Celtics: Rip and Tayshaun Weigh In
By Ilan Mochari

Richard Hamilton’s sinewy right leg was knee-deep in a Gatorade bucket filled with ice. Veteran point guard Chucky Atkins sat to his right. “How does this Celtics team look different from last year’s team, and from the ’07 team?” I asked Hamilton.

“They’re the same team, to me,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. “You don’t see a difference in their defensive talent or intensity?”

“They’ve always been a great defensive team. Always. That’s what won them the championship.”

It’s dialogues like this that make you question why you’re talking to an athlete in the first place. Granted: Hamilton might have been in no mood to talk, icing his ankle in the wake of the Detroit Pistons’ March 15 blowout loss (119-93) to the Celtics at the Garden. Still, it was hard for me to believe that Hamilton and I were watching the same Celtics, if he truly saw a team that looked “the same” as the ’08 roster...
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Dear Bill
By Kristen Merrill

So, Bill. May I call you Bill? I feel like after ten years we should be on a first name basis.

So...Bill. I don’t know quite how to say this but, I’m worried about you. I’m concerned. I have agita, Bill, I do. I feel like maybe you’ve gotten yourself in over your head this time. Like maybe you’ve bitten off more than you can chew and you’re too proud to ask for help.

What do I mean? I mean just that, Bill. I mean that you’ve apparently decided to go into the 2010 football season without employing either an offensive or defensive coordinator. You’re going to take on both jobs yourself. And while I appreciate your take-charge attitude, I’m a little concerned about your ability to pull it off.

Not that you’re not a superhero, Bill. I’d never suggest such a thing. Believe me. I remember how you coaxed magic out of thin air by seeing something in Tom Brady that everyone else missed for five draft rounds. I remember the intentional safety in Denver during that Monday Night game. I remember the goal line stand in Indianapolis and the touchdown passes to Mike Vrabel and the two-point conversion to Kevin Faulk. Don’t worry, I remember. We all remember. But the thing is, lately? Things haven’t been going quite so well. I’m concerned your ego is getting just slightly out of check. Like, in the way that Godzilla slightly destroys Tokyo...
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