Write On Sports LLC - "Ten Reasons Why I'll Shed A Tear for Red This Week" by Troy Somero

Ten Reasons Why I'll Shed A Tear for Red This Week

2006-11-02 15:25:05 | By: Troy Somero

Because I grew up as a rabid basketball fan in New England, the Boston Celtics were a part of my sports heritage that I could never disconnect myself from whether I wanted to or not. However, the timing of my birth was a few years off in order to take full advantage of this fandom. Until the late 1980s, eerily ushered in by the horrific death of Celtics draft pick Len Bias, the Boston Celtics were without question the most dominant sports franchise in history.

Between 1950 and 1990 the Celtics won sixteen championships; in that time span the Yankees only won ten championships. However, I did not come of age as a sports fan until the early-to-mid 1990s, a time when the Celtics struggled in mediocrity, a place that they continue to occupy to this day. I grew up knowing the names of greats like Russell, Cousy, Havlicek and Bird but I did not have the opportunity to watch them in their primes. Despite this poor timing, Red Auerbach, the greatest coach in sports history, who was laid to rest yesterday, has still had a tremendous impact on my life and the lives of every sports fan in both New England and the greater sporting world.

Although I did not know Red personally and I was born almost twenty years after he stopped coaching, here are ten reasons why I will shed a tear this week when I look back on his contributions to the game of basketball.

1. Red's contributions to the game of basketball

Other than Dr. James Naismith, no individual gave more to the game of basketball than Red. Over the last week everyone has heard the stories of Red being the first coach to draft a black player, the first coach to sport an all-black starting line-up, the first general manager to hire a black coach. Certainly, his color-blind approach to the game as a coach and GM transcends the game and seeps more deeply into American society.

However, it should also not be forgotten how much he contributed to the actual game. The Celtics of the 1960s are still the gold standard of how to create and maintain a franchise. It is amazing now in the era of free agency and players' unions that Red's players only had one year contracts, many of which were negotiated with the help of the coach via handshake. Red also introduced the fast-break to basketball, now a focal point of every run-and-gun basketball team from high school to the NBA. While there were a handful of perimeter players prior to the Celtics' dynasty, players like Cousy, Sharman, Heinsohn, Sam Jones, and Havlicek thrived under Red's system. The NBA started as a center-oriented game with George Mikan and Bob Pettit; Red Auerbach changed this dynamic despite having one of the greatest centers of all-time in Bill Russell.

2. Red as an emblem of the "American Dream"

Hyman Auerbach, Red's father, was Russian immigrant who married an American girl named Marie Thompson and eventually started a dry cleaning business in Manhattan. Red grew up as one of four children in the working-class neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He did not have the money to go to Columbia University despite gaining admittance into the school, so as a result he had to enroll in Seth Low Junior College thanks to a $100 scholarship. Red graduated, taught physical education, became a third-class petty officer in the Navy during World War II, and coached the Washington Capitals and Tri-Cities Blackhawks of the early NBA before landing his job with the Celtics in 1950.

Some famous contributors of the game have been lucky to have played major college basketball, but Red's major college playing career consisted of 56 games at George Washington University. Others become an assistant and then blossom under a veteran coach, Red had no great mentor. He was the first great NBA coach and he did it all himself as a true emblem of the "American Dream", easily becoming an idyllic figure for any first-generation American.

3. Red's toughness

It must have been this hardscrabble upbringing that gave Red the toughness that made so many New Englanders love him and caused so many others to despise but ultimately respect him. There are countless stories of Red never backing down from a challenge.

In the 1958 NBA Finals Red got into a fist fight with St. Louis Coach Ben Kerner. In 1961 Red was served a summons in Syracuse for punching three fans who invaded the Celtics huddle. In the 1983 NBA Finals, a 66-year old Red ran from twelve rows deep in the Boston Garden stands to come within inches of throwing a punch at Houston center Moses Malone after a brawl between the two teams. Red fought for his place in history through his actions as much as his upbringing and it was this toughness that helped secure his place in history and his success as a coach and front office executive.

4. Red's winning mentality

Everyone loves a winner, no matter how the winner is able to get the job done. Red did it the right way through fairness, dedication and hard-work, and this achievement only emphasizes the fact is that he was a winner.

Red won nine NBA titles, tying him for the most in history with Phil Jackson. In his tenure with the Celtics as a coach, GM and President he won a total of sixteen championships, by far more than an individual in the history of major sports. Even though he only coached for nineteen years in the NBA he won a record 938 games, a record that stood until 1994.

Celtics teams that fell under his control continued to flourish long after he coached. Many people consider the 1986 Celtics team that featured Auerbach acquisitions such as Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Danny Ainge, and Bill Walton as the greatest NBA team ever. Even in Red's first year as an NBA coach with the Capitals the team posted a .817 winning percentage, a record that stood for twenty years. Red was a winner and his winning mentality made the Celtics a winning franchise for decades.

5. Red as a coach

Any shrewd executive can find a way to acquire the best talent, but if the coach cannot combine all the talent into a single cohesive unit the team will not be a winner. Red was able to make his Celtics into a dynasty because of his ability as a coach.

