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I blog @ FRIENDLY FIRE read my LATEST COLUMN FRIENDS' BLOGS CATHOLIC LINKS  mater dei, ora pro nobis contact: @ weinkopf.com (C) 2001, - 2007. All rights are reserved. 
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Wednesday, May 22, 2002
CELTIC PRIDE In one week, I have seen the debut of a new Star Wars film and I have watched the Boston Celtics return to their rightful role of preeminence in the NBA. I feel like I'm 10-years old again, when light-sabers and the playoffs were my constant obsessions. The Celtics' Tuesday-night victory over the hapless New Jersey Nets (as Kepple has been known to say, New Jersey has no business hosting a pro-sports franchise) is downright thrilling. To paraphrase Darth Vader, I feel a presence I haven't felt since ... Since 1986, the last time the Green Machine claimed a title. It's been a long, ugly, 16-year drought since then, punctuated with such insults as an over-the-hill Dominique Wilkins, and underqualified M.L. Carr, and an overhyped Rick Pitino. But finally, the Celtics are back. No, they probably won't win the title this year (championship teams usually take a few playoff seasons to coalesce), but they're already tantalizingly close. And like the Patriots before them, they might just surprise us. Unlike the Patriots, an historically weak team that behaved uncharacteristically this last season, the Celtics are, historically, a great franchise -- the best. Sixteen world championships, with number 17 imminent. By virtue of their tradition and their legacy, they should win a title at least once in every five years. Anything less -- like the last decade and a half -- is an affront to the natural order of things. That's where Messrs. Pierce and Walker come in. It is their destiny to bring balance to the force, to bring down the NBA's evil empire. All the elements are in place. We have: Something old: The return of past Celtic rivalries with the 76ers and the Pistons, whom the Green vanquished in the first two rounds of the playoffs, tormenting the ghosts of Dr. J and Isaiah Thomas. Something new: The New Jersey Nets, who made it to the conference finals for the first time ever. Something borrowed: The lore and glory of Celtics past, the 16 championship banners hanging from the Fleet Center, the parquet, Red Auerbach and his trademark stogies. And something ... purple: There can be only one way for this epic drama to end, and that's a clash with the Los Angeles Lakers. The greatest rivalry in all of sports is ready to be reborn. NBA action is fan-tastic once again. COLUMN TIME Two new columns to report: The first is Sunday's from the Daily News, a look at our state's tax-loving governor, Gray Davis, and his visceral hatred for your automobile. Then, in FrontPage, I examine how the Dems became the McKinneycrats -- cogs in the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy. |