Bob Ryan Pre-Season Kevin Garnett Trade Column

[wiley]

Bob Ryan is usually a great writer. i thought he lost it with that article and a couple others around that time. Since then he has sobered up.

I chalk it up as a classic - "Everyone is saying praises nonstop, so I'm going to blast in there with an opposite view and make people's heads spin" article. it was a lame ego/attention thing.

Nicely said,October!

[Hrvoje]

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2007/08/02/title_for_celtics_far_from_a_done_deal/

Watch the video too. 

I'm gonna get sick

[Neurotic Guy]

In a meek defense of Ryan, let's just say that it's his job to take an opinion and speak of it as if it were fact. That is what columnists do.  They aspire (often) to be controversial; they say/write things designed to provoke people to talk about it at the proverbial water cooler.  Don't you love to hate Steven A. Smith because he states opinion as fact?  That's his job.  

When writers and talking heads provide 'expert' analysis on games that have already been played, they at least can point to actual situations that occured on the court and comment (you can then retort with factual data to rebut).  But, when these same folks are talking about what has yet to happen, they have the unenviable task of being the supposed 'expert' discussing something that is so speculative that if they are correct 51% of the time, they probably should consider themselves very lucky.  

Bob Ryan took a provocative stand on something that no one KNEW was going to turn out as it did.  Yes, many of you THOUGHT it would turn out well (perhaps not this well).  But rather than getting too full of yourselves, perhaps you can chalk your correct guess about the C's fortunes alongside all the one's you've missed (you know, the scrap heap littered with 'Kedrick Brown/Gerald Green is gonna be great' and 'Doc can't coach them out of the second round' and 'Wyc won't spend the money',....), and cut Bobby a touch of slack.  

[jimmyt]

It's pretty simple guys. Columnists like Ryan, Massarotti, and Shaugnessy didn't care about the Celtics for a second last year or previous years. The only ones who were writing about the Celtics were beat writers. All of a sudden the Celtics are relevent, and these big wig columnists have no idea what they're talking about because they havent been paying attention to the NBA.

I dont know about you all but I can't stand Ryan or Shaughnessy and I especially can't stand to hear Ryan talk about the Celtics like hes been paying them any mind over the last couple years. The guy is a mainstream media joke. He's no better than a politition with all his flip-flopping. Thats my opinion and I'm sticking too it.

[ruben_wolkowyski]

jimmyt: Columnists like Ryan, Massarotti, and Shaugnessy didn't care about the Celtics for a second last year or previous years.

Maybe you can say that about Massarotti and Shaughnessey, but Bob Ryan is a Celtics lifer. Even when he's wrong about something (as in this case) I still respect his opinion. After all, one of us saw Havlicek steal the ball *in person*. One of us didn't. I mean, yeah, he's a cynic at times, but he bleeds green, I don't doubt that.

I just feel good knowing I scooped the entire Boston sports media. I knew we'd be in the Finals the instant Danny made that trade, everything up until now has just been killing time.

[ruben_wolkowyski]

The column is kind of a laugher now, though. Oh, how will we ever handle the Miami Heat?

[CoachCowens]

Look, my problem isn't that Ryan didn't like the trade. My issue is how arrogant and condescending he was about it. Bob, we're sorry that at the time, some fans thought a trio of Pierce, Allen and KG would make us title contenders. We were such idiots to think so. It's one thing to have an opinion, it's another issue entirely when one, you don't hold yourself accountable for it and two, you state it in such a way to make others who disagree look like idiots.

Bob ended up the moron here.

Yup. It's the arrogance. Too bad he isn't half as good as he thinks he is.

[Brendan]

In his QA the other day he admitted he was wrong. Ironically he told a questioner that "the point guard" was named Rajon Rondo and scolded the guy, maybe the guy was just picking on Ryan in a seaky ironic fashion. Ryan goes on to say if you didnt put money n your prediction you didn't really buy it, and that the difference with him, is its there for everyone to see. I agree to some extent, but Ryan was a bit over the top, and WAY TOO condescending.

