9.03.2008

The Day Dave Cowens Drove Cab

With the Celtics enjoying a few days off between games during the 1977 playoffs, Dave Cowens needed an activity.

Cowens , the eccentric, undersized center who had done things Ripley's would not believe, wandered into an independent taxi company "on a lark," displayed his license and forked over $35 for a vehicle.

He and Dave Guidugli, his best friend, spent the rest the day meandering around Boston, collecting about 15 fares. Cowens tried to cloak his identity by hiding under a baseball cap. His disguise worked too perfectly.

"Dave got pissed because one guy thought he was Bill Walton," Guidugli says.

The pair established a protocol. If a smug suit or a New Yorker hopped inside, that passenger would receive the scenic, expensive route. If a common Bostonian climbed in back, the trip would cost nothing.

For Cowens, this was pure bliss: reveling in a spontaneous moment with his pal sans the fanfare, checking off another are-you-kidding-me? pursuit from his vast to-do list, just because he felt like it.


1977 Celtics center Dave Cowens takes job driving taxis, just for the experience. "I took only one guy the long way," said Cowens. "He was a Knick fan. He deserved it."


Dave Cowens ambled into Roxbury and rented a cab to drive for a night in 1977,

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