December 22, 1992
In 1962, Gene Conley and Pumpsie Green hopped off a Red Sox team bus in New York and made tracks for the nearest watering hole. Before the bender was over, Conley had purchased a plane ticket to Jerusalem. If he'd had a passport with him that day, Conley still might be in the Holy Land.
Fifteen years later, in the early part of a dreary NBA winter, Celtics center Dave Cowens lost his competitive drive and asked for a leave of absence. He drove a cab, got his mind together and came back two months later.
There have been other vanishing acts on the Boston sports scene. Oil Can Boyd twice bolted after he was not named an All-Star. The Bruins' Al Stewart dropped out after a couple of games last winter. In 1918, Babe Ruth left the Red Sox in midseason and played a couple of games in the Delaware River Shipbuilding League. He was fined $500 when he came back. Later that year, he pitched the Red Sox to a World Series victory.
Now we have the ShermanDouglas situation. The Celtics' quiet point guard last night missed his second straight game and we're told the earliest he'll be back is Tuesday.
By now, most Celtic fans have aligned themselves in one of two camps: 1. The antitrust Sherman pack; or 2. the politically correct, let's-not-jump-the-gun, this-kid-may-have-serious-problems faction.
This space will make no attempt to take either position. Not yet.
The antitrust Sherman pack sees a point guard who is pouting because he doesn't start anymore. He makes more than 2 million bucks a year, but he's unhappy with his diminished role. He takes his shoes off in the third quarter of a game, then bolts the team. Suppose Jack Clark did this. Suppose Clark took his spikes off in midgame, then asked for a leave for personal reasons. Fans and columnists would be all over the guy.
For some reason, the Boston sports community, with a few exceptions, has been slow to pass judgment on Douglas' departure.
Is it because this is the Celtics and we treat them with kid gloves? Remember the furor when Oil Can took a hike? Remember the wild chases and the Red Sox' announcement that he'd undergo psychiatric evaluation? The Can didn't get the kind of privacy or understanding that Douglas thus far is receiving. Is there any doubt about how this would be viewed if the individual in question was Irving Fryar?
In Douglas' case, the Celtics have made an effort to paint the ballplayer as a troubled young man who needs understanding.
"If you go the other way, you could really look bad," said coach Chris Ford. "If it turns out down the road that it's something else, it'll be dealt with then."
CEO Dave Gavitt cites "self-confidence" as the reason for Douglas' absence. In yesterday's Globe, Gavitt was quoted speaking of Douglas' "emotional problems." Before last night's game vs. the Knicks, Gavitt denied using the word "emotional" in reference to Douglas.
Gavitt's insistence that self-confidence is the only issue gives the appearance that the Celtics are backing off their original spin. But they're not. The Celtics will pay Douglas during his absences. Injured players get paid, and the Celtics choose to treat this as a psychological injury. If the Celtics considered this a public pout, they would have placed Douglas on the suspended list and stopped paying him.
The club's position makes it risky for the rest of us to put the hammer down. We are talking about another human being here, and who among us wants ShermanDouglas on his or her conscience?
Meanwhile, we have Douglas' agent, Eric Fleisher, who continues to insist that "this is a basketball issue and nothing more."
If the agent is being truthful, why would the Celtics lead us to believe there are demons haunting the ballplayer? And why would management continue to pay a ballplayer who has quit the team because he'd not been given the role he wants?
Fleisher's position is dangerous. If in fact this is strictly a basketball problem, then fans and teammates are going to have a hard time accepting Douglas' departure. Fleisher rejects any mention of personal or emotional problems, and this makes his client look selfish and immature.
While Douglas sits and gets himself together, Ford and the Celtics continue to play one man short. The Celtics lost to the Knicks last night, 113-87. Ford was forced to use Rick Fox at point guard in the fourth quarter.
"It's very difficult," said Ford. "It's not easy and I don't know if it's short-term or long-term. It's game-to-game right now and we're in a hole."
Even Red Auerbach seemed stumped.
"I got no comment," said the venerable one who has seen it all. "I'm just finding out what it's all about."
Then he shook his head, walked away and grumbled, "It's something new every day."
No comments:
Post a Comment