My love affair with the Boston Celtics began over 70 years ago in Oregon
Later that year I managed to land a teaching job at Northeastern University, a school I had never heard of. I could not believe my good fortune to have ended up in Boston.
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On game day I could buy a ticket for a great seat for a mere $9. It was Dave Cowens's rookie season. He joined the likes of
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Northeastern rehired me as an assistant professor once I had my new degree in hand. My wife and I drove back across the country in our aging VW bus, our new baby on board. Rents in Boston had skyrocketed, so we ended up 30 miles north of the city, a nearly two-hour commute to work via commuter rail and the Green Line. That route took me through North Station and Boston Garden twice a day for 40 years, making it convenient to attend six or seven games a year on my way home.
At first, seats were still easy to get — and still cheap — but that all changed the following year when Larry Bird arrived. As ticket prices soared, the frequency of my attendance fell, as did the quality of my seats. It got so bad that at one game I arrived to find my obstructed-view seat had been shattered, probably by a Bruins fan.
After that I took to sneaking down onto the main floor and sitting on the hockey boards in the corner. It worked great for a couple games until others noticed and joined me. The ushers made short work of that. The following season I fabricated a one-legged stool out of an old aluminum crutch and sneaked it into games in my backpack. I sat on it in the aisle right behind the first balcony seats.
Watching the demolition of the Garden in 1998 was heartbreaking. I had walked past it twice a day on my way to and from North Station. When they removed the northeast end of the building, the interior was exposed like a chest cavity during heart surgery. Seeing all the seats still there and the score clock hanging from the rafters was surreal. A sports cathedral was demolished and replaced by a boring saltbox of an arena.
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The last game I attended in person was December 22, 1999, the final day the old parquet was used. The public was allowed to walk around on the floor at noon if you bought a ticket for that night's game. I took my camera.
These days I'm still a fan but, once again, only on TV.
Martin Ross is a retired geologist and professor on Cape Ann. Send comments to magazine@globe.com. TELL YOUR STORY. Email your 650-word unpublished essay on a relationship to connections@globe.com. Please note: We do not respond to submissions we won't pursue.
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