The heartbreaking images will forever be etched in the memory, along with the sight of smoke billowing from mighty buildings struck in a terrorist attack or the frightened faces of innocent Connecticut children walking hand-in-hand with eyes shut away from a madman.
But amid the carnage were other unforgettable scenes witnessed by Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who was an eyewitness to the horrible aftermath of the fatal Boston Marathon bombing Monday. Rivers saw humanity on its highest scale.
"I just thought the spirit of Boston was phenomenal," Rivers told reporters following the Celtics practice — a 90-minute diversion, he called it — Tuesday in Waltham, Mass. "I saw people who didn't work for the police or anything like that, directing traffic, showing people where to go. Being in the city, the one thing I will say, you're just really proud to be part of Boston.
NBAE/Getty Images
Doc Rivers
"The city has responded. The city, it was awesome, watching people help people. I'm driving and I can see people helping people walk, helping go to the right places. This city has an amazing amount of spirit."
No one can predict when normalcy or the everyday routine will take root again in Boston, but maybe the Celtics, who begin their NBA first-round playoff series against the Knicks on Saturday at the Garden, can provide some minor sense of the familiar.
"We are going to be back, we're going to work the same, we're going to play the same, we're going to do things the same, and there's nothing you can do to stop us from doing this," Rivers said with a defiant spirit.
As the nation once mourned for New York following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as Americans wept and prayed for the slaughtered innocents of Newtown, the country shares the anguish of Boston. New Yorkers, as hardcore as any, recognize what their usual rivals feel.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said yesterday on his weekly ESPN radio interview. "It's just a tragedy. I just don't understand why we just all can't get along, man. For somebody to do something that drastic and hurt people like they've done, it's a shame. But you've just got to extend your warm thoughts to the families and hope that they can pick up the pieces and continue on."
Woodson said he believes the city, which usually inspires vitriol over the current hope from New Yorkers, will do just that.
"We wish nothing but the best for all the people in Boston because that is such a sad, sad situation. But they'll rebound and recover I'm sure," said Woodson, who also presented the so-true assessment of the playoffs: "It's just a basketball game at the end of the day."
The feeling is the same for Rivers, whose team, like the city, will be galvanized by the tragedy.
"A tragic event, it either separates you or brings you together. It clearly brought the city of Boston together, which is awesome," Rivers said.
"Next year, the Marathon will be bigger and better, and you're not going to stop us, and I thought, of all the messages, the police commissioner said that, and I think that's a fact."
Rivers lives just a few blocks from the finish line, and as is his custom when the Celtics are home on Patriot's Day, he tries to take in the spirit of the event. He was en route to doing that when the explosions struck. His daughter texted him "like 16 times in a row" before they finally connected. A day removed from the tragedy, Rivers and the Celtics took a step toward normalcy.
"We want to return things as soon as possible back to normal because that tells whoever did this that you don't stop the spirit of Boston," Rivers said. "You're angry, too, when you think about what happened and that's because you love the city."
fred.kerber@nypost.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment