Sam's Celtics Forum Who's Who

[Sam]

In the past, it has been enlightening to learn a little something about other posters who are comfortable in sharing a personal profile. Nothing major, but just a few facts about themselves. Sometimes, if we know a bit about a person's background, it eases the task of communicating only through the written word.

I'm going to suggest the following template. If others want to make additions on their own profiles, feel free. The important thing is that the, if a poster chooses not to participate, it should not be interpreted as anything other than exercising his/her right to abstain.

Thanks to those who do contribute.

Sam

The template I'm suggesting:

Board name:
General location of main residence:
Raised in:
Age (could be exact or a 10-year range or something as rare/medium/well-done):
Occupation:
Family:
Year of becoming an NBA fan:
Teams supported (any sport):
Interests:
Other:

Here's mine:

Board name: Sam
General location of main residence: Way out on Cape Cod
Raised in: Boston area (Dorchester, Milton, mostly Arlington, MA)
Age (could be exact or a 10-year range or something as rare/medium/well-done): 73
Occupation: Marketing/social research (still operating company I started in 1969), consulting and helping people prepare their family histories
Family: Married 31 years to Mrs. Sam; two grown daughters (ages 48, 42) from previous 20-year marriage; two grandchildren (19, 15)
Year of becoming an NBA fan: 1950 (I edited that...had typed "1960")...maybe subconsciously, even I can't believe it was the Cooz' first year.
Teams supported (any sport): Celtics, Red Sox, Bruins, Patriots, Cleveland Browns
Interests: Music, writing, travel; before disability: basketball, baseball/softball, football, tennis, golf, skiing (all at partic., spectator levels)
Other: Went to college at Boston University, Boston College; U.S. Army: First Lieutenant (Infantry, Military Police, Corps of Engineers),
With wife, have written an as-yet unpublished book about how to bond easily and quickly with Paris called "Paris Demystified;"
nave written a personal history of the Celtics' Russell Years and an account of my trip with the Celtics to the last championship
game for Bill Russell and Sam Jones in L.A., 1969; co-author of published books on research methods and aging and society.

[mrkleen09]

Board name: Mrkleen (I have been shaving my head for 20 years – hence my screen name)
Real Name: Paul
General location of main residence: Boston for 39 years – just bought my first home in Bevelry, MA on the North Shore

Age (could be exact or a 10-year range or something as rare/medium/well-done): Just turned 40
Occupation: Marketing Director / Consultant
Family: Not married, no kids – working on both

Year of becoming an NBA fan: I was born an NBA fan thanks to my Dad being a good ball player and big fan of the Celtics and integration in general.
Teams supported (any sport): Celtics, Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, University of Kentucky, Chelsea, Utah Jazz

Interests: Music, Cooking, Running, Golf, pick up basketball, softball, church, spending time with my 2 year old niece and 5 year old nephew, traveling (I have been to every continent except for Antarctica

Other: I have been a DJ for more than 30 years – and as a club DJ, played in more than 75 cities and 10 countries around the world. As I get older, I am doing less late night gigs and more weddings and other private shows.

[MustangGator]

Board name: MustangGator.
General location of main residence: San Diego
Raised in: Central California around Modesto. (Approximately 2 HR east of San Francisco and 2 HR south of Sacramento)
Age (could be exact or a 10-year range or something as rare/medium/well-done): 49, hitting the big 50 in October.
Occupation: Navy Veteran, both as an enlisted sailor and then a Naval Officer. Retired as a Lieutenant Commander in 2007 after 27 years of honorable service. Currently working as an Administrative Clerk for the Department of the Navy.
Family: Married 22 years, one son (25) born with learning disabilities. He is currently living in my home and always will. He is also now a Celtics fan.

Year of becoming an NBA fan: 1970
Teams supported (any sport): Lakers (1970), Chargers (1990), Padres (1989), UCLA (1970), San Diego ST. (1988). Grew up as a LA Rams, Oakland A's, and San Francisco Giants Fan. Converted over to San Diego Teams late 80s - early 90s.
Interests: Family, Basketball, Baseball, Football, Golf, Music, Computers, and travel.

