Man, what a day this turned out to be. Woke up dead set on finally checking out all them Celtics banners hanging up at TD Garden. Grabbed my beat-up notebook and a halfway decent pen, threw on my green tee because come on, gotta show some spirit. Hopped on the subway early, train was packed like sardines as usual. Boston rush hour ain’t no joke.
The First Glimpse
Got inside TD Garden after shuffling through security. Tilted my head waaaay back just staring at those championship banners near the rafters. Felt like a kid again seeing those huge numbers hanging up there. Pulled out my notebook quick, fingers fumbling trying to jot down all the years – 1957, 1959, all the way up to 2008. My hand actually cramped writing ’em all. Counted ’em twice to be sure. Seventeen. Wild.
Spotting the Legends
Then started squinting hard at those retired jerseys way up high. Some names easy as pie – Larry Bird’s 33, Bill Russell’s 6, Paul Pierce’s 34 right on the edge. But some? Total headache. That old-school script lettering? Man. Pulled my phone out, zoomed in like crazy trying to read the worn-out stitching on Cousy’s number 14 and Havlicek’s 17. My neck was killing me after ten minutes. Wrote ’em all down rough:
- 00 for the fans (weird but ok)
- 1 Walter Brown
- 2 Red Auerbach’s cigar
- 3 Dennis Johnson
- 6 Bill Russell
- 10 JoJo White
- 14 Bob Cousy
- 15 Tom Heinsohn
- 16 Satch Sanders
- 17 John Havlicek
- 18 Dave Cowens
- 19 Don Nelson
- 21 Bill Sharman
- 22 Ed Macauley
- 23 Frank Ramsey
- 24 Sam Jones
- 25 K.C. Jones
- 31 Cedric Maxwell
- 32 Kevin McHale
- 33 Larry Bird
- 34 Paul Pierce
- 35 Reggie Lewis
Making Sense of It All
Sat my tired self down on some hard arena steps, notebook spread open on my knees. Started scribbling messy lines connecting players to those banner years. Russell everywhere in the 60s, Bird popping up in the 80s like clockwork. Found myself smiling like an idiot remembering Pierce dumping Gatorade that one time. Smudged pencil marks everywhere now.
Wrapped it up walking slow around the concourse, peeking up at those banners one last time from different corners. Felt heavier walking out honestly – like carrying all those wins and names with me. Smacked the notebook shut feeling like I finally got why these raggedy pieces of cloth hanging in some arena rafters actually matter so dang much.
