Present for the board

[steve3344]

In October 1986 I attended Celtics Media Day a couple of weeks before the '86-'87 season opened.  Even though 98% of what I had written about in my life as a writer up to that point had been about rock and roll and various other types of music, I figured I would be able to get press credentials for the event since I had also written some sports articles for Sports Illustrated, Playboy and Rolling Stone, and I sent the Celtics copies to show them.  The Celtics accommodated me, and with a camera and a tape recorder I hopped a train from New York to Boston with great anticipation.

My main reason for wanting to go was to meet Bill Walton - not only to talk with him about basketball but also to give him a gift of a 45-minute interview I had on cassette that I had done in 1976 with his idol Jerry Garcia.  He loved getting it.  Of course, getting to talk with Larry Bird was also a huge part of it.  I was a huge Blazer fan in the '70's because of Walton, and his joining Boston for that '86 campaign was nothing short of an absolute dream come true for me - thank God he was healthy for it and he became a significant part of the greatest front line in NBA history that year.  

At the gym, after all the players answered our questions, Red also held court at the end for the few dozen reporters that attended.  I was able to photograph a few of the players, and managed to shoot some of Red, unobstructed from my front row seat.  Same position I was able to get for the Walton shots too.  The rest were a bit tougher to shoot since there was always a huge crush of people around them, especially Larry.

I had forgotten all about that roll of color slides I took until last month when I was looking for something else in my drawer and came upon a small, white unmarked slide box and was very pleasantly surprised to see them.

Today I had a lab scan 25 of them - 7 of Red, 10 of Walton, 2 of Larry, 2 of Danny (looking about 18 years old even tho he was 27) 2 of Kevin and 2 of DJ and emailed them to gyso who said he would be able to post them here.  The present I am referring to in the title of this thread is anyone can have 8x10 or 11x14 color prints of them at cost.  I'm not looking to make any money on these.  Anyone can either have good machine made prints at around $7.50 to $15 depending on the size or, if you want better quality, custom prints for around $25 (8x10) or $30 (11x14).  Throw in another $5 for tax, postage and packing materials and they're yours, suitable for framing.  Again, whatever the lab charges me for the prints is what you pay.  I love the ones of Red, including one of him taking a puff on his cigar as his session with us ended.

Tomorrow I'll have the exact prices - I have to check a lab I used to use for quick machine-made prints since I haven't used them in a few years and I want to see what they're charging now.  Lately I've only been having custom prints done.  But the prices should be right around what I said.  11x14 is an ideal size (especially for the ones of Red) and they would look great on a wall of any Celtic lover's house.  

if anyone wants to see them before gyso gets them up here, send me a PM with your email address and I'll send two emails with all the scans and that way you can always have them on your computer.  After I get the exact prices, if anyone wants any, I can take a check, or Paypal (or even cash in an envelope) and I'll mail them out.  Every time I go to the post office here in NY I have to wait in line for a half hour so I'd like to make one trip there to mail out most of the pics, so I'll wait a few weeks until most of you have decided which ones, if any, you want.  And then get them out.

One other present: Many on here already have a cd of a 1982 interview I did with Red, but for those who want a pic and don't have it, I'll add it to the package.  As well as a cd of the Media Day interviews with Walton and Bird from that day - again, for those who don't have it already.

So send me a PM if you want 'em emailed to you or wait for gyso to post them here.  He told me he already figured out how to do it (the tech genius that he is) and was waiting for me to start this thread.

Steve

[Sam]

I have seen these photos, and they're extremely professional, very clear, completely unposed, and wonderful, up-close studies. I'm having real difficulty isolating a favorite.

Red with his cigar may lead the pack. Red looking skyward as he searches for the answer to a question is right up there. Red smiling is a bit of a heart-breaker. And there's one that has Red's thumb positioned as though he's in the process of giving thumbs up. Larry's talking in one of his, and all that's missing is a trash barrel. Walton has the expressions of someone who loves life and was very much at peace with it. Danny looks like a virgin child; I mean he could have played Joan of Arc in a movie. McHale looks pretty young too. And the closeups of DJ reveal every feature of his very interesting face in greater detail than I've ever seen anywhere else.

Steve really knows what he's doing as a photographer (as in many other walks of life). I asked him if, to protect himself, he should watermark the display versions that gyso will be posting, and he said no, that all he wanted was for Celtics fans to be able to enjoy them however they choose to do so. If that's not pretty cool, I don't know what is.

I want to thank Steve publicly for his generosity and his sincere display of affection for the Celtics and board members. Moreover, without gyso to attend to the technical details of displaying the photos for your viewing pleasure, both Steve and I would be wandering around muttering inanities into the wind.

I guarantee you'll enjoy the products of Steve's artistry. Go Steve!

Sam

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