Congrads Mr. Russel

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/609992-cam-newton-dwayne-johnson-nancy-kerrigan-and-tuesdays-late-sports-buzz/entry/47833-bill-russell-russell-calls-the-medal-of-freedom-his-second-greatest-achievement

Greatest Basketball Player and Champion ever..

Thanks for posting this, Matty. In great company with Stan the Man too.

Sam

I watched the ceremony on youtube. Russ bent over backwards, literally, so that Obama could get the ribbon around his neck.

Funny.

In excellent company and extremely well-deserved. A leader in civil rights, in a town that sadly lagged a bit, he earned all the acclaim he is receiving, much the way Jackie Robinson did in an earlier period. Grace under social pressure, indeed.

bob

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Too long a wait, Russ is so deserving of this award. What he went through from the day he became a Celtic was unreal, and Boston didn't really appreciate him for years and years until they finally woke up.

I am so proud to say that I was a Bill Russell fan right from the start, reading about what he went through with the team as they went from city to city, playing games in arenas where they hated him. He stood tall, right from the beginning. He is truly the greatest Celtic ever.

For those of you who do Facebook, there are facebook pages dedicated to getting Bill Russell a statue in Boston.

bob


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This from celticstown.com

According to Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca, the organization has already begun the process of getting the statue created and placed. And it didn’t hurt Tuesday when President Barack Obama, while awarding Russell the Medal of Freedom, mentioned that such a monument should be erected for future generations.

“We’ve had preliminary discussions with most of the constituencies, and the mayor (Thomas Menino) wants it to happen, President Obama wants it to happen, and,” said Pagliuca, “we’re going to really try to help make it happen.

“I think this final push from the president is great for us and great for Bill.

“We started looking at this in the last six months, and we talked to all the right people and so far all the people are very interested and very supportive. It’s been great, and hopefully something will happen very soon.”

As for whether Russell is on board, Pagliuca smiled and said, “We were hoping to surprise Bill, but maybe the president let that cat out of the bag.”


bob

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THANK GOD!!! THIS TOOK MUCH TOO LONG! HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN HONORED LONG BEFORE BIRD! I BET LARRY WOULD AGREE.

`

Statues are for the birds. Guaranteed Bill Russell will think they should honor all his teammates, too, because that's who he was.

A fitting monument would be if they built a complex of basketball courts somewhere, something like the Reggie Lewis Center, but dedicated exclusively to basketball, courts that were open and available to all, someplace safe where the kids of the city and suburbs of all ages could go and play ball and not have to worry about gettng shot. They could call it the Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Bill Sharman, Jim Loscutoff, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones, etc, etc, Center. Heck, call it the Boston Celtics Center and give out an annual Bill Russell Award to some worthy soul.

Statues don't suit the man. It would require something akin to the Colossus of Rhodes.

spike

A fitting name for such a center

The 60's Celtic Center

beat

The Red Sox now have supplanted the statue of Ted Williams with a group statue of "The Teammates" (Ted, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky). Ted's statue was moved down the street. I was with Bobby at the ceremony introducing the new statue.

I think a Celtics group statue involving the Russell era would be most fitting because I know of no athletic aggregation that ever performed so well as a group that was totally integrated in every sense of the word. Everyone knows that my basketball world consists of the Russell teams and everyone else.

And it should be done while Russ, Cooz, Sam, John, Rams, Loscy, KC, Satch, Heinie, Nellie, and Battlin' Bill are alive and able to attend—to say nothing of me. I'd pay plenty to go to that ceremony. And being "bronzed" in perpetuity should give some closure to some of those players who have felt a little left out in recognition of the Celtics' heritage.

The more I think of it, the better I like it. Definitely worth a message to Wyc.

Sam

rickdavisakaspike wrote:Guaranteed Bill Russell will think they should honor all his teammates, too, because that's who he was.

The thing is, the recognition of having a statue isn't solely for his basketball accomplishments, just as the Medal of Freedom was for more than his basketball accomplishments. Of course many others, including his Celtic brethren, made contributions as citizens of this country, but some individuals come to represent a larger group or movement, as I would guess would be the case for most people memorialized with statues.