Countries visited: Philippines, Singapore, Guam, Japan, China, Thailand, Australia, Jordan, Kenya, United Arab Emerates (UAE), Bahrain, Kuwait, Korea, Seychelles, Mexico, and Canada.

Other:
(1) Although a Lakers fan, the starting point of how I ended up on Sam's Celtic's Forum can be traced back to the 2008 Finals. I started posting on BDC and saw a post from Sam with a phone number of where he would be celebrating the Celtics Championship. I called and congratulated him and we exchanged email addresses. Since then, I have had the pleasure of meeting Sam, Mrs Sam, Bobheckler, and Jeb up in San Francisco.

(2) My original board name on BDC was SDLaker. I changed it out of respect for Sam and a few other regulars to my current board name of MustangGator. MustangGator is taken from two communities I was a part of while in the Navy.

(3) Anyone who would like to communicate with me offboard let me know. I can give you my email address via the board private message (PM) option. Just put something in the subj line so I know it is a reliable email.

(4) I have visited or traveled through more than half the states in the U.S., but unfortunately, have never had the opportunity to visit the New England/North East Region. I have always wanted to visit the North East, and especially the Boston area because of the rich history in that area.

[swedeinestonia]

Board name: swedeinestonia
General location of main residence: Mostly Tartu, Estonia.
Raised in: Stockholm, Sweden
Age (could be exact or a 10-year range or something as rare/medium/well-done): 30
Occupation: Fulltime student of economics. Going to add on another program in sports managment/marketing this semester
Family: Fiancee since 10 years.
Year of becoming an NBA fan: I think it was 2001 when I first traveled to the states
Teams supported (any sport): Celtics, Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins (in that order of "importance" when it comes to US sports.) European sports, Djurgården in all sports (Stockholm team) and Arsenal (English Premier League).
Interests: I am very interested in exercize and nutrition, spend a lot of times reading on forums about such.
Other: I love sports of all sorts more or less. I also play "laser tag" at what would be as close to a professional level as one can get in that "sport". Have a huge interest and respect for the founding fathers and the early days of the republic.

[bobheckler]

Board name: bobheckler
Real name: Bob Heckler (duh!)
General location of main residence: NorCal
Raised in: Queens, NY. Mostly Flushing
Age (could be exact or a 10-year range or something as rare/medium/well-done): Medium, slightly burnt around the edges.
Occupation: Realtor, Real Estate Appraiser. In the past I have been an auditor (BS Acctg), high-tech sales and sales management for close to 25 years. I was the VP-Sales for a network security start-up that went dot.bust and decided it was time for me to find something to do that was less stressful and only hurts me when I fail.
Family: My sister, Susan
Year of becoming an NBA fan: Probably late 60's. The 1970 championship by my then hometown team Knicks had a big impact on me as a fan. Moved to Boston in 1976 and had great seats to two years of some of the worst basketball I've ever seen. I enjoyed the final years of Havlicek and Cowens even though it was obvious they were on their last legs. Then came Bird and that was that. From that point on, my blood was green. Lived in Boston for 15 years.
Teams supported (any sport): Celtics/GSW, Yankees (I'm originally from NY, it's in the genes)/Giants, Patriots/49ers, Sharks. Second teams are ones I try to root for, as long as they're not playing the first team.
Interests: Numerous. Eclecticism is the only "ism" I subscribe to without qualification.
Other: I am known in my local pub as "NY Bob", to differentiate me from the other Bobs. Until NBA playoff time. Then they change it to "Boston Bob". I almost got thrown out this year because I was pounding on the steel top of the cigarette machine to the beat of "Let's Go Celtics" (bam, bam, bam, bam, bam). They didn't threaten to '86' me the first time I did it. They threatened after the 5th time they warned me (and they didn't warn me straight off). I bought a round for the house and they left me alone until the series was over.

[RosalieTCeltics]

Board Name: RosalieTCeltics
Location of residence: Waltham, MA
Raised: Newton, MA
Age: Just had a birthday, 63!!! And don't feel it a bit!
Occupation: I work as a cook in a middle school here in Waltham
Family: Husband, Daughter who is a Social Worker and trained Yoga instructor, and a son who is an assistant manager of a coffee shop.
Year becoming Celtic Fan: It would have to be 1962 or so. My Dad would
pick me up on his way home and we would go to Boston Garden to watch
the Celtics. I credit him with making me the fan I am today. He loved Boston
sports.
Teams supported: I have been a Patriots season ticket holder, a Celtics season ticket holder. Had to give them up when I started to have kids!!
Interests: Sports in general, cooking for my family and baking! I guess that's it!!

