Catching up on my Sports Guy. Just read his piece on Larry Bird, and I’m all verklempt. I grew up in a household where sports really meant something. Not EVERYTHING, mind you – I knew families where sports were EVERYTHING and they kind of freaked me out … But I grew up in a family where sports, and the teams we rooted for, really meant something to us. They were a part of our blood, a part of our experience as a family. If you didn’t grow up with that, it’s kind of hard to describe – but I think Bill Simmons does, as always, a great job putting it all into words.
When the Bird Era crested with that remarkable 67-win season in the 1986 season, it was the ultimate marriage of the perfect crowd and the perfect team. Remember the scene in “Hoosiers” right after Jimmy Chitwood joined the team, the inspiring “This team’s coming together” montage? That’s what every game felt like that year.
That’s what I’m talkin’ about.
And:
Did these things make Larry Bird a hero? Probably not. But there were heroic qualities about him, mainly stemming from the fact that everyone in New England believed he was invincible. He just came through too many times for us. After awhile, we started expecting him to come through, and when he still came through, that’s when we were hooked for good. Out of all the dramatic Bird moments over the years, I’ll always remember a game-winning shot that he missed … not just because he missed it, but because nobody believed he could miss it.
If you come from a sports-loving family, then these words will most definitely resonate!!
sheila i am loving the book you gave me–the bill simmons one. i laughed on the subway all the way into the city. he was writing about the interaction between manny and dan duquette??? oh man, the comedy of his writing and his perception of that meeting was just high high comedy. so thank you!!
siobhan – his whole essay on El Guapo made me laugh out loud!!
so glad you are loving it! I loved watching you read it in the living room, randomly guffawing!
As much as I love Bill Simmons, I cannot share his love for the NBA — or Larry Bird, whom I met once at a Meis store opening where he was drunk at 10:00 in the morning and was a total asshole — but I do appreciate his love for sports and their importance in our lives. And of course, I love that he’s a Red Sox fan and makes no apologies for being so, even though as a “journalist” he’s probably supposed to be more even-handed in his “reporting.”
My husband’s family cares nothing about sports, and it is a concept as foreign to me as if they were Hindu. My family is like yours — sports are a part of our life, like church, so much that I can’t even FATHOM not attending every high-school basketball home game, or watching Cardinals baseball (I always root against them because they suck. Go Cubs!), or putting our brackets together for the NCAA Tournament.
These are our traditions. Part of the glue that holds us together.
Lisa –
Definitely part of the tradition!
I have no love for the NBA either but I do remember the Bird era – it’s kind of all wound up in my childhood!
Funny; I actually miss going to high school sporting events. I should find a local high school and just go watch a football game or something. There is something in the air at those events that you NEVER find with professional sports!!
i have to get out the book right now and transcribe this moment…still can’t stop laughing about it. he describes as if being in the hotel room when manny signed, and dan duquette is there.
“Duke and Manny then combine for one of the most awkward exchanges in television history:
Duke [monotone]: The fans in Boston appreciate your unique skill and your ability to hit.
Manny [sounding like Chico Escuela]: I’m one of those guys that don’t talk a lot you know and just go and try to play the game and that’s it you know.
Duke: Yeah. [Stifling silence] You’ve always been, uh, quiet and business-like and ready….[forced smile]
Manny: That’s the only thing you could do…you know, just work and see what happens. [Dead silence].
Duke: Sometimes I pick up prostitutes, bring them back to my apartment and strangle them to death.
(I made that last part up, sorry about that. Couldn’t resist).”
hahahaha
Umm, guys, with all due respect: I hate the Red Sox…as in actively detest and wish for the Fenway Park site to be turned into something more useful to society, such as 24-hour massage parlor (Duke would probably approve of that…).
That said, the exchange siobahn just posted is so good that even an ardent Yankee fan like myself is going to have to summon the Amazon fairy to deliver one to me. Simmons is the only guy worth reading on espn.com. His book has to be good.
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas.
Alex –
Never asked for your opinion on the Red Sox. Don’t tell me you hate the Red Sox and preface it with “with all due respect” mkay? Nobody asked you.
Oh, and Johnny Damon?
Shave and a haircut…208 million bits.
:)
siobhan –
bwahahahahahahahahahahaha I love the stage direction “stifling silence”
Oh Sheila, let’s not get angry.