Leon Powe's play has not been a surprise. DA's pickup of two solid bench players was, that was the biggest weakness in his game - FA signings, Scal, Googs, and Blunt?

[CoachCowens]

jimmyt: Columnists like Ryan, Massarotti, and Shaugnessy didn't care about the Celtics for a second last year or previous years.

Maybe you can say that about Massarotti and Shaughnessey, but Bob Ryan is a Celtics lifer. Even when he's wrong about something (as in this case) I still respect his opinion. After all, one of us saw Havlicek steal the ball *in person*. One of us didn't. I mean, yeah, he's a cynic at times, but he bleeds green, I don't doubt that.

I just feel good knowing I scooped the entire Boston sports media. I knew we'd be in the Finals the instant Danny made that trade, everything up until now has just been killing time.

When the C's weren't on top he was nowhere to be found. He was on the Sox bandwagon. He doesn't bleed green. He has too much of an ego to root for anyone but himself.

He might have been there when Havlicek stole the ball but he was a freshman in college. Not yet a reporter for the Globe. 

[greg_kite]

He might have been wrong but we're still talking about it several months later, so he did probably what he intended to do.  It still bugs me that he was so negative and that I've been reading Globe basketball for years and didn't really start seeing anything from him until the last month or two.  While he might have been a Celtic fan during the glory years he hasn't been much of one lately.  Or it appears that way.  Who knows if he's just getting assigned to Celtics games now or if he can choose who he gets to write about.  My guess is he gets to choose, which means he's bandwagon.

[ruben_wolkowyski]

CoachCowen: When the C's weren't on top he was nowhere to be found. He was on the Sox bandwagon. He doesn't bleed green. He has too much of an ego to root for anyone but himself.

"Nowhere to be found"? "Nowhere" means nowhere, I can hold you to that, right?

Good.

http://www.boston.com/sports/articles/2003/11/18/what_might_have_been/

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2005/12/21/celtics_need_straight_talk/

Here are two columns Ryan wrote from 2003 - 2005 that I found after twenty seconds of googling. I'm sure more work could produce more results, but I don't care enough.

Maybe he wasn't writing about them constantly, but if I'm a general sports columnist I'm not writing about a 20-win team every chance I get either. The fact is that the team didn't *deserve* much coverage during the Gaston era or for long thereafter. We're one of the biggest sports markets in the country. If a team isn't winning, their coverage rightly should go to teams that are. There's only so much space in any newspaper, if you think the Celtics deserved more than 400 words a day when Alaa Abdelnaby was our starting center, you're entitled to your opinion.

Look, I'm not here to defend him. I think he's kind of a yutz, myself. All I'm saying is, he said something stupid and owned up to it. The guy's been writing about the team longer than I've been alive, I'm not going to jump up his ass on the basis of one column. He's also produced some wonderful work that has entertained me, and he's one of the few people left on the Globe (besides Kevin Cullen) I'll always read.

Bottom line is, you're worried about something the guy wrote last freakin' August, and I'm not. I'm happy enough with my position.

[soap07]

Look, I'm not here to defend him. I think he's kind of a yutz, myself. All I'm saying is, he said something stupid and owned up to it. The guy's been writing about the team longer than I've been alive, I'm not going to jump up his ass on the basis of one column. He's also produced some wonderful work that has entertained me, and he's one of the few people left on the Globe (besides Kevin Cullen) I'll always read.

Bottom line is, you're worried about something the guy wrote last freakin' August, and I'm not. I'm happy enough with my position.

I missed it. When did he own up to it?

[Roy Hobbs]

Look, I'm not here to defend him. I think he's kind of a yutz, myself. All I'm saying is, he said something stupid and owned up to it. The guy's been writing about the team longer than I've been alive, I'm not going to jump up his ass on the basis of one column. He's also produced some wonderful work that has entertained me, and he's one of the few people left on the Globe (besides Kevin Cullen) I'll always read.