[pete]

Board name: pete, (dcrol on BDC)
General location of main residence: Sarasota, Fl.
Raised in: Born in Quincy, Moved to W. Concord, Ma. when I was 8. Recently moved from Harvard, Ma. to Sarasota
Age (could be exact or a 10-year range or something as rare/medium/well-done): 50, but I don't feel a day over 49
Occupation: I was an owner of an Apple Computer repair company until 1/10. Right now I am playing acoustic music at O'Leary's Resturant and Tiki bar by the water. It has to be the best place I ever played. I played Fri 12-4 and watched 3 dolphins swim in the harbor. I may try to make a living playing if I can find some more places that will have me. If any of you make it down this way, look me up.
Family: Married 26 years, 2 boys 18 and 21, both in college.
Year of becoming an NBA fan: 1985
Teams supported (any sport): I really just follow the Celts. However, as a kid I remember going to Fenway often. If any of you were there in the 60s, you might remember Bat Day. If under 12, and you brought a coupon from the newspaper, you were given a free bat at the game. Can you imagine today, a bunch of kids running around with baseball bats? Times sure have changed!
Interests:Music, golf, grilling out ( I make killer ribs) dining out, entertaining, comedy
Other:

[Matty]

Board name: Matty (real name Matt)

General location of main residence: Lima, Ohio

Raised in: Lima, Ohio

Age: 36

Occupation: toys r us, part time carpenter/ part time photograher/ babysitter

Family: single/ aint done any breeding i know of

Year of becoming an NBA fan: i think 84?

Teams supported (any sport): Boston Celtics and Ohio State Buckeyes

Interests: women, alcohol, poker

Other: see above.. mmm well i do collect bibles, got over 200!

[Sam]

Matty,

Is there any connection between the women and the bibles? I mean pickup lines or something?

Sam

[bobc33]

Board name: bobc33
General location of main residence: Pittsfield MA
Raised in: Born in Boston, grew up (allegedly) in Newton Corner/The Lake
Age : 52
Occupation: 401(k) Administration, Trained Yoga Instructor, Drummer in a world percussion band
Family: None yet, I'm waiting until I get older....
Year of becoming an NBA fan: Early 1970s
Teams supported (any sport): Celtics, Red Sox, Patriots and Bruins. As a kid in my area the Bruins were the big thing, even though the Cs were winning titles in the 60s. Started following the Cs in the 70s.
Interests: Shiba Inus, who I guess should certainly be considered family. I sure do feel like a single parent having 2 of this crazy breed.

[NYCelt]

Board name: NYCelt

General location of main residence: Western NY State

Raised in: Same

Age: 51

Occupation: Investment Management

Family: Wife and Son

Year of becoming an NBA fan: Late 60's

Teams supported (any sport): Celts, Orioles, Bills, any team from the University of Wisconsin (Go Badgers!)

Interests: Golf, Pick-up Hoops (although I swear I'm giving up playing anyone in their 20's!), coaching my son's Little League baseball and football teams.

Other: Special note to fellow golfer BobC; my group won the golf tourney today! 9 under par 63.

[tjmakz]

Board name: tjmakz

General location of main residence: Tampa, FL

Raised in: Grew up in North NJ. Lived in RI in for 4+ years.

Age (could be exact or a 10-year range or something as rare/medium/well-done): 40

Occupation: 50% owner of a Third Party Administration Company that works with Corporate Retirement Plans.

Family: Wife, Son (15), Daughter (12)

Year of becoming an NBA fan: 1977-1978

Teams supported (any sport): Lakers, Yankees. I am a complete Lakers and Yankees junkie. Other then those two, I will root for local teams since I only have a favorite team in the NBA and MLB. We try to support the Bucs, Lightning and USF Bulls.