When I think of Bill Russell's contributions outside of basketball, certain words come to mind. Dignity. Grace. Resolute. Principled. Private. Thoughtful. Inner strength. Quietly fierce. An example to others.

He was an example to me as a young man. A statue will hopefully spur future generations to learn about him so he can be an example to others. Being singled out for that purpose is the price he'll have to pay.

Outside

To me one of the most precious moments was when Russell sort of let his emotions out was moments after game 7, his fianl game, when he was asked by The ABC reporter (Jack Twyman) what this meant and Russell basically was at a loss for the right words. Putting his hand over a sweating sobbing face.

As he had said to the team before that game "the Lakers CANNOT win this game" and with that resolve and that of his teamates they prevailed......again.

The greatest team player on the greatest team in any professional sports ever.

Just glad I have a few memories of him.

beat

Outside,

You're right. Russ represented many things to many people. All of the attributes you cited apply. But there is one other that I happen to believe rises above all of those: brotherhood. Bill almost certainly would never have been nearly as well known for anything but for his basketball achievements. And the one single achievement that he stood for on the floor, in his private life, and after his career ended was the spirit of brotherhood. He still emphasizes that doctrine whenever asked about his achievements. I think that future generations who are moved to study Russ will be falling short of all he represented if they are not keenly aware of his ideals of fellowship and brotherhood.

I have learned many things about life from following the Celtics. I have listed many of them on this and the Boston.com boards. But the number one precept that Bill Russell helped to instill in me was that it is possible for a group of unrelated individuals, who are not necessarily bosom buddies, can band together successfully toward a common purpose. It works in basketball. It works in business. It works in civic organizations. It even works in families.

That's why I think it would be most fitting for a statue of Bill would to show him surrounded by his comrades in a singular enterprise the likes of which will never be seen again.

Sam

Sam,

I would've been shocked if you'd said otherwise.

Cheers,
Outside

OUtside,

God, it's terrible to be transparent.

Sam

I think you are right Sam, what a great tribute that would be to a man who
wouldn't take all of the accolades himself, but shared them with the men he played with. Thinking back to all that they went through, every one of those guys deserves to be included.

When I think back to all the "crap" Russell had, the disrespect from the press, and the public, no wonder it took him so long to come back here and make amends. I was at that night where they "re-retired" his number because he wasn't here for the first time. It was a wonderful night, and it gave me such joy to finally see him get the accolades he deserved.

So, a statue of all of the hall of fame members of the '60's team would be a
wonderful sight. What a great idea.

Rosalie,

I was there for that night too, and I have home movies of the whole thing. I was torn between watching the ceremony and filming the video they were showing on the jumbotron or doing the reverse. They showed old Celtics video I'd never seen before and haven't since. It was spectacular. That night started me on a video collecting binge that has never ended.

Russ gave a speech that was amazing. Wilt and Jimmy Brown were there. But I thought Russ stole his own show with that speech.

Yeah, why not a group statue? The Celtics have never been about the individual; why should the statue be about the individual? Let them ask Bill and see which he'd prefer.

Tomorrow, I'm going to write Wyc, and it might be a good idea to call a couple of talk shows and mention it on air too. Maybe write to Mike and Tommy. And why not Bob Ryan, Dan Shaughnessy, and (if I can ever find her email address) Jackie MacMullan? What the Red Sox have done with their group statue is pretty effective, and what better message could there be than for the Boston Celtics to promote the importance of camaraderie and brotherhood in sport and in life?

Sam

Great idea, I'll try writing a few myself. I wonder who comes up with the money for these statues? I know it was the Celtics who paid for Bird's, I'm
pretty sure, because so much was made of it and how accurate it was. The others that are around the city, i.e. Red, Ted Williams and friends, Bobby Orr,
might have been from the City of Boston, although that is alot of money to appropriate for something like this.

Anyway, I will do my best next week to drop a few notes to some of the people you mentioned and anyone else I can think of. School vacation-I have a week off! I have been home with a bad back all this week, so going back to work in a week and a half is going to be tough!!!