As any Boston Celtic fan will tell you, Rick Pitino couldn’t coach professional basketball worth a damn, but he could turn over a nice quote every now and again. During the third year of his disappointing tenure with the Celtics, fed up with the fan base’s endless nostalgic pining for the recently departed Larry Bird and company, Pitino lashed out during a post-game press conference following a particularly bitter loss:
Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans. Kevin McHale is not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door. And if you expect them to walk through that door, they’re going to be gray and old. What we are is young, exciting, hard-working, and we’re going to improve. (Ed.- Actually, the team was none of those things and didn’t improve until Pitino finally left town, but let’s not nitpick.) People don’t realize that, and as soon as they realize those three guys are not coming through that door, the better this town will be for all of us because there are young guys in that (locker) room playing their asses off. I wish we had $90 million under the salary cap. I wish we could buy the world. We can’t; the only thing we can do is work hard, and all the negativity that’s in this town sucks. I’ve been around when Jim Rice was booed. I’ve been around when (Carl) Yastrzemski was booed. And it stinks. It makes the greatest town, greatest city in the world, lousy. The only thing that will turn this around is being upbeat and positive like we are in that locker room… and if you think I’m going to succumb to negativity, you’re wrong. You’ve got the wrong guy leading this team.
We did of course have the wrong guy leading the team, but that was because Pitino’s native arrogance made him an unsuitable NBA coach/general manager. His refusal to succumb to negativity and his insistence on living in the present were nevertheless quite admirable. Hear me now, fellow Republicans: Ronald Reagan is not walking through that door. The focus on the past makes the greatest political party in the world lousy. It’s certainly not doing us any good. As has been noted elsewhere, you fight an election with the politicians you have.
