Not enough can be said about the stunning comeback orchestrated by the Boston Bruins in their do-or-die unlikely Game 7 (unlikely because the Leafs should have spared everyone -including themselves and, most of all, their delusional fanbase- and simply died in Game 5, really) As they suddenly trailed in the game by three goals in the final frame, the Bruins once again mounted a resilient effort to dig themselves out of the hole they unjustly found themselves in and triumph over adversity in amazing fashion! What they did, once again and quite simply put, no one had ever done it before in NHL history: they tallied one to make it 2-4, through the poised stick of forward Nathan Horton whose air of professionalism, calm demeanor after scoring, imposes respect right there and then. Had the comeback fallen short, it would have still remained. But it wasn't done at all - in fact, the record-setting feat hadn't even begun yet... And no team had ever comeback after being down three goals in the third period of a decisive game seven: until these Boston Bruins did just that... Watch:
Once the final two minutes of play in regulation were underway, time truly started pressing the Bruins to make something happen. Pulling the goaltender in favor of an extra attacker almost never works, but they did so anyway - they had no other choice. The result would not only be favorable this time: it would be magical. Within 1 minute and 22 seconds, the Bruins scored twice and almost scored a third! The two goals salvaged their season and sent the game to overtime. And once there, within six minutes of play, the Bruins completed the rally by scoring the winning and decisive goal for the series - and once again it was assistant-captain Patrice Bergeron who scored, he who had tied the game in the first place. His tying goal had been verbally requested by teammate Milan Lucic too: in the video above you can read on Lucic's lips ''one more'' after he scored on a rebound to make it 3-4. And they did get ''one more'' - and then nearly another before the end of regulation, which would have been fair given that the Bruins should have won that series in five or six games maximum. But the suspense - it had to last a little while longer - for the feat to be all that much more impressive, surely. The same hero who had tied the game was destined to also net the winning tally.
No Bruin partisan could have dreamed of a better ending, given the incredible circumstances: and what was a dream ending for B's fans was a nightmare for T.O. delusionals. And so it goes, as Linda would say...
We all know what happened in Boston during the 117th edition of the prestigious Boston Marathon - and the subsequent wave of support, worldwide, for the victims of that cowardly act that left many Bostonians scarred for life, both emotionally as physically. Jeff Bauman was one of those people - one of those who lost limbs in the explosions that interrupted the marathon's finish and ended three lives as well. Mister Bauman lost, in fact, both lower limbs and yet he courageously faces the future with optimism. He even accepted the invitation of the Boston Bruins organization to wave the flag of the new movement that the tragedy gave birth to: ''Boston Strong'' - strong in the face of cowardly terrorist attacks, strong in the advent of more threats mushrooming at every corner, the fruit of pernicious minds that should have never been born. Boston Strong - when faced with evil.
Honestly now, if it was you or I, would either one be willing and pre-disposed to go wave a flag at some massively public event, showing your newly-cut off legs, your new wheelchair to which you will be bound for the rest of your days, show up and subject yourself to all the inquisitive eyes of the world - some of which belong to morons who simply do not even get it...?!? Honestly now - you and I would have declined this invitation - just like many other Boston Bombing victims surely did. Our collective hat has to be tipped and has to be off for Mister Jeff Bauman - a true survivor.
There is but one easy step to make in order to deter from the original, meaningful and true definition of the Boston Strong campaign though - and to slap it onto mere sports contests. Of course. It was even cute, at first, when a message board user who, coincidentally or not, named himself ''Jon Strong'', lauded all three major Boston teams at once, earlier in May in this manner: commending the Celtics for staving off elimination twice against a purported-to-be mightier Knickerbockers team; lauding the Red Sox for a terrific start to their 2013 season, as they led the major leagues right out of the gate; and applauding the Bruins for taking game one of their first round playoffs match-up with Toronto extremely convincingly by the score of 4 to 1 - which is the way the entire series should have gone, too. Cute, yes. Alas, to do that opens the gates for all the morons to walk in and wreak havoc with everything: especially common sense and plain old civility.
