The Return of Mike and Tommy

I just left this post on Chad's blog (link below).



NickFaldo wrote:

Chad, very impressive stuff. You've inspired me to write up a modest piece of my own with the centerpiece being your interview with Mike and Tommy. I am posting it at two new Celtic boards which have arisen out of the Globe's Celtics forum. (It's a long story!) They can be found at celticsboard.net and samcelt.forumotion.net. And The Office is awesome. Thanks for talking about it so much. I never would have given it a chance. We'll have to get in 18 holes sometime, but it will have to be putt putt. I don't really know how to golf.


Chad Finn is my favorite blogger at the Boston Globe website. He's down to earth, and he'll often respond personally to our posts. I haven't posted lately on his blog, but maybe I'll ask him to plug this forum in return for The Celtics Board and Sam's Celtics Forum doing the same.

An NBA dream team by Chad Finn

Just how long have Mike Gorman and Tommy Heinsohn been calling Celtics games together?

* In 1980-81, their inaugural season paired on telecasts, Kevin Garnett was 5 years old and presumably frightening his fellow kindergartners with his intensity during recess kickball games.

* And Rajon Rondo wouldn’t be born for another five years.

“Yeah, this will be the 29th year,’’ said Gorman, 61, who with his measured but affable style remains as good as it gets on basketball play-by-play. “It sound strange to say, but sometimes it’s almost embarrassing how easy, or maybe I should say enjoyable, this job is. In large part, that’s because of the comfort level between me and Tommy, but also because we’ve been really fortunate with the comfort level people have for us.’’

According to Comcast SportsNet New England, Gorman and Heinsohn are the longest-running continuous broadcast pairing in pro sports. And their partnership actually began before they called Celtics games; they first worked together on Providence College broadcasts in the late ’70s.

Given their longevity and mutual respect, it’s no wonder the chemistry and camaraderie between Heinsohn and Gorman remains so seamless.

“He starts a sentence, I finish it, and vice-versa,’’ said Heinsohn, who at 75 will work all but 17 games this season, with Donny Marshall filling in on longer trips “Our styles complement each other, and we both take the approach that we should leave room for the game to breathe. Neither one of us is enamored with hearing ourselves talk.

“And Mike’s been a friend for a long time. We get along really, really well, during the games, but also after and before the games.’’

This season, CSN has 57 exclusive regular-season Celtics telecasts, as well as 13 that will be shared with networks. Twelve Celtics games will air exclusively on national television (six on ESPN, six on TNT, including Tuesday’s opener at Cleveland). CSN, which will air its first game Wednesday when the Celtics host Charlotte, will carry pregame and postgame programming for all 82 games.

Gorman and Heinsohn agreed that the Celtics, with the return to health of Garnett and the addition of Rasheed Wallace, have a cast capable of hanging an 18th banner in the Garden.

“You hate to put a ton of pressure on ’em, but barring a major injury, they’re a pick ’em to win the whole thing,’’ Gorman said.

Chad Finn can be reached at finn@globe.com.

That was from Chad's media column. He followed up with more on his blog. I'm happy that Tommy is going to be working a lot of games this year. Donny Marshall clearly improved immensely last year. He's no longer switching awkwardly back and forth between looking at Tanguay and the camera. I also feel that Michael Holley does a better job than Marshall with the weekly show. Hopefully Tommy can go on for many more years. People used to complain that he's a homer who's always complaining about the refs. But one of those games he had a conniption turned out to be one of the Tim Donaghy games. Tommy has been vindicated! Give him a Tommy Point! As for Gorman, I didn't like him when he first started. I felt the "Got It" line was perhaps only a fraction less annoying than Enberg's "Oh My" or Albert's "YES!!!" I'm now a big Mike Gorman fan. He is very knowledgable. So is Tommy Heinsohn.

Here's the rest from Finn's interview with Mike and Tommy.

Anyway, as you might expect, Heinsohn and Gorman were terrific to talk to, opinionated and funny and candid about the team for which they'll be calling games for the 29th straight year on television....

ON RASHEED WALLACE:
Heinsohn: "The word before they got him, and we never really got to know him personally as an opposing player, is that he was temperamental and could be moody. But from what we've seen here, he's a terrific team player, he already has great chemistry with his teammates, which is hard to do in the preseason, and you know what, he's actually a pretty quiet guy. He sits away from the card game [on the team plane] and just watches movies and sort of keeps to himself."

