as a boston transplant living in greenville, sc, i have a unique perspective regarding both boston fanhood and the racial tensions in both cities.
for the record, i am a celtics fan first, pats second, sox third. and yes, my friends and family treated me like i had a disease. especially when i watched every game on fsn new england and my best memory to show for my loyalty was the ECF game 3 against the nets; the comeback game with pierce, toine and rodney hitting all the free throws. it pains me to say this but i knew many people who derided my fanhood as "the reverse, why do you love a n***ah sport mohre than the sawks?"
whether you are black, white, or latino, none can truthfully deny the tensions of living in a place like west roxbury. all 3 groups despise the yuppies, out-of-state students, and suburban people from needham and the like more than each other. but at the schools, and i presume the blue collar work force (i left after 1 yr of college), it is very tense. when i first went to boston latin school there was a family of brothers who always hung out despite one being sophomore, one jr, one sr and taking me under their wing and saying "this school is dangerous, blacks and mexicans will knife you for your bookbag". i saw a lot of violence, robberies, etc. in high school
in greenville, i find it fascinating how backward race relations can be. i play pickup at the y but ironically i shoot around right at mauldin middleschool, and there are tiny homes with cars on blocks in their yards on my way there. and yet i saw "mccain/palin" signs on almost every yard. no amount of social conservatism, which i doubt anyway judging by the beer cans-in-the-yard to baptist church ratio, should entice these people to NOT vote for the candidate that fits their socio-status. it was amazing to hear "i wont vote for that n****r" in grocery stores and other public places, from people who cant afford health care!
in my experience, suburban mass (the majority of the people who end affording to see c's games) is extremely liberal, often to obnoxious levels. i knew a lot of black kids who got bused to schools in natick or wellesley and loved it, being treated well, hanging out in white/black circles, and getting scholarships through sports. but to me, downtown boston, at least places like westie, are like a battleground. i definitely see how it can earn a reputation for racism. and i most definitely see open racism all the time in kg's childhood community, which was probably worse when he was young. throw in his adopted chicago which is a tough, violent city as well.
i love kg, his help defense is almost always the correct decision. he sets screens, passes out of double teams, gets big dunks but defers to more complete offensive players in the 4th quarter (which he must do anyway because his adrenaline is out of control). his intensity is what got them out of those comeback games against la. ive seen 2 world series championships, 3 superbowls, and been to 4 parades in boston, but that title was my favorite ever. but its still an interesting question that adam poses.
i also wonder if it's odd that the celtics are one token white guy (the very boston-looking scal) from being an entirely black team, from coach down to gabe pruitt.
