Kevin Love Visits Boston

beat wrote:Rondo and K Love at Fenway

Did not throw out the first pitch but when they showed him on the big screen place went NUTS



Guess the Red Sox are tampering not the C's

beat

I'm pretty sure that this trip was Minny's sanctioned. They want a good return for their star player.

AK

Rosalie,

What else could Flip say? I just hope Kevin samples the North End cannolis. He'd instantly become hooked on Boston and would probably pay the Celtics to allow him to be on their team.

Sam

Ummmm...wow.

So, Love visited Boston.

Pardon me for this one but, so what's the big deal?

Great town to visit in the warm weather.  Lots to see and do.  One of the greatest, most historic cities in our nation.  Great people.

However...Dude is under contract.  I love Boston, the city and the basketball team, but we C's fans need a sedative.

This has hit the plain silly level.

Rosalie,

I suppose you're right about that one!

Regards

Anyone who expects a Boston sports fan to "calm down" has terminal rectosis. Saunders is probably habituated to fans who clap politely and semi-whisper "Yay" when something good happens and who try to croak out a "De-fense" sound when the Cluelesstron cues them.

Boston fans root like crazy during the season, build up another head of steam when the hot stove is fired up, and dream like crazy during the summer. Call it a birthright. It's not so noisy at the Garden now as when the spectators consisted primarily of cigar-smoking guys with stentorian voices and amazing endurance during ovations. But definitely carrying on the tradition nonetheless.

I can't think of one single attraction an out-of-towner could attend that would be a better immersion in the Boston sports culture than a Red Sox game. Simply listening to, and participating in, "Sweet Caroline" during the 8th inning is simply so good, so good, so good. Having become a huge Red Sox fan before I was ever a Celtics fan, I've had the opportunity to visit a lot of ballparks around the country. Wrigley Field is a particular treat. But nothing—absolutely nothing—can top an afternoon in the sun at Fenway Park! Nothing!!!! (Bald guys, buy caps.)

My best friend, Dick Flavin, whom I've quoted before, is the daytime and weekend public address announcer for the Red Sox, who have also dubbed him the "Poet Laureate" of the team. Over the past 40 years, he has mingled with an astonishing number of baseball (and basketball) greats through his gigs as a toastmaster at banquets, etc. He’s writing a book containing the scores of verses he’s written about the Red Sox, Fenway Park, and baseball in general, interspersed with a lot of commentary. And his introduction does what I think is a nice job of summarizing the Fenway Park experience.

Sam

INTRODUCTION

I am a member in good standing of The Lucky Sperm Club, and glad of it, too. My father left me a bountiful inheritance. He loved the Boston Red Sox and he passed it on to me. As one imagines Queen Elizabeth II might have said to King George VI, “Thanks, Dad.”

My love affair with baseball and with the Red Sox in particular has been going on unabated since the day in 1945 when my father took my brother and me to Fenway Park for the first time. We filed from a busy city sidewalk into what looked and felt like a dungeon. Dark and foreboding, it wasn’t at all what I expected. I had anticipated a somewhat fancy version of the ball field in our neighborhood where the bigger kids played. I clung nervously to Daddy’s hand as we followed the shuffling crowd up a ramp.

And there it was.

It was like the scene in “The Wizard of Oz” when the film switches from black and white to technicolor. To the eyes of an eight year old it seemed like a miracle. The grass seemed greener and even the sky seemed bluer than I could have ever imagined. This, I was convinced, was a magical place. All these years later, having walked up that ramp and ones just like it literally thousand of times, I am still convinced.

I have no memory of how the game turned out that day or even who the opposing team was. But I was hooked.

From today's Boston Globe:

WALTHAM — On a day usually reserved for NBA hopefuls, as the Celtics held their first official draft workouts, Rajon Rondo blended into the landscape, watching the guard-heavy sessions following his customary day of working out his surgically repaired right knee.

And after being a part of Kevin Love’s rather public visit to Boston, Rondo addressed the possibility of playing with the three-time All-Star as well as his own cloudy future in Boston.

Rondo watched guards such as Chaz Williams from UMass, Russ Smith from Louisville, and Tim Frazier of Penn State work out before deciding to address the media for the first time in six weeks. And, of course, one of the first questions was about his interaction with Love during the Red Sox’ win over the Rays Sunday at Fenway Park.

“I talked to Kevin for about 39 seconds,” Rondo said. “It was all over the web? Well, we do work together. We played against each other. We compete, so when I saw Kevin, I spoke, wished him good luck on his time here in Boston.

“He spent a couple of days here in Boston and I told him I spent a couple of months here in Boston.”

Love is entering the final year of his contract in Minnesota and there has been speculation that the power forward will play elsewhere next season. Boston could be at the top of his priority list, but Rondo said the two did not discuss the possibility of playing together.

“I didn’t pitch anything,” Rondo said. “I just told him to enjoy his time here. When I was at the game, some people came up to me and told me Kevin was sitting in some really nice seats. I didn’t know I would see him. I saw him as I was exiting the game.”

