Just got back from Celtics Media Day in Waltham, here are a few quick thoughts/observations/stories I had being there in person.
-Darko didn't look pudgy or overweight to me. He actually looked really strong. He's arms were really toned like he's been pumping iron hard recently or something. He's got great size and strength I think. One thing I did notice, he didn't smile even once the entire day. I'm not saying he wasn't happy, maybe that's just who he is, but he certainly didn't seem to be enjoying himself the way many of his teammates were.
-Jared Sullinger is really cool. He was funny, friendly, confident, and full of swagger. We were recording some radio spots and he was having so much fun with it, changing lines and putting his own spin on it. He was the only one to do that of all the Celtics players who read the spots. He seemed to be having the best time out of anyone at media day (although KG had a smile from ear to ear for much of the time.) I think Sully's boisterous make-up will help him do well in the league and fans will be quick to support him. Really cool dude.
-I asked Jamar Smith how he felt about his chances at one of the last two roster spots and he assured me that he would be filling one of them. I also asked him what the process was like both being in competition with two other people for a job but also trying to find the right fit as a teammate. He told me it was tough because when you're on the court it's no mercy, but the moment the competition is over he has so much respect for all his teammates because they all took a similar path to get there.
-As I adjusted the microphone for Fab Melo to do his radio spots I joked with him about how I was going to need a bigger mic stand to accommodate him because he's so tall. Without missing a beat he turned to me with a smile and said, "am I too tall, or are all of you too short?"
-Jason Collins, Fab Melo, and Darko are all enormous. I mean I knew the team had size this year, but add KG to the mix and the C's must be one of the biggest teams in the east.
-the Jet was really cool too. His confidence exudes out of him. He genuinely loves being here and I think he's gonna make a big difference this year.
-Rondo was quiet, stoic, and confident (what else is new I guess.) But something about him seemed different this year. He seemed to be giving off an aura of "I'm the leader of this team now" with everything he said and did.
-Chris Wilcox and Jeff Green both looked really good. Avery did as well and seemed to be pretty comfortable moving his shoulder around. He didn't have a brace on and mentioned that the biggest pain was trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in.
-Best story of the day, right before he's going on the air with the Big Show Paul Pierce starts telling me about what he did this summer. Apparently he decided to do a cross country road trip this summer with his wife. They hopped in a winnebago and drove from Boston to LA in five days. Apparently he's got a little bit of a phobia of tunnels and he said he almost didn't make it through a tunnel under a mountain in Pennsylvania. He was convinced it would collapse and that would be it for him. He also never stayed in a hotel during his drive across the country, instead opting to sleep in the car each night in various hotel parking lots. I started trying to picture walking past a car parked in a hotel parking lot and seeing Paul Pierce sound asleep inside, how weird that would be.
That's all I've got for now, perhaps more to come later.
Topic: I can't believe Celtics basketball is almost back (Read 22633 times)