It's hard to hate for 82 games.
by hawksdawgs on Mar 26, 2009 10:07 PM EDT
27 comments
I am not ready to hug the Celtics, but it's just not quite the same.
The Boston Celtics are back in town tomorrow night, and I am excited to head down to Phillips to take in the action. Still, I look at the posts from the past two Boston games on my old blog, and back then, despite all knowledge that I would be mocked by basketball elitist in Bean Town, I declared how important those games were to the Hawks and to me. Boston was a rivalry. And in a rivalry, every game is a statement game.
But 82 games is a lot of games. It is a grind even for the fans. Some would say its too many games. It makes the season a job even for the most adamant supporter. But I can't go that far. If the season ended at 65 games, Hawks fans miss the excruciating awesomeness and pain that is Mario West playing more than 30 seconds. If the season ended after 50 games, Hawks fans might not be able to forgive Josh Smith for his enigmatic effort. He would be hated and that would be the end of it and that would be sad because Josh Smith is far too complicated to shorten into love and hate. 82 games allows you to fall in love with your team and still disdain parts of it. It allows for areas of gray that make your team part of your actual life.
Still, something is missing with this Celtics game. The excitement is just not there. Maybe the Celtics were already like this way back in December. They knew they were in the playoffs. They had a chance against anyone in May way back in November. Now, the Hawks are in the playoffs, there chance is solidified. John Hollinger's predictions no longer need refuting statements. The Hawks next first round series is now far closer than their last one.
Don't get me wrong, the game still matters. The fourth seed matters. The bad effort against Tony Parker matters. My dislike of Paul Pierce matters. This is a circled game. It just is not a sweaty palms game.
I guess that is the price of 82 games. Loyalty sometimes sacrifices excitement. This may not feel like the same kind of rivalary I felt in December, but I still hope the Hawks beat the hell out of the Celtics. And that is a level of hope I don't feel going in to very many of the other 81. Go Hawks!
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I hate them.
I hate Paul Pierce and his clamoring for fouls. He flops on offense AND defense. I hate his gang signs. I hate his acting injured so he can run out onto the court like he’s some sort of current day Willis Reed. He is my least favorite athlete on the planet*. And I say that while watching a Duke game.
I hate Garnett and his fake act of how tough and hard he is. Lots of chest thumping and yelling. Just shut up and play. Luckily for you, Kevin, you got to go against a softer big man than yourself in the Finals.
I hate the whole team. Even Doc Rivers. Lucky for Doc they put an impossibly good team together to cover up his atrocious sub patterns.
Yes. I hate them. For 82+ games a year. I root for them to get hurt, and I won’t stop.
- - If you heard my thoughts on the Paul Pierce stabbing, you’d think I was clinically insane.
Try harder!!!!
Look, if you can’t hate the Celtics for 82+ games you’re just not trying hard enough! I expect more from you DD.
Duff_Man has the right idea…..
i still think it is a rivalry
i stand by my logic in this post.
my hate it just not kindled like it has been in the past. the hate is simply brooding.
and i love boston fans, who lost to the yankees for years and years and called it a rivalry, say the hawks cannot be a rivalry because they won the series. ahh there is that emotion of despise rising to the surface….
You hit it with that last point...
It’s inconceivable that Boston fans sneer at us (and most others) because of one good season…Decades of futility in baseball didn’t prevent them from declaring a rivalry with NY. The bandwagon fans make it even more deplorable. It’s especially bad here in DC, where an unusually high percentage of residents claim some Boston heritage and wear Sox hats with their suits on the Metro going to work.
Also, Bostonites are the most racist, pretentious people you’ll ever meet. They claim the South is backwards, but look in their stands and it’s like Where’s Waldo trying to find a non-white person. Dennis Johnson was their token minority on their championship teams of the 80s (and the fans only really loved McHale and Bird), and they despised the teams of the 90s and early 2000s because they were too “thuggish” (aka black). Coincidentally, only after McHale, in exchange for a key to the city of Boston, literally gave away KG did the fans rally around the team—funny how winning will do that.
