Two Champions and a Postscript

Last night saw the NBA championship return home to Boston after 22 years on the road. No other NBA franchise has held the championship as often - 17 times now. Of course, the lion's share of those championships came a good many years ago, during the 1950s and 60s. Red Auerbach was the head coach during nine of those championship seasons between 1956 and 1966. Nine chamionships out of ten consecutive seasons(!), interrupted only during the 1957-58 season, when the Celtics made it to the NBA finals, but lost in six games to the St. Louis Hawks (who now reside in Atlanta).

Eight out of the nine NBA players who have the most championship rings played on those Celtics teams: Bill Russell with 11 (Russell continued to play and won two more championships in the 1960s after Red had retired from the bench, though he was still the GM of the Celtics.), Sam Jones with 10, Tommy Heinsohn, KC Jones, Tom Sanders and John Havlicek each with eight, Jim Loscutoff and Frank Ramsey with seven and tied with Robert Horry, the first non-Celtic in this list. One more Celtic, Bob Cousy is tied with Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Scottie Pippen with six championship rings.

The Celtics added three more championships during the 1980s with another stellar line-up of players that included Cedric Maxwell (MVP in 1981) and Larry Bird (MVP in 1984 and 1986) and their teammates: Robert Parrish, Nate Archibald, Kevin McHale, Rick Robey, Chris Ford, Gerald Henderson, Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge, Scott Wedman, Quinn Buckner, M. L. Carr and Bill Walton among them.

Watching them complete this latest championship in the TD Banknorth Garden (not quite as poetic as the Boston Garden, is it?) I was struck, not only by the sixteen championship banners hanging from the rafters, but by the banner emblazoned with the player numbers they have retired. Twenty-one former Celtics are remembered there, including, I'm sure, many of those mentioned in the last two paragraphs. See the complete list here.)

This final game of the 2007-08 season, this deciding game 6 of the championship series was a study in teamwork, a study in relentless team defense, a study in doing the right things right. The Celtics ran the Lakers off the court. I don't think they slowed down until they reached St. Louis on their way back to the coast. This Celtic team made fools of the sports analysts (most of them, it seemed) who predicted it would be the Lakers who would prevail in six games. Kobe won't be denied?? Please!

Kobe didn't even come close. He scored 22 points last night, but after starting out 4 for 5 from the field, Kobe then missed seven attempts in a row. In the Eastern Conference finals, King James pushed the Celtics harder, to a deciding game 7, and he scored 45 points for the Cavaliers in that ultimately losing effort. LeBron did it with a less talented supporting cast than the one surrounding Kobe. I hope I never hear Steven A. Smith call Kobe the greatest player on the planet again. (I may just have to swear off ESPN.)


The day before the NBA's finale, another champion was crowned - this one winning the U.S. Open golf title for 2008. It's hardly a surprise who the title went to - after all, Tiger Woods had won thirteen majors before this, and in 2007 he had possibly the greatest year in professional golf since Bobby Jones' Grand Slam in 1930 and Byron Nelson's record-setting year in 1945.

The manner in which Tiger brought this one home was remarkable, however. As the week progressed, it became more and more clear that Tiger's left knee still was not right. By the middle of round 4 on Sunday, TV viewers could see Tiger grimacing or gritting his teeth in pain after each hard swing. Tiger was not to be deterred, however. The back nine on Sunday afternoon included two eagles and a miracle birdie on the 17th hole.

The eagle on the final hole Sunday was just enough to help Tiger overtake Rocco Mediate, forcing an 18-hole head to head playoff on Monday. The good news was that Tiger still had a shot, but it meant that he had to go out and nurse than knee through another entire round of golf.

Monday's round was another dramatic battle. With eight holes to play, it looked like Tiger had it wrapped up with a three stroke lead. However, Tiger bogeyed one hole, and Rocco had three birdies in a row, so as they came to the last couple holes, it was Mediate who led, though only by a single stroke. Tiger caught up with him again, with a birdie this time on the eighteenth hole. Fortunately, this time the tie led to a sudden death playoff, rather than another entire round. Tiger made short work of it, beating Rocco by a stroke on the first hole of sudden death.

