Calm Down Celtics Fans; Embrace the Positive

By: Matt Burke

 ”The negativity in this town stinks … and it sucks. I mean I was around when Rice was booed, when Yastrzemski was booed and it sucks. It makes the greatest city in the world, lousy.”

Turns out Rick Pitino was right all along.

As a Grade-A cynic, even I gotta say: Hey Boston, lighten up a bit, will ya?

Afterall, for the past 17 years or so, Spring time in Boston has been highlighted, sports-wise by three things and three things only:

1. The Red Sox (Sorry, can’t get too jumpy for the glorified exhibitions in April and May anymore);

2. The Boston Marathon (A great excuse to drink on street corners at 10 AM);

3. The “early” debut of Sam’s Summer Ale (That is, of course, if you think drinking is a sport).

Notice that two of those, if not all three, involve drinking.

In the most positive of ways of course.

That’s why I was so dismayed to learn in the past couple of days that people in Boston are on the verge of drinking heavily, DUE TO CELTICS DEPRESSION!!!!

The negativity revolving around a franchise that hasn’t had a legit shot at winning the title in 17 some odd years was and is running rampant. In the faithful words of Tommy Heinsohn, “What is the matta with these guys!!!???”

Sure, the Hawks series was pathetic. I threw my remote against breakable objects several times.

Game 3 of the Cleveland series was quite depressing. I opted for watching “I AM A CELTIC” on my DVR late in the third quarter in hopes of cheering up.

And yes, Game 4 on Monday night in Cleveland was a shear travesty. I’m pretty sure I beat KG handily in the profanity category that night.

But then on Tuesday morning it all became clear, like a cloud of Red Auerbach cigar smoke giving way to a sea of crystal clear Larry O’Brien Trophies.

THE CELTICS WERE IN THE NBA PLAYOFFS.

THEY STILL HAD A CHANCE.

For the past 17 years or so, all I wanted was just one chance. Just one. With the nucleus the Celts have now, they’ll have a few chances in the coming years.

I just wanted a chance to curse at the TV during May. I wanted a chance to torture my girlfriend by playing an endless cycle of old Celtics games off my DVR every other night in order to get pumped up, in May. Most importantly, I wanted to feel that feeling I had back in the Spring of ‘92, the last time I thought the Celts had a legit chance to win an NBA title and would skip Little League baseball games in order to watch what would transpire.

I just wanted an opportunity to watch THE BOSTON CELTICS.

IN MAY.

With a ruthless national sports media that treats Boston these days with the same wrath 1940 American news scribes treated Berlin, simply ignore the negativity and embrace the positive.

Bird, Parish and McHale aren’t walking through that door to save us tonight. And that’s a shame.

But think of it this way, (Ron) Mercer, (Vitaly) Potapenko and (Travis) Knight aren’t walking through it either. They really never did in May.

I guess that’s something to be positive about.

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