For there are troglodytes such as this one from Toronto, who, first off, was obtuse enough to sincerely believe that the mere youthful enthusiasm of his team (all of which had made it to the playoffs for the very first time in their lives) was going to propel them past a former championship team that still retains all the elements required to reclaim said championship. And that is without taking into account the experience factor, the trademark resilience of the Boston Bruins, the superior talent and skills of the set of players playing in Boston right now (not in 2011, when they won it all - rightnow) compared to the bunch of still-wet-behind-the-ears neophytes in T.O. today... (Which are, in truth, the same kind of neophytes they've had for over a decade - a decade spent without ever qualifying for the spring ''tournament'' as Europeans call it, always... But that is another aspect we need not address at this time, really.) Graver of all, the Toronto fan made the crucial mistake of never assimilating the true meaning of BOSTON STRONG - and he then cooked up for himself a sign (a professionally-made sign, in the looks anyway; how deceptive looks can be sometimes...) that read... Toronto Stronger. Stronger? When there were shootings downtown T.O. did your citizens suffer half as much trauma as Bostonians did, in April of this year? When is the last time T.O. was hit by something nearly as trying as the Boston Bombing...? To wish upon T.O. a ''ground zero type of experience'' because of that one turd would be way too extreme - but that is the only way they could possibly prove to be ''stronger'' in any way - if they can, at all. Alas, all that doesn't register with the troglodyte below, wearing shades to mask his shame, we hope: all he could comprehend would be, perhaps, that his slogan makes no sense at all even in the world of sports as neither the Raptors nor the Leafs have had anything to show for themselves that comes even close to match the successes of the Boston teams that they respectively compete against. And the Argonauts are not even in the same league -in all possible meanings of the expression- than the New England Patriots. Also, at blogging time, the New England Revolution is still better than the Toronto F.C. in Major League Soccer; which is, in truth, the real football -European football- but that is another topic once more; one we need not address here and now...
Truly, the Toronto Troglodyte has no base whatsoever on which he could possibly stand and build the foundation of his idiotic statement. And when one knows the true meaning of the STRONG component at the root of it all, he comes off only as an obnoxious, repulsive, utterly clueless turd totally devoid of class. Sincerely, I doubt that he even had a clue how clueless he was about everything involved here...
To match up this pathetic troll -one who somehow came out of hiding; 'tis foolishness, I tell you, not courage- therefore, with the amazing example of courage that Mister Jeff Bauman is, is actually in very poor taste as well, indeed. However, since it has made the rounds in social media and needs to be done, in order for any other troglodytes to, possibly (hopefully) get it - and Lord Knows there are tons of those in various towns too: New York, Montreal, even Boston itself, alas - here we go:
Those who run marathons can imagine this well:
you are running in one of the most prestigious
of all marathons worldwide; the Boston Marathon.
You're running in an historic event, the 117th such event, on historical streets.
You dread not being able to make it to the finish line.
You fear running out of steam, not having the strength to complete it.
You can even imagine tripping, falling, collapsing to the pavement,
maybe hurting yourself then...
A heart attack is always feared amongst the participants -
that is what the rescue teams on site expect, as the absolute worst-case
scenario that can unfold during the marathon.
Personally, a double-losing day for the Bruins (if they play)
and the Red Sox (who usually play a daytime game on marathon day)
- maybe even a triple losing day, if the Celtics play as well -
that would usually be the pits for me, topped by the fact that
it is always a foreigner winning the Boston Marathon too,
a mere simple fact, no racism here, for it somehow mirrors the situation
when Boston teams lose to visitors, while playing at home
as the Sox usually do in April...
But this is hardly nightmare material, is it not;
today, of all days, we can admit it at long last.
