Boston to Miami... and remembering the Celtics.

Hello UnderDogs!!!  Happy New Year from Miami!  2010 anyone??? :)

As I write this I’m watching the Miami Heat in a close one against the Charlotte Bobcats on tv… some would consider the Bobcats the underdog in this game, but the Heat really haven’t been that much better this year.  (Although the announcer just said that the Bobcats have only won ONCE in their last 15 road games.  Ouch :) Yea, the East is pretty weak, as usual.  But the cool thing about this game is that, as we are chillin’ in-between shows at the hotel, I can see American Airlines Arena, where they are playing, from my 28^th floor balcony!  It’s trippy.  It looks so small and quiet from here though, it's surreal… or maybe it's because nobody ever goes to the games in Miami!  ooooooooO!  Haha, yea, I went there!  (The three Miami Heat fans in existence were just offended.  Or they probably just nodded in agreement :)  Oh I kid Miami.  I mean it is an Amazing Place, but really, other than Dolphins and Hurricane’s Football, it may be one of the worst sports cities in America.  Not much love there right?  InSPITE of Two Marlins World Series Titles since ‘97 and a Heat NBA Championship in 2006.  The Cubs haven't won since 1908.  Youch!

Miami is, however, a GREAT place to spend New Years.  The weather’s been soooo beautiful since we got here on Tuesday… a welcome relief from the frigid north indeed, and a reminder of how the warmth of the sun does WONDERs for mental health!  Maybe that’s why the locals can’t be bothered to go to games and be tortured Sports fans… they’re too busy being Happy!  :) Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Buffalo, Baltimore, Phili… take note.

Ten years ago Boston would have been on the top of that list, but during the past incredible decade of success, the Bean-town faithful have officially removed the (some thought permanent) giant chips off of each of their respective shoulders, and passed it (back) to the city of Chicago.  While in Boston last week Kisha and I went to the Bull and Finch Pub just north of the Public Gardens (better known as Cheers to… well pretty much everybody.)  I had been there before in 2000 and the most notable difference in the place (Other than Norm’s curious absence) was the vastly changed nature of the sports memorabilia adorning the wall.  Wow, All those Championship Banners!!! Three Patriot Superbowl championships (their first ever), Two Red Sox World Series Championships (breaking the 86 year drought) and even the Celtics returned to prominence at the end of the decade winning the NBA championship in ’08 (after almost 20 years of being terrible.)  And the BRUINS haven’t been that bad either!  Who could have guessed it??? 

Suddenly the Boston 'cross-to-bear' has become the 'kiss of the beloved.'  It’s so odd to talk to Boston sports fans these days.  They don’t know how to be :) After a near century of heartbreak, there’s nothing to complain about anymore.  It reminds me of that brilliant line from The Princess Bride, when after Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) finally kills his father’s killer (the Six Fingered man, played with delicious apathy by Christopher Guest) he admits, “I’ve been in the revenge business for so long, I don’t know what to do with the rest of my life!”  Certainly one of the most wonderful lines in the history of film, I love how it so beautifully points out the absurdity of obsessive revenge.  And then Christopher Guest says… “Six Fingers?... These go to Eleven!”…  And then Rob Reiner says, “I’ll have what she’s having!”… ugh… sorry.  This could go on all night :)

Aaaanyway, so after missing two chances to see the Mavericks in Dallas, me, Kisha, and Jimmy Ludwig (Pongo of the 101D clan) ventured into the cold night air to the famous Boston Garden (although it is currently called either the td waterhouse center, the fleet center, or the United-Integrated-Organization of Cooperate-Associations-Center… or something like that) to see those very (Best record in the NBA East) Boston Celtics… and their New Big Three! It turned out to be a really fun game to watch; a spirited come-from-behind victory for the C’s (who were without Kevin Garnett) playing down against the overmatched (and under-gifted) Indiana Pacers.  In fairness, the Pacers were without their best player Danny Granger, but still… Ugh.  What a bad situation that has turned into.  I mean since the infamous “Malace at the Palace” against Detroit in ’04 has ANYthing gone right for the Pacers???  The only thing they have going for them these days is the fact that Isiah Thomas isn’t their coach anymore, and that’s been like 7 years or so.

