LOS ANGELES | The other day, in describing the Celtics’ remarkable victory in game four of the NBA finals, I ended my column referring to a Boston C Party.
The “C” stood for comeback and Celtics and courageous and colossal and collapse and every other C-word I could think of to explain what I’d just witnessed, a rally from a 24-point deficit on the road against a bitter rival and storied franchise.
Boston’s victory was both cool and cataclysmic. The celebrity-filled crowd inside the Staples Center left the building in stunned silence, unsure if what they’d just observed was Spielberg fiction, Oliver Stone conspiracy, Phil Jackson incompetence or proof of Kobe’s beef with his supporting cast.
It was probably a mix of all those things.
And upon further review, the C should simply stand for “championships.”
Boston has been holding a C Party throughout the new millennium, winning professional world championships in football, baseball and now potentially basketball.
The whole thing seems grossly unfair, especially to those of us who have spent the last decade and a half wondering whether the Chiefs will ever again win a playoff game and whether the Royals will ever qualify for postseason play.
While we suffer, whine and wait, Boston sports fans are going broke purchasing commemorative books, posters, newspapers and jerseys celebrating titles.
Their sixth of the 21st century could be delivered tonight when the Celtics try to close out the Lakers in their best-of-seven series. Leading 3-1, Boston is one more Lakers choke job from tacking on an NBA championship to the two World Series and three Super Bowl titles the area has already secured this decade.
There is no real explanation for Boston’s good fortune.
In baseball, you could argue that the city’s long feud with the Yankees drove the Red Sox to excellence. Intense competition will push just about any organization to a higher level. The Yankees and 86 years without a World Series title forced the Red Sox to think aggressively and hire 28-year-old Theo Epstein as general manager.
In football, the Patriots got extremely lucky, hiring Bill Belichick after he’d bombed as head coach in Cleveland. The franchise got even luckier when Drew Bledsoe was injured and sixth-round draft pick Tom Brady turned into the second coming of Joe Montana.
In basketball, it appears luck has smiled on Boston again. Former Celtic Danny Ainge was well on his way to proving that he was just as pathetic a general manager as other former Celtic greats Larry Bird and Kevin McHale when McHale decided to save Ainge’s rep by shipping Kevin Garnett from Minnesota to Boston for Al Jefferson.
So what can we learn from all of this?
Not much. The Chiefs and the Royals have been trying to luck their way into success for most of the past 15 years.
The Royals play musical chairs at general manager (and manager) hoping they’ll find their Theo Epstein or Billy Beane.
The Chiefs have hired a potpourri of retread head coaches (Schottenheimer, Vermeil and Edwards) hoping to discover their Bill Belichick. And The Artist Formerly Known as King Carl loves nothing more than drafting a low-round QB and passing him off as the next Joe Montana. Heck, Peterson went as far as hiring Old Joe Montana in hopes that he could be Young Joe Montana.
Well, maybe the solution is for the Colts to give the Chiefs Peyton Manning in exchange for Larry Johnson. And maybe the Yankees will deliver Alex Rodriguez to the Royals for Tony Peña Jr.
Honestly, it’s gotten that gloomy around here in terms of professional sports. We might as well pray that some foolish, opposing GM hands us one of the game’s best players. Of course, the Chiefs and the Royals would never pay Manning or Rodriguez what it takes to keep ’em.
OK, the Chiefs might, but only after a long, contentious contract dispute that turned the player against the franchise.
The lesson, for the most part, is Boston is in this position because its ownership has paid to be at the top. Boston sports fans are certainly not more deserving of this good run of success.
