Fortress Of Good Fortune

Two greats in the entertainment and sports worlds have left us: Nichelle Nichols and Bill Russell.

Both were trailblazers in their respective fields. Bill Russell won 11 NBA championships with the Boston Celtics in 13 years and we all know Nichelle was one of the first women to present a capable, dignified African-American character on television, and she recruited minorities for NASA. Russell was the first African-American head coach in the NBA (also with the Celtics) and was active in civil rights. The MVP trophy of the NBA Finals is named after him.

Today Jason Collins, a former Boston Celtic, announced that he was gay. It was an historic announcement because no U.S. player has ever come out while still actively playing. Usually they are retired. And it's one of the four major team sports, basketball, instead of a non-team sport like swimming or tennis or golf, for instance. He is not a Big Name but has been in the NBA for a dozen years and is well-liked and described as 'classy' and 'a gentleman'. He's a free agent, so it'll be interesting to see who he signs with next season. Now that one has taken the first step, others will follow. Read about it here.

THEY DID IT!!!!!

The Boston Bruins took home the Stanley Cup after 39 years! Whoo hoo! *dances*

The fireworks went off last night after the win. The city of Boston had thousands of people in the streets, and only six arrests for minor disturbances.

The Bruins came out and scored first, then second, then third (Bergeron sliding into the net!) and fourth (empty net goal). They fought hard and they're coming back home to a parade on Saturday, where they will ride the duckboats through the city with that beautiful, gorgeous Cup shining its silver glory.

There is nothing quite like that pure, unalloyed moment in which you know your team has won it all. We've enjoyed 7 championships here in the last 10 years: the Patriots in '01, '02, and '03; the Red Sox in '04 and '07, the Celtics in '08, and now the Bruins. The Bruins won three Game 7s in this playoffs, and were only the third team in history to win a Game 7 ON THE ROAD!

I woke up this morning with a big smile on my face. It's glorious to savor in this championship. Bobby Orr and the Big, Bad Bruins will always be legends in this town, but now there are new legends wearing the black-and-gold. The Bruins wanted to join the 21st century pantheon of winners here in the city, and they did it! They wanted duckboat rides, too. ;)

What a sight to see our 6'9" defenseman lift that Cup over his head, and for Tim Thomas to get the Conn Smythe MVP Trophy and lift the Cup, too.

Weird facts: the last time there was a lunar eclipse was October of 2004, the night the Red Sox won the World Series. Also, the last time a tornado went through Springfield, the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 1972. *cue Twilight Zone music*

Every major sports team has won a championship in the last ten years. Never been done before!

This team has HAAAAAHT! (translated from New England accent: heart). ;)

Cue up Queen's "We Are The Champions!!!"

Well, as you can see, no spam today! ;) I decided to smoosh all the chapters together since I had to post them all in the same day for lgbtfest, anyway. I had a good time writing Gossamer Wings because I'm a sucker for hurt/comfort, especially as I like to add in quite a bit of comfort to the hurt. :) I also enjoy writing about people who love each other despite pain.

Wow, last night Celtics' game was amazing! The bench players came out in the fourth quarter and kicked butt! Big Baby, Nate, Tony, 'Sheed...the second unit really energized the team! The Garden was rockin'! Series tied at two! Woot! :)

The Boston Celtics have just dispatched King James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in a MAJOR UPSET!!!

It was a team effort all the way, baby! Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Big Baby Davis, Tony Allen, Kendrick Perkins, Rasheed Wallace...all the pundits chose LeBron James and the Cavs and the Celtics won with team defense and a sparkin' offense! Woot! Playoff tickets for the Eastern Conference Finals go on sale tomorrow! :)

Bring on the Orlando Magic! :)

P.S. Bill Belichick got a HUGE ovation when shown on the Jumbotron. We luv our Super Bowl-winning coach! ;)

Return To Glory! Game 6: Boston Celtics 131, Los Angeles Lakers 92 (4-2) (Tuesday, June 17, 2008)

Well, the Celtics hit the pot o' gold at the end of the NBA rainbow, my friends! In the second quarter they took over the game and never looked back! Rajon Rondo, just 3 1/2 months old when the Green last won a championship in 1986, was outstanding, buzzing around the ball, stealing it and making baskets like there was no tomorrow. Paul Pierce played decoy and still got 17 points. Kevin Garnett came alive and played like the superstar he is. James Posey befuddled Kobe Bryant, and on and on...

The Celtics kept up the pressure even when they were up 30 points! Their defense was stifling, and their offense sparkling enough to take that big lead. The Lakers were soft on defense, something they'll have to address next season. The Celtics won by the largest margin every in the NBA Finals! 39 points!

The Gahden was jumpin'! :) People who remembered the glory days and those tasting them for the first time were excited. Green was everywhere! Fans stood practically the whole game, and the chants were boisterous and loud. Celebration after the win outside the Garden was orderly enough that they were few arrests. Pity in today's society you need riot police after a championship win, but there you go.

