Met Tom So, Satch Sanders, Celtics player from '60-'73 and owner of eight championship rings, talked to a class of mine with regard to being a black athlete in the Fifties and Sixties. He's a very interesting guy, who just retired from the NBA after heading the player development division, and he had a lot of comments about the Celtics - playing for Auerbach, playing with Russell, Cousy, among others. For example, he said that Auerbach only yelled at Tommy Heinsohn because he could have been a great player, but he had a smoking habit and he would get exhausted on the court. Another comment was that before he got to the Celtics, he heard about the lynchings in the South and he had a real dislike for anyone with a Southern accent, so he immediately dislike Frank Ramsey, who he beat out to win the starting job. Probably the most interesting aspect about his visit, though, was the fact that he had campaigned for a dress code in the NBA for many years and during his retirement party two years ago [I think it was two years], David Stern announced that his present to Satch was the institution of the dress code. It was a very enlightening experience and very fun for me, as well - doing the whole autograph and picture thing. He actually lives in my town. Anyway, with regard to the topic, he talked about how Newton [the town] signed a petition to ban him from purchasing a home in the community, showcasing some of the racism in Boston back in the Sixties, even during a time in which he was not only a famous basketball player, but was asked to run for mayor. Interesting stuff.</p>
Re: Met Tom I love the history that the Celtics have. I'm going to pick up books that they have in the library here and read about the early days. (the championship days) haha</p> GO CELTICS!!!</p> And thanks for sharing that Prem.</p>
Re: Met Tom Haha, Prem is here. Thanks for the story.It was pretty cool, although you should go back to writing in paragraph form. ;-)
Re: Met Tom Wow. Good stuff, and congrats on meeting Satch.</p> </p> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (aquaitious)</div><div class='quotemain'>It was pretty cool, although you should go back to writing in paragraph form. ;-)</div></p> </p> He's breaking character.... =0</p>
Re: Met Tom Premier, how the hell are ya? Nice to see you back for a quick post, man. As for meeting Satch, that's awesome. Thanks for the little story, I enjoyed it.</p>
