Celtics-Related Journalism Overload
Nearly a week after the Celtics beat Detroit, the NBA Finals will get underway at the Garden tonight. While the prospect of watching the Green beat LA! is exciting enough, we’re really glad things are getting started so it will put an end to the loosely Celtics-related stories in our daily papers.
Listen, we love a good nostalgia story as much as the next sports fan. But every time a local team makes it to the playoffs, we get the same articles.
It started in Tuesday’s Globe with a story about the difficult time local power players are having acquiring or doling out tickets to the Finals. It’s similar to a piece the paper of record wrote about the delicate negotiations the local elite entered into for World Series tickets back in October.
Now that the hour is upon is, the Herald has written a story detailing C’s legend Gerald Henderson’s inability to score seats while denying us pictures of Mayor Tom Menino in yet another silly outfit in a piece about the city’s newfound Green pride.
“Some say Celtics pride is back, but we know it never went away,” said Mayor Thomas M. Menino, as he stood in a Celtics windbreaker surrounded by the team’s owners and legendary players JoJo White and Cedric Maxwell.
Then there’s the business angle. The Globe writes about the businesses around the Garden that are benefiting from the Celtics’ run for a championship and how the team’s newfound success has lured in new sponsors and caused ticket prices to skyrocket.
[Season ticketholder Andy] Papertsian said prices for his three balcony seats for next season rose from $2,838 to $4,128 for the season, a 45 percent increase.
“I nearly had a heart attack. I couldn’t believe it,” Papertsian said. “They’re doing great, no question. I anticipated them going up some, but not this much.”
We suppose he won’t be in line to pick up Adidas’ Signature Team Commander sneakers, which cost a whopping $1,017 per pair. But he can see the kicks on Kevin Garnett’s feet when he takes to the court tonight to give basketball fans something really newsworthy to talk about.