Gorman: "I tell you, Rasheed has been a pleasant surprise. You always heard the horror stories when he was in other places when he was a younger player, but he's been a delightful surprise to us. He's quiet, but if you ask him about his kids, he's such a proud dad, and he'll talk with you about them forever. He's a much different guy off the court than his reputation would indicate. And you heard so much about his behavior on the court -- which isn't that new to us, we're used to the Antoines of the world -- but you wondered how that would go over here. But one thing I was pretty sure of: This is KG's team, and Rasheed would fall in line with that. They are old friends, KG is the dominant personality here, and Rasheed won't be a locker room problem with Kevin around."

ON KEVIN GARNETT'S HEALTH:
Gorman: "Coming in to camp, you hoped to see that old explosiveness back. But it takes some time after a prolonged injury. You have to get rid of that hesitance to really get back to 100 percent, and Kevin is certainly showing signs that he's getting back to everything he was in 2007 and last year before the injury."

ON THE REPLACEMENT REFEREES:
Heinsohn: "Well, obviously, they're not going to be as accomplished as the regular referees. You just have to hope they don't call 100 fouls a game. They can't call everything like a college game, because guys will start fouling out in about five minutes. Hey, it's a tough job to officiate in the pros. I do know that, believe it or not. [Laughs.] But the new guys . . . they're not going to see the little tricks, the little bumps and sneaky moves that veteran guys will use to bait them."

On whether he has sympathy for them:

"Well, I wouldn't quite put it that way." [Laughs]

ON THEIR APPROACH TO CALLING A GAME:
Gorman: "Tommy and I both have experience calling games at a national level, and in that situation, when you're working for a network, you find yourselves introducing the players over and over again, talking about the stars and probably being a little more basic or general than you would calling a game in a specific market. You have to treat both teams as if its the home team, and because of the audience, you're constantly introducing both teams and emphasizing storylines. We realized a long time ago, even back to when the games were on Prism [one of Comcast Sports New England's predecessors as the television home of the Celtics], that our audience was actually seeking us out to watch the Celtics, and from that, you realize the viewers and fans already know all they want and need to know about [Paul] Pierce and [Kevin] Garnett. At the national level, there are hours of prep work before a game, talking about players and storylines, and you almost had to justify the production meeting during the broadcast by using the information. But with this [calling the Celtics], we realize know one stumbles on to watching us, they're informed the moment they tune in. So there's a minimum amount of homework. If a story or angle seems applicable at the moment, we talk about it, but because our viewers are plugged in to the team when they tune in and because we're so comfortable with each other, in a way, we just sit down and see where the game takes us."

ON RAJON RONDO:
(The precocious point guard recently found himself in the midst of mini-controversy after some pointed but hardly harsh comments from coach Doc Rivers were misinterpreted by ESPN basketball writer Chad Ford, who tweeted: "Doc Rivers does ANOTHER hit job on Rajon Rondo. What the heck is going on in Boston")

Heinsohn: "[The perception that Rivers has an issue with Rondo is] ridiculous. Doc's not knocking the kid, he's an ex-point guard trying to get the best out of him. Rondo has terrific confidence, he's 23 years old, he has Hall of Fame potential. So what if he doesn't have a 3-point shot. He has a terrific basketball mind. He's the best athlete on the team. Making a big deal [out of Rivers's comments] is just talk-show stuff, something to flap about. Rondo's the closest thing the Celtics have had since [Bob] Cousy. He's a master of the offense, he's aggressive, he controls the pace. Without him, this team goes nowhere, all right?

"You write this: 'Tommy says leave the kid alone!'"

Great post and attachment Nick. Thanks
Hoop

not being local, when i do hear those two its a special treat.. especialy Tommy. there is a lot one misses when your favorite sports team is so far away, and this is one of them...

Tommy deserves a tommy Point just for being a part of the family all these years..

Great post. Good stuff.

I LOVE when Tommy has a conniption. I think it is hilarious.

Thanks for the compliments and feedback. Anyone new to using forum codes, you can hit quote on my post and see how I did it. It may seem intimidating at first, but blogging can be easier than juggling.

Tommy makes fun of the refs


This one Tommy shows off his trademark use of the word ridiculous at around the thirty second mark of the video. On WEEI's whiner line, I used to love hearing Tommy belt out, "You're gonna call that a hard foul!" It was almost as funny as hearing Pitino say, "The negativity in this town sucks." I love Tommy's style. I loved Johnny Most. Not only is Tommy a smart basketball mind, he can entertain.


Tommy Heinsohn goes berserk!!