Note: This is going to be a rah rah thread. If you don't want that, best to close it now.
I wasn't even six years old when we drafted Larry Bird, but I can still picture my father jumping up and down with excitement, telling me that we had drafted one of the best players in college. That may not have been my first interaction with the Celtics, but it's the first one I remember. Even my first memory of them was a high point.
I was almost 13 in 1985 when I went to Game 6 of the NBA finals, thanks to a family friend. It was so loud that you couldn't hear the person next to you. We got Brent Musburger to wear a green Yarmulka. Even after we lost, the crowd refused to leave.
I got my Celtics season tickets for the first time four years ago. I brought my four-year old son to the game in my second season as a STH. I thought we would be lucky to make it through the first half. He wouldn't leave until the final whistle had sounded.
We've had good moments and tragic ones (RIP, Len Bias and Reggie Lewis.). We've had periods when the team was the worst in the league. And we have had long years when we simply sucked..
But we have one thing that the Warriors will never have. We are the Celtics. No other team has the tradition we do. They don't have the banners, the fans or the parquet floor. They don't have Russell, Bird or, for that matter, Johnny Most.
I'm sorry that we didn't get Durant. It was a painful moment, given that we were so close. And if he wanted to come here next year, I'd happily sign him then. But for me, the pity party is over. I've had my one day of misery and am moving on. Because no matter what happens, no matter how good a team Golden State purchased, win or lose, they'll never have what we have.
Mike