Sportsdoc
Apr 27th, 2008, 08:17 AM
Normally, the NBA doesn't like team doctors offering information. But Celtics team physician Brian McKeon gets dispensation on this occasion, for the topic is not Paul Pierce's back or Scot Pollard's ankle but something similarly near and dear to the doc's heart: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
The Boss and his troupe played Philips Arena Friday night and the Celtics were well-represented from a medical standpoint with McKeon and trainer Ed Lacerte attending the concert. McKeon is no casual Boss fan; he's thinking of flying to Charlotte for tonight's Springsteen show at Time Warner Cable Arena. If he does, it will be the 69th time he's seen the Boss.
"Amazing show," McKeon said of the Friday night gig. He had third-row seats and met Springsteen and the band after the show, which was also a personal thrill.
"When I listened to him for the first time some 20-odd years ago, I was kind of a lost soul," McKeon said. "I was in high school and my grades were awful. I was a C student and I couldn't even get into my own state university.
"His lyrics redirected my thought process, that it was time to grow up."
The Celtics and Springsteen also shared some history more than 20 years ago when the Boss was hotter than hot, in the middle of his "Born in the USA" tour. Several members of the team were Springsteen fans, notably Kevin McHale, who had developed a friendship with E Street guitarist Nils Lofgren. But one Celtic was notable for his utter ignorance of the phenomenon: Larry Joe Bird from French Lick, Ind.
Back in those days, writers would travel with the team, both on commercial flights and on buses. Everyone stayed at the same hotel, and if you traveled, you got to know them and they got to know you.
One late afternoon in Dallas, I was enjoying what former Governor William Weld like to call "an amber-colored liquid" in the atrium of the Hyatt Regency in Dallas. I was working at the Hartford Courant at the time and was accompanied by Dan Shaughnessy, the Celtics' beat writer for the Globe. We were soon joined by Bird and Quinn Buckner. Hey, those things happened back then.
Mostly, Bird liked to sit down on these occasions to bust someone's chops, but on this occasion, he was taken aback by the number of people passing through the hotel on their way to nearby Reunion Arena for a concert. He asked us what all the fuss was about.
"Larry, Bruce Springsteen is in town," he was told.
Short pause.
"Never heard of him," Bird said.
We were floored. How could anyone not have heard of Bruce Springsteen? He then added that he had heard of Rick Springfield.
"Larry, he's the you of rock 'n' roll," we told him.
Longer pause.
"Hmmm. Must be pretty good then," Bird said.
If memory serves, Bird did attend a Springsteen concert a couple of nights later at the Summit in Houston, when McHale managed to procure free passes.
Bird cut out early from the concert, saying later it was too loud, but that he did appreciate how much Springsteen put into the show, especially how much the Boss sweated.
That team bonded with the E Street Band. Lofgren would sometimes wear a McHale No. 32 jersey when the group performed and was sometimes a visitor to Celtics practices when the band was not on tour. Later in the season, McHale and trainer Ray Melchiorre visited Springsteen at the Boss's hotel in Atlanta when the band was playing there.
This Celtics team doesn't have the same fascination with Springsteen, but that's to be expected. Asked if he saw Bruce, Pierce said, "I saw Bruce Bowen on TV." As for Springsteen, Pierce said, "I don't know exactly who he is, but I know he's got a lot of money."
(from the Boston Globe's Peter May)
The Boss and his troupe played Philips Arena Friday night and the Celtics were well-represented from a medical standpoint with McKeon and trainer Ed Lacerte attending the concert. McKeon is no casual Boss fan; he's thinking of flying to Charlotte for tonight's Springsteen show at Time Warner Cable Arena. If he does, it will be the 69th time he's seen the Boss.
"Amazing show," McKeon said of the Friday night gig. He had third-row seats and met Springsteen and the band after the show, which was also a personal thrill.
"When I listened to him for the first time some 20-odd years ago, I was kind of a lost soul," McKeon said. "I was in high school and my grades were awful. I was a C student and I couldn't even get into my own state university.
"His lyrics redirected my thought process, that it was time to grow up."
The Celtics and Springsteen also shared some history more than 20 years ago when the Boss was hotter than hot, in the middle of his "Born in the USA" tour. Several members of the team were Springsteen fans, notably Kevin McHale, who had developed a friendship with E Street guitarist Nils Lofgren. But one Celtic was notable for his utter ignorance of the phenomenon: Larry Joe Bird from French Lick, Ind.
Back in those days, writers would travel with the team, both on commercial flights and on buses. Everyone stayed at the same hotel, and if you traveled, you got to know them and they got to know you.
One late afternoon in Dallas, I was enjoying what former Governor William Weld like to call "an amber-colored liquid" in the atrium of the Hyatt Regency in Dallas. I was working at the Hartford Courant at the time and was accompanied by Dan Shaughnessy, the Celtics' beat writer for the Globe. We were soon joined by Bird and Quinn Buckner. Hey, those things happened back then.
Mostly, Bird liked to sit down on these occasions to bust someone's chops, but on this occasion, he was taken aback by the number of people passing through the hotel on their way to nearby Reunion Arena for a concert. He asked us what all the fuss was about.
"Larry, Bruce Springsteen is in town," he was told.
Short pause.
"Never heard of him," Bird said.
We were floored. How could anyone not have heard of Bruce Springsteen? He then added that he had heard of Rick Springfield.
"Larry, he's the you of rock 'n' roll," we told him.
Longer pause.
"Hmmm. Must be pretty good then," Bird said.
If memory serves, Bird did attend a Springsteen concert a couple of nights later at the Summit in Houston, when McHale managed to procure free passes.
Bird cut out early from the concert, saying later it was too loud, but that he did appreciate how much Springsteen put into the show, especially how much the Boss sweated.
That team bonded with the E Street Band. Lofgren would sometimes wear a McHale No. 32 jersey when the group performed and was sometimes a visitor to Celtics practices when the band was not on tour. Later in the season, McHale and trainer Ray Melchiorre visited Springsteen at the Boss's hotel in Atlanta when the band was playing there.
This Celtics team doesn't have the same fascination with Springsteen, but that's to be expected. Asked if he saw Bruce, Pierce said, "I saw Bruce Bowen on TV." As for Springsteen, Pierce said, "I don't know exactly who he is, but I know he's got a lot of money."
(from the Boston Globe's Peter May)