Celtic Pride for Younger Generations

[WBrownTrophy]

I thought I would write some thoughts on the Celtics 17th Championship and what it means for the younger die hard fans.

For older generations of Celtics fans, the Boston Celtics are back where they should be. For us younger adults who are experiencing a Celtic banner for the first time, the experience is very different.

On last Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics won the NBA championship for the 17th time. That was over 6 days ago, and I still can't believe it. Ever since late last summer, I feel like the situation with the Celtics has been one big dream. From the moment KG, Ray, and Paul got on the podium together, I have lived life as a fan in blissful disbelief. Now it is stronger than ever. It seems like a dream because we never knew what the Boston Celtics were really about as a franchise because we have only experienced extreme, sometimes tragic, loss. Younger fans had never experienced real Celtic basketball firsthand.

I have always loved the Boston Celtics. I have also loved with great passion the Patriots and the Red Sox. But basketball has always been my favorite sport, so I have always cared about the Celtics for as long as I could remember. I studied the history and learned all about their greatness and mystique very early on in my life. I learned about Russel, Cousy, Hondo, Cowens, Bird, Mchale, and all of the Celtic legends. When I was nine, I got to play on the garden floor and meet many Celtic legends before they tore the garden down. So at nine years old I had met half the Celtic legends and completely learned their history. Yet all I saw in the present was losing. The Celtic mystique was only a story to me. Fiction.

Then Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker brought the Celtics to some minor relevance. They even got two wins in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002. I thought this was Celtic success. I thought this was Celtic Pride. Then The Celtics hit rock bottom last year, and it seemed they would be mediocre for the better part of the next 10 years. This was my Celtics, making the legendary story that is this franchise, seem fiction.

It was not until last Tuesday that I fully realized what Celtic Pride really is. It was then that I realized what being a Celtic fan is truly all about. I saw a commitment to defense and a commitment to the sole goal of winning. I saw role players sitting for five games straight, only to play an amazing quarter of basketball when called upon in the sixth game. I saw a leader and captain, not carrying his teammates to victory, but bringing them with him to victory. I saw a collective team try so hard to win, I was tired just watching them. I saw a team with the most simple and direct of plans for a regular season: to try to win every game. I saw a team that even made the greatest winner in all of sport ( #6) proud to be a Celtic. Even Dino Radja, a former Celtic who lived through the worst part of the franchise, cried and was proud to be a Celtic. This was a reality worth dreaming about, and it is certainly a dream that lives up to those old stories of Bird, Russel, Red.

I Finally understand what the Celtic franchise really is. I no longer have to talk in the past tense to talk about how great the Celtics are. I no longer have to rely on the stories of others. These are MY Celtics. For us younger fans, we can finally take our own pride in a championship. For older generations, this is just a delayed continuation of what the Celtics really are. For those fans that never got to see Russel and Cousy, or Bird and Parish win a title, it is the coronation of a fan base that now gets to tell future generations stories about Celtic Pride, legends, and championships.

[Roy Hobbs]

Nicely said.  TP.

[Donoghus]

Great post.

As one of the younger generation (27), it was finally great to see it and soak it all in.  No longer do I have to rely on the stories of the old timers or watch ESPN Classic programming to see what others were so proud about. 

It's finally great to be able to see it myself and just experience the pinnacle of this proud franchise firsthand.

 

[BrickJames]

Nice post.

Dino Radja was there?  And he cried?  That's awesome!

[WBrownTrophy]

Radja's emotions with the Celtic win was talked about on WEEI's "Big Show" last week by someone who was in the Celtics front office in the mid 90's. I guess Radja had a extensive knowledge and passion for the Celtics history even before he became a Celtic. He had followed the C's entire playoff run I guess.

[Celtic Terrier]

as a 22 year old. I also felt like the stories about celtic pride from the past seemed separated from me. now I have pride to call my own.

[CLeht11]

I also am just 17, born few years after the glory days.  I really had no idea what winning a championship was like, in the NBA anyway.  I am a diehard New England sports fan, but never did I really see a Celtics team win really anything.