You get to chant “2-0-0-4” forever. It is something to which there is no comeback, to the chagrin of us Yankee people everywhere.
That win…that one had panache.
I get angry when anyone says something rude and prefaces it “with all due respect”. Let’s call it a pet peeve.
The Red Sox were my team long before 2004 and they’ll be my team forever. But you’re right. 2004 definitely had panache.
In that case, I apologize. Was just trying to have some fun. “WADR” is now removed from my comment lexicon. Forever.
My blog is a one-party-state when it comes to the Red Sox. That’s just the way it goes.
There are a couple of things I’m not objective about and have no desire to be objective about. The Red Sox is one of them. Fenway Park is another. Although Bill Simmons’ columns on Fenway Park have kind of made me re-think my position!!
GO SOX!!!
And the Simmons book is HILARIOUS.
And the painting your mom made for me of Varitek is possibly one of my favorite possessions. . .
Kerry – did you get a picture of him batting or catching?? I think she showed me the one she made for you but I can’t remember.
I got a Varitek too! I LOVE IT!!
It’s Tek blocking the plate with his big gorgeous hunk-a-chunk-a-burnin’ love leg . . .
Very hot.
:-)
Oh, and Kerry – I read your bio for White Christmas and just had to GRIN when I read the last sentence! hahahaha
Oh yes – the classic Varitek catcher pose. YUM!!! I remember that one now – my mom showed it to me before she gave it to you.
Yeah, fun bio, huh? Thanks for the plug, by the way. I am having the time of my life! Just a total joy-fest start to finish. Off to the matinee right now. 3600 people to entertain. . .
Love Kerry
“hunk o chunk burning leg”
brilliant, kerry!
my paintings i can’t stop staring at. i just like sitting in my living rooma nd staring at them!
My dad and I have been part of a Sacramento Kings season ticket group since the inaugural 1985-86 season, and that first year we were lucky enough to choose first and selected the Celtics game. At that time the Kings were playing in the first Arco “Arena,” which held barely more than 10,000, but when Larry Bird was introduced, it felt like the place was going to fall down on itself. The fans gave Bird a standing ovation that lasted for more than a minute, and only stopped when Bird put his hands out and sheepishly asked everyone to calm down.
And then, amazingly enough, the Kings went out and beat Boston, one of their 15 losses that year. And even more amazing, they only won because Bird missed two free throws with about 20 seconds left in the game and the Kings clinging to a one-point lead. It may have been the only time in his life he missed two free throws with the game on the line. Great player, and I don’t think it’s stretching things to say that he and Magic saved the NBA in the 1980s.
Well, I am from Philadelphia so I get the sports are life thing. And being from philadelphia i have an active dislike for Larry though its out of respect – christ he killed us time and time again. I hated the “garden” and the dead spots on the floor and all the banners. But the hate was out of envy. It just wasn’t fair. Ah well, I am much better now. As for the Red Sox, I was very happy that the sox won, especially sticking it to the Yankees. And I do miss the charm of Fenway, seats to small, facing the wrong direction, don’t go to the mens room in sandals (this was 1999 before renovations) it made me long for the Vet, but that’s just me. And I hear its better now. They did have Amstel light on tap and great sausage sandwiches so I mean it was an enjoyable time. the real fun is CYO sports.
Kevin – the seats at Fenway are way too small!! Bill Simmons, who is 6 foot one, keeps saying, “Unless you are built like a jockey or an Oompa Loompa, you will not be comfortable!”
hahaha And yes, facing in the wrong direction.
I am thankful I have not experienced the horror of the men’s room there – although I have heard stories!!
Kevin, I have never been in Fenway, but another pre-renovation mens room experience to avoid had to be Soldier Field. It was old-school, with a trough going all around the walls (much jostling and direct neighbor contact…if it was a Seinfeld episode, Jerry would have had a nervous breakdown).
I was there for a Grateful Dead concert, so it was totally packed…to the point where the sinks were “in play” so to speak. Let’s just say that I made a mental note to never, ever wash my hands at Soldier Field if I ever went back there for another event. That’s what portable individually-wrapped handi-wipes are for.
I’m sure that the mens rooms at Soldier are fine now since they redid the place. The sinks are probably safe for hand-washing, at least.