Interests: Family activities with our kids (Beach, dinner, long weekends at hotels, etc.) Now that our kids are getting older, my wife and I also enjoy going out to Dinner/Nightclubs with 4 or 5 other couples. I also collect some sports memorabilia (ok, more then some). 90+% in baseball and a little bit of basketball. I mostly collect baseball magazines, newspapers, cards, and anything Yankees related for my Yankees Room.

Other: As an extremely mild and non-confrontational person by nature, I for some reason have a strong interest in calmly conversing (LOL at times) about the Celtics/Lakers and Red Sox/Yankees with people who don't agree with me. Spent a number of years on bdc but have settled down here. It is a challenge being the Lakers fan who is the most outspoken and frequest contributor on this website. All of your patience, tolerance and acceptance of my views are greatly appreciated. This is not just for Sam but for everyone, including beat and jeb who I seem to irritate more then others.

[Sam]

Hey, TJ,

Did you go under the same board name at bdc?

Believe me, I appreciate the difficulties of being a non-Celtics fan on a Celtics website. There are actually four of you now that Outside is posting once again, although he's not an avowed fan of any particular team. Although I'll never be reluctant to comment on anything I disagree with, I have absolutely no idea how you four guys have the forbearance that you do. I know that posting on bdc with a number of often-contentious fans of other teams constantly created the need to double-think everything I posted, until I just gave up and started this site because I could no longer be bothered. So you four guys deserve all the credit in the world for sticking with it. I hope that it's rewarding enough for you because I suspect you ran out of cheeks to turn some time ago.

Looking forward to the possibility of meeting you at a Florida party.

Sam

[dbrown4]

Board name: dbrown4

Real name: David Brown

General location of main residence: Wake Forest, NC

Raised in: Raleigh, NC

Age (could be exact or a 10-year range or something as rare/medium/well-done): 46

Occupation: Owner, Investment Management Research and Advisory Firm

Family: Wife, 3 Sons (7), (6), (4 1/2)

Year of becoming an NBA fan: Aware in 1973-4, definitely a fan right after MSU v. ISU NCAA Finals in 1979.

Teams supported (any sport): Celtics, N.C. State Basketball and Football, Carolina Mudcats

Interests: Travel, vacations, building my own dream team at work, laughing with my wife (mostly at the actions/behavior of our 3 boys, grilling/cooking, entertaining small crowds of friends and family.

Other: My wife actually suggested coming up to Boston for the Celtics season opener this fall. This idea has legs! We've never been to the old or new Boston Garden for a game. The boys will love it. Never been to Boston before for that matter, not even between flights but really looking forward to this.

[sinus007]

Hi,

Board name: sinus007
General location of main residence: Cleveland, OH
Raised in: Odessa and St. Petersburg (those in Russia)
Age: over 50
Occupation: Engineer
Family: wife and 4 children
Year of becoming an NBA fan: about '89-'90
Teams supported (any sport): Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox
Interests: Photography, golf(addiction)
Other: Glad to be here to have adult-like discussions and learn a lot

Thank you very much,
AK

[beat]

Board name:
beat (formally beatLA on BDC board and after being banned 3 times for no good reason ended up here) Have met Sam, BobH, BobC, NYCelt, 112288, Spike, and others at the 2 parties I've managed to make in Boston. I dropped the LA part of the name in part due to Mustang Gator's name change. (original beatLA name was my choice in honor of the chant that the home crowd gave to the 76'ers in the final minutes of the Celtics playoff loss)

General location of main residence:
Upstate New York about 1hr north of Syracuse on the Tug Hill plateau.

Raised in:
Same

Age (could be exact or a 10-year range or something as rare/medium/well-done): 57

Occupation: Probation Officer

Family:
A fine Wife of 22 years on July 16, and 2 great kids. Sarah, age 19, heading to her third college in 3 semesters this fall, SUNY Potsdam, to major in Chemistry. Marcus, age 15, to enter his Sophmore year at South Jefferson Central.

Year of becoming an NBA fan:
Around 1966 year Sports Illustrated put Hondo on the cover in front of the banner.


Teams supported (any sport)
Grew up a Mickey Mantle fan! (What kid didn't around here) Later followed the Chicago Black Hawks of Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita fame. Then the C's took over and I haven't looked back. My room in college was a mini Boston Garden with banners hanging and posters of Hondo and others all over the walls.
Love to go to any sporting event with my son. We have a way of making the dullest game interesting.

