11/05/24
February 27, 2004
Should paying fans "just say no" to the Boston Celtics?: Chuck Hirshberg appeals to Boston's revolutionary tradition in a funny and spot-on attack on Celtics ownership and Danny Ainge.
posted by dusted to basketball at 05:03 PM - 11 comments
From afar, it seems to me Ainge is an egomaniacal, unmitigated disaster. What's it seem like to some of our resident Bostonians?
posted by jeffmshaw at 06:30 PM on February 27, 2004
I'm currently watching the Celts (amazingly their up by 10 in the 1st), and they just showed Paul Pierce talking about how in the span of 18 months an eastern conf. contender is now a doormat. Ainge also strikes me as a few sandwiches short of a picnic. His moves are beyond questionable and when O'Brien quit, that should have raised some eyebrows. I have no idea what he hopes to accomplish with his hair-brained trades. With prices what they are, I'm sure fans can find a million other things to spend their money on (like taking up a collection to keep nomar, pedro, lowe & varitek)
posted by pwilly at 06:41 PM on February 27, 2004
SportsFilter: always a few sandwiches short of a picnic
posted by billsaysthis at 07:35 PM on February 27, 2004
My personal theory is that he's slowly dismantling the Celts in order to build them back up again and look like a hero. Merely speculation, and I could very well be wrong, but it really looks that way to me. Shame too, as Boston is one of the few EC teams I always felt comfortable pulling for. Not sure I feel that way any longer.
posted by Ufez Jones at 07:40 PM on February 27, 2004
A co-worker and I have followed the Celtics fairly religiously for the past 5-6 years. I've stopped watching them this season, not because they stink on ice, but because I miss Jim O'Brien. It's weird: I've watched the Celtics since about '82, but they feel like an out-of-town team without Obie on the sidelines. I would have rather lost Pierce (and I like Paul, awful shot selection and Messianic complex notwithstanding).
posted by yerfatma at 08:24 PM on February 27, 2004
I haven't followed basketball completely since HS and the death of Reggie Lewis. What is happening now isn't absolutely killing me although its a bit disappointing to witness. He's definitely taking it apart, and I don't know if there are some personal grudges involved in some of it (he thought Walker had too tight a grasp on the team... by grasp he must have meant 'winning'). What was really wrong with the team anyway to take it apart? A couple years ago, they were in the playoffs I thought... was it 2002?
posted by jerseygirl at 10:46 PM on February 27, 2004
he thought Walker had too tight a grasp on the team... by grasp he must have meant 'winning' That's okay, the consensus in Dallas, as far as I can tell, is that Walker is A) way overpaid and B) been a bit of a bust (not that is too surprising) and C) with his contract up at the end of this year and the need to protect 8 players in the expansion draft, nothing short of a championship and a salary cut will keep him on the squad next year. But them's the breaks, and I still rather have Walker than LaFrentz, all things considered.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:59 PM on February 27, 2004
It's not like the Celtics were a serious contender for the title before these moves. It's not like they are one player away from being a contender even. Who are some free agents coming up after this season that might have some desire to play there? Maybe Ainge does have a plan, and it involves not having a team go .500 for the next decade.
posted by vito90 at 01:01 PM on February 29, 2004
It's not like the Celtics were a serious contender for the title before these moves. Naw. It's not like anyone in the East was really a contender thisyear either. It's more the way Ainge has done things than what he's done. Ripping the Celts apart isn't the worst idea in the world; the problem is it feels like Danny did it not because it was part of a master plan but because he wants to call the team his so he can take all the credit if/ when the team does well. It felt like he tied Antoine and O'Brien to the T tracks while twirling his (figurative) mustache.
posted by yerfatma at 03:07 PM on February 29, 2004
I agree with what Jack Ramsay said: "Danny seems intent on the future without thinking of the present. I can't say his future looks especially good, either." Ramsay is O'Brien's father-in-law, so he's a little biased, but he's correct that Ainge has ripped apart a decent team without setting the stage for any revival in the forseeable future, his claims to have a secret "plan" notwithstanding.
posted by dimmykarras at 07:16 PM on February 29, 2004
I'm ready to support a Celtics boycott and I'm in California! Ainge may believe in his "master plan," but he's about one trade away from turning last year's Eastern Conference finalist into this year's Atlanta Hawks.