I have been a Celtics fan since around when Pierce was drafted, but I really started to look into the Celtics about 5 or so years ago - right around the time I started playing the game, and really understanding what it was about. 

Just to see these guys like Perk and Rondo and Powe progress over the last couple years puts a smile on my face.  Watching these young guys in the summer league, knowing that during the regular season the Celtics STILL wouldn't really have a team for them to be successful on.  Until the 2 big trades, and the rest is history.  After watching ~78 games this year (Missed a few for the Pats  ), and all the playoff games, I can really start to feel what the older generations felt during the glory days - and it's a great feeling to finally know what Celtic Pride is all about.

[PierceMVP08]

I have to say, this is without the greatest sports moment of my life.  I am 21 and solely a Celtics fan.  Everyone who says this championship isn't as good as the sox or pats is definitely not speaking for me.  Everyone who says that we're spoiled has no idea what this championship meant to me.  The other Boston teams winning only made me angrier and more frustrated.  while I was happy for them there was always a part of me that felt a little jealous.  I wanted my team to win so bad.

I became a fan when I was only 8 in 1995.  The first game I ever watched the Celts were blown out by 40 points against the magic in the Playoffs.  The first game i ever went to was a few days later in the second to last game at the Garden.  We lost by 5.  What followed we all know by now.  a 15 win season.  Marty conlon as the starting forward, brett szabo, frank brickowski, etc, etc.  but I watched every game.  As a young kid i spent a lot of time on my own.  Friday nights, were spent at home by myself watching celtics games instead of at sleep overs with friends.  The celtics were my friends.  I know that sounds a little sad and pathetic but I was a painfully shy child and as the child of immigrants, didn't really relate to my classmates.  The Celtics, however, were always there for me.  i took a beating(not literally) from friends and family for cheering a losing team but I never wavered.  They meant something really special to me

As i grew out of that shy phase the Celtics came with me.  in 2002 we had our first taste of success.  My friends and family were suddenly fans, going to the games with me and cheering them on from home.  i had never been happier than I was during that run and I came crashing back down when we lost to the nets.  I still remember crying that night after game 6.  it's pretty embarrasing to think about that, as a 15 year old kid crying about a team, but there was such a bond.

The following years were pretty good too although there was no major success.  The general attention waned and again I, along with some friends, continued to cheer for the team that no one else really paid attention too. I remember being around 16-18 and going to games by myself.  Being at the Garden (or Fleetcenter) was very therapeutic for me.  I remember sitting in my seat after the game 7 debacle against the pacers for a good 45 min - 1 hour in disbelief until the guards kicked me out. 

That's why this championship means so much.  If crying as 15 year old was embarrasing, crying as a 21 year old is worse, but that's exactly what happened.  I was at game 6 and right at the 9 min mark I couldn't hold it back.  All the memories of my childhood started coming back.  Watching games by myself on friday nights, my dad staying up late with me for west coast games in elementary school even though he's a soccer guy and bball isn't his thing, going to celtics games by myelf, the lollipop kids (Tommy's name for David Wesley, Dana Barros, Rick Fox and Todd Day back in the 90's), Antoine Walker (my one time favorite player), Paul Pierce (my favorite player after toine left).  All those thing made the celtics more that a team to me.  They were a genuine part of my childhood and comforted me during hard times.  After a good 4 minutes of game time of weeping, my buddy and I pulled out our cigars and smoked them with the guys around us in honor of red.  There was no greater feeling than that night.

I always wondered, and was a little scared of what it would be like to win it all.  I was afraid there would be a feeling of, "now what?"  But it hasn't been that at all.  Everyday when I wake up it hits me all over again.  There is no better feeling. I'm glad I had to wait this long to see this happen.  It makes it all the sweeter.  After the game i got a bunch of calls and texts congratulating me from family and friends telling me they were happy for me and thought about me throughout everything.  Amazing.