That Old Green Magic

To steal an Orwellian phrase, all pro sports franchises are equal.

Just some are more equal than others.

There are the Yankees, of course, and the Montreal Canadiens, teams that specialize in drawing upon their unique and magical histories, sometimes even when it appears those histories have faded away and become irrelevant. These are teams that don't just sell their past, but listen to it.

You'd also have to put the Boston Celtics in that category once more, particularly after their memorable performance in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night in Los Angeles. The Celtics, who have already engineered arguably the greatest single season turnaround in NBA history, spotted the Lakers a 24-point, first-half lead before charging back in the second half to win the game and move to within one victory of securing the team's 17th NBA title and first since 1986.

For most of the past decade, of course, the Celts have seemed as distant from their wonderful history of Russell and Auerbach as the Maple Leafs are from theirs. Remember, last year this Boston club won a pathetic 24 games, finishing 23 games behind the first place Toronto Raptors in the NBA's Atlantic Division.

But then came Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, and then a spectacular 66-win season organized by GM Danny Ainge, the old Blue Jay third baseman, in which Garnett, Allen and Paul Pierce proved three superstars could work together in the modern era of pro sport without egos and contracts getting in the way.

On Thursday, it was as though the spiritual circle was officially closed for the Celtics. They weren't the Celtics of Larry Bird and Robert Parish, but more like those terrific teams of the 1970s.

Garnett was Dave Cowens. Allen was Jo-Jo White. Eddie House came off the bench to evoke for one night the memory of perhaps the greatest sixth man ever, John Havlicek.

Doc Rivers seemed a little like fiery Tommy Heinsohn. James Posey was opportunistic Don Nelson, making things happen while the Lakers were paying attention to the Boston stars, and Leon Powe and Kendrick Perkins combined to produce some Paul Silas moments.

And Pierce? He was a defensive stopper against Kobe Bryant just like long-armed Don Chaney was so often for Heinsohn's clubs, but with much more offensive firepower than Chaney ever had.

The Celtics won Game 4 with guts, defence, strong fundamental basketball and team play, qualities once associated with every Boston team, but ones that had seemed lost for so long.

The Celtics still have work to do, still have one more game to win. But they are indeed the Celtics again, one of those special teams of history and destiny, one of those teams for whom the ghosts of past greatness seem to be real and meaningful, insistently beckoning the modern heroes to return to the basics that produced past glories.

Is It Okay to Question Now?

Funny how some sports execs in this city are given a long rope, others not so much.

J.P. Ricciardi, for example, was the boy genius when he arrived in 2001, and only now, with so much mediocrity behind him, is he being seriously questioned as the proper man to lead the Blue Jays.

John Ferguson Jr., on the other hand, was widely branded a dope from Day One of his brief tenure.

Which brings us once more to the sainted Bryan Colangelo, a sports suit so accomplished that MLSE simply believes it has to locate a "Colangelo of hockey" to turn around the tarnished Maple Leafs and all will be well.

Well, you sure about that?

Colangelo comes from a famous sports family, yes, and he is a stylish, athletic young man who speaks well.

Last season, his Raptors came up with 47 wins, followed by a mildly disappointing first round loss to the New Jersey Nets. Every move he made seemed to pay off.

Last night, the Raps bowed out meekly to Orlando in five games, ending a season that mirrored, in some ways, the season of the Ottawa Senators; strong start, lousy second half, early exit. This year, every move Colangelo made seemed to fizzle.

When I questioned Colangelo's supposed infallibility in mid-March - never suggested he should be fired, mind you, just wondered what the fuss was all about - the comments from readers poured in, many wondering how I had the nerve to even wonder aloud about the great man.

Well, is it okay to question now?

There are a variety of problems with the Raptors, of course. Some say its all Sam Mitchell's fault, others lament the decline of Andrea Bargnani and the disintegration of the point guard tag team, all about T.J. Ford's apparent determination to be designation the starter surely had something to do with it.

Last night's loss was like a replay of so many in the second half, with the Magic making the shots down the stretch and the Raptors not only missing theirs, but either making bad decisions or having players on the floor unwilling to take charge. When you look at how Atlanta is competing against mightly Boston, with that series tied 2-2, the lack of true competitiveness on the part of the Raps in the mediocre Eastern Conference really is brought into vivid relief.

So surely, even to his greatest supporters, the bloom is off the rose now for Colangelo. What matters now is how he fixes this team, how he makes it better.

