All is forgiven, Ray?

ThePrideofShiner

Crests prematurely
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
10,687
Washington
Per Paul Pierce's Instagram account it is.


Edit: I feel like I used some very poor grammar in the thread title, but I've been drinking so I'm not sure. I digress.
 

mauf

Anderson Cooper × Mr. Rogers
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Pierce was nominally the captain, but KG was the undisputed leader of those teams. Nothing's over until he says it is.

That said, I hope Allen's reconciliation with Pierce foreshadows a similar reconciliation with Garnett; it's time to let bygones be bygones. Maybe they'll never be friends, but they ought to be able to attend 10th anniversary festivities this season without drama.
 

Smokey Joe

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Apr 9, 2001
1,155
time has not been kind. Getting old stinks
Do you mean that they look normal? I had a classmate in med school who had spent 4 years on the KC Chiefs taxi squad and looked enormous. He knew a lot about exercise physiology and watching him turn into a normal looking human being over the space of 6 months by working out every day was very interesting. Beats taking the Charles Barkeley route.
 

HomeRunBaker

bet squelcher
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Jan 15, 2004
30,096
Getting the band back together for what? Guys it's over let it go. Does anyone really care whether these guys talk ever again? We all work with people who once our work days together are through we aren't in contact any longer regardless of our past success. It's the simple fact of people having different interests and objectives in life. Move on.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
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Sep 27, 2016
21,758
Pittsburgh, PA
Why do you follow sports, HRB? If there's no human emotions or connections that linger over it, then sports is a bunch of random number generators acting out their generation every night, year after year. These aren't ordinary coworkers, they meant something to a generation of Boston sports fans. To you too, presumably. Is it that big of a leap to think we might care how they end up? What magic made their whole the greater than the sum of its parts?

It's not like that's unique to sports, either. Google "Paypal Mafia" and see what they've been up to in the decade-plus since the band broke up. We all have our tribes, but sometimes tribes end up being special.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
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Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
Why do you follow sports, HRB? If there's no human emotions or connections that linger over it, then sports is a bunch of random number generators acting out their generation every night, year after year. These aren't ordinary coworkers, they meant something to a generation of Boston sports fans. To you too, presumably. Is it that big of a leap to think we might care how they end up? What magic made their whole the greater than the sum of its parts?

It's not like that's unique to sports, either. Google "Paypal Mafia" and see what they've been up to in the decade-plus since the band broke up. We all have our tribes, but sometimes tribes end up being special.
I can't speak for HRB, but frankly, personal relationships of players, especially after the band breaks up, is about the last thing I'd put on a list of reasons I follow sports. Actually, no I take that back. It wouldn't even be on the list.

Emotional connection appeal, for me at least, comes from my own personal feelings for a player, not theirs for their teammate. If it were a Kobe/Shaq type thing, that caused a team to break up and ruin chances at rings, sure, I'd care during the moment. If it's a clubhouse issue that's affecting team performance, sure. When it's a role player basically jumping off a sinking ship to go ring hunting on the biggest rival for less money? Sorry, I don't really mind if Garnett never speaks to him again. Actually it makes me like Garnett more. Doesn't change anything for me when thinking back to the ring they won.

It's cool that Edelman and Brady have their bromance, but if they never speak again after retirement, how does that change the "magic" that won them rings? If it came out that Johnny Damon and Jason Varitek never spoke again after Damon pulled his Judas act, would that really tarnish 2004 for you?
 

mauf

Anderson Cooper × Mr. Rogers
Moderator
SoSH Member
I can't speak for HRB, but frankly, personal relationships of players, especially after the band breaks up, is about the last thing I'd put on a list of reasons I follow sports. Actually, no I take that back. It wouldn't even be on the list.

Emotional connection appeal, for me at least, comes from my own personal feelings for a player, not theirs for their teammate. If it were a Kobe/Shaq type thing, that caused a team to break up and ruin chances at rings, sure, I'd care during the moment. If it's a clubhouse issue that's affecting team performance, sure. When it's a role player basically jumping off a sinking ship to go ring hunting on the biggest rival for less money? Sorry, I don't really mind if Garnett never speaks to him again. Actually it makes me like Garnett more. Doesn't change anything for me when thinking back to the ring they won.

