January 8, 1980
CELTICS WRITE OFF FANS ON ROAD
The message was a little sad. For at a time when the Celtics' popularity is returning to its peak level of the mid-1960s and early '70s, winning has become a double-edged sword.
"It's really a shame," said coach Bill Fitch yesterday. "Dave Cowens and Larry Bird are the type of guys who would stop in the middle of a hurricane and sign autographs. But from now on, when we're on the road, I'm going to tell them that they should just keep on walking."
What should have been a snappy, spirited practice by an NBA club that has now won more games (30) than it did all last year was more like the morning after the night before. The Celtics were still suffering from a road-trip hangover, and not even the fact they went 3-2 in California and Texas could dim the memory of Saturday night in San Antonio, or the problem of unruly fans.
"We've always heard from the more vocal fans," said veteran Don Chaney, the Celtics' link to their years of glory. "But the fans never came after the players."
There was tangible evidence of the damage yesterday. Bird, who swung a tote bag in disgust at an obnoxious fan, was still suffering on two fronts.
He has a sprained ankle suffered during the San Antonio game and was withheld from practice yesterday, even though he did shoot on the sidelines. The ankle is still taped for added protection.
After the practice, he found himself answering the type of questions they don't prepare you for at Indiana State, where fan abuse seldom gets beyond the yelling stage.
"I've never had anything like that happen to me," said Bird yesterday. "People scream at us all the time. They've done that all year. I don't mind it when they stay up in the stands. But I don't like it when they get right in your face and point their finger at you."
The postgame incident Saturday night stemmed from a shouting match between Cowens and a fan. Actually, the Celtics all were subjected to some verbal abuse, but in this instanceit seemed to get out of hand, and Bird finally decided to put a stop to it.
"The people down there are crazy," Cowens said yesterday. "But the thing they don't know is that I'm one of them."
Fitch did not think it was a joking matter, and insisted the whole incident had in fact received too much publicity already.
"The whole thing was blown out of proportion by their papers (in San Antonio) and by ours," he said. "They put the story on the front page in San Antonio, and it wasn't that big a deal. Now everything is out of whack. We'll go somewhere and somebody will be waiting to start something."
Veteran Chris Ford, who watched the entire incident, said the real fans are the losers in this case.
"The guys were just signing autographs when it all happened," he said. "And the thing got out of hand. It is a shame that a couple of people like that can ruin it for everybody.
"It is not all the fans. It wasn't all the people in San Antonio. But the time could come that nobody will want to get involved with fans because of being taken to court. They are in every city. One guy got onto the bus in San Diego to scream insults at us."
Yesterday, the hangover from the road-trip finale was very much in evidence on all fronts. The Celtics have seven straight home games coming up, but their fold in the fourth quarter of the 119-111 loss to San Antonio still stung them.
"I'd say this was the first game all year that we gave away," said Ford. "We had the lead and they were thinking about their 22d defeat. And we let them take it away from us. It's good that we're home for seven games. But you look at the schedule and you will see that it is a tough seven games."
The Celtics return to the wars tommorow night (7:30 p.m., WBZ) against the surging New York Knicks, who have won five gaems in a row, and then face Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, Seattle and Houston.
"We hope to have Larry back for the Knicks," said Fitch. "But we went through a drill today just as if he wouldn't be with us. I'm still mad at myself for that loss to San Antonio. The bench hadn't been playing well, and I thought perhaps I could steal one by going with my regulars. But I should have gone to the bench anyway. Some games you lose and don't try to second-guess yourself on. This was one where you could."
CELTICS WRITE OFF FANS ON ROAD
The message was a little sad. For at a time when the Celtics' popularity is returning to its peak level of the mid-1960s and early '70s, winning has become a double-edged sword.
"It's really a shame," said coach Bill Fitch yesterday. "Dave Cowens and Larry Bird are the type of guys who would stop in the middle of a hurricane and sign autographs. But from now on, when we're on the road, I'm going to tell them that they should just keep on walking."
What should have been a snappy, spirited practice by an NBA club that has now won more games (30) than it did all last year was more like the morning after the night before. The Celtics were still suffering from a road-trip hangover, and not even the fact they went 3-2 in California and Texas could dim the memory of Saturday night in San Antonio, or the problem of unruly fans.
"We've always heard from the more vocal fans," said veteran Don Chaney, the Celtics' link to their years of glory. "But the fans never came after the players."
There was tangible evidence of the damage yesterday. Bird, who swung a tote bag in disgust at an obnoxious fan, was still suffering on two fronts.
He has a sprained ankle suffered during the San Antonio game and was withheld from practice yesterday, even though he did shoot on the sidelines. The ankle is still taped for added protection.
After the practice, he found himself answering the type of questions they don't prepare you for at Indiana State, where fan abuse seldom gets beyond the yelling stage.
"I've never had anything like that happen to me," said Bird yesterday. "People scream at us all the time. They've done that all year. I don't mind it when they stay up in the stands. But I don't like it when they get right in your face and point their finger at you."
The postgame incident Saturday night stemmed from a shouting match between Cowens and a fan. Actually, the Celtics all were subjected to some verbal abuse, but in this instanceit seemed to get out of hand, and Bird finally decided to put a stop to it.
"The people down there are crazy," Cowens said yesterday. "But the thing they don't know is that I'm one of them."
Fitch did not think it was a joking matter, and insisted the whole incident had in fact received too much publicity already.
"The whole thing was blown out of proportion by their papers (in San Antonio) and by ours," he said. "They put the story on the front page in San Antonio, and it wasn't that big a deal. Now everything is out of whack. We'll go somewhere and somebody will be waiting to start something."
Veteran Chris Ford, who watched the entire incident, said the real fans are the losers in this case.
"The guys were just signing autographs when it all happened," he said. "And the thing got out of hand. It is a shame that a couple of people like that can ruin it for everybody.
"It is not all the fans. It wasn't all the people in San Antonio. But the time could come that nobody will want to get involved with fans because of being taken to court. They are in every city. One guy got onto the bus in San Diego to scream insults at us."
Yesterday, the hangover from the road-trip finale was very much in evidence on all fronts. The Celtics have seven straight home games coming up, but their fold in the fourth quarter of the 119-111 loss to San Antonio still stung them.
"I'd say this was the first game all year that we gave away," said Ford. "We had the lead and they were thinking about their 22d defeat. And we let them take it away from us. It's good that we're home for seven games. But you look at the schedule and you will see that it is a tough seven games."
The Celtics return to the wars tommorow night (7:30 p.m., WBZ) against the surging New York Knicks, who have won five gaems in a row, and then face Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, Seattle and Houston.
"We hope to have Larry back for the Knicks," said Fitch. "But we went through a drill today just as if he wouldn't be with us. I'm still mad at myself for that loss to San Antonio. The bench hadn't been playing well, and I thought perhaps I could steal one by going with my regulars. But I should have gone to the bench anyway. Some games you lose and don't try to second-guess yourself on. This was one where you could."
3 comments:
If this were Red's Army, today's post would be:
Your Morning Dump:
Where Doc Shortens Up the Rotation
Rest of the season should be interesting
I'll take that win! Good times!!!
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