The Boston Celtics = 2008 NBA Champions

Wow, that felt good to write down. I have always been proud of my Irish heritage, so me being a fan of the Celtics made perfect sense. I always jumped from team to team growing up, and I usually cheered for individual players over teams. Then while I was serving an LDS Mission back in 2003, I decided that it was time for me to choose a team and stick with them. I was sick and tired of players who were awesome and then as soon as I began to cheer for them they let me down (cough, Vince Carter, cough). I always liked Paul Pierce, and due to my Irish Pride, I chose to become a Celtics fan, and I have been ever since.
I remember the season before this one, when the C's only won 24 games. My friend Rhett and I bought the NBA League Pass, and I watched plenty of Celtic defeats. It was tough to swallow. I would tell people I was a Celtics fan and they would laugh at me. That year for Christmas, my wife Katie (who was my girlfriend at the time), bought me 5th row tickets to the Celtics vs. Jazz game (it was incredible!). We both wore Celtics gear and none of the Jazz fans even heckled us or anything, they felt bad for us because of how poorly the Celtics were playing. My only hope that year was that we would end up drafting Greg Oden or Kevin Durant and have an exciting rookie to play alongside Paul Pierce (a.k.a. The Truth) for next year. Then, that hope came crashing down when Fate decided to give the C's the 5th pick in the draft... That was a terrible day...
I remember on draft day when "we" (I think it is completely okay for die-hard fans to say we when they are talking about their favorite team), anyways, I remember when we traded for Ray Allen on draft day, and then about a month later when we traded for Kevin Garnett. All of the sudden the Celtics had the best trio in the NBA, and I was freaking out. Katie bought me NBA League Pass for my b-day that year, and we have watched a lot of Celtics games since then. I feel like I know these guys, and when Pierce was holding the Finals MVP trophy and thanking everyone for sticking with him, I got choked up. I'm not gonna lie, I get goosebumps all of the time in sports. No drama on TV is better than sports, none. If you think athletes are only in it for the money, you never watched a Celtics game this year. It was incredible. Here are some of my favorite memories from this years Celtics team:
- The first game of the season, when KG in his Celtics debut pulled down 20 rebounds, I knew this season was going to be special.
- The buzzer beater 3-pointer that Ray Allen hit in OT to beat the Toronto Raptors. I've said it once and I'll say it again, he has the prettiest jumpshot in the NBA.
-When the Celtics silenced the critics and beat the Pistons in the reg. season. ( I can't stand the Pistons).
-When the Celtics completed the Texas Triangle
- I loved watching every single playoff game. It was all worth it in the end. The C's are the champions!!!!!!! I could go on and on about how great this team is and all of the memories that I will have of this season. I would say the most important memory I will have is how supportive my wife has been and how she watched every single playoff game with me. I love you so much Katie. You are the best! Thanks for calming me down when I would get stressed out about the games. I still get a huge smile on my face thinking about how my team is the #1 team in the NBA, and how they beat the dreaded Lakers. That makes the victory even sweeter. When I have time to calm down a little and collect my thoughts more about this season I am planning on writing more about the Celtics and how cool they are. Until then.... Go Celtics!!!!