The addition of a player such as Love would enhance the Celtics’ chances of competing and perhaps of keeping Rondo in Boston for the long term. Rondo’s contract, like Love’s, expires following the 2014-15 season.

“I believe in [team president] Danny [Ainge], it’s his job [to improve the team] and he’s working on it now,” Rondo said. “I don’t need to say how good [Love] is. The world sees it every night or they see his stats every night.

“We have to find a way to beat the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs the way both teams are continuing to dominate the last couple of seasons.

“The two or three years we were good, they geared up to beat the Boston Celtics, just like the year before we got up to beat the Detroit Pistons. So it’s a matter of trying to get the right team together to beat the Heat and the Spurs, because they’re the teams to beat.”

How much would Love help in that effort? “I think we’d be a lot better if we had a guy like Kevin,” Rondo said. “He’s a shooting [power forward]. He’s going to help us out on the glass, obviously.

“But this is all speculation. Nothing’s happened. We talk about Kevin all day or we could insert Carmelo [Anthony’s] name but nothing’s happened. We’ve got a couple of days left before the [June 26] draft, things may shake up before that time.”

Rondo made it apparent that the Celtics’ 25-57 season was difficult and he wants the organization to take a major step forward.

“Well, at the end of the day, I want to win, I want to win now,” Rondo said. “And I’m sure Danny will have the guys in here to compete for a title. I don’t just want to make the playoffs and get to the first and second rounds. And I feel when I make the playoffs, I expect to win every time.”

Once again, Rondo said he would like to finish his career in Boston. He also said he will spend a majority of the summer in Boston for the first time.

“I don’t like change, really,” he said. “I’m pretty comfortable. I have a beautiful home here. I love it. I have great neighbors.

“I don’t want to leave, but it’s part of the process that I’ll talk about once the season is over. As of now, I’m a Celtic.”

Sam's ramblings:

If this weekend visit by Kevin Love accomplished anything, it was to provide us with a virtual glossary of media speak.  When all is said and done, I'm left with three thoughts:

1. It does seem curious that he'd up and visit Boston at this point in time.  Why Boston?  Why not visit his girlfriend for a nice little side trip—or maybe a nice big trip?  He had to know that a weekend visit to Boston "to see what kind of city it is" would fuel trade speculation.
why boston

2. He seems to have interfaced with Boston fans, media, and even Rondo (though briefly) with grace and humor.  That's nice to see.

3. It will be interesting to see whether he decides to pop into other NBA cities—especially those in the east that he gets to visit only twice a year.

Sam

One day in Paris was enough for me to be hooked. Ditto one day on Crete and one day in San Francisco... Toronto took two days (in the summer).

Montreal was awesome at first sight, although it's easy to go blind there. On one street - St. Catherine's - I visited 20 bars my first night there.

Worcester,

I'm on board with Paris, San Fran and Crete...but also with Nassau and New York City.

Bob,

For a couple of years, we lived in Burlington, VT. We were less than two hours from Montreal, and we visited every month or two. Spent New Year's Eve on Crescent Street—a blast and a half! Listened to jazz at Biddles. Occasionally followed the kilted piper around Olgilvie's Department Store at noon. Watched the annual multi-country fireworks competition from a boat in the the middle of the St. Lawrence River. Learned to segway.

Great memories! Which, I've finally discovered, are what it's ultimately all about.

Sam

Last week I spent two days in Toronto at the invitation of a patient and his wife, who was receiving the Order of Ontario Award for donating - with her husband - $326 million to various charities in Canada. One of their gifts was the China wing of the Royal Ontario Museum, the largest collection of Chinese art outside of China. That made the trip for me.
His younger brother owns the Toronto Raptors. It was interesting to me how two men from the same family chose to spend their money in such different ways.

One can usually detect when a team official is covering his butt with generalities or slanted language. Somehow, they can't quite bring themselves to lie. So they equivocate by using qualifying terms. In this case, the word "expect" was the tipoff for me. I can just hear Saunders saying, "Well, we really did expect Kevin to be with us next season, but the offer of Chris Babb and a second round draft pick in 2017 was just too good to resist."

Media types are even more notorious (and skilled) at shading their verbiage. How many times have you seen something like, "Kobe would not deny a suggestion that he plans to purchase Colorado and burn it?"

Sam

Sam wrote:1. It does seem curious that he'd up and visit Boston at this point in time. Why Boston? Why not visit his girlfriend for a nice little side trip—or maybe a nice big trip? He had to know that a weekend visit to Boston "to see what kind of city it is" would fuel trade speculation.

Fueling speculation was precisely the objective. He wants out, and he wants to prod Minny management into trading him prior to the season. Boston is a better choice than LA or the Bay Area because he spends time in California in the offseason already and a "visit" there wouldn't generate the immediate splash that the trip to Boston did.

Plus, the Lakers and Golden State are in the same conference as the Timberwolves, and consorting with an out-of-conference city like Boston is far more innocuous than shacking up with the Lakers or Warriors for the weekend. He wants to do what he can to force a trade, but he doesn't need to portray himself as a total jerk in the process.

