BANGOR, Maine — Legendary Boston Globe sportswriter and columnist Bob Ryan has covered countless memorable Boston Celtics victories during his illustrious career.
But he called Sunday night’s 111-108 victory at Cleveland in the third game of their NBA Eastern Conference championship series one of the franchise’s “10 greatest wins” even though he doubts that the Celtics can overcome the 2-1 deficit and capture the series.
The Celtics lost the first two games at home 117-104 and 130-86. They trailed by 22 at the half of the first game and an NBA record-setting 41 at the intermission of the second one.
They won Sunday’s game without leading scorer Isaiah Thomas, who has been lost for the season due to a hip injury.
“They have been swept before but at no point in their playoff history have they been so humiliated as they had been in the first two games,” said Ryan, who was brought to Bangor by “The Drive” of Sportsradio 92.9 FM The Ticket for a Monday night appearance at the Sea Dog Brewing Company.
“They didn’t have a lead for one second in 96 minutes of play. To turn around and win that game on the road down 21 [in the third quarter] with Thomas out puts it in a separate category,” Ryan said. “That’s what makes it a special win. I’m not saying it’s going to be a springboard for them to come back and win the series. I certainly don’t expect that. But it is still one of the greatest wins and those guys should be proud.”
He said by winning two playoff series and reaching the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics have already had a successful season.
The engaging and charismatic Ryan fielded questions from some of the approximately 60 people who were in attendance.
Ryan’s career was built on his coverage of the Celts.
“I was given the beat in 1969 at the age of 23 because the previous beat writer went over to the news side and they didn’t have a logical heir apparent. That was my springboard. I was very lucky,” said Ryan, who shared the beat briefly with fellow summer intern Peter Gammons, who went on to become the renowned beat writer of the Boston Red Sox.
Ryan said he had been a huge college basketball fan but fell in love with the NBA when he started to cover it. He had three different stints as the beat writer for the Celtics including the magical Larry Bird era during which
“[Bird] alone created 10 highlights himself.”
In 1969, he said Boston was trying to figure out “life without Bill Russell and Sam Jones” and when they drafted Dave Cowens in 1970, a positive trend that led to a 68-win season in 1973 and an NBA championship in 1974.
Former Celtics star Tommy Heinsohn was a first-year coach during 1969-1970 and Ryan said he picked his brain about the NBA. Ryan said he also benefited from getting to know veteran players such as John Havlicek and Tom “Satch” Sanders.
The former national sportswriter of the year said the, “biggest story revelation during my career is the rise of the Patriots.
“In 1982, they sold 18,000 season tickets for a stadium that held 61,000. But as soon as they hired Bill Parcells [as coach and general manager], the phones started ringing. Within three years, they were in the Super Bowl. Parcells was the dividing line. He set the thing in motion that gave them credibility and a cache they didn’t have before,” said Ryan. “They had had some brutal years [prior to Parcells].”
The five Super Bowl championships over the past 16 years can be attributed to one man: Head coach Bill Belichick.
“That was the luckiest and the smartest thing [Patriots owner] Bob Kraft has done,” said Ryan, a father of two and grandfather of triplets. “Belichick is the smartest kid in the room. They have negotiated the free agency world to stay vital for 15 years while others have come and gone for the most part. And they appear in line for a tremendous run next year.”
The 71-year-old Ryan, a Trenton, New Jersey, native and Boston College graduate who considers baseball his favorite sport, said the 21st century has been special for Boston sports fans.
“No other city has won championships in all four major sports and Boston did it in seven years. But I keep saying they can’t sustain it,” said Ryan, who wrote the book “Author of Scribe: My Life in Sports,” and still writes 30 to 40 columns a year for the Globe.
However, Ryan did point out that the Patriots are favored among Las Vegas bettors to win next year’s Super Bowl and the Celtics are “exactly where they’re supposed to be.
“The Red Sox have a long way to go but they’ve been disappointing so far,” said Ryan who considers Boston more of a hockey town than a basketball town and gets irritated when Detroit calls itself Hockeytown.
“That drives me crazy. Boston is a third and fourth generation hockey town. They have a constant following. It’s the only city that has a Beanpot [Tournament] with four Division I schools right there,” said Ryan who is a regular contributor on ESPN’s Around the Horn and has been a longtime guest-fill-in host on the network’s ‘Pardon the Interruption.”
He also has a new Podcast which he is enjoying.