This is a story about passion and persistence.
It was like a scene from the movie Wall Street, when Budd Foxx (Charlie Sheen) wanted desperately to meet Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas).
I was 19 years old and had a 2' by 3' Celtics scrapbook that I had to show Red. To get to Red, you had to go through Mary Faherty, Red's wonderful assistant. I called Mary month after month until she finally relented and said, "come on in". It was the Monday after winning Game 7 against the NY Knicks in Boston Garden in the 1984 Eastern Conference Finals.
I was working at an insurance agency in Malden, just a mere five miles from the Celtics front office in Boston. I told my boss I was going to see Red and hopped in my 73 Plymouth Valiant and it was off to Causeway Street!
His office was at the end of the hall. I walked in, and there he was, Arnold "Red" Auerbach, cigar and all. Can you imagine being with Red alone in his office? Yikes! Winning!
We flip through several of the many Larry Bird pages, when he thanks me for coming by but says he has to go to a meeting. I then use a little psychology on the master psychologist himself and tell him that I have a section on him. I turn the pages and when he sees the huge pictures and articles, his eyes light up like championship rings and he asks me if he could hang onto it for a while. I told him of course, that I would pick it up after they beat the Lakers in the finals. They did, and I did.
There was no doubt in my mind that the Celtics were going to beat the Lakers and capture Banner 15, so I took the advice of Horace Greeley ("go west, young man").
California here I come - for games 3 and 4. For $642 each, my friend and I rec'd round trip air, four nights hotel, tickets and transportation to both games - are you kidding me! Today you could easily pay that much for a single ticket to an NBA Finals game.
Game 3 was not pretty if you were a Celtics fan as the Lakers rolled. After the game, Larry Bird said the Celtics played "like a bunch of sissies!" Whoa - fasten your seatbelts for Game 4. To this day, this is the single greatest sporting event I've ever attended and that includes seeing the Celtics win three championship deciding games in 1984, 1986 and 2008.
Kevin McHale clotheslines Kurt Rambis and the benches clear; Bird and Jabbar go face to face after Kareem elbows Larry in the jaw; after a James Worthy missed foul shot in overtime Cedric Maxwell walks across the lane and makes the choke sign! With seconds remaining in OT and the game tied, Bird hits a go ahead fall away jumper to give the Celts the lead for good. The cherry on the sundae was when ML Carr stole a cross court pass and sealed the victory with a dunk! On the way out of the Forum parking lot Laker fans throw rocks at our bus. The series was now tied 2-2 and we almost got thrown out of our hotel due to Beat LA chants into the early morning.
The Celts win Game 5 in a steam bath. The temperature in the Garden that night was in the 90's since the building didn't have air conditioning. The Lakers win Game 6 in LA, and once again it comes down to Game 7 (the two greatest words in pro sports). I wanted to go to Game 7 so badly, but tickets were not available, until I rec'd a call from a friend shortly before tipoff.
He somehow landed a single ticket for me in one of the last rows of the balcony. My neighbor drove me to the Gahden and three hours later I wound up hugging strangers on Causeway Street celebrating another Celtics championship.
Later that week I called Red’s secretary Mary and told her I can come by and pick up my scrapbook at any time. I couldn’t wait to get home and see it again. Surely, Red must have signed it, even though I never asked him to.
To my surprise and disappointment, he didn’t.
Fast forward several months and Christmas is approaching. I come home from work one day and find an envelope from the Celtics on the kitchen table. It was an autographed Celtics team Christmas card with a personal note that read, “Bob, thanks for the use of your scrapbook. Arnold Red Auerbach”.
How Sweet It Is! Thanks Red.
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