A dream marathon day, with beautiful weather,
a Red Sox victory in the bottom of the ninth inning
(they who usually would lose the ballgame on marathon day)
and a competitive marathon, in which all runners are winners, in truth
- but it all became one of the darkest days ever
within a few seconds.
No nightmare scenario could possibly have matched
what happened on April 15th, 2013
ten seconds to three p.m.:
Hours after these dual explosions,
three losses of life had been confirmed:
one being an eight year-old boy.
At least 101 - that's right,
one hundred and one -
were injured by the twin blasts on BoylstonStreet.
Some of those people lost an arm
or a leg - there was blood on the streets,
the sort of thing not seen in Boston
since the days that the English still held
dominion over the New England colony.
Verily, this was a worse Boston Massacre
than the first, back on March 5th, 1770.
It is not because Barack Obama promised it,
while refusing to declare this a terrorist act,
but this is going to be paid for dearly.
The vile monsters who perpetrated this,
be they what they are,
must know that swift will be the justice
in their wretched case.
They've maimed innocent individuals,
they've taken the lives of three of them,
at the very least -
they had no right at all to do this.
They will pay in kind.
Boston's Finest and Homeland Security
are tracking you down -
AND THEY WILL FIND YOU!
Boston - we pray for you. +++ Update:
four days later, the deed was done.
SWAT teams tracked down
two suspects,
identified as Chechen brothers
who'd been granted haven
in America years ago...
And this would be their gratitude.
There is little doubt that it is them
who planted these two bombs
made out of pressure cookers
filled to the brim with nails.
As they are being tracked down,
on April 19th, 2013, Boston is in a complete lockdown,
No one's getting in, no one's getting out.
And everyone is advised to stay indoors.
The two suspects aren't going down
without a fight:
as any and all of Boston's opponents
won't, either.
However, in this case,
true justice has to be done.
Not without further casualties, alas:
an MIT police officer was killed
in the first of several shootouts
with the two suspects
who then fled to Watertown,
a suburb of Boston.
One of the suspects was shot
several times, too,
and has reportedly died.
(The one on the left, below;
the one identified by his
black hat.)
They are still tracking down
the youngest of the two,
the one with the white hat.
Faces in the crowd,
mingling with the Boston Marathon revellers
- and with nothing but darkness
in their hearts.
The pictures of the suspects,
with their grainy sub-par quality,
evoke images from a bad dream
- one that you can still see
once you've awaken.
Photo Credits: FBI/Reuters
Once again, here,
we'll underline the bond
between these tri-fold dream components:
Bostonian... Bulgarian... Portuguese! Bulgarian news are on this story daily,
with regular and thorough updates,
via their BBC feed, most notably; Portuguese news are on it too,
and for good reason:
isn't Boston mayor Thomas Menino,
Portuguese-descent, just like me?
There are numbers of Bulgarian
immigrants in Boston -
but there are many more
Portuguese immigrants there,
and a second and third generation
sired from those in Boston since their birth.
All-together, they are infinitely more numerous
and attached to the city and its history
than Chechen refugee ingrates
such as these two who visibly
brought with them their old grudges
against Moscow and Super Power countries
from the pike they came down from...
Such new arrivals should have never
been welcomed to America.
But then, there is something wrong
in America itself:
when the NRA and a great many
U.S. Senators (that have real legislative power,
unlike their namesakes north of that border)
continue to preach for no gun control
and incessantly praise that 2nd Amendment
and the rights it purports for one and all
in (or who come to) America -
even as so many atrocities take place
with unstable individuals toting firearms
and going on senseless rampages...
It's not about ''liberty'' anymore,
America... Boston...
it's about common sense.
Credits - RTP
May the rest of America
be led by Boston's common sense -
for it has worked before.
There's also Jason Collins and Jared Sullingerand Avery Bradley who supply the storied franchise with a nucleus far beyond just Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Coach Doc Rivers must be elated to have such an armada, such a stack-filled battalion of magnificent hoop-shooters whose legerdemain might be unproven, yes, but whose lionhearts already roar throughout the fabled land of NBA spectacle!
