Locals Use Evil Shenanigans to Help Celtics Win

I'm sorry, but it's getting hard to not be appalled by Boston. Garnett, Pierce and Allen should be a juggernaut. They were supposed to transcend everyone's intrinsic hatred of that fine city and the people who live there. It wasn't just redemption for these unlucky players, it was a great tourism board trick.

Then came these playoffs, which have reduced this "Big Three" to the Pistons, but worse because they once amazed us. And, shame of all shames, this run has now gotten hopelessly entangled with the most most repugnant Beantown qualities. From The Boston Globe:

Word is, Boston entertainment prince Patrick Lyons might have played a role in the Celtics' blowout Game 7 win over the Hawks a week ago that vaulted them to the second round. The Hawks stayed at the Liberty Hotel May 3 in Cambridge before playing the Celtics. A league source said Lyons, who operates the Alibi Lounge in the hotel, instructed his bar staff to give anyone affiliated with the Hawks a double shot in any alcoholic beverage they ordered.

I'm not going to assume that's true, but that it's even out there, perhaps as a matter of folklore-ish pride, is just plain gross. Garnett, Allen and Pierce were supposed to honor the tradition while updating it for the modern era. Instead, they're being pulled down into a whirlpool of corny past ills: "Honest" play where no one busts loose, shady neighborhood fixing that probably involves bootlegging copies of Mystic River, and unable to insulate themselves from that city's corniest civic pride.

I know Boston wanted its Celtics to win, but I think the rest of us were looking forward to seeing the Celtics win without it inspiring stomach problems. Stay tuned for Nash, Jamison and Josh Smith to Philly. It'll be just as noble.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.