Bill Russell has said countless times that he would not have been able to play for any other coach in the NBA. Bob Cousy was at first severely questioned by Red because he was a local player out of Holy Cross, but Red gave him a chance and the chance worked. Cousy said himself that, "Red knew talent. He knew how to acquire it. He knew how to coach it. He knew how to motivate it. His legacy in terms of sport achievement is unparalleled." All of his players became such great success stories because they all trusted Red. They knew how knowledgeable he was about the game and they gave their all to him because they knew he cared about them as both people and players.

6. Red as an executive

Red's only skill that might have surpassed his knowledge as a coach was his evaluation of talent and his ability to build a team as a front office executive. The list of Hall-of-Fame names he personally acquired as the face of the franchise is staggering and speaks for itself: "Easy" Ed Macauley, Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Bill Russell, Frank Ramsey, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, Tommy Heinsohn, K.C. Jones, Nate "Tiny" Archibald, Dave Cowens, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish.

In addition, most of these players became Celtics only because of Red's brilliance in the front office. Russell was acquired via a trade with San Francisco that including a promise for Ice Capades performances. Sharman was also acquired via trade. Cowens was a draft pick. Bird was drafted a year before he left college. Danny Ainge, who might be a Hall of Famer when it is all said and done, was drafted while playing for the Toronto Blue Jays. McHale and Parish were acquired in the same draft-day trade. All of these players were acquired by Red, and his ability to scout was a major reason for the prolonged Celtics dynasty.

In fact, the two players who could have been the focal point of a possible Celtics dynasty in the 1990s, Len Bias and Reggie Lewis, were both acquired in the draft by Red. If they had not died so early in their lives who knows how many more championships the Celtics could have won with Red in the front office during the decade.

7. Red as a lover of the franchise

Red loved the Celtics and the Celtics loved Red. No name is more synonymous with the franchise than the name "Red Auerbach". With the exception of the Rick Pitino era, Red appeared at the center of every Celtics team picture since 1950.

When new owner John Brown bought the franchise and almost ran Red out of town, the entire city persuaded him to stay. No other coach in basketball history could have had an entire city unite around him. Naismith was fired as the coach of the University of Kansas and he invented the game! Bobby Knight was pushed out of Bloomington and nobody in the college town made a huge stand against the move. Every time someone interfered with Red's control over the franchise, be it a new owner or a new coach, the interference did not last long. And Red always stayed because he loved this team.

8. Red as a traditionalist

Red loved progress in the game itself but he hated it in terms of entertainment. To Red, basketball was entertainment in of itself. There was no need for cheerleaders, or dance teams, or in-game music, or Jumbotrons, because, Red believed, the game was the all the entertainment people needed.

When you think about it he was right all along. College basketball and NBA games are wonderful experiences for basketball fans, but I know personally that I often get the biggest basketball high from high school games. The musk of the gym, the love of the game by the athletes who (ironically) play for the love of the game, and the excitement of a tiny gym overmatch any large venue. Why else was the Garden such a home-court advantage for the Celtics? It was tiny, hot and old. And Red loved it. It is only appropriate that Red passed away four days before the Celtics introduced cheerleaders for the first time in their history.

9. Red and the stories that surrounded him

I described a few of these under “Red's toughness”, but the stories that surround Red as a coach and executive make him an even more endearing public figure. The fights in Syracuse and Boston on the court are one thing, but the man fit the image of a large-than-life figure in his words and day-to-day deeds as well.

Everyone knows about the cigar, but Red only lit the cigar when a win was secure…excuse me, when a home win was secure. He was never one to show up and opponent. At the same time he never forgot a grudge. His hatred for the Knicks and Madison Square Garden stemmed from his playing days at George Washington when the team was snubbed by organizers of the NIT (then the premier college basketball postseason tournament) despite a record that left the Colonials more than qualified for the tournament.

After the Celtics won the 1984 NBA Championship over the heavily-favored Lakers, Red yelled at commentator Brent Musburger on national television by saying, "Everyone keeps talking about the Lakers dynasty…well, here's your dynasty, right here!" The city of Boston erected a statue of Red outside of Faneuil Hall in Boston, and it is the only statue in the area.

The best Red story, however, comes back to the cigar. Red's favorite restaurant in Boston was Legal Seafood, and although smoking was eventually prohibited in the restaurant Red continued to smoke his cigars there without much of a problem. One day, a waitress serving Red asked him to put out his cigar. "Do you know I am?" he asked the waitress. She responded by shaking her head. Red pointed to the menu. At the bottom of the menu was the following, "No cigar or pipe smoking, except for Red Auerbach." The menu still says that today and I hope it never changes.

10. Red's love for basketball

The true reason why any basketball fan should shed a tear from Red this week is because of his love for the game. He would take the time to talk to young people at Celtics games and spread his knowledge. He worked on television, he wrote books, he volunteered, and he gave his name to numerous awards and facilities dedicated to the game.

Red made a living in the game of basketball. My selfish jealousy of him stems from the fact that he did something he loved his whole life. He put his heart into and reaped the benefits, and that is something that basketball fans and non-basketball fans alike can take from his life. That is also why I will be shedding a tear for his death. Thanks Red.

[Note: This article was inspired by two terrific pieces. First, a piece by ESPN.com's Bill Simmons on the impact of Red's death on him as a Celtics fan. Second, a nine-page obituary printed the day after Red's death by the Boston Globe.]