It's cool that Edelman and Brady have their bromance, but if they never speak again after retirement, how does that change the "magic" that won them rings? If it came out that Johnny Damon and Jason Varitek never spoke again after Damon pulled his Judas act, would that really tarnish 2004 for you?
No one cared whether KG, PP and Ray kept in touch until it became clear that the other guys couldn't even stand to be in the same room as Ray. That has implications for whether the C's can have 2008 team reunions, whether Ray can return to the Garden without getting booed (if teammates haven't buried the hatchet, fans are less likely to do so), and so on. I understand that those aren't pressing issues, but comparing the volume of discussion of off-season moves to discussion of KG/PP/Ray drama, I think we're keeping it in its proper perspective.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
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Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
No one cared whether KG, PP and Ray kept in touch until it became clear that the other guys couldn't even stand to be in the same room as Ray. That has implications for whether the C's can have 2008 team reunions, whether Ray can return to the Garden without getting booed (if teammates haven't buried the hatchet, fans are less likely to do so), and so on. I understand that those aren't pressing issues, but comparing the volume of discussion of off-season moves to discussion of KG/PP/Ray drama, I think we're keeping it in its proper perspective.
And I'm not suggesting we are giving too much attention, I was simply replying to Instaface's assertion that if you don't care about it, you might as well just play computer simulations. I consider it a big nothing burger that I think falls a bit short of "then why do you watch sports?". (I also don't really care about team reunions, so while I guess I can see that, it doesn't weigh much for me. )

Edit: And I'm pretty sure the story was out there before the Rondo party. I seem to remember Pierce and/or Garnett saying they didn't have his phone number anymore, but I could be conflating stories.
 

HomeRunBaker

bet squelcher
SoSH Member
Jan 15, 2004
30,096
Why do you follow sports, HRB? If there's no human emotions or connections that linger over it, then sports is a bunch of random number generators acting out their generation every night, year after year.
I follow my sports teams passionately during both the current season and in anticipation of how future seasons shape up. There are human emotions tied the '08 team and how we "coulda/shoulda" won a second title if not for Kendrick's ACL. At no point do I ever think about, care about or discuss who hangs out with who after their careers are over. Most of these guys never see each other again unless they have mutual business interests or once a decade as they have adult lives just as we do.


These aren't ordinary coworkers, they meant something to a generation of Boston sports fans. To you too, presumably. Is it that big of a leap to think we might care how they end up? What magic made their whole the greater than the sum of its parts?
To me the key word is "meant" and I suppose this is where we differ. Their careers are over, they are finished playing a game. We all have great memories of them when they did play and whether they get together for a steak at Del Frisco's or not when they are in their 40's and 50's is 100% meaningless to me.

Their whole was greater than the sum of having 3 of the NBA's Top-30 All-Time Leading scorers on it? We've heard Doc and Pierce speak openly about how this group was a collection of massive egos, segregation of veterans/youngs, and this dysfunction that was held together by the leadership at the top (Doc/KG/Pierce). It was their whole that nearly tore them apart!

Anyway, this is getting away from my point of that I couldn't care less who liked who or what not......Doc and Baby won't be having dinner anytime soon either. I'm sure there are many others on that team who won't ever talk to each other either. That doesn't take a thing away from what they meant to me when they played together.....this is just how sports and society is, you tend not to hang out with people that you don't particularly like.
 
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lovegtm

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Apr 30, 2013
11,997
Getting the band back together for what? Guys it's over let it go. Does anyone really care whether these guys talk ever again? We all work with people who once our work days together are through we aren't in contact any longer regardless of our past success. It's the simple fact of people having different interests and objectives in life. Move on.
It's not something I really care about, but I'd rather see people happy than unhappy, and Paul and Ray appear to be happier for having reconciled. Good for them. We get some warm fuzzies too; good for us.