A view from Main Street America by a congenital Democrat and truth-seeking attorney. Proud Member of the Reality-Based Community. Posting on the Internets since 2004.
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.
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.
As if they needed one, the Celtics have an extra reason to win the championship. If the Lakers win, Phil Jackson will surpass Red Auerbach as the NBA coach with the most titles.
If the Celtics had any class, they'd rename the new Boston Garden "Auerbach Arena".
Pierce's 41 points led the Celtics to a 97-92 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7 last night. The game was a tense affair throughout. Even though the Celtics led from the start, the Cavaliers were never out of it. My one friend kept saying, if the Celtics just keep LeBron under 50 we'll win. King James was magnificent but had less of a supporting cast than Paul Pierce. Delonte West had 15 points but no other Cavs starter was even in double figures. Paul Pierce had the game of his life, not only scoring but having to defend LeBron. That guy is just a beast. When LeBron took his third three-pointer in the 4th quarter after making two in a row -- that would have cut the lead to 2 points -- we all had our hearts in out throats. But Pierce kept scoring, and the Cavs got cold, and that was all she wrote.
Doc Rivers had a good game too. His decisions to play Eddie House over the slumping Sam Cassell, and to give PJ Brown significant minutes (the Boston Herald called Brown the "AARP Player of the Week"), were the difference in the game. And, sad as it was to see, he was absolutely right to bench Ray Allen for much of the fourth quarter, as without his jump shot Allen is just deadwood on the floor.
In the post-game press conference Pierce claimed his free throw in the final minute that bounced high up and improbably in was tapped in by the ghost of Red Auerbach. He really semed touched, but if you watched the entire post-game, the "Red tipped the ball" idea was given to him by TNT's sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya in her interview (on this video, starting at about 4:35)on the sidelines just after the game ended. Here's Pierce talking about Red in the media conference:
Paul Pierce had one of the biggest games of his career. He shot 56% from the floor and 91% from the line. On top of that he had 5 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. And those assists don't account for the two times he got Leon Powe to the line. He was dialed in and even called the final 3 minutes the toughest 3 minutes of his life. Keep in mind the fact that he was brutally stabbed once and almost died. I'm assuming he's completely blocked that out.
Red Auerbach, the iconic coach and general manager who built 16 Celtics championship teams, was disdainful of cheerleaders, who he feared would distract from the game. The Celtics would have cheerleaders over his dead body, Red said. And so the suits waited. In February 2004, Auerbach told the Globe, "They're just waiting for me to die so they can get cheerleaders." He was right. Two and a half years later, Red was dead, and at the first available opportunity the girls took the court.
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As a fairly recent transplant from New York, I'm a little puzzled by all this. I thought that I was moving to the land of stiff collars and self-restraint. No one thinks of Boston as "sexy." Boston is classic. It's distinguished. It's Brooks Brothers and Bloody Marys.
Maybe that's why the Celtics Dancers' erotic interruptions feel so incongruous. And when I glance around at the game, I see plenty of baffled faces. There are suburban dads in attendance with preteen daughters, shrugging helplessly. They seem to be saying, "These aren't your role models!" There are respectable older gentlemen, like my father-in-law, who sinks deeper into his popcorn. Our eyes don't meet. There are also legions of teenage boys, their eyes like saucers, holding up their cellphones to get the perfect soft-porn picture to show off around school. I guess those are the customers the Celtics are hoping to please.
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