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Post by hchoops on Aug 27, 2020 7:40:30 GMT -5
Today’s Globe Behind paywall
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Post by HC13 on Aug 27, 2020 8:53:23 GMT -5
Taking a stand on racial issues is in the best tradition of the Celtics By Dan Shaughnessy Globe Columnist,Updated August 26, 2020, 5:19 p.m.
I’m getting “shut up and dribble” emails these days. This is what happens when professional sports figures speak up and act regarding issues of social justice and racial inequality: “My wife and I decided to watch a Sox game on a Saturday night. We waited until 7:10 to start viewing to avoid any political action. We feel sports should be an escape and fun. Sports is for sports. I do not care what their religious, political, or ethnicity is. Bringing signs into the ball park is wrong. Do whatever they want outside, not inside. I do not need to sit for hours watching millionaire athletes protesting. I will try the NFL on opening day but starting at 1:10 p.m.” The Celtics and Toronto Raptors are scheduled to begin their conference semifinal Thursday night in the Orlando bubble, but players from both teams spent part of Tuesday and Wednesday discussing a boycott of Game 1 to bring attention to the shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer and subsequent protests and violence in the streets of Kenosha, Wis.
Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart have been out front on racial inequality issues throughout America’s long hot summer. It’s in the best tradition of the Boston Celtics. “Shut up and dribble” folks likely will never accept any spillover of real-life issues into professional sports, but let me remind fans of the Celtics that issues of race and equality have walked hand-in-hand with the franchise since Red Auerbach came to Causeway Street in 1950.
Red was the first NBA executive to draft a Black player, Duquesne forward Chuck Cooper in 1950. Six years later, Auerbach exploited racism in the St. Louis Hawks front office, trading two white players for the Hawks’ No. 1 draft pick. Red used the pick on Bill Russell. He knew St. Louis had no interest in building its franchise around a Black center.
Red Auerbach celebrates another title with Bill Russell and John Havlicek.HF/ASSOCIATED PRESS In 1961, Russell, K.C. Jones, Satch Sanders, Sam Jones, and Al Butler boycotted a Celtics preseason game against the Hawks in Lexington, Ky., after Sanders and Sam Jones were refused service in the coffee shop of the team’s hotel. Auerbach accepted his players’ protest and drove the five to the airport. A Celtics team of seven players was beaten by the Hawks, 128-103.
Celtics Hall of Famer Frank Ramsey after the game said, “I was 100 percent behind Bill Russell . . . I can’t tell you how sorry I am as a human being, as a friend of the players involved, and as a resident of Kentucky for the embarrassment of this incident.”
In the fall of 1965, months after the retirement of Tommy Heinsohn, Red fielded the first all-Black starting five in NBA history: Russell, Sanders, Jones, Jones, and Willie Naulls. It doesn’t sound like a big deal now. It was then. When Red retired from the bench in 1966, he did something even more radical, naming Russell his successor as coach. Player-coach Russell was the first African-American head coach in any of our four major professional sports.
A complex and thoughtful man, Russell never played by “shut up and dribble.” He wrote and spoke openly of Boston’s racial climate when he was a player, and the topic is never far from the surface any time he returns. Go to the library and check out Russell’s “Second Wind: The Memoirs of an Opinionated Man,” written with Taylor Branch.
The Celtics won 11 championships in Russell's 13 seasons, but rarely sold out the Boston Garden. They were never loved the way the Impossible Dream Red Sox and Bobby Orr Bruins were loved. Things didn't change until a decade after Russell retired when Larry Joe Bird arrived from Indiana State. Bird’s arrival triggered a record string of Garden sellouts and groundbreaking popularity for the Celtics franchise. With Bird as the superstar, the Celtics attained a level of popularity never achieved during Russell’s championship reign. This was noticed across basketball America. The Magic Johnson-Larry Bird Lakers-Celtics rivalry of the 1980s was nationally framed in Black and white. The Celtics started Bird, Kevin McHale, and Danny Ainge. The Lakers started Magic, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, and Byron Scott.
The 1985-86 Celtics champions, a team that went 40-1 at home and is sometimes hailed as “best ever” had eight white players and four Black players, highly unusual for any NBA team after the 1960s. The coach of that team took heat at the end of camp when he kept Rick Carlisle over David Thirdkill for the 12th spot at the end of the bench. (Thirdkill came back to the team later, after Sly Williams was released.)
“I thought it was strange that I was criticized or at least needled by black people for keeping a white player in preference to one of their own,” the coach wrote in his autobiography. The coach was K.C. Jones, part of the NBA’s first all-Black starting five and one of the Celtics players who boycotted a preseason game over racial discrimination in Kentucky in 1961. Nobody ever told K.C. Jones to shut up and dribble. ________________________________________ Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @dan_shaughnessy.
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Post by rickii on Aug 27, 2020 10:23:43 GMT -5
That's a pretty good short essay....I would however question 'rare sellouts' during Russells 13 seasons.
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Post by possum on Aug 27, 2020 10:48:04 GMT -5
Shaughnessy is correct Celtics did not routinely sellout despite winning championships every year, the Bruins who stunk for most of Russell's career had better attendance than the C's. Celtics attendance picked up dramatically when Havlicek and Cowens were the star players and went through the roof after Bird arrived on the scene.