Bottom line is, you're worried about something the guy wrote last freakin' August, and I'm not. I'm happy enough with my position.

I missed it. When did he own up to it?

Here was his response in a recent chat:

Nostradamus__Guest_: If the Celtics win it all, will you finally admit you were totally wrong last summer, or will you continue to be stubborn?

Bob_Ryan: I'm glad you asked that question.

Bob_Ryan: Of course, I was wrong, and I've never said otherwise. I said I'd be happy to see them win 45 and the division. Of course, that was pre-Posey, pre-House, pre-Brown, pre-Sam and pre both Rondo and Perkins making phenomenal individual improvements. And no one, not even Doc himself, thought his team would get this good defensively. Why don't you ask Doc how many games he thought they'd win? You might be surprised.

Bob_Ryan: Here's my question to you: Did you put money on it? If you did, congratulations. If not, it doesn't matter. I've said a zillion times: the only predictions that are worth anything are those backed up by your wallet. And the difference between you and me is that I have to go public.

Bob_Ryan: What's the opposite of Murphy's Law? Whatever it is, that's what we have.

Bob_Ryan: I am immensely pleased to see the Celtics back in the discussion. This team has been a pleasure to watch.

Bob_Ryan: Anything else you want to know?

That seemed a little too vitriolic to me.  I mean, it's a legit question, especially after the condescending tone Ryan addressed his audience with in his original article.

Also, for the record, it wasn't pre-House, but it was pre-Posey, et. al.   

[Jon]

If Bob Ryan said it was premature to dub the Celtics contenders and left it at that, I'd be OK with.  Plenty of other teams with big stars have been underwhelming (the Olajuwon/Barkley/Pippen Rockets come to mind).  However, to end with "they might even make the playoffs" is just plain ludicrous for a team featuring three players who virtually singlehandedly had led teams multiple rounds into the playoffs. 

[butterbeanlove]

Look, I'm not here to defend him. I think he's kind of a yutz, myself. All I'm saying is, he said something stupid and owned up to it. The guy's been writing about the team longer than I've been alive, I'm not going to jump up his ass on the basis of one column. He's also produced some wonderful work that has entertained me, and he's one of the few people left on the Globe (besides Kevin Cullen) I'll always read.

Bottom line is, you're worried about something the guy wrote last freakin' August, and I'm not. I'm happy enough with my position.

I missed it. When did he own up to it?

Here was his response in a recent chat:

Nostradamus__Guest_: If the Celtics win it all, will you finally admit you were totally wrong last summer, or will you continue to be stubborn?

Bob_Ryan: I'm glad you asked that question.

Bob_Ryan: Of course, I was wrong, and I've never said otherwise. I said I'd be happy to see them win 45 and the division. Of course, that was pre-Posey, pre-House, pre-Brown, pre-Sam and pre both Rondo and Perkins making phenomenal individual improvements. And no one, not even Doc himself, thought his team would get this good defensively. Why don't you ask Doc how many games he thought they'd win? You might be surprised.

Bob_Ryan: Here's my question to you: Did you put money on it? If you did, congratulations. If not, it doesn't matter. I've said a zillion times: the only predictions that are worth anything are those backed up by your wallet. And the difference between you and me is that I have to go public.

Bob_Ryan: What's the opposite of Murphy's Law? Whatever it is, that's what we have.

Bob_Ryan: I am immensely pleased to see the Celtics back in the discussion. This team has been a pleasure to watch.

Bob_Ryan: Anything else you want to know?

That seemed a little too vitriolic to me.  I mean, it's a legit question, especially after the condescending tone Ryan addressed his audience with in his original article.

Also, for the record, it wasn't pre-House, but it was pre-Posey, et. al.   

Basketball Bob is trying to set up his enemies. After all, gambling is ILLEGAL at Bushwood.