<h1 class="storyTitle">A team even an enemy fan can love</h1> I hate the Celtics. I hate the green. I hate Bill Russell's mannered little goatee. I hate Red's cigar. I hate Bird's mullet. I hate the leprechaun. I hate the stupid floor. I hate Don Nelson and his lucky bounce. I hate M.L. Carr and his towel. And I hate Danny Ainge and his pout most of all....</p> I mention all this as prelude to a new and most disturbing development in my life, a thing I'm having trouble typing, having trouble admitting to myself let alone anyone else, and that is this: I actually like this Celtics team, the one that's tearing up the league through the first three weeks of the season. I don't mean I like the Celtics' chances to come out of the East. I mean I like them. I find them appealing. I find myself anticipating their "SportsCenter" highlights, not with Schadenfreude-filled malice as I always have, hoping for a glimpse of their failures, but with something like anticipation, even excitement, at the prospect of their triumphs.</p> </p>
