Let's Go Celtics

In the early 1980s, I lived in St. Petersburg, Fla. The only local sports team was the Tampa Bay Bucs, and they stunk on ice.

So, the first team I truly loved was the Boston Celtics. I was 9 when Larry Bird won his first title, 15 when he won his third and last in 1986. By then, I was living in Maine, so was somewhat regional.

Over the last 22 years, deep down, the Celtics were still my true sports love. Basketball is my favorite sport. Sure, I had my appropriate affair with the Red Sox, and that has been good fun over the years, but the Celtics were always the one for me. Before the playoffs started, I said here the Celts winning it all would be bigger for me than either Sox World Series wins. After last night, I haven't changed my mind.

The last 22 years, of course, have been difficult. I was shooting hoops behind my parents' barn when my dad told me Len Bias died. I was a senior at Northeastern when Reggie Lewis died, and spent the next day putting out a special edition. (I met Reggie a handful of times, including a few times when he stopped by the NU Sports Information office, where I co-oped. He was also extraordinarily kind, and I was thinking about a few of those chance, quiet meetings last night.)

Beyond the tragedy, however, there was some outright sucky seasons. I was covering the Celtics draft for the Central Maine Morning Sentinel when they picked Acie Earl, who plummeted from a Top-10 pick to the Celts (picking at 17, I think). The universal feeling in the room was that it was not just the obvious choice, but a steal. Yeah. A steal alright.

It just never seemed to get better. For a stretch, Kevin Gamble was the best player on the team. Then came the Pitino Era, which seemed like such a good idea at the time -- kind of like Acie Earl, now that I think of it. Pitino's lasting legacy is one of the great tantrums of all time -- and little else.

Up until last night, my best Celtics moment in the last 20 years was Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002, when the Celtics came back in the fourth against the Nets. I sat in the very last row of the FleetCenter -- stood in the very last row of the FleetCenter -- and watched one of the great comebacks ever. It was probably the loudest Celtics crowd since 1986 until last night. That crowd last night was absolutely phenomenal. In the first quarter and first half of the second, you could tell it was on its game and just ready to explode, just needing that little burst to get going. They got it, alright.

Obviously, all the bad times -- all the sitting through the M.L. Carr era, the ups and downs of Antoine Walker, the sad fade of the Big Three -- came to an end last night. Paul Pierce got what he deserved, a permanent place in Celtics legend. Kevin Garnett got the validation he desperately needed. Ray Allen gets the last piece to his Hall of Fame puzzle. The fans got order restored in the basketball world.

No more remembering Acie Earl or Ron Mercer, (as my pal Jon mentioned last night/this morning, Dontae Jones). No more hoping Tony Battie would "reach his potential" and no more wondering what could have been if Joe Johnson hadn't been traded, or Pierce had been.

For too long, the Celtics were an afterthought. For years, I'd go to the FleetCenter, see a crowd of 12,000, and think it was a pretty good attendance. For too long, the NBA was sucky, the Celtics suckier, and nobody cared. What can be worse than not caring? What can be worse than getting excited for the draft lottery year-in and year-out? What can be worse than sitting through a series of 35-win seasons (or worse) with hope years away?

Instead, a season that began in Rome ended in Boston, and the NBA's longest-running empire is back on top. Since 1986, Celtics fans have given more than they received. Last night, the ledger was finally balanced. Who's up for Banner 18?