F Beantown.
robert parish was pretty black
but i have heard the same sentiments before, just have no idea if they are true.
still, al horford and acie law said boston was their least favorite road city. so take THAT bean town.
some decent points mixed in with a lot of hate
are we pretentious? absolutely
were we the nail and the Yankees were the hammer in that “rivalry” until 2004, yup
is there a history of racism in Boston, sadly, sadly yes
with that said, Robert Parish was beloved, and the coach of that “white team” was black (KC Jones)
also, the Celtics themselves have a rich history of breaking color barriers despite the “white” label
finally, the teams of the 90’s and early 2000’s were hated because they were horrible and they weren’t worthy of wearing the green and white (except Pierce, and he even had his moments of immaturity)
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V
thanks for the thoughts jeff and good call out on the hate
moral of the story. (or at least my story)
Hawks fans want a rivalry with Boston because they are the class of the NBA now and a historically great franchise. we want a rivalry because we don’t like Celtic players. we want a rivalry because after years of hopelessness, we found it again in a seven game series against your team. We want a rivalry because we want it to be that much sweeter when we beat you guys.
I would think the Celtics and their fans do not want a rivalry for all the same reasons. So its one sided…for now. But the tension is there. the ground work is laid down.
and racism has nothing to do with it. even if it is true, it is a cherry on top of the argument and racism is no cherry. it is evil and should probably only be brought up if it is trying to be solved.
i do just fine disliking boston for the way bill simmons talks about them and the way Paul Pierce flops and how KG would never bark at Joe Johnson. i hope the hawks start winning some of these bad boys so the rivalry will become two sided and basketball can be our meeting ground to talk trash and revel in the added excitement each meeting will then have.
I used to tolerate the Boston teams,
especially the Red Sox (because I always hated the Yankees; well, I still hate Yankees, so I guess I still tolerate the Red Sox), but I cannot tolerate Boston any more because of Bill Simmons. I hate Bill Simmons and his unabashed blatant don’t you love how I write stream-of-conscious-style just like a real fan but I really am a huge fan and can ONLY EVER WRITE ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE BOSTON TEAMS.
I f’ing hate that guy and that he, or ESPN, or whomever, thinks we give a flying flip about Southie and his father and how they cry about this and that and what if Matt Damon were a sports fan 100% of the time rather than an actor and they all drank a mediocre Sam Adams pseudo-brew together over what a true Celt McHale really is to have sold out ’Sota like that just so Boston could win it all again.
So I hate the Celtics because of you, Bill. Here’s to you, Mr. I Am a Really Huge Homer Sports Fan National ESPN Writer Guy.
Your city and its’ teams are longtime losers. Everyone up here in New England already knew Atlanta fans were messed up by sticking up for that douchebag Michael Vick but now you clowns are wishing injury to the Celtics players?? That’s why your teams will never be winners.
And Boston fans are racists?? This coming from people who still use the N word on a regular basis in both contexts. Stick to what you know, being losers, rednecks, and never being as good as us. For a quick history lesson, the Celtics were the first team to ever draft a black player, the first to have an all-black starting 5, and the first to have a black head coach. All of this done by the late, great Red Auerbach.
Go learn something before trying to talk smack about a superior team, city, and fanbase.
Don't generalize
I root for the C’s to get hurt because it is funny to me. I hate the Celtics and aways will. Don’t blame everyone else because I said it.
Actually, the C’s are the only Boston team I hate. The Patriots are the anti-Steelers, so I love when they win because it pisses off the yinzers in Pittsburgh (I am from PA, and the Steeler fans are unbearable). I like the Sox because they have completely derailed the franchise of the NY Yankees.
I have no problem with the city of Boston. Just the Celtics. Always have. I see a green jersey on the floor in pain and i say “good for him”. Since I don’t know any of the players, basically they are fictional characters to me, so why would I care?