Interests:
Of course following my son's baseball journey this summer, and watching both kids grow up into fine adults. Especially seeing the way many are in relation to what I do for work. I am very fortunate.

[MDCelticsFan]

Board Name: Md.CelticsFan
Residence: Joppa, Md.
Raised in: Maryland
Age: 58
Occupation: Personnel Specialist Maryland State Government
Family: Divorced: Father ill, but living-Mother-remarried in WVA.
Year Becomming NBA Fan: 1967
Teams Supported: Celtics, Redskins, Georgetown, Washington Nationals, Washington Mystics (WNBA Season Ticket Holder) UNC-Wilmington Women's Basketball (Cynthia Cooper Coach) Pat Summitt & Lady Vols
Interests: Tennis (Venus & Serena) R & B Music, Hip Hop (mostly Old Scholl)
Favorite Female Vocalists: Beyonce, Toni Braxton, Dawn Robinson (Lucy Pearl & En Vogue, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Tina Turner, Whitney (pre Bobby Brown) Teena Marie, Janet Jackson
Other: Love Good Comedy Movies: 80's Early 90's Eddie Murphy & Action flicks with Bruce Willis, Wesley Snipes-Old School 70's flicks with Jim Brown & Pam Grier-Love the move Love & Basketball Sanaa Lathan & Omar Epps
Favorite TV Show: 70's Police Woman, 80's Dallas, 90's: Melrose Place

[willjr]

Board name: willjr
Age: 47
Location: Macon, Ga.
Occ: Injury Comp analyst for a Federal Agency
Married, 2 kids (14 yr old boy, 9 yr old girl)
Raised on Long Island, NY
Became aware of the NBA in 1970. Became a Celtics fan in 1973. My dad was a huge Knick fan, favorite uncle was a Celt fan, my dad won a bet on the 1973 ECF (Hondo shoulder injury) and razzed my uncle so badly I felt bad for him and adopted the Celts as my favorites, where they will remain for eternity.
Other favorite teams: Eagles (NFL), Pirates (MLB), goes back to 1970, have had alot of lean years but I'm either loyal or masochistic. Tenn. Vols (all sports). Was a huge boxing fan up until the demise of the sport over the last 10 or so years, but I HATE MMA!
Interests: Travel, esp. family trips, Reading, big fan of Stephen King or WWII, Eastern front first person accounts in particular. Music, 60's,70's & 80's R&B and Rock mostly. I love The Beatles and The Temptations as much as I do Fleetwood Mac and Earth,Wind and Fire as much as I do The GAP Band and Van Halen. I have everyone on my IPOD from Aretha Franklin to ZZ Top, (hey you've got to "RESPECT" a "SHARP DRESSED MAN").

[worcester]

Board name: worcester
General location of main residence: Sarasota
Raised in: Worcester
Age (could be exact or a 10-year range or something as rare/medium/well-done): 63
Occupation: Doctor of Oriental Medicine
Family: 3 children
Year of becoming an NBA fan: 1956
Teams supported (any sport):celtics, patriots, tamp bay buccaneers, red sox, tampa bay rays
Interests: shipwrecks, travelling, history, beautiful women, health, olive oil
Other: biodiesel

[Outside]

Board name: Outside
General location of main residence: Southern California
Raised in: Northern California (North East Bay)
Age: 53, though my knees feel older
Occupation: Technical Writer
Family: Wife of 24 years, 3 boys
Year of becoming an NBA fan: Early to mid-1960's. Grew up watching the Warriors, especially Nate Thurmond, Rick Barry, Jeff Mullins, and Al Attles.
Teams supported (any sport): San Francisco/Golden State Warriors, SF Giants, Oakland Raiders, Cal and UCLA. Second tier includes SF 49ers, Long Beach State, Lakers (!), Clippers (!!), and Sacramento Kings.
Why I'm a member of Sam's forum: I started at BDC.com during the 2008 finals (I often look at sites for both teams during the finals). I found that some people there actually had intelligent conversations about basketball rather than hurling personal insults, and I followed that core group here. I've always had a deep appreciation for fast-breaking and defense-led team play in general and the Russell-led teams in particular, so I suppose that's another factor.
Interests: Boy scouts, hiking, backpacking, current events, enjoying life.
Favorite movie: Cool Hand Luke
Favorite authors: Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Robbins
Favorite book only a writer could love: When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It, by Ben Yagoda
Favorite music: I enjoy many types of music, but especially blues and good classic rock (in the eye, or ear, of the beholder), and thoroughly enjoy listening to it with my boys. I also enjoy some current music, thanks to my boys.
Random observation: The plots for most TV shows, especially comedies, are really just ripoffs of Shakespeare.
Other: Life is good.

