Celtic Pride

LOS ANGELES - The 1986 Celtics were possibly the best basketball team ever. Stocked with four Hall of Famers, they won 50 of 51 home games, hung a 16th banner for the Garden rafters, and drafted a young man considered by many to be the top college player in the country. Red Auerbach's smoldering cigar was Boston sport's eternal flame, and men in black high-tops ruled the hardwood world. Larry Bird, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale were in their primes, and Maryland All-American Len Bias was ready to carry the torch into the 21st century.

Sure, there's always plenty going on around Boston to satisfy the appetite of even the most die-hard of sports fans. But there's something special about hitting the road with the home teams to cheer them on as they invade enemy turf. A sports-themed vacation also offers the perfect excuse to leave New England behind and travel around the country - and the world. Here are the top 10 road trips that Boston fans can take in 2009 to root, root, root for the home teams: 1. PLAYOFF PREVIEW?

North Texas Irish Festival DALLAS Feb . 29-March 2 It seems silly to trek to Texas for Irish music, especially since there's plenty to go around in these parts. But like Boston, Dallas turns out to be a city with a deep love of Celtic sounds. The lineup for this year's celebration is still being pinned down, but the headliner has already been named: It's Altan, an Irish fiddle group from Donegal that has recorded with Bonnie Raitt and Dolly Parton. You'll also catch an act from back home, the folk duo Matt and Shannon Heaton of Medford.

Forward James Posey agreed to a four-year, $25 million contract with the New Orleans Hornets yesterday, leaving the Celtics after helping them win their 17th NBA championship in his only season in Boston. Posey's agent, Mark Bartelstein, had said recently that a contending team could soon step up and make the offer needed to land his client. New Orleans was that team. An NBA source said Posey is expected to sign the contract by week's end and have an introductory press conference in New Orleans next week.

We were so lucky. We had Red Auerbach for nearly 57 NBA seasons. We had his genius, his rough, old-school charm, and his Brooklyn-learned street smarts. And we lost him yesterday. At the age of 89. Just four days before the start of another Celtics season. Red was the Celtics. Sure, we had Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Larry Bird, and the rest. But Red was the Celtics. He delivered 16 championships to our town. We never could pay back all the pride and glory he brought to Boston.

Forward James Posey agreed to a four-year, $25 million contract with the New Orleans Hornets yesterday, leaving the Celtics after helping them win their 17th NBA championship in his only season in Boston. Posey's agent, Mark Bartelstein, had said recently that a contending team could soon step up and make the offer needed to land his client. New Orleans was that team. An NBA source said Posey is expected to sign the contract by week's end and have an introductory press conference in New Orleans next week.

Sure, there's always plenty going on around Boston to satisfy the appetite of even the most die-hard of sports fans. But there's something special about hitting the road with the home teams to cheer them on as they invade enemy turf. A sports-themed vacation also offers the perfect excuse to leave New England behind and travel around the country - and the world. Here are the top 10 road trips that Boston fans can take in 2009 to root, root, root for the home teams: 1. PLAYOFF PREVIEW?

Dynasty’s End: Bill Russell and the 1968-69 World Champion Boston Celtics , By Thomas J. Whalen, Northeastern University, 284 pp., illustrated, $26.95 Back before the Hibernian Renaissance (1974-76) and the Restoration (1981-86) came the Dynasty (1957-69), when the Boston Celtics won an unmatched 11 NBA championships in 13 seasons and victory had the pungent aroma of cigar smoke. Unless you lived through it it's difficult to imagine a time when a new banner hung from the Garden rafters every year, when players were known by their first...

Colin Quinn, the comedy writer, performer, and "Saturday Night Live" alum, has built his career on a witty brand of contrarian bluster. "That's my story, and I'm sticking to it," he signed off each segment when he anchored "Weekend Update," the "SNL" news spoof, in the late 1990s. On Twitter, he delights in taking one side of an issue that's bound to raise hackles, then retweeting the responders who call him an idiot. There's a name for that trait, said Quinn, who is 52. "They call it oppositional defiant disorder.

Every time Rajon Rondo clangs another free throw, Cob Carlson cringes. The Celtics' two-time All-Star was shooting just 59.3 percent from the line this season entering last night's game, last among point guards in the NBA. "It drives me nuts how many good players making millions of dollars can't make a very simple and easy shot," said Carlson, a free throw specialist who has helped Davidson College become the nation's top-shooting team...

LOS ANGELES - The 1986 Celtics were possibly the best basketball team ever. Stocked with four Hall of Famers, they won 50 of 51 home games, hung a 16th banner for the Garden rafters, and drafted a young man considered by many to be the top college player in the country. Red Auerbach's smoldering cigar was Boston sport's eternal flame, and men in black high-tops ruled the hardwood world. Larry Bird, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale were in their primes, and Maryland All-American Len Bias was ready to carry the torch into the 21st century.

North Texas Irish Festival DALLAS Feb . 29-March 2 It seems silly to trek to Texas for Irish music, especially since there's plenty to go around in these parts. But like Boston, Dallas turns out to be a city with a deep love of Celtic sounds. The lineup for this year's celebration is still being pinned down, but the headliner has already been named: It's Altan, an Irish fiddle group from Donegal that has recorded with Bonnie Raitt and Dolly Parton. You'll also catch an act from back home, the folk duo Matt and Shannon Heaton of Medford.

We were so lucky. We had Red Auerbach for nearly 57 NBA seasons. We had his genius, his rough, old-school charm, and his Brooklyn-learned street smarts. And we lost him yesterday. At the age of 89. Just four days before the start of another Celtics season. Red was the Celtics. Sure, we had Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Larry Bird, and the rest. But Red was the Celtics. He delivered 16 championships to our town. We never could pay back all the pride and glory he brought to Boston.

Dynasty’s End: Bill Russell and the 1968-69 World Champion Boston Celtics , By Thomas J. Whalen, Northeastern University, 284 pp., illustrated, $26.95 Back before the Hibernian Renaissance (1974-76) and the Restoration (1981-86) came the Dynasty (1957-69), when the Boston Celtics won an unmatched 11 NBA championships in 13 seasons and victory had the pungent aroma of cigar smoke. Unless you lived through it it's difficult to imagine a time when a new banner hung from the Garden rafters every year, when players were known by their first names...

"Semi-Pro," the new Will Ferrell movie, is stuffed with familiar frat house funnyboys - Andy Richter, Will Arnett, Rob Corddry, David Koechner - but the funniest character is probably the mid-1970s. The Disco Decade is the setting for this amiably sloppy basketball comedy, and it has a hairstyle (puffy), a rhythm (funk), a material (polyester), and a flavor (Shasta Red Apple). When some of the players sit down to play Pong, the joke is how insanely excited they are. They're like cavemen discovering a two-pixel fire.

LeBron James and several of his fellow NBA Eastern Conference stars have been impressed with how the Celtics put together a star trio of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce in the offseason. James and Co., however, believe the jury is still out on whether the Celtics can immediately jell into an East power. "You can't [say] that right now," said James, a three-time NBA All-Star. "They have enough talent to compete with everyone in the NBA. But you don't know until you go out there and play a game.