CelticsStrong
Celtics Basketball => Celtics History => Topic started by: SShorefan 4.0 on February 04, 2009, 08:54:31 AM
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http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=42
...in 1993, there was standing room only in the Boston Garden as the Celtics retired Larry Bird's number.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WSwlR5pFVFU/SPfGBj0AlqI/AAAAAAAAAOg/eHeFryz-jsQ/s400/magic_johnson_larry_bird_grab_white_large.jpg)
On a cold Thursday night in February 1993, the Boston Celtics raised No. 33 to the rafters of the Boston Garden, as the team retired Larry Bird's number. Drafted by Boston out of Indiana State in 1979, Larry Bird played his entire 13-year pro career for the Celtics.
My parents went and I still have the gift bag that they gave out that evening. I watched the entire thing on TV and was more jealous than words could describe.
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TP SSF. Larry is the greatest player to don Celtic Green and the second greatest to ever lace-up. Any thread on the Legend always gets a TP from me.
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wow...16 years. where has it gone?
larry was at the top of his game that night...it was fun just to listen to him speak from his heart. and the magic johnson appearance was a special touch...that was a moment i'll never soon forget.
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I remember I had a biddy ball game that night so I taped this on the VCR and watched it when I came home. I remember a week or so later, my father giving me a t-shirt from the game that one of his buddies had got. Pretty cool.
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Does anyone remember the year earlier when the Lakers retired Kareem's #?
Bird was suffering major pains in his back and was on IR, yet he traveled cross country to speak at the ceremony (which was at 1/2 time of a Celts / Lakers game). It was a classy move by Bird, a classy move by Kareem for wanting him there and I thought Kareem's comments that afternoon about the importance of the rivalry between the two teams was great.
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if there was no larry bird or magic johnson, i'm convinced there would be NO nba today...the league was in turmoil and those 2 saved it at a desperate time in league history.
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I was there!
My father gave my brother and I his tickets so that he, being the loyal UMASS alum & hoops fan that he is, could attend the opening of the Mullins Center the same night in Amherst. I never quite understood that decision, but I was happy to be the beneficiary.
It was pretty interesting seeing the old Garden try to put on somewhat of a modern media event. They pulled it off well enough.
Really fun event. I still have my stub and some of the goodies from the gift bag.
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I was there!
My father gave my brother and I his tickets so that he, being the loyal UMASS alum & hoops fan that he is, could attend the opening of the Mullins Center the same night in Amherst. I never quite understood that decision, but I was happy to be the beneficiary.
It was pretty interesting seeing the old Garden try to put on somewhat of a modern media event. They pulled it off well enough.
Really fun event. I still have my stub and some of the goodies from the gift bag.
i have a glass (oh, it's about 4 inches high) that has the boston globe (or herald, can't remember which) headline on the side of it - must have been the front page of the sports page or the entire paper that day.
and somewhere hidden in the fossilized VCR collection i have the retirement ceremony on tape too...
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I thought I saw a recent reboot of this thread, but I can't find it.
Anyhow...4 years ago yesterday was a bright spot on a pretty dreary season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84mq7YuBIAU