Bill Russell, winner of 11 championships, was there, and so was John Havlicek, No. 17, as the Celtics clinched their 17th championship on June 17th, Bunker Hill Day. :) Other Celtic greats were working radio and TV, Cedric Maxwell and Tommy Heinsohn. Celebrities in the crowd included Bill Belichick, Steven Tyler, and more! Not L.A. glitter, but we'll take our New England crowd. :)

The only thing missing was Red Auerbach lighting up a victory cigar, but I'm sure if heaven allows it, he was lighting up in the final minutes! ;)

Any fan of a professional sports team knows that when your team wins it all, there's nothing quite like that moment when you clinch it: pure and sparkling and joyous.

The parade in Boston is tomorrow! :)

Congrats to the fans who stuck it out during the lean years (including me!) and to the players and organization that got this done. The Lakers brought us to six, so Lakers fans can look forward to good things, though that defense needs shoring up! :)

Thanks to all for reading my sports blathering! ;)

This win really cheered me up after a rough day yesterday.

One never knows in sports what will happen, so I'm not 100% certain that the Celtics will wrap up No. 17 tonight, but they could! Certainly they have a lot of confidence after that historic comeback on Thursday. :)

I'm going to be signing off earlier than usual tonight to concentrate on the game and have some dinner, but until then, plot bunnies are nibbling! Ideas are whirling! ;)

Still more fic to come, as I have a lot written and just need to revise and type it all!

Random thoughts: I'll be thinking about my Halloween Challenge this summer. If that was the only Challenge I did all year, that would be the one, because I love Halloween! :) I want to get people all excited about it when I post it in a few months, so I must have thinky thoughts 'til then! ;)

My birthday (in September) is on a Saturday this year! Excellent! Birthdays are always so much more fun on weekends, aren't they? :)

My beloved New England Patriots will be starting training camp in July. I'll probably have to cut back on the trips (gas prices are just ridiculous!) but I intend to go at least once and see my boys in action. Yep, they blew the perfect season big-time last year, but they're still my boys. Fans here will gripe and groan but we'll stick with our teams and circle the wagons. *luvs Tom Brady* ;)

I'll also be thinking of something to do to commemorate the first anniversary of wonderwomanlove, which coincidentally, is the same day as my birthday (September 27th). :) We have a very eclectic collection of entries over there. Check out the latest entry for the June Challenge. Simply lovely!

*thinks happy thinky thoughts*

Game 3: Los Angeles Lakers 87, Boston Celtics 81 (2-1) (Tuesday, June 10, 2008)

Not surprisingly, Boston lost last night. The NBA is a very home court-advantage league. What gives me hope is that they came back from a large deficit and nearly tied the game at the end on the road. Our stars, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett could not buy a basket last night while L.A.'s star Kobe Bryant ended up with 36 points.

Hopefully Game 4 will be a different story, but at least the game was entertaining! :)

Game 1: Boston Celtics 98, Los Angeles Lakers, 88 (1-0) (Thursday, June 5, 2008)

The Celtics won the first game of the seven-game series last night, 98-88. The Boston Garden was rockin' (No native really calls it the TD Banknorth Garden. It's a new arena but it's still known by the old arena's name. And it's pronounced 'Gah-den'. ;) ).

There was drama a-plenty as it looked as if Paul Pierce, our best player and scorer, might be done with a knee injury. He was carried off in the third quarter and put in a wheelchair to go to the dressing room, but returned soon after. It's a knee sprain and may keep him out of the rest of the series, but who knows at this point? He came back, the crowd roared, and he promptly hit two three-point baskets in a row, the momentum coming back to the Celtics and staying with them as a close game ended with them as the victors.

The New England Patriots usually support the Celtics (all the major teams support each other) and Randy Moss was sighted at the game.

It was an exciting game and lots of fun to watch! Kevin Garnett (K.G.) was awesome, and the rest of the Celts really did well. Let's hope they keep it up for Game 2! :)

Over at Fenway Park, there was a brawl on the field and a dust-up in the dug-out. Busy night all around! :)

Well, the health update: my wrist and arm are still strained but getting better. I had to shovel a lot of snow (and I expect more to come this Sunday) and had strained my shoulder the first snowfall a few weeks ago. Apparently it'll make it easy to strain each time I shovel. I'm in pain here for my art, people! ;) I am taking some aspirin and might rub a nice little potion on it tonight when I go to bed. :)

Typing is still painful but if I do it slowly, it's okay. I have too many fics I owe to not type, but it'll be slower than I anticipated.

I'm looking forward to Sunday's game at Foxboro. While I would have loved to see a clear day so that the Patriots could have put up 70 points on the Jets, snow games at the stadium are always magical, and their record is perfect in the snow at home. California native Tom Brady seems to find the snow no problem a'tall! :)

The Celtics have the best record in basketball (18-2) and unbeaten at the Garden. I'm listening to the game on the radio and it looks like they might get No. 19 tonight. EDIT: They did! Whoo hoo! ;)

I am typing, then reading, then typing, etc., and it seems to be working out well. :) I got a burst of creativity for my second World's Finest Gift Exchange fic and even finally got an idea as to how to write the third. I'm also working on "Family II: Christmas Eve". I need a scorecard to keep that crowd straight (so to speak)! ;)