line, that man is Ray Allen.

Red Auerbach is smiling down on the Celtics tonight.

Obama Was Wrong

RayRay blows by the Euro-weenies to seal the win
He said Kevin Garnett was his favorite player, but he thought the Lakers would beat the Celtics in six because they had the better team.

Obama was wrong, and now he knows it.

Was there anything more satisfying than coming back from a 24-point deficit to beat the hated Lakers last night? Well, yeah, nothing beats the Sawx coming back from down 3-0 to beat the Yankees, the MFYs, in the 2004 American League Championship series. I'm not as invested in these Celtics as I am in the Red Sox, or as I was with the 1980s Celtics, a team that was assembled by Red, not purchased by Danny Ainge.

But this Celtics team is compelling, starting with Kevin Garnett, one of the most inspirational leaders I've ever seen, a man who came in and transformed an entire team. It's amazing to watch 12 players playing with Garnett's flaming intensity at both ends of the court, playing every professional game like college kids, filled with enthusiasm, every player on the bench jumping up and down on every possession.

Last night's highlights, for me, were: Ray Allen/Jesus Shuttlesworth , age 32, plays 48 minutes; Paul Pierce asks to guard Kobe Bryant at halftime; Paul Pierce blocks Kobe Bryant's fallaway jumper (almost impossible, watch the video here)!; James Posey rains in another outside shot in the 4th quarter, then pops out that goofy green & white mouthguard to grin; Pierce dancing around in the backcourt after Allen's layup sealed the win with 16 seconds left; the total silence of the "fans" at the Staples Center.

This morning I heard some radio gasbags call the Lakers "a bunch of softies and Euro-weenies". I think you could apply that description to the silent fans, too. Can you imagine the Garden (which should be renamed the AUERBACH ARENA, hello!) silent if the Celtics were in a close game? Never.

I think we can go back to what we used to call the Lakers: The Fakers.

While it would be nice to win the trophy in front of the Garden faithful, I would not be surprised to see the Lakers, their backs broken last night, fold like a cheap suit on Sunday night.

Suldog: Ubuntu

I*Heart*Celtics: I Love The Boston Celtics

Boston Herald: Game 4 Photo Gallery

Boston Globe, Game 4 Photo Gallery

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe: Seeing this was believing

How sweet it is

Celtics, 1986 to Present

Chad Finn's Touching All the Bases: Reeling in the years

Celtics Fans: This Year, Arrive Early

Boston Celtics forwards Kevin Garnett (L) and Paul Pierce smile during a time out in the third quarter of their NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets in Boston, Massachusetts November 7, 2007. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (UNITED STATES)
Last night the New and Improved Boston Celtics massacred the Denver Nuggets, a good old fashioned throttling, 119-92. The score of the game was 38-22 at the end of the first quarter, and and unbelievable 77-38 at halftime. Yes, the game was over not only by halftime, but midway through the second quarter. Celtics fans, you've been warned: For this year's team, you've got to arrive early, or the game will be in the bag.

As a fan from the good old days of the 1980s Celtics, I actually enjoyed watching the game. I haven't watched the Celtics since Antoine Walker left, because there's been no spark. Last night, there was passing -- passing! -- and lo and behold, something never seen in the modern NBA, commitment on defense! When Chad Finn wrote that Kevin Garnett was going to restore Celtic Pride and make Celtics fans happier than they could imagine, I scoffed. Now I'm a believer. The big man has the team united as a team, everyone heads up, cheering for their mates from the bench, and giving it all on the floor. Is this the NBA? Can I be dreaming? A team playing as a team and not as a talented group of individuals all seeking to pump up their personal statistics, team and result be damned?

The announcers got into it, with Bob Cousy doing one of his rare full game appearances. They were talking about the playoffs by the 3rd minute of the game, and Cousy made a Larry Bird reference in the second quarter! I'm going to have to make some time in my winter schedule for watching the Celtics. They could make me stop hating the NBA.

Boston Globe, Jackie MacMullan: Another big step forward

Boston Herald, Steve Buckley: Hopes for title ring true
Pierce keeps it real with Garnett, Allen

Sports Roundup, Saturday, August 4, 2007

Chad Finn loves loves loves Kevin Garnett:

I guess it's still just surreal that perhaps the most likable NBA superstar of the last decade is on the Celtics, and I'm still savoring the whole thing, four days after the trade. It's funny, I've been trying to explain how significant this is to the lapsed Celtics fans I know, and I just keep coming back to the same point: Kevin Garnett will restore Celtic Pride. I guarantee it. He is the perfect player in the perfect place at the perfect time. He's a superstar who plays with the hunger and desperation of a 12th man. He's maniacal about winning.

Soccer Hall of Fame gets smart, will have two women's teams in the Hall of Fame Game on August 26th when Hamm & Foudy are inducted. Hamm, Foudy and Carla Overbeck will all play in the game.

Washington Post with an article about and interview with Freddy Adu who is now in Portugal training with Benfica; Grant Wahl of SI also interviewed Freddy.

Former Boston College striker and New Hampshire native Charlie Davies happy in Sweden.

Welcome to Boston, Eric Gagne. We'll go Ga-Ga for you.

The Celtics are Back

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett pumps his fist to his chest before the start of the basketball game with the Los Angeles Clippers in Minneapolis in this Nov. 25, 2006 file photo. Garnett is leaving Minnesota after the Boston Celtics agreed to acquire the All-Star forward in a multiplayer trade with the Timberwolves, a Celtics official told The Associated Press on Monday, July 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Andy King, File)

In a big way. Today's news of the signing of Kevin Garnett may change my opinion of Danny Ainge (formerly, I thought of him as the dumbest of the former Celtics). The Celtics have been boring and horrible to watch since the departure of Antoine Walker, and they weren't even that great then. Last year, riddled with injuries, they were pathetic. Now we'll find out if Paul Pierce is really a superstar. Garnett certainly is. And Ainge got him for "the Al Jefferson pu pu platter deluxe" (credit to Bill Simmons of ESPN for that delicious bon mot). Game on.

Boston Globe: The big one
Celtics agree on deal to land Garnett

Boston Globe: Jackie MacMullan
Move is just the ticket for once-proud team

Boston Herald: C’s cash in ‘Big Ticket’

Chad Finn's TATB: I think I'll go to Boston/I think I'll start a new life

[] Garnett might be the most dedicated superstar in the game, a selfless, driven, all-around force who plays as hard in a mid-January grinder in Utah as he would against Tim Duncan in the second round of the playoffs. Garnett cares, dammit, and he plays his heart out every freakin' night no matter what . . . Maybe this is hyperbole brought on by the joy and magnitude of the moment, but no matter, because I believe it to be true: Through sheer force of will, Garnett is capable of restoring Celtic Pride, and the alleged and lapsed Celtics fans who don't know this about him are going to be leaping on the bandwagon once they realize what a treat it is to watch this guy play night after night . . .

Bill Simmons, ESPNPage 2: McHale adds another notch to his Celtics legacy

My NBA guide claims that McHale retired from the Celtics in 1993, but apparently that's a misprint. How else could you explain his decision to trade Kevin Garnett to Boston for the Al Jefferson pu pu platter deluxe?