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Post by hc6774 on Aug 27, 2020 10:49:21 GMT -5
That's a pretty good short essay....I would however question 'rare sellouts' during Russells 13 seasons. I don't... I and a classmate got game day walk up playoff tickets, with our dates, versus Cincinnati in 1966
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Post by newfieguy74 on Aug 27, 2020 10:54:19 GMT -5
Capacity for the old Garden was 13,909 as I recall. Regular season sellouts were rare, more common during the playoffs. Of course, pre-1967 the Red Sox didn't sell out either. I remember seeing the Russell Celtics play. That was when you could smoke in the Garden and there would be an enormous cloud of smoke hovering above the court. There was also the occasional sighting of a rat. Some thought Russell churlish, but given the amount of racism he was dealing with he was pretty inspiring.
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Post by hc6774 on Aug 27, 2020 11:29:02 GMT -5
Capacity for the old Garden was 13,909 as I recall. Regular season sellouts were rare, more common during the playoffs. Of course, pre-1967 the Red Sox didn't sell out either. I remember seeing the Russell Celtics play. That was when you could smoke in the Garden and there would be an enormous cloud of smoke hovering above the court. There was also the occasional sighting of a rat. Some thought Russell churlish, but given the amount of racism he was dealing with he was pretty inspiring. I remember taking a date to a Fenway night game and walking in to Mickey Mantle play 1b
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Post by rgs318 on Aug 27, 2020 12:09:07 GMT -5
One heck of a night to be there! I am envious of that.
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Post by Tom on Aug 27, 2020 12:09:18 GMT -5
Shaughnessy is correct Celtics did not routinely sellout despite winning championships every year, the Bruins who stunk for most of Russell's career had better attendance than the C's. Celtics attendance picked up dramatically when Havlicek and Cowens were the star players and went through the roof after Bird arrived on the scene. When Russ and the Celitcs won their first championship, a 30 year sports fan didn't grow up following the Celtics because there were no Celtics when he was a kid. Just Bruins, Red Sox, and Giants When Cowens won his first championship, a 30 year old sports fan had no recollection of life with out Celtics and they were dominate during his high school years. A lot easier to be attached to a team you grew u up with.
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Post by sader1970 on Aug 27, 2020 12:22:45 GMT -5
Unless they flee to Los Angeles. Da Bums!
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Post by newfieguy74 on Aug 27, 2020 12:34:03 GMT -5
Capacity for the old Garden was 13,909 as I recall. Regular season sellouts were rare, more common during the playoffs. Of course, pre-1967 the Red Sox didn't sell out either. I remember seeing the Russell Celtics play. That was when you could smoke in the Garden and there would be an enormous cloud of smoke hovering above the court. There was also the occasional sighting of a rat. Some thought Russell churlish, but given the amount of racism he was dealing with he was pretty inspiring. I remember taking a date to a Fenway night game and walking in to Mickey Mantle play 1b In the late 50's my grandfather's company had season tickets to the Red Sox in what is now luxury boxes but at the time were known (I think) as Sky Boxes. I was pretty young but he took me to a bunch of games. I was lucky enough to see Ted Wiliams play, but the team was horrible and the crowds were small. IIRC in the 60's you could show up at Fenway and get a bleacher seat for a dollar.
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Post by timholycross on Aug 27, 2020 13:29:25 GMT -5
In May (season ended earlier then) 1969, I was a senior in high school. Our basketball coach let one of the captains duck out of school and drive in to the Garden to buy playoff tickets. Game 6 of the Finals. Just walked up to the window and got about 10 of them, no more than 5 bucks each. Different days for sure.
It was Sam Jones' (which was common knowledge) and Bill Russell's (no one knew but him and probably Red) last game. A win, and they went out to LA and won Game 7.
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Post by rgs318 on Aug 27, 2020 14:55:06 GMT -5
I remember hearing that it was the two teams (Giants and Dodgers) that had to go to California (or just the West Coast) or the move was off. My maternal Grandmother was a long time Giants fan and she was heartbroken.
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 30, 2020 22:58:26 GMT -5
I remember taking a date to a Fenway night game and walking in to Mickey Mantle play 1b In the late 50's my grandfather's company had season tickets to the Red Sox in what is now luxury boxes but at the time were known (I think) as Sky Boxes. I was pretty young but he took me to a bunch of games. I was lucky enough to see Ted Wiliams play, but the team was horrible and the crowds were small. IIRC in the 60's you could show up at Fenway and get a bleacher seat for a dollar. I can't remember what I had for lunch, but remember the Fenway prices from the '60s as: Bleachers, $1.00, Reserved grandstand $2.25 and box seats $3.00. The seats in the corner of right field that did not (still don't?) face home plate were less than the other reserved grandstand seats. The Sox offered several "Family Games" a year where the head of the family bought one full price reserved grandstand ticket and the rest of the family paid fifty cents for adjacent seats. My family snapped those tickets up early every year. I remember going to a game in '67 and seeing a group of women going through the turnstiles with buttons on their shirt that said: "Yaz sir, that's my baby!"