[worcester]

Outside, here's a bit of free medical advice. Acupuncture works great for most knee problems. There are plenty in SoCal who could treat you. Generally I use these points wired to 10 hz and 0.5 hz e-stim, alternating current: Spleen 9 and 10, eyes of the knee, heding, and GB 34. If acupuncture doesn't work because you're bone on bone, then injections with Synovisc usually provides dramatic relief for a couple of years, unless you're grossly overweight. In that case the best remedy is to take those extra pounds off and do your knees a favor.

FYI, many NBA players get acupuncture regularly. Shaq did for years from one of my students. Kevin Johnson - now Mayor of Sacramento - used acupuncture as his treatment of choice for his hamstring problems. We were always trying to get Larry Bird to go for acupuncture for his back, but he never would, even though Bob Woolf was his agent and next door neighbor and Bob's son Gary was an alumnus of the New England School of Acupuncture. I did get the privilege to work on one famous Red Sox and SF Giants center fielder - what a physique! I came to understand just how incredibly fit these pro athletes get to be. W

[Outside]

Worchester,

I think I may have said too much about the knee thing in my profile, but I do appreciate the info, and I am open to alternative treatments. But rather than focusing on the the creaky knees, I'd rather have the profile focus on the "life is good" aspect of things.

Outside

[worcester]

Sorry to hear that. A torn meniscus almost always is best treated with surgery.

[jeb]

Board name: jeb
General location of main residence: austin texas
Raised in: chattanooga, tn
Age (could be exact or a 10-year range or something as rare/medium/well-done): 45 and holding
Occupation: production designer
Family: wife , Dawn
Year of becoming an NBA fan: 33
Teams supported (any sport): Celtics, Steelers
Interests: Tennis, hoop, books, music
Other: Last year was made great for me by this forum. Thanks to all for helping me stay grounded.

Other other: Tj you dont piss me off that often and I am glad to have you around. We have had our moments but have mostly co-existed pretty well.

[bobheckler]

Board name: Outside
General location of main residence: Southern California
Raised in: Northern California (North East Bay)
Age: 53, though my knees feel older
Occupation: Technical Writer
Family: Wife of 24 years, 3 boys
Year of becoming an NBA fan: Early to mid-1960's. Grew up watching the Warriors, especially Nate Thurmond, Rick Barry, Jeff Mullins, and Al Attles.
Teams supported (any sport): San Francisco/Golden State Warriors, SF Giants, Oakland Raiders, Cal and UCLA. Second tier includes SF 49ers, Long Beach State, Lakers (!), Clippers (!!), and Sacramento Kings.
Why I'm a member of Sam's forum: I started at BDC.com during the 2008 finals (I often look at sites for both teams during the finals). I found that some people there actually had intelligent conversations about basketball rather than hurling personal insults, and I followed that core group here. I've always had a deep appreciation for fast-breaking and defense-led team play in general and the Russell-led teams in particular, so I suppose that's another factor.
Interests: Boy scouts, hiking, backpacking, current events, enjoying life.
Favorite movie: Cool Hand Luke
Favorite authors: Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Robbins
Favorite book only a writer could love: When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It, by Ben Yagoda
Favorite music: I enjoy many types of music, but especially blues and good classic rock (in the eye, or ear, of the beholder), and thoroughly enjoy listening to it with my boys. I also enjoy some current music, thanks to my boys.
Random observation: The plots for most TV shows, especially comedies, are really just ripoffs of Shakespeare.
Other: Life is good.

outside,

Jeb can eat 50 eggs.

bob

.

[Sponsored content]