Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 A couple of years ago, I did an ode to the legendary Bill Russell based on Tom Meschery's poem portraying the menacing defensive ace as An Eagle With a Beard .  Well, in a way, "the Eagle" will be back covering the lanes on the parquet at TD Garden - as his Number-6 will adorn both lanes at opposite ends of the court. A magnificent tribute to the man who revolutionized the game of basketball and led The Green to multiple Titles over the years. Or, as Meschery wrote, we will remember: "Bill with slightly stooped shoulders, long feathery arms and talons hovering above the paint protecting it like his nest intruders entered at their peril." And I will add that TD Garden patrons can look forward to watching as Celtics center, Rob Williams, follows Bill's lead in "hovering above the paint, protecting it" . I would have loved to have seen Russ mentor the supremely-athletic Williams III, but the #6 icons may be enough . 

Tom Meshchery is a Russian-born 10-year NBA veteran known as one of the toughest players in the NBA during the 1960's. But he was also a poet and once wrote an ode to the Celtics Bill Russell titled "Eagle with a beard". More recently, in 2014, Meschery wrote a sequel to his original work . Bill Russell Once, in a poem I call him an eagle with a (beard). I was young and the poem held promise that the writer might improve. I always liked the image. It asked the reader to see Bill with slightly stooped shoulders, long feathery arms and talons hovering above the paint protecting it like his nest intruders entered at their peril. His beard was dark as was he, a shadow that darkened our attempts to score. I am older. As is he. I saw him recently on TV still an eagle, giving an (interview) and tried picturing him as something else and couldn't. I found it comforting to think I got him right so many years ago, that now, so close to both our dying I hope...