Yesteryears hero, Larry Bird’s latest problems as the Pacers GM aren’t the concerns of current Celtics fans though.  These days they are more worried about the health of their aging veteran core as their “championship-window” gets smaller with every passing day.  Paul Pierce, noticeably a step slow that night has since gone on the injured list with knee problems, Rasheed Wallace (some would say still coasting on his reputation) refuses to go inside the three point line, and Brian Scalabrine, well… he… he, uh… well… he tries hard, right?  I mean, that night he didn’t really score or anything, but I think some of his shots might have hit the rim (sometimes twice)… OH!... and he might have almost grabbed a rebound at some point during his 20 or so minutes in that game.  And he WOULD have gotten it if there wasn’t an opposing player in the way, right?  Ugh.  Well, stats just aren’t Brian’s thing I guess.  Maybe, you gotta dig deeper… it’s uh… well, I don’t think anyone has figured out what his thing is actually… well, aside from that red hair of course.

Oh the kids do love Brian Scalabrini in Beantown!  Jimmy and I were discussing the children’s cheers for Big Red whenever he touched the ball… followed naturally by the obligatory disappointed exhale when he either dropped it, clanked a brick off the rim or clumsily passed to a teammate who wasn’t ready for it… Painful to watch?  Sure!... but he’s a fan favorite at the Garden!  An inspirational beacon or something… like Rudy… but more realistically, he’s an over-paid mascot.  What in the WORLD was Danny Ainge thinking about with that contract?  He was grossly overpaid (and therefore immediately untrade-able) and he repaid the Celtics with years of worse-than-mediocre play.  Oh, and as IF his dismal performance on the hardwood wasn’t enough, throughout the game they kept showing videos of some of the players singing Christmas Tunes on the JumboTron, and there he was!  YOUR Brian Scalabrini, there on the mike, singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town… with a LYRIC SHEET!  He was blatantly reading (while tone-deafly singing) “he sees you when your sleeping, he knows when you’re awake…”  He needed a LYRIC SHEET people!!!  A LYRIC SHEET???  What??? 

Okay, Okay… If you think I’m being a little hard on ya boy Brian Scalabrini… well, what can I say?  He deserves it!  I’m sorry but it’s true.  Even if he is the most miserable waste-of-space player to grace the NBA stage this side of John Konkak, at least he could learn the words to Santa Claus is Coming to Town!!!  RIGHT???  Ugh.  

All of that being said, he must have some kind of an upside right?  If I had to say one good thing about Brian Scalabrini…  I’d say… uh… well, I can’t come up with one…. But they do say sometimes that he has a “high basketball IQ” :-) and that always makes me laugh.  What the Devil does that even mean?  It’s one of those silly basketball buzz phrases that is really code for, A) the tv announcers can’t come up with anything good to say about him, 2) the GM’s are trying to delude themselves into justifying a ridiculous contract, or, lastly) he would really be a better coach than a player.  Okay?  I just want the people of Boston to admit it.  He’s no good.  He’s proven it every day for the last 10 years.  Stop cheering for him.  And tell your KIDs to stop cheering for him!  Oh, and teach him the lyrics to Santa Claus is Coming to Town, for crying out loud!!!  No lyric sheet.  Ugh.  Sorry for the Negativity :) Moving on…  

The last thing we did in Boston before heading here to Miami was to visit the Boston Museum of Science where they are currently housing the new Harry Potter exhibit until Feb 21^st (Remember the Hungarian Horntail from The Goblet of Fire?)  And while that specific exhibit wasn’t really science per se, it was really fun… I liked it… so I’m a geek.  (And so is my girlfriend  :)

Anyway,

I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Season and a great New Years!

All the best from one Underdog to another!
Oh, and your Charlotte Bobcats ended up winning today against the Heat, breaking that dismal road streak.  Anyone thinking playoffs for these Bobcats???  Anyone?  Nope.  Me either.

Thanks for READING!  :)

Jeff