These are young warriors who marked the cut from tired old veterans who have departed from the team, be it Shaq or whatsisname who left for the Heat... Defector, by any other name, we heat thee! These have been replaced by the likes of Fab Melo, the Brazilian Bostonian Celtic, Courtney Lee (a boy, not the first ever female Boston Celtic guard - no) and Chris Wilcox in sheer character, style and flamboyance coming off from the bench-warming that he does so stupendously well...!
These Boston Celtics are something else and very much the legitimate as also very worthy and proud successors of the Celtic Magic (no relation to anything coming from Orlando, Florida - capisce?) that surrounded the likes of Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, K.C. Jones, John 'Hondo' Havlicek, Tom Heinsohn, Frank Ramsey, Bill Sharman, Don Nelson, Tom 'Satch' Sanders, Chuck Connors, John McCarthy, Bailey Howell, Chris Ford, Earl Williams, Ron Mercer, Rick Fox, Popeye Jones, Roy Rogers Jr., Mike 'Red' Wallace, Bill Walton, Jo Jo White, Xavier McDaniel, Pervis Ellison, Cedric Maxwell, Eric Williams, Paul Westphal, Lucian Whitaker, Dominique Wilkins, Brian Shaw, Reggie Lewis, Sam Jones, Flash Gordon, Larry Bird, Robert Parrish, Kevin McHale, Dennis 'D.J.' Johnson, Danny Ainge, Antoine Walker, Delonte West, Eddie House, Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe - and Red Auerbach himself, of course! (The only name missing here would be Chuck Norris himself, methinks!)
Instilled by Red (the one true 'Red' of the Green here: Auerbach! No offense to Mike The 'Red' there - Wallace!) the tradition got greater and greater and this team, officially originated only after the war ended, in 1946, became the single most successful team in all of sports because it knew how to replace its winning components so very well. That was all Auerbach's doing, of course, and, ever since he departed his functions with the team (and, most recently this world as well) the team succeeded so well only a handful of times, most notably when Danny Ainge sold off most of the team in order to form the New 'Big Three' (Pierce, Garnett and whatsisname) that were supposed to reignite an era of greatness akin to the days when Bird, Parish and McHale played together - and it worked; they won the championship! Rondo coming in and becoming as important to the Celtics team as Hondo was, say, for the aging Celts back in 1969 - that's another great coup, one that was mostly provided by destiny, but, hey, we'll take it, right? Most other times, though, the substitutions were not nearly as successful nor grandiose - most notably when a certain Rasheed came to town, to succeed fellow Wallace, Mike The 'Red'...? And he'd wear a baseball cap of the team battling another Boston team in the simultaneous playoff season...? Great Celtic Tradition? We don't think so...! But that was the black sheep in an otherwise storybook Boston franchise for the Ages...!
However, this year, after the injury to all-star Rajon Rondo, the Celtics saw a legion of naysayers come forth, from all sides and all fronts, denying their legitimacy as a contender and their right to even rate themselves up there, as worthy successors of these Boston greats of yesteryear...
And these accursed detractors are not even leprechauns - we assume...
"A lot of people say that we don't have a chance of even reaching the playoffs, that we can't do this, we can't do that," starting Celtics guard Avery Bradley was quoted saying, after the huge victory over that other upstart team in the NBA, the Los Angeles Clippers, not Lakers. "We know we have each other and we're going to go out there and fight for each other, no matter what, every single night."
May the Boston Celtics of today carry on the battle - and win the war!
Not only on NBA basketball courts; but also, and most of all, in the court of their fans' hearts! Everybody loves Jason Terry (pictured below) for instance...!
The jury is out on the team, deliberating - while the Celts just make baskets!
(Photo Credits Go To: UNKNOWN/NBAE/Getty Images I assume/Help me out here!)
!Celtic ♣Pride!
Oh yes - the Ancient Celts would be sooooooo proud -
