Celtic pride

Muscle & Fitness, July, 2009 by Jon Finkel

My grandfather had Bill Russell. My dad had Larry Bird. And now my brother and I have Paul Pierce. He's our guy. Russell won the last of his II championships nine years before I was born, and I was 8 when Larry Legend brought his final title to the Boston Garden. But when I was 20, the Celtics drafted Paul Pierce 10th in the first round of the 1998 NBA draft.

Immediately, this was our guy and we treated him accordingly. We cheered for him as he struggled through that first losing season. We cheered for him as he struggled through the second losing season. And we really cheered for him as he recovered from being nearly stabbed to death in September 2000. After his recovery, the Celtics had a brief window of success before getting right back to losing.

But through the many coaches and trades and players, Pierce remained. He played hard, he played tough, and we kept pulling for him. We pulled for him during a 33-win season. We pulled for him during the following 24-win season. We pulled for him because he held the promise of championship banner No. 17. We pulled for him because he had to endure all that losing under championship banners 1-16. And we pulled for him because we knew his time was coming.

That time was 2008. I was 30 years old when Paul Pierce brought a title home to the Boston Celtics. And my brother and I cheered. Pierce is our guy, and this was our championship.

BIOHAZARD This month's columnist is a staff writer for MUSCLE & FITNESS because he wasn't a good enough baseball player to start in left field for the Red Sox.