Go Hawks, go Braves, go Falcons.
Hawks' bubble burst like the housing market
The something that is missing is the hope that still seemed plausible earlier in the season that this Hawks team could play at the same level as the Celtics both in the regular season and more importantly in the playoffs. By now we’ve all seen the Hawks flounder against the top playoff teams and a second round exit (if they even manage to fend off Dwayne Wade in round 1) is the most that can be hoped for. Earlier in the year we hoped this was a real rivalry. Now we all know the Celtics were right and it’s not… not this year, with this coach.
seems
that we’ve been invaded by the unibrows. any semblance of logical discussion is probably out the window. i’ll join in
paul pierce is nothing more than vince carter with a ring. he dogged it until management stole two hall of famers to carry him.
haha, yeah, a little too much hate from me
I had to let it out a little…Jeff, you’re entirely correct, but I have to gloss over the points that detract from my arguments
sexyscottish, on the other hand, exhibits the ignorance that I’m talking about…rednecks that still say the N-word on a regular basis? can we have some substantiation to that ridiculous claim? jeff already admitted it—there is a sad history of racism in boston. also, your name is an oxymoron—the only positive thing scots have ever done for us is invent golf
hey hey hey
i’m scottish and love atlanta sports
don’t confuse us with the irish.
we gave the world golf, scotch, and sex with sheep. who doesn’t love those things? wait, I said too much!!!
I know what it is....
You guys are still pissed off that Larry Bird and Co. punked the best team you ever had in 87-88. Then again, most Hawks fans nowadays weren’t around when that happened. Let it go. As good as Dominique Wilkins was, he was NEVER good enough to lead the Hawks to a title. Even when he went nuts in that game 7, he was never good enough to outdo Larry Bird when it mattered.
And don’t blame us Nique’ got traded to the Clippers after management gave up on him.
And golf?? Tell you what, without us Scots there would be no TV, phone, or whisky worth mentioning. Nice try.
Oh, yeah...
The Scottish have been solving the world’s problems for eons—while being the backyard playgorund and whipping child of English royalty. You are the Kansas City Royals of the 1960’s to the world’s New York Yankees. Step off, sexy. Just stick to f*cking and Celtics.
I always love
when fans put their best player on a pedestal above another team’s and use team accomplishments as the measuring stick.
You’re right: the Boston Celtics were better than the Hawks that (and most) seasons. But it wasn’t because of just Bird
compare rosters.
Celtics
42 Mark Acres F-C
44 Danny Ainge G-F
33 Larry Bird F 6-9
20 Darren Daye F-G
53 Artis Gilmore C 7-2
43 Conner Henry G 6-7
3 Dennis Johnson G 6-4
50 Greg Kite C 6-11
35 Reggie Lewis G-F 6-7
54 Brad Lohaus C-F 6-11
32 Kevin McHale F-C 6-10
11 Dirk Minniefield G 6-3 1
00 Robert Parish C 7-0
4 Jim Paxson G-F 6-6
31 Fred Roberts F-C 6-10
Hawks
12 John Battle G 6-2
33 Antoine Carr F-C 6-9
44 Scott Hastings F-C 6-10
32 Jon Koncak C-F 7-0
53 Cliff Levingston F 6-8
40 Mike McGee G-F 6-5
25 Doc Rivers G 6-4
30 Tree Rollins C 7-1
50 Chris Washburn C 6-11
4 Spud Webb G 5-6
1 Ennis Whatley G 6-3
21 Dominique Wilkins F-G 6-7
42 Kevin Willis F-C 7-0
10 Randy Wittman G-F
1 Leon Wood
McHale, Parrish, Ainge, DJ, Reggie Lewis were all better players than the 2nd best player on the Hawks. Celtics didn’t win because Bird outdid Nique. The Hawks lost because Nique had no support. Without his teammates, no one would remember Bird in the same light. Nique had nothing and came up just short. Give me Nique any day!
oh
and winning a series (while being outscored by 11) in 7 games is not “punking” someone.
getting punked happens
at 1:03 in this video
Um, yeah
I’ll start by simply referenceing one of my old fanposts. Simply put, the Hawks-Celtics series is a rivalry, has been for decades, and will always be such. Both franchises have had their ups and their downs, usually at the same time. Sometimes it’s very heated, such as in the mid-late ‘80s and recently; other times it’s subdued or completely dormit, i.e the early 2000’s when both the Celtics and the Hawks were perrenial lottery pickers.
