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Matt Geagan is a sports producer at WBZ-TV… which means he’s not just into basketball. You can catch MattyG’s thoughts on all things sports on his FoxSports.com blog. You can email him at MattyG@RedsArmy.com |
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Careful What You Wish For |
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Elsa/Getty Images |
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I went to Wednesday night's game as fan. I left as an angry fan. So angry I was paralyzed to write anything. I wanted to go, sit down in a seat that would have cost me $200 more than the one I paid for, and enjoy the game. A win would have been a plus, since every other game I've been to all ended in defeat (it's was up to nine, but who's counting?). Half way though, I felt lucky. I had my Ryan Gomes bobblehead, great seats at center court about 20 rows back of the floor, and no laptop or notebook to distract me from the action right in front of me. The only thing drawing my attention away from the floor was what I thought was David Ortiz walking back to his seat. It later turned out to be Adalius Thomas. What I was watching happen on the floor was a pleasant game of basketball. It later turned into a tank job for the ages. Everyone knows the story by now. The Celtics had a 19 point lead at one point, and let it all slip away. They scored 31 points in the first quarter, another 23 in the second, and then only 30 in the second half. The Bobcats outscored the green 30-13 in the final frame. The numbers are painful to look at, but not as painful as watching it happen. The crowd went from happy to just plain angry in a matter of minutes. Fans making fun of Charlotte's Walter Hermann (who had bright orange shoes, a Bill Walton-esc look, and what seemed like no basketball talent at all) started to fall in their seats and put their hats over their faces. There were more angry comments thrown up at Sebastian Telfair than his own bricks (only 0-1 from the field). Once the lead was down to just single digits, it was time for the big guns to get back in, right? Wrong… Paul Pierce was kept out after getting scratched up and Al Jefferson was limping a little in the third. With a large lead, I didn't mind not seeing them on the court. Seeing Telfair and Allen Ray at the same time was the problem. The crowd grew angry, calling for reinforcements. They didn't show up until it was too a late. As soon as the Bobcats took over the lead with just under six minutes left, the fate of the game was apparent. The Celtics would not win the game, and it looked like they didn't want to. It was terrible to watch it, and everyone in the Garden knew it. Most fans still hung tough, but were deflated by the embarrassment that their team had just blew a double-digit lead. My Uncle and I left the game with just over a minute left and the Celtics down nine. Despite the nice Gomes Bobblehead, this was the most disappointing game of the year. To make matters worse, we got back to the car just in time to hear Doc Rivers profess "I did not tank this game." Just a half hour before, we saw the back end of the Celtics bench still playing despite a huge lead diminishing, and that wasn't a tank job? Even Hermann was scoring on them! Doc tried to play it off as letting the bench guys play, learn and grow. I saw it as letting the bench guys play, suck, and lose. Even though those were the guys "bitching" to play (Doc's words), I just can't believe he left them in when they clearly couldn't close the door on what should have been an easy win. Yes it was a tank job, and yes it was horrible. But after I got over the anger, I realized something. Isn't this what a lot of people have been asking for? For everyone obsessed with Greg Oden, placing the teams future in the lottery, and saying more losses means more ping pong balls, that was what we asked for. I've called for it many times. But it wasn't until it materialized right in front of my own eyes that I realized how bad it actually was. It was sad, it was depressing, but most of all, it was not basketball. Losing on purpose defeats everything the Celtics have meant to basketball. So am I still angry at Doc for obviously tanking the game? Yes. But I've come to terms with the fact it's what myself and a lot of people have been asking for. So there is no complaining, no finger pointing, and most importantly no crying. It's time to sit back and enjoy getting what we wanted. No matter how ugly it may be... |