Today, it was announced that Woods is done for the year. Not only has he been playing on an injured ACL, it turns out that he suffered a double stress fracture of the tibia two weeks before the Open. Nonetheless, Tiger saw the U.S. Open, especially at Torrey Pines, a course where he has seen remarkable success in the past, as his best chance to win a major tournament in 2008. So he played. And it paid off. Now he will let his doctors and surgeons work on the knee and tibia, and he will give his leg time to heal. And hope he can then return to form.

Should Tiger have played on such a bad leg? I don't know. Time will tell, I guess. However, I do know it took courage, not just for him to play, but for him to reach deep within himself and find the determination to face down challenges, not only from Rocco Mediate, but also from Lee Westwood, who finished Sunday in third place, one stroke out of the playoff. It made for one of the most memorable U.S. Opens in history. And it added another page to Tiger's legend.


Postscript - This evening, after dinner, I watched the memorial to Tim Russert that had been televised earlier this afternoon on MSNBC. It was a moving tribute. A private funeral Mass was celebrated this morning at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown. On the news they said that with no fanfare, and no entourages attending them, the two presumptive candidates in the upcoming presidential election, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, entered the church and sat next to each other during the funeral.

The public memorial was held at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. After the presentation of the colors and a stirring rendition of the National Anthem, Tom Brokaw spoke first. He promised a celebration, in the Irish tradition, of the life of Tim Russert. He went on to direct most of his remarks to Tim's family members - his son Luke, his widow Maureen, and his dad Big Russ, who was watching the proceedings from Buffalo. Brokaw promised to raise a mug of Rolling Rock beer (which he pilfered from Tim's cooler at the NBC News offices in Washington) to Big Russ on election night, thanking him for his gift of Tim.

Others who made remarks included former Governor of New York Mario Cuomo, Brian Williams, Maria Shriver and Doris Kearns Goodwin. Luke Russert delivered an abbreviated version of the eulogy he had given earlier in the day at the funeral. He joked that he had learned the trick of adapting a prepared speech for different audiences from his father. He told all of the charities, foundations, associations and what-not, who invited Tim Russert to speak, that he was sorry to break the news to them, but that Russert did not write an original speech for each of them.

Following the oratory, the memorial turned musical. Tim Russert's brother-in-law, Tony Scozzaro, a musician from Buffalo (of course) played a heartfelt and technically brilliant instrumental of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" on guitar. Then Tom Brokaw and Luke Russert introduced, via satellite from Europe, where he is currently touring with the E Street Band, the Boss himself. Springsteen spoke about his friendship with Tim for a few minutes, recalling an early morning when he looked out and saw Tim eagerly watching from the crowd as he and the E Street Band played in the plaza at 30 Rock for the Today Show. Knowing what Tim's day job was, Springsteen said he was sure Russert must have had more important places to be. He then sang "Thunder Road," dedicating it to Tim as he did a in concert last Friday night after he learned of Tim's death. The lyrics are full of energy and optimism, so it's no surprise that it was one of Tim's favorite songs.

I find myself more and more moved by the tributes and memories of Tim Russert I have seen these past few days. His colleagues all recall the enthusiasm he brought to every new day, to every new assignment. For some time now, I haven't had that kind of enthusiasm, though I can still remember when I did.

Lately, I feel like I have been too self-absorbed and allowed myself to play the victim. I may have my problems, with ADD, depression and the rest, but that's not reason enough to allow myself to wither and rot. What's the point of living, if you don't make the most of it?

Tim Russert made the most of it, most every day, according to his friends and family. Tiger Woods made the most of it this past week, despite the devastating pain he had to face and the lengthy recovery ahead. The Boston Celtics, after a long drought, made the most of it last night and throughout a successful season in which they posted the greatest turnaround in NBA history.

I want to do the same. To raise my own game, to face each day with optimism and enthusiasm - that would be the best tribute I could offer in Tim Russert's name.