Raccoons are the Smartest Animals

Saw this blog and thought I'd copy-and-paste it here.  Also, here's the writer's avatar.  I liked it too.





Raccoons are the smartest of wild animals: a Bill Russell story
« on: Yesterday at 09:06:22 AM »
Just finished reading "Red and Me" by Bill Russell with Alan Steinberg. It taught me a lot about values and personal integrity in an different time, a different frame of references. Here's one story about Russell's early years in the Boston area:

"For example, raccoons are the smartest of all the wild animals. How do I know? Well, in 1957, I bought a house on Main Street in Reading, a Boston suburb. Of course, people knew that I was a Celtic, which meant they also knew when I was on the road. When I returned home after our first road trip that season, my wife told me there had been some vandalism while I was gone. The trash cans had been overturned and garbage was everywhere, so I had to clean it up. Next road trip, the same thing happened.
Being a good citizen, I visited the police station and reported the incident. I asked if I could call in to let them know when I'd be on my next road trip, so they could patrol our vicinity more frequently. The captain said, "Oh, that won't be necessary, It's probably just the raccoons." I said, "Okay. And by the way, is there a place I can get a gun permit? Because I want one." That was when I found out how smart raccoons were. I didn't even get a gun, and yet those raccoons heard that I'd gotten a permit and they never messed with my trash cans again! I enjoyed the hell out of that."

On a different note, Russell recalls his first memories of Red when he found about his friend's death.

"I could see Red's mischievous smile. And that brought to mind an even funnier incident, when Red was caught off-guard, which almost never happened. It was the time he gave Tommy Heinsohn - one of the Celtics' notorious characters - an exploding cigar. Tommy was having a lousy day. He was in the process of a messy divorce (...) so he was late driving to practice. He knew that Red would be all over his ass, so he started speeding, and a cop pulled him over and gave him a ticket. Tommy told himself, "Screw it. I'll be late anyway. I'll just sit here and smoke a cigar and relax. Then I'll go to practice and I'll be able to handle anything Red comes up with." He lit a cigar - but it was one that Red had given him, and it exploded. Finally, he arrived at practice, soot all over his face, and Red laughed like hell.

Tommy spent most of the next two years presenting Red with real cigars. But Red always had Tommy puff them first, in front of the team, as a test. He was too smart - he knew that Heinsohn was plotting revenge. Finally, after dozens of good cigars, Red dropped his guard and quit the testing. So, one day at practice, Red was addressing the team about something important when Tommy slipped him the loaded cigar. Red lit it up... and Bang! It caught him so much by suprise, he was beside himself. He never saw it comming. Especially from Heinsohn, who was not known for his infinite patience."



bob



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Great stuff. Thanks.

Can anyone think of a player and coach in all of sports who had the kind of relationship that existed between Red and Russ? The kind of relationship that could transform disagreements into additional layers of respect?

Actually, I can think of one—Red and Cousy. Oh yeah, and Red and Sam. Oops, I forgot Red and Heinsohn. And then there was Red and Havlicek. And K.C. And Satch. And Ramsey.

Even Loscutoff, who loudly proclaimed that he would kill Red the instant he (Loscy) retired because of the debilitating, demeaning exercises Red selectively put Jim through. (I believe it was just after Loscy had recovered from a serious injury.) And the day after he announced his retirement, Loscy stormed from the locker room into Red's office and slammed the door. Whereupon the locker room fell into hushed silence, listing for sounds of a skirmish. But they couldn't hear a think. And, in a few minutes, the door opened and out came rough tough Loscy crying like a baby.

Sam

Sam wrote:Can anyone think of a player and coach in all of sports who had the kind of relationship that existed between Red and Russ? The kind of relationship that could transform disagreements into additional layers of respect?

As much as I appreciate and respect Red Auerbach, and with the full knowledge of the loyalties of this board, I'm going to say, yes, I can think of other examples.

Some even include Red -- Red Holzman. While not precisely on topic, I found this video and couldn't help but recognize these guys saying things that I've heard Celtics say about Red Auerbach.



I also found this little tidbit about Red Holzman.

Bob Pettit, the Hall of Fame forward who played for Holzman as a rookie with the Milwaukee Hawks, recalled a halftime talk. ''He pulled out his wallet and showed us a picture of his young daughter,'' Pettit said. ''Red said: 'Isn't she pretty? Well, you guys are going to kill her if you keep playing this way. I'll get fired and I won't be able to feed her.' As I recall, we played a much better second half.''

Any coach has conflicts with his players, especially if you have an authoritarian side like Red Auerbach and Red Holzman, but I see both Reds referred to in the same reverential way by their former players.

But really, the first name that came to mind was John Wooden, perhaps most specifically with Bill Walton. The stories of how they clashed when Walton was a player are almost as legendary as the deep respect Walton developed for Wooden as the years went by. I love this particular clip, which is from an HBO documentary on UCLA:



This is from the same documentary about the player who was probably the greatest thorn in Wooden's side, Sidney Wicks:



I don't want to detract at all from Red Auerbach and his relationships with Celtic players. He was a remarkable coach and a remarkable person. The list of coaches who had conflicts with players who came to have deep respect and even love for their coach over time is a short one, and you can put Red Auerbach at the top of that list, but there are other coaches who belong there, too.

Outside,

Don't worry about detracting from Red Auerbach. Yes, there have been many coaches who were appreciated by their players for their coaching abilities (including personnel management).

One hears as much about Red Auerbach's relationships with his players on a personal level as on an operational level. I guess I feel that's what distinguishes the reverence for him that has been sustained in abundance by his players for nearly a half century after he ceased to be a coach.

It's possible that John Wooden should have achieved sainthood for having had to deal with Sidney Wicks.

Sam