alee@ucbcad.UUCP (Alex Lee) (05/17/85)
For those who are sick and tired of this net being flooded with
articles about the Boston Celtics, as if they are the only team in the
league, here is a break.
The issue of why not too many people outside of Boston are Celtic
fans were raised sometime ago, and several explanations had been proposed,
among them the most foolish has got to be the one that concerned "jealousy".
True sports fans don't feel jealousy, they only adore a "true" champion.
I, for one, had over the years been a Knicks fan, a Lakers fan,
a Bucks fan, a Worriors fan, a Trail Blazers fan.......And if you can't
wait to question my loyalty, let me tell you this story.
Fifteen years ago I was just a little school kid in the Republic
Of China (NOT the red China). I wanted to make learning a second language
a little more pleasant for myself. So instead of studying hard my text
books, I read the sports pages of a small local English newspaper.
With basketball being the only sport I knew how to play, the NBA fever
caught my heart, and I had become a die-hard ever since.
Over the years I read all I could about those great teams and great
players. Names like Reed, Frazier, Robertson, Alcindor(yes), Chamberlain,
West, Goodrich, Barry, Walton, and even Dr. as a Net, Moses as a Star, and
Issel as a Colonel, they are as dear to me as the Beatles and Rolling
Stones are to the yuppies of today. While the Celtic dominance in the
60's were the fond memories of Boston fans, it was the 33-game winning
streak,the longest in ANY professional sports, that amazed a little
foreign kid half an earth away.
Although I never had the chance to see these legendary stars in
action, but oh, yes I did, vividly in the endless imagination conjured
up in my young mind. And how I adored those Knicks, Lakers, and Bucks....
Don't blame me for thinking that LA was the greatest basketball city
in the nation. It wasn't just the Lakers you see, but Johnny Wooden and
the Bruins' 88-game winning streak too.
But the dreams of eyewitnessing such great games live didn't come
true until ten years later, when I came to the States in late 79. And then,
a fella named Earving Johnson made ten years' waiting worth every minute
of it, by playing some of the most spectacular basketball of all time
in that year's championship series.
Just when I thought I could live happily ever after in this ultimate
kingdom of hoops, along came these Boston Celtics. In last year's
championship series, when I saw Kevin McHale clothlining Rambis, Larry
Bird elbowing Michael Copper into the stands, and DJ and Ainge pushing
Worthy from behind on numerous breakaways, my sweet-dreams-come-true
turned into nightmares. These are dirty stunts,el stinko. Only third rate
amateurs in where I came from would do that. They simply were not what
the game is meant to be.
I know a bad game when I see one, 'cause I'd seen plenty of them.
You guys combined wouldn't have seen as much bad basketball as I have
alone. In ROC, there was simply hardly any quality basketball to see.
So I could not help but wonder if this was the NBA, the holy land of
basketball? Even more surprisingly, there are actually Boston fans
that are proud of that kind of junk.
So you see, it really has nothing to do with jealousy. Because
there is nothing for me to be jealous about. I don't have a "home" team
to root for. I just enjoy great basketball, and the Celtics dirty stuff
is simply disgusting. That's all.
Don't get me wrong. I ain't got nothing against the Celtics, or
Boston, personally. They are pros. They got talents. And if they run
hard, defend hard and play clean, like uh... the Lakers or the Sixers,
and win, I'd take my hat off to them. I'd openly admit that their game
is a beauty, that I'm a Celtics fan outside of Boston area. But until
then, I will remain an NBA-less-Celtics fan.
Alex Leecv@linus.UUCP (Chris J. Valas) (05/23/85)
-=- In article <250@ucbcad.UUCP> alee@ucbcad.UUCP (Alex Lee) writes: > > > So you see, it really has nothing to do with jealousy. Because >there is nothing for me to be jealous about. I don't have a "home" team >to root for. I just enjoy great basketball, and the Celtics dirty stuff >is simply disgusting. That's all. > > Don't get me wrong. I ain't got nothing against the Celtics, or >Boston, personally. They are pros. They got talents. And if they run >hard, defend hard and play clean, like uh... the Lakers or the Sixers, >and win, I'd take my hat off to them. I'd openly admit that their game >is a beauty, that I'm a Celtics fan outside of Boston area. But until >then, I will remain an NBA-less-Celtics fan. > > Alex Lee Gee, Alex, that's okay . . . I think we can win without you. -=- Chris J. Valas {decvax,utzoo,philabs,security,allegra,genrad}!linus!cv -=- p.s. People who play 'clean' basketball against Moses Malone, Jeff Ruland, Bill Laimbeer, et al, end up as two things: injured and losers.
samuels@h-sc1.UUCP (ronald samuels) (05/23/85)
> > For those who are sick and tired of this net being flooded with > articles about the Boston Celtics, as if they are the only team in the > league, here is a break. > > The issue of why not too many people outside of Boston are Celtic > fans were raised sometime ago, and several explanations had been proposed, > among them the most foolish has got to be the one that concerned "jealousy". > True sports fans don't feel jealousy, they only adore a "true" champion. > What I want to know is where were all these fans ten years ago. I've been at school here in boston for 4 years now and have been to about 3 games (tickets are impossible to get), yet my older brothers will tell you of the days when they got Celtics- Knicks playoff tickets IN BOSTON the day of the game at the stadium - it hadn't sold out yet. Now, all of a sudden, with a team loaded with pale stars the fans flock to the garden. Well, I'll stick with the Knicks (unless Steinbrener buys them). -- Ron Samuels Harvard University Science Center ...harvard!h-sc1!samuels (or better yet) ...harvard!h-sc4!samuels_b