Raised on the mean streets of north Stratford, okay, so north Stratford doesn’t have mean streets, I’m pretty much a local guy. I graduated from the University of Connecticut in… let’s just say before Calhoun came to town (the Dom Perno years). I remember those insane games at the Field house.
So how does a short guy (5’ 10”) from Stratford, with no sign of a jump shot, and who has to attempt three jumps just to get over a sheet of paper get to write a blog on the Boston Celtics?
I think better than I write. I write better than I played. I played a lot growing up.
Good times. Shoveling snow off the court in the winter, sweating buckets in the heat of summer – we played. I wasn’t very good, but my friends were. A lot of them played some organized ball. A few were on the high school team. So the level of play was usually good – for white guys. I loved the game then. Still do.
I’ve followed the Celtics since childhood. I remember Bill Russell’s last few years. I have great memories from what seemed like the final years of a great civilization – The Celtic’s ‘Bill Russell’ Dynasty years. Even as a teenager, I think I knew, deep down in, that I would never see anything like it again.
As with music, girlfriends, disasters, and politics, you use certain sporting events to mark the years of your life. I marveled at the dominance of the Bill Russell led Celtics as much as I tried to make sense of the tumultuous times that were the latter part of the 60s’ decade.
Discovering the world of the hard core basketball blogger over three years ago, I’ve enjoyed sharing thoughts with kindred die hard Celtic fans for 3 plus years. Together we have experienced the ups and mostly the downs of the Danny Ainge Era – from the beginning. I write for a Celtics blog named Celtics 17 on the MVN.com network for over a year. Check it out when you get a chance. It’s a lot of fun.
If you’ve read this far, you’re probably a loyal Celtic fan – or you will be soon.
Why? If you have been vacationing on Mars for the summer, you might not have heard that the Celtics have landed one of the biggest stars in the game. Kevin Garnett, at a lean mean 6’ 11”, is an athletic freak. He is a top 5 player even now, at age 31. Danny Ainge mortgaged the future by sending 5 young players (including a promising young Al Jefferson) and two future #1 draft choices (an NBA record) to the Minnesota Timberwolves for him. It was the future for the present. The ‘present’ is Kevin Garnett.
As the commercial says….
But wait. There’s more!
Before what is now called ‘The Trade’, Danny traded for UConn’s own Ray Allen. Welcome back Ray. (Ray has a home in Connecticut.) One of the silkiest jump shots in the NBA was added to help resident Celtic star Paul Pierce move this club back above sea level.
So the Celtics now have 3 of the league’s top players all under the TDBankNorth Garden roof for the upcoming season. Tickets are already hard to get.
I’ll keep you posted on the latest Celtic news. I’ll have some interviews and game notes as we go forward. I guarantee that it won’t be boring.
So check in here when you want to learn the latest news on the new Celtics.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you around (and hear from you) during the season!
Tom Halzack (aka tenaciousT on Celtics 17)