He's never won an NBA championship or managed this Raptor team into the second round, yet MLSE has tried to dress him up as the genius of basketball and the model for a modern executive in any sport.

Maybe he is. Now would be a good time to show it.

Golden Spring

And now, the NBA playoffs have what the NHL wished it had - a Cinderella story.

By upsetting the 67-win Dallas Mavericks in a series completed Thursday night, the long-downtrodden Golden State Warriors, a team that needed to win on the final day of the season just to make the playoffs, have suddenly got the attention of the basketball world.

From Chris Mullin to Don Nelson to Baron Davis, the Warriors are a terrific story, and if you include the oft-troubled Stephen Jackson, certainly an intriguing one.

The NHL had one of these stories last year in the Edmonton Oilers, and even the Carolina Hurricanes, while they had a strong regular season, were also an attractive story because of the history of the franchise.

This year? There's nothing even close, really, with the Ottawa Senators, perhaps the closest.

But after being favorites who couldn't make it happen for so many years, it's hard for the Sens to be Cinderella now.

Such a team would surely help the NHL playoffs, which are gradually devolving into a thoroughly unexciting tournament because of the shocking decrease in goal-scoring, both from the regular season this year and in comparison to last spring's playoffs.

No NHL club has scored more than three goals in a game for a week now, this week's combined goals-per-game average has dropped under four and there's no sign of the drought ending anytime soon.

The NBA Warriors, meanwhile, play a chaotic game at breakneck speed, playing an anti-system style of basketball that totally befuddled Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs.

The NBA playoffs already have LeBron, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd and now the Cinderella Warriors.

The NHL playoffs have the blocked shot and soccer scores.

Weekend conclusions

1. If you present a convincing excuse - or even a not-so-convincing one - uncertain athletes will grab on to it with enthusiasm.

That's sure the way it seems to be with the Raptors. They've been told so often and by so many people that they're too young for the playoffs, they're playing as though they believe that themselves these days. Every Raptor playing is offering that line up after four straight mediocre to dismal performancea against the very average Nets.

But while inexperience might result in mistakes or over-aggressive play, the kind of lazy defensive effort and absence of grittiness that especially seemed present in Sunday's embarassment seem more the result of a team that's been told not to expect to win and now believes it.

2. Its the last chance for Randy Moss in New England, at least the last chance for him to prove he's not only about individual success.

Its similar to, if not exactly the same, as the type of trade that landed Todd Bertuzzi in Detroit. Both the Patriots and Red Wings are recent champions with a stromg infrastructure of veteran, team-oriented players. Peer pressure works a lot better than yelling by a coach.

If Moss can't make it in New England, or if Bertuzzi fails in Motown, they can't make it anywhere.

3. There's a lot of talk about revolutionizing overtime in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Well, they've already done it.

Remember those bad old days when nothing short of a weapons charge would merit a minor penalty in the post-season?

It was a "let the players decide it" philosophy that turned playoff OT games into an utter joke.

Now, the game is basically being called the same way in the first period as the third, and the same in OT as well.

Doesn't this make a lot more sense to everybody?

It sure makes for better entertainment, as the Sabres and Rangers proved on Sunday.

Moreover, the players are accepting the change, once again demonstrating the way to "police" the sport is with reule enforcement, not to ask the players to take on that responsibility as well.

The Wrong Focus?

It's just sad, really.

The Carleton University men's basketball team accomplished something truly extraordinary over the weeking, winning a fifth consecutive national championship.

And it's like nobody noticed.

Meanwhile, many Canadians buy into the phony hype of March Madness, fill out pool forms and fret over the seedings before the NCAA men's tournament begins, let alone the actual results.

UNLV beating Wisconsin is suddenly significant news. Let's get wall-to-wall analysis on that one.

But five straight for the Ravens? Yawn.

It's something, really, that is the fault of all of us in the mainstream Canadian sports media for not doing a better job telling the stories of teams like the Ravens and their players.

But do we do a lousy job of that because people don't care?

Or do people not care because we do such a lousy job of it?

Don't know the answer to that one. I can guess that a group of young men in Ottawa, while thrilled with their victory, are probably wondering why their extraordinary accomplishment will create no buzz in Canada.

Meanwhile, the exploits of Winthrop, Gonzaga and Middle This-or-That State are reported as major news.

I don't know how this changes, and maybe Canadian university sports exists at the level it should, of interest to those who play and their families and those interested in university sport.

But when it comes to the Carleton Ravens five-peat, it's just sad.