Boston Celtics

"If you don't know about the Lakers-Celtics history, then you don't really know basketball."
-Kevin Garnett, 11/21/07



So on Black Friday, myself and Boston fan extraordinare, Daniel deCoen, made the 7 hour drive up to Boston.

Upon arrival, we found that this would be the first cold spell of the tour with temperatures in the lower "teens."

To be honest, I've seen Boston before & there wasn't a whole lot I wanted to see this time around. Here's all you need to know about Boston - Dunkin Donuts rules the world there.

We parked at Braintree station and took the "T" to downtown Boston via the RedLine

I truely feel that this was my first "loss" of the NBA tour as I couldn't get any help from the Boston Celtics franchise. I, on three different occasions sent a message through the "Contact Us" link on their website and never once heard back from them although I received a message each time stating that I would hear back from them. The other difficulty was that their "Contact Us" link only allows for 200 characters, so it was difficult to say what I needed to say.

I contacted several members of the Boston media, and luckily Marc J. Spears and Peter May (Boston Globe) both responded back, providing me with names of people in the Boston organization to contact. I, on many occasions sent these individuals emails, but never received word back. One of these individuals actually did reply to me, but once I responded to his email, I never again heard from him. One of the other individuals meant to forward my email, but instead must have clicked reply and sent the email to me. This email lead me to believe that the Celtics were NOT willing to help me unless the NBA required them to do so.

What was most frusterating is that I probably sent 30 emails to the organization and at the bottom of each email would request that they at least confirm that they would be unable to assist so that I could focus my efforts elsewhere. Believe me people, while this is extremely fun, the work I've put into it sometimes doesn't even make it worthwhile. I spend hours every evening searching for contacts, writing emails, talking on the phone, and planning this through. I wish that the Celtics were considerate enough to let me know that they wouldn't help rather than give me the ambiguity that causes me to try and try again. I could have focused these efforts on Denver, or New York, or somewhere else rather than waste my time trying time and time again.



To be honest, I've seen Boston before & there wasn't a whole lot I wanted to see this time around. Here's all you need to know about Boston - Dunkin Donuts rules the world there.

At the last minute (again because I was anticipating hearing from the Celtics), I was forced to buy two $90 tickets in the upper level. I do realize that this was a tough game to attend, no rivarly in basketball is bigger than the Celtics-Lakers. You do however,

So we made our wasy to the TD Banknorth Center. Below you'll see a picture of the train station that runs in and out of this.

Nobody has more banners than the Celtics. 16 time World Champions

Me with one of the greatest Celtics fans ever....and please notice the retro Antoine Walker jersey (employee #8)



The old parquet floor from the Boston Garden

I wasn't too impressed with the Leprechun mascot (in the key looking up at the shot)...I don't think he is all that exciting to the children.

The Celtics dance team was the best I've seen to date. What may surprise you however is that this is only the 2nd year of existence for this dance team. From what I was told, Red Auerbach took a great deal of pride in that the Celtics were only team without dancers and wanted to keep it that way. Upon his death, a dance team was formed.

A few minutes before tipoff, single sounds of bass starting pumping and images of the Celtics franchises started flashing on the scoreboard. This led all the way up to the player intros, which were nothing short of spectualar.

Then came tipoff, where Kevin Garnett did his typical clapping of his hands in the chalk dust at the scorer's table and images of Paul Pierce and Ray Allen appeared on the scoreboard telling the fans to get louder. Kevin Garnett was then throwing his hands in the air, coaxing the fans to turn up the volume.

Can you spot Garnett and the chalk?

Tipoff

Celtics on defense

EVERY time Kobe touched the ball, the fans gave it to him with BOOS....

Full house

Funny thing was that I was just in Sacramento a week ago looking for the Governator, and what do you know, he shows up with the wife in Boston.

Arnold Schwarzeneggar!

Can you spot the Terminator below?

What was possibly most hilarious is that they showed a scene from the movie "Predator" right before the 4th quarter, which showed Arnold dressed in war paint and screaming. Really got the crowd going...

BEAT L.A.!

You may notice the white t-shirt with green lettering below. The chants of "Beat L.A." started as early as the first quarter. Strangely enough, I learned (thanks Mr. deCoen) that the origins of this popular chant actually came from the 1982 Eastern Conference finals game between the Celtics and... 76ERS?!?! During game 7 in Boston, Celtics fans conceded that the Sixers had beaten the won the game late in the 4th quarter and started chanting "Beat L.A.!" as Celtics fans would rather have anyone win over the Lakers.

