It was a great day to be in Boston on Thursday. As the Boston Globe wrote. “Euphoric multitudes of cheering, chanting, cigar-chomping fans turned downtown Boston into a twisting river of emerald and white yesterday in a celebratory salute to the Celtics' first championship in 22 year.” I was at the Fast Forward Summit but later watched and taped the replay of the parade.
I was thrilled when the Patriots and the Red Sox won their championships but I have always been a Celtics fan first. I played more basketball and started watching the Celtics in 1962 when they came in town to play my hometown Syracuse Nats (where I spent my high school years). In 1964 the Nats went to Philly and I went to Boston for college and became a real fan during those glory days of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I even went to a Celtics legends camp one year with the 90s with Don Nelson, Sam Jones, Satch Sanders, and Ernie DiGregorio. They all played with us hackers and told wonderful stories over two nights and three days. I was on Don Nelson’s team as each of the three older guys led a team. They could still play, especially Sam. Ernie was younger played really well. The next year I was going to return and be on Robert Parish’s team but I got injured just before to great disappointment.
It has been so nice to see the joy on the faces of the players and the fans. Here are three of the Globe stories about the parade and a few of the many pictures. At the beginning of the season Doc Rivers took Pierce, Garnett, and Allen on a duck boat tour and said this is the parade route of the championship Patriots and Red Sox and this is where you can be. Now they returned, champs in their own right. I am already having withdrawal symptoms. Fortunately I taped the last game. Maybe I will watched it now.
Hoop heaven - Multitudes hail Celtics' long-awaited 17th banner
In court of public opinion, neither age nor era matters
Role players get special respect for their tenacity and grit
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