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 30, 2020 23:16:57 GMT -5
Shaughnessy is correct Celtics did not routinely sellout despite winning championships every year, the Bruins who stunk for most of Russell's career had better attendance than the C's. Celtics attendance picked up dramatically when Havlicek and Cowens were the star players and went through the roof after Bird arrived on the scene. Before Bobby Orr the Bruins were losers and the Celtics were winners but boy did the Bruins have loyal fans, which baffled me. My local Drug Store was a magical place with ten cent Sealtest ice cream cones, penny candy, a soda fountain and two friendly Pharmacists who liked kids, the owner George and Freddy. Freddy was mild and meek...except when it came to the Bruins. During Hockey season the Pharmacists' set schedule of days off went out the window as Freddy had season tickets to the Bruins. They played every Sunday night at home as I recall and sold out the Garden. George used to complain about having to work Sundays and he was definitely the boss...except when it came to Freddy's Bruins.
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Post by timholycross on Aug 31, 2020 8:00:41 GMT -5
I remember hearing that it was the two teams (Giants and Dodgers) that had to go to California (or just the West Coast) or the move was off. My maternal Grandmother was a long time Giants fan and she was heartbroken. There's a book called "The Dodgers Move West", by Neil Sullivan; a very good summation of what happened. Ironically, the Barclay Center stands at or very close to where Dodger ownership wanted to build a new ballpark.
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Post by hchoops on Aug 31, 2020 8:04:02 GMT -5
It is debatable whether the traitor o’malley really wanted to build a new stadium there. This is not to excuse Robert Moses’s role in the abandonment
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 31, 2020 8:28:39 GMT -5
The anguish over the Dodgers move is legendary, the Giants quite a bit, too, but the Boston Braves move to Milwaukee does not bring up much of any. Perhaps because Boston really wasn't big enough to support two teams anyway.
The only instance that comes to mind is Robert Kraft stating he and his childhood buddies were diehard Braves fans because they had a good Jewish player who was a role model for them. He cited the anguish he felt as a child when the Braves left as motivation to purchase the Patriots to block their move to St. Louis.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Aug 31, 2020 10:10:40 GMT -5
The only instance that comes to mind is Robert Kraft stating he and his childhood buddies were diehard Braves fans because they had a good Jewish player who was a role model for them. He cited the anguish he felt as a child when the Braves left as motivation to purchase the Patriots to block their move to St. Louis. Sid Gordon, a very good LF/3B. Braves Field was by far the worst park in the NL for right-handed power hitters like Gordon, but he still managed 27 HR a year during the three seasons he played there.
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Post by timholycross on Aug 31, 2020 10:19:10 GMT -5
The one thing about the Braves was if they hung on a bit longer, they had the pieces in place for a bunch of good teams (Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Lew Burdette, the rest of Spahn's brilliant career; all of which took place in Milwaukee). That would have been simultaneous to the Sox slipping into pretty deep mediocrity. Maybe the Sox would have moved. The ballparks at the time were a wash.
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Aug 31, 2020 11:02:02 GMT -5
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Post by Tom on Aug 31, 2020 11:40:46 GMT -5
I grew up with a kid who'd dad pitched for the Braves for a short stint. I assume he was a fan (unless he was mad at them for dumping him) He was the man that taught me if you want to hit someone (with a pitch). throw at the knee. Hardest spot to avoid the beaning
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Post by WorcesterGray on Aug 31, 2020 11:47:57 GMT -5
My dad was a Boston Braves fan, never cared so much for the Sox. The Historical Association is still alive and well, by the way - the most recent edition features an epic, NAD-like poetical tribute to the team's history. boston-braves.squarespace.com/whats-new
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Post by timholycross on Aug 31, 2020 13:16:52 GMT -5
I regret my dad didn't take me to a Pats game their first 3 years- would have seen a game at Braves Field before they tore down 3/4 of it. Didn't see a live game until they were at Fenway.
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Post by Crosser on Aug 31, 2020 16:04:37 GMT -5
In the late 50's my grandfather's company had season tickets to the Red Sox in what is now luxury boxes but at the time were known (I think) as Sky Boxes. I was pretty young but he took me to a bunch of games. I was lucky enough to see Ted Wiliams play, but the team was horrible and the crowds were small. IIRC in the 60's you could show up at Fenway and get a bleacher seat for a dollar. I can't remember what I had for lunch, but remember the Fenway prices from the '60s as: Bleachers, $1.00, Reserved grandstand $2.25 and box seats $3.00. The seats in the corner of right field that did not (still don't?) face home plate were less than the other reserved grandstand seats. The Sox offered several "Family Games" a year where the head of the family bought one full price reserved grandstand ticket and the rest of the family paid fifty cents for adjacent seats. My family snapped those tickets up early every year. I remember going to a game in '67 and seeing a group of women going through the turnstiles with buttons on their shirt that said: "Yaz sir, that's my baby!" I am quite certain that I paid $.75 for a bleacher seat in Fenway in September 1969. I also managed to sneak in 4 16oz cans of Schlitz!
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