I'd have to see Melo in a very different view, especially on defense, for me to want him as a Celtic. But players have changed their stripes before upon joining the Celtics, so who knows what the possibilities could be? But why is it that such a huge proportion of rumors about the Celtics continue to ignore the nole in the middle?

Sam

A slightly different perspective from Chad Finn of the Boston Globe:

Sam

Five Thoughts on Kevin Love, Boston Tourist and Potential Future Celtics Cornerstone

Chad Finn
@GlobeChadFinn
Boston.com Staff
June 3, 2014 1:33 PM
About the Author

Chad Finn is the sports media columnist for the Globe and writes the irreverent Touching All the Bases blog for Boston.com. A frequent panelist on Globe 10.0 and the Red Sox Podcast, he previously worked at the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire.

1. I suppose if we see him doing the Ferris Bueller swing-battah thing at a Cubs game next weekend, we'll know for sure that Kevin Love is officially on an NBA "House Hunters" national tour.

But until that happens, or until he shows up in Oakland to watch the outstanding A's in their backed-up septic tank of a ballpark, I'm convinced his weekend in New England wasn't a casual visit to figure if he might like to play here.

No, I'm convinced that Love, a basketball aficionado and lifelong Larry Joe Bird admirer, was pretty sure this was where he wanted to be long before knocking back his first Sam Adams at the Greatest Bar. This was just the trip for first-person, good-time confirmation of what he already knew.

Given that it happened to occur on the nicest day of the year, with the Fenway experience as good as it gets on that particular day, I imagine Love's presumably positive perception of the city was only enhanced, presuming the apparent 33,000 people who took pictures with him treated him kindly.

2. Facetiousness and some element of wishful thinking aside, here's what I honestly think is happening with Love: He and his agent determined that Boston -- with the assets to give up, a pass-first point guard in Rajon Rondo, a bright young coach, smart management, clear-headed ownership, and unmatched history -- was the place for him to be.

Once that was decided, it became time to activate the savvy business aspect of the plan. So now they're in the process of putting the squeeze on the Timberwolves to get him here, with the threat -- implied or bluntly delivered -- that he'll walk away next summer if they don't trade him to the destination of his choice.

If I'm a Timberwolves fan -- I'm presuming that isn't an oxymoron -- I'm enraged that Love is sampling other destinations with a year left on his deal. But Flip Saunders can't afford to take an emotional approach. He needs to do what is best for the T-Wolves' future. I still think Golden State might offer the most enticing package of players.

But if Love says Boston is where he wants to be and he's not staying beyond a year elsewhere, there is something of an onus on Saunders to make it happen.

3. Spent some time poking through the Globe archives trying to find a "we expect him to be here next season" quote from Kevin McHale regarding Kevin Garnett in summer 2007 to match Saunders's similar recent sentiments about Love.

Had no luck, but I did stumble upon some amusing skepticism from various respected sources about the possibility of trading for Garnett seven years ago.

Had to chuckle at this quote from Bob Cousy, who told Dan Shaughnessy on draft night '07 that he was underwhelmed with the trade of No. 5 overall pick Jeff Green (yes, him) to Seattle for Ray Allen.

"I didn't want them to make any trades," mused the first great Celtic. "I don't have that kind of confidence in aging free agents, especially guys like Garnett or Allen who haven't won anything. Arnold [Red Auerbach to you] did that effectively when he brought in players like Willie Naulls, Carl Braun, Dave Bing, and Pete Maravich. They'd come here and play 12 minutes a game and grab a ring. But you've got to get lucky to have a Garnett come in and break his tail at 31 or 32 years old. I would rather have seen them continue with the youth movement and take the kid from China."

The kid from China was Yi Jianlian, who averaged 7.9 points per game (better than I expected to find, actually) in five NBA seasons. Others lamented that day as prospects the Celtics let get away: Joakim Noah (OK, he has the second-most Win Shares in that draft to Kevin Durant), Corey Brewer, Brandan Wright, Green, and Boston College flameout Sean Williams.

4. I believe Paul Pierce will retire as a member of the Celtics, and not on one of those faux-sentimental one-day contracts that equate to the gold watch nowadays.

He'll play for them again, and given that Love's agent is also his agent, it would not surprise me at all if he's your moderate-salaried sixth man who adds a welcome back-to-the-future element to next season's revamped roster.

Love, Rondo, Pierce, a few useful holdovers, a promising draft pick or two (I'm almost more curious about what Ainge does at No. 17 than No. 6), and some savvy Eddie House/James Posey-style bolstering of the bench by Danny Ainge? Sign me up.

5. It's a riot how Love's visit to Boston included an audience with Gronk. I mean, of course it did. He's become one of Boston's greatest ambassadors and tourist attractions, our goofy human Faneuil Hall or something.

Hey, and if we're being really creative with how Love might be utilized here, I can think of worse options than lining him up as the second tight end opposite Gronk. At the least, we know he has better hands than Jermichael Finley.