Garnett dunk!

Possibly my favorite part of the game was when they showed images of American Bandstand and many fans throughout the arena were dancing along. Whenever images of the particular individual were shown below, everyone would yell of "GINO!!!"

The Celtics had control for most of the game and won in convincing fashion with a final score of 107-94. If the big 3 stay healthy, it'll be tough to keep this team out of the finals.

A night out in Boston to follow...& Philly, here I come...

Thanks to Dan deCoen, Marc Spears, Peter May, My Mom (snacks for the roadtrip).

Updates to blog

Hey everyone...7 down...almost 1/4 of the way complete!

I need to spend the next few days catching up on bills, cleaning, work, relationships, & contacting more teams, so I won't be blogging until the end of the week.

I hope to post my Boston blog by Thursday and my Philadelphia blog by Saturday. If you want a sneak peak, go to www.Sixers.com and scroll to the bottom of the page!

Sacramento Kings

Probably the most unknown city in California is the state capital of Sacramento.

When you get to downtown Sacramento, its fairly easy to navigate as nearly every street is designated by a number or a letter



Shopping





Ice skating in 70 degree weather...



Capital building...some guy named Arnold works here





Old Town Sacramento. Shopping that you won't find anywhere else...



Candy













The Sacramento Kings.

Arco Arena is located a few miles outside of the city. Possibly the most obscure location yet. There has been much controversy about getting a new arena and moving the team elsewhere. After my night in Sacramento, I highly recommend that the team stays right there. Below will likely be my longest NBA game recap to date.





We were met early in the evening by our guide Alex Sigua. He immediately handed myself, Jim, and Craig a Sacramento Kings bag. Inside, we found a shirt, Spalding notebook, program, pennant, headband, pen, pom-pom, a mug among other things.



Press room



Pre-game interviews



& then it happened...players started walking right by us. Brad Miller, Mikki Moore, Shareef Abdur-Rahim...all inches away from us. Then we noticed a familiar face in "street" clothes. NCAA Champion & Olympic Gold Medal winner, Mike Bibby:



Me posing with a behind the scenes legend "Del." Del has attended every pre-season, regular-season, and post-season game for the Sacramento Kings. 975 in all (applause).



Heading down the tunnel



Eddy Curry



Kenny Smith in town for the game...I tried and tried to speak to him, but no luck...



Let's record history quick...I wish I had my old signmaker



Stephon Marbury warming up





Me & "Handles" from the Harlem Globetrotters



Best Buy blimp ready to make its season debut



The old Kings' floorboards. Ready if called into action...



Sacramento's finest dance team



Myself and Jaime Morris Mills and Alex Sigua. Can't thank these two enough for an unbelievable time!



The Kings even treated us to a meal. Our view from the restaurant.



Our seats right above the Kings' bench



Gametime









Harlem Globetrotters performing at halftime



Ron Artest playing tough defense on the much taller Eddy Curry



Had a great time chatting with the friendly members of the Kings' team store



A FAN Hall of Fame...I'd love to make the NBA's fan hall of fame



Clever promotion...give a pin, take a pin





Mascot Slamson



In easily the most thrilling game of the season, the Kings pulled out a 123-118 Double Overtime win. Kevin Martin set the new NBA Season of Drew high scoring mark with 43 points. Although the stat board did not show it, I believe Ron Artest was the key player of the game. His defense on Eddy Curry at the end of the game and then fighting through a double team to make a "And 1" pass to Quincy Douby that was likely the deciding factor in the win.

Possibly the most thrilling part of the evening came after the game. I was offered the opportunity to talk about my tour on LIVE TV!!!! The show I appeared on was House Party Live with Jim Kosimore. Needless to say, I was extremely nervous as I've never been on TV and did not know what questions they would ask. As of publishing of this blog, I have not yet seen how the interview went from the perspective of the viewer, but I hope to have a YouTube link and/or DVD copy by the end of next week. Below are some still shots of the interview:







While every franchise has been unforgettable, this was clearly my most memorable. To have a photo with a player, get on live TV to spread word about my tour, to meet everyone in the organization from the team store personnel to the Director of Marketing was just an unforgettable experience. I was close to the action for one of the most competitive/best games I've ever watched. For one night, I felt so great with people coming up to shake my hand and saying "Is this the guy?" The Sacramento Kings clearly look out for their fans, and the fans would be crazy to let this team leave Sacramento.

Thank Yous: Jaime Morris Mills, Alex Sigua, Craig Smith, Jim Albert, Craig Amazeen, Andrew "the blogger," & Del.