Celtics' success traced, in part, to the fortunes of a blind son

Just wanted to point you all to this ESPN.com story. BOSTON -- Campbell Grousbeck sits at his granite kitchen counter, attacking a steaming dish of pasta and broccoli. He sips a pink vitaminwater, power-c (dragonfruit), and, being an acutely social 15-year-old, he asks a guest his favorite flavor. "Uh," the guest says, trying to buy time, "the red kind." This is not a good answer, for a number of reasons, but Campbell doesn't flinch. "What are the ingredients?" he asks. "Blueberry and, hmmm …" "Pomegranate," Campbell says, triumphantly. "That's triple-X, triple antioxidants." Yes, in fact, that's it -- XXX. Now, this is a solid effort for anyone, but well, here's the thing: Campbell Grousbeck is blind. How does he know that? "Campbell," his father says, smiling, "is a pretty smart guy." Campbell Grousbeck's father, Wyc, calls his son "a pretty smart guy." Campbell, who attends the Perkins School for the Blind, is the reason his family is back in Boston. The apple apparently doesn't fall far from the tree. Campbell's father, Wycliffe "Wyc" Grousbeck, is the chief executive officer of the Boston Celtics. In 2002, he led a group of local investors who purchased the NBA franchise. It now has been 22 seasons since the league's most decorated franchise won a title. That the Celtics still are a threat to hoist a 17th championship banner this season is largely a result of the aggressive, spare-no-expense leadership of Wyc and his partners. And that Wyc found himself in position to buy the team, oddly enough, can be traced directly back to Campbell's blindness. So, as you watch Kevin Garnett elevate under the basket and swat away the shots, and see Paul Pierce and Ray Allen singe the twine, know this: It's all happening because of a sweet, slight boy who can't see any of it. "We would be out in California, probably, and my golf game would be a little bit better, but I wouldn't be getting ready for a playoff game tonight," Wyc said several weeks ago. "If not for Campbell, we wouldn't be here." Said Wyc's wife, Corinne: "We would never be out here if it were not for Campbell. I mean, that's a real example of following the child. We followed him clear across the country." Click here for full story.

Weekend Review

What a great weekend for Boston sports. A Tampa Bay sweep, a Celtics scare and then a blowout. It was a very busy weekend so lets take a quick look back to recap. - After blowing a first half lead in game 6 in Atlanta the Celtics stormed back at home Sunday with a convincing 99-65 win over Atlanta. The Celtics next play Cleveland starting Tuesday night. - The Red Sox continued to be a tough team at home as they swept the Tampa Bay Rays out of first place. The Sox now hold a three game lead in the east as they head to Detroit for a four game set. - Brandon Moss will be unavailable after having emergency appendectomy surgery this weekend. - Craig Hansen was recalled from Pawtucket to take Moss' roster spot, let's hope he can give us some lights out innings. - The Boston Globe ran a great article about Charlie Zink in the Globe Magazine this weekend, it's worth a read. Later today I will have a preview of the Celtics/Cavs series as well as the new players of the week from the past week.

Celtics Journey Begins

The Celtics journey for #17 begins tonight. Here's a video from ESPN with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

Ringing In A New Fenway Season

The Boston Red Sox kicked off their 2008 home season with a tremendous ceremony honoring the 2007 World Series Champions. All four major sports trophies were in the house Tuesday as all time greats of the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins joined members of the current New England Patriots and members of the 2004 World Champion Red Sox team to bring the rings out to the field, they also brought with them trophies from their sport. The Celtics players brought the NBA trophy, one they hope to win again this season. The Red Sox guys carried out the '04 trophy, the Patriots players had one of their Lombardi trophies and the Bruins players carried the Stanley Cup. When the World Series banners were dropped down from the Green Monster like in 2005, they dropped a wall sized 2004 banner and then dropped a 2007 one over it, the wind started blowing the 2007 banner up to keep the '04 one showing. The Boston Pops were once again there to perform throughout the ceremony. The rings were presented in groups, led my the manager and coaches, then trainers and staff, the catchers, infielders and so on. Johnny Pesky again got a big ovation. Eight players had slightly different rings. On the side with the name of the player was a Boston "B" logo and a World Series trophy, the eight members of both championship teams had trophies on either side of the "B". No idea if coaches from both teams or Pesky's were also like that with double trophies. David Ortiz was the last to receive his ring and then led the team to center field to raise the 2007 Championship flag, Pesky and Ortiz raised it up the flag poll. Bill Buckner was on hand to toss out the first pitch and received a long standing ovation. He tossed a strike to Dwight Evans. In the game, Daisuke Matsuzaka had another strong outing as Boston beat Detroit 5-0 behind Kevin Youkilis' 4-4 afternoon. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith performed God Bless America during the seventh inning stretch. A video was also unveiled with Neil Diamond wearing a Sox jacket leading Fenway in the singing of Sweet Caroline, the video played on the center field video screen and at the end Diamond shouted out "GO RED SOX". I have searched and searched and this is the best video I could find of it. I hope the video becomes an everyday thing at Fenway instead of just the audio track. The Red Sox should also release the video that was played on the screen on its official website so those not in attendance can actually see it.

The Return To Relevance

On Friday evening, the Boston Celtics, the most storied franchise in basketball history will open the season in a position we haven't seen since the days of Larry Bird, as the front runner in the Eastern Conference. The road to get to this point was painful, and while I look forward to the potential success the season could give, I still disagree 100% with the trade it took to get us here today. The Celtics certainly gave up to much to acquire Kevin Garnett, it will be painful watching Al Jefferson turn into a superstar in Minnesota. Nevertheless, we have a new season upon us and an exciting one at that. Many experts are predicting a fierce battle in the east with Boston and Detroit and more then a few expect the Celtics to come out on top. With that in mind, I am going to make my playoff predictions for the NBA and hope I hit the finals head on like I did last April with my World Series prediction. Eastern Conference Finals: In a tough battle, the big three of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce will lead the Celtics to a 4-3 series win over the Detroit Pistons. Western Conference Finals: The San Antonio Spurs are my second favorite NBA team, and while I did hate them for stealing Tim Duncan from us I still root for them, that's why this prediction is tough for me to write. Suns 4 Spurs 2 NBA Finals: The Boston Celtics will nail down the trifecta for New England Sports joining the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots as World Champions. Of course the New England Revolution could also join the party and Boston College may make some noise too. Celtics 4 Suns 3

New Topics Coming

Beginning later this week I will be posting about other teams such as the New England Patriots, Boston Celtics, New England Revolution and New Hampshire Wildcats. This blog will still however be mostly about the Boston Red Sox.