While it is painfully obvious that some fans will always be completely ignorant and blind to any form of reason lest it concerns the team they follow, what is also obvious is the fact that each fan determines how strong or weak a rivalry is based on their own personal experiences that acculate throughout their fandom. Being a fan of the Hawks through those Nique-Bird matchups and our recent playoff encounter, I firmly place the Hawks-Celtic series in the full-fledged rivalry bin, and based on my own experiences it has historically been a rivalry and will continue to be a rivalry, much as the Boston-Yankees rivalry has existed for the last century.
But, none of this is Drew’s point, in fact it’s further from it. Drew’s point was simply that both teams are firmly settled in the playoff picture at this point and to him, that makes this one single game not as heated as the earlier ones. The outcome of this one game will not drastically affect either teams standing as far as the playoffs are concerned. I actually feel the same way as Drew. I still think it’s a rivalry, I still want the Hawks to win and the Celtics to lose, I still do not like KG or Paul Pierce, I still do not like some of the Celtic fanbase, but really, I’m not going to be hanging on the edge of my couch and lose my mind over every play tonight. I think Drew is right in that it probably has a a lot to do with the fact that it is a long season and it’s coming down to the end and we are all just ready to get into the playoffs and really crank it up.
The rest of the prejudiced and stereotypical comments should really be left out of the argument because it has no place here and it brings nothing to the table in regards to the rivalry debate.
ahhh
i love that definition. i could marry that definition. it’s a beautiful definition that brings sunshine to the gloomy weather outside.
My Two Cents.......
I grew up in the Boston suburbs as die hard fan of all teams Boston. After living in Atlanta for 10 years now, that hasn’t changed. I still live and breathe all of our Boston teams, even in the bad times (and there have been plenty of those). I have been to plenty of Atlanta pro sports games (Thrashers, Hawks, Falcons, Braves). They all seemed more like a show to me. It was more about the entertainment than the game. Of course you will have your fans that actually care if the Atlanta team wins but that seems to be the exception. People are there to see the Kiss Cam, play on Tooner Field or see the pie eating contest after the second period. In Boston, we take our teams very seriously. It is not uncommon for a Boston fan to feel physically sick after watching the Patriots lose, even a regular season game. I know I do. I hate seeing my teams lose. Boston fans are the most loyal, dedicated and knowlegeable fans in all of pro sports. You would not know this unless you grew up there and moved somewhere else. That is why so many Celtics fans got so pissed off at that Mike Bibby guy (who has no business running off his mouth to a team that he always loses to) when he called us “fair weather fans” last year. What a dumbass. Southerners feel this way about their college football teams. In the south, pro sports are the entertainment and in the college sports are where the real fans are. This will never change. Pro sports in the south lacks the success, the history and the fan base that defines the northern pro sports. Most people in Atlanta are from somewhere else and go to the games here to watch the visiting team. I love going to Braves vs. Sox games at Turner Field. Might as well be played in Boston as there are more Sox fans at the game than Braves fans. The Celtics game last night was no different. There were very large numbers of Celtics fans there. As for the Celtics/Hawks rivalry, there isn’t one. Hawks fans just hate us because because we ruined their playoffs last year. Really, the Hawks never should have been in the playoffs anyway, having a losing season, eight games under .500. One word for you Hawks fans…Lucky.
by PatsFanIntheATL on Mar 28, 2009 10:27 AM EDT reply actions
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