Long before I enrolled at UD, before I knew who Donnie May or Don Donoher were, before I set foot in the Fieldhouse and became a for-the-rest-of-my-life Flyer fan, I pledged allegiance to another basketball team. That team was the Boston Celtics. I grew up in the Boston area and for those of you who didn’t, the Celtics were an easy team to hate, kinda the basketball equivalent of the Yankees. Except the Celtics were much more dominant than the Yanks ever were. Don’t believe me? Consider this: from the time I was 6 years old until I was a sophomore at UD, the Celtics won the NBA Championship every year except 2-1958 when Bill Russell was hurt and 1967, when Wilt and the 76ers had a one year dynasty. That includes 8 straight from 1959 thru 1966, the ultimate professional win streak.
People are amazed when I tell them that the Russell-Cousy-Jones boys-Heinsohn-Satch Sanders era Celtics rarely sold out-you could always get tickets. They might be behind a girder in the dump over a railroad station known as the Boston Garden, but you could get seats. When they did sell out, C’s announcer Johnny Most would make a big deal out of “Thirteen-Nine-Oh-Nine” being in the house.

My dad grew up in West Virginia and he loved native son Jerry West. So we usually went to see the Celts if West and the Lakers were in town. The other team we always tried to catch was whatever club Wilt was on. Wilt vs. Russell was the best match-up ever in professional sports. This isn’t up for discussion! I once stood next to Wilt when I was a kid and I literally only came up to his ass. He was just a huge physical specimen and the most dominant offensive player in basketball history…but Russ was the best team player ever, so the Celts usually got the best of “Big Musty.”

Some unforgettable Celtic memories:

— “Havlicek stole the ball!!!” I wasn’t at the game-my dad could only get 2 tickets, so he and my mom went. I can still remember where I was when I heard Johnny Most make that call: shooting hoops at the playground up the street with my friends. We had a radio on as we played and we stopped when Russell hit the guy wire with the in-bounds pass. We all started yelling and dancing when Hondo stepped in front of Hal Greer and deflected the pass.

— Clyde Lovelette. He was a big, clumsy-looking white guy from Mississippi who played for the then-St. Louis Hawks. As a kid, I had one of those voices that carried over the din of the crowd. I lit into Clyde the moment he entered the game: “Way to go, Clyde.” “Nice foul, Clyde.” And the ever popular “You stink, Clyde.” I kept on yelling and he kept on screwing up. The guy next to me bought me some popcorn and told me to keep it up. Towards the end of the game, Clyde fouled out and he walked past the St. Louis bench and stood right in front of where I was seated-we were in the third row. He stopped and glared at me. My dad told me I was on my own. Then Clyde broke into a big grin, laughed and went and sat down. Oddly enough, Lovelette played for the Green as Russell’s back up a few years later, retired and became a sheriff.

— Russell. Did you know he used to puke before every game? It was a Celtic ritual. They couldn’t go out until Russ tossed his cookies. Did you know that he and Wilt were extremely close friends, despite what the press said was a bitter rivalry? They always got together for dinner when they played each other. Has one individual ever changed the face of the game in which he played as dramatically as William Felton Russell did? He still doesn’t sign autographs, so if I ever get the chance to meet him, I’ll simply shake his hand and say “thanks” for all he did for the game of basketball.

— Johnny Most. Every kid in Boston could do a Johnny Most imitation. He had one of those 2 packs of Camels and a fifth of scotch voices. “Hi everybody, this is Johnny Most, high above courtside” was his standard opening. High was right. Johnny did his radio broadcast from way up in the first row of the second balcony of seats. I got his autograph once and he signed it “Swish! Johnny Most.” Years later I sold WBZ as a national rep here in Detroit. The NSM confided in me that Johnny sometimes put hookers on his expense account. $200 for “entertainment.” What a guy!

— Bob Cousy. He was just unbelievable. He was Magic or Bird before either one of them was born. I asked him for his autograph after the Celtics had just lost the championship to the Hawks in 1958 and he said, with tears in his eyes “not now, kid.” A professional athlete crying, I couldn’t believe it! I was able to get his signature a few years later when he played in a golf tournament at the country club my dad belonged to.

— Larry Bird. They may not have sold out when Russell was playing, but once Larry Legend arrived, so did the scarcity of Celts ducats. He brought back Celtic pride. The ‘Big Three’ of Bird, McHale and Parrish were such a treat to watch. Next to trading to draft Russell, Bird was Red Auerbach’s shrewdest move, in a long list of clever deals.

— Len Bias and Reggie Lewis. What a freaking waste.

— Walking into the Garden. This was the ’50s and ’60s, remember. The Garden sat, literally, on top of North Station. So you had to walk up these ramps to get to the arena. As you entered, the first thing you noticed was the smoke-a thick haze of cigar/cigarette smoke hung over the court, like a cloud. Above the smoke were the banners; below them the parquet floor. It smelled like piss. But it was basketball heaven.

Now the Celtics are coached by Jim O’Brien-go figure.

That’s it “From the Swamp.”