Fire Heinsohn

[GWVan]

For anyone whoever turned down the tv volume and tuned in Johnny Most on the radio this is a horrible offensive topic

[theman]

Okay, Heinsohn was a great Celtic as a coach and player. That was like 30 years ago. Times change and its clear the guy has lost it. You all are the clowns that would let old people drive cars til they were 105 with cataracts in both eyes just because they had a drivers license at one point in their lives.

The fact you don't recognize how much more Tommy knows about Basketball than you shows just how little you know.

The saddest thing about it is that he's creating all these mini-Heinsohns amongst Celtics fans who think that every damn refree in the league has a lifelong vendetta against the Celtics and think every time the C's lose a game its because the refs were all in cahoots with Donaghy or some nonsense. Newsflash: the C's commit fouls. Paul Pierce can miss a shot without being fouled. Heinsohn does not speak the gospel, just like most crazy old men in the front of the liquor store do not speak the gospel.

Generally, the old guy is spouting from the Old Testament or more likely Revelations.

[celticfan42487]

I fully agree and support the OP

Although I'd want him to have a severance package and be well taken care of.

But I shouldn't have to watch a game see a great play, and have to listen 10 minutes of Heinson saying how it was unfair even after the replay showed it was a good move.

For everyone saying mute the tv. Think about what you're saying. I'm paying for the television so I can mute it? Why don't I just got a sports bar and save my money. I wanted the service in the privacy of my home and paid for it, it should be deliverd. Muting is not an appropriate solution.

[Busy_Janitor]

You all get Tommy Points

[BIGSMOOTH79]

Anticipating a clutter of pointless reactionary threads after tonights game, I wanted to make a reactionary one myself. I have absolutely no problems with this team, except one, the one man who is making games almost unbearable is Mr. Tommy Heinsohn.

He is such a freakin crybaby, its wearing on me. He would honestly make a great defense lawyer, he can literally look at any NBA play involving the Celtics and find some way to argue that the other team committed a violation and the ref blew it. I'm sitting there trying to watch the end of the game tonight and instead of admitting Pierce got used by Caron Butler on two plays in a row, Tommy is over there trying to say that an offensive foul should have been called on both plays. I know a lot of people act like Tommy is that old uncle they never had who might be a little daffy, but at least he can entertaining, but come on, he's more like the little punk you play against whose calling friggin offensive fouls and crying about three seconds in pickup games. You kind of felt bad for him last year when he would do the same old song and dance with a team that couldn't pull their head out of their ass, like it was all kinda pathetic and you felt bad for the guy. But now, I just can't stand him. It boggles my mind that people still think hes some sort of basketball guru, when the only analysis he ever provides is some youth league basketball coach advice like "ahhhh, run more." Please, I'll take Cedric Maxwell any day over Tommy. He can provide the cracked out comments (I'll take quack quack over Tommy points and ref bitching any day) as well, but he'll do so with some objectivity and also intersperse his comments with some actual freakin analysis that's somewhat relevant to the current NBA.

The last week or so has been especially bad, so much so that I can't wait til some national games so we don't have to hear this old windbag.

Examples:
1. Rudy Gay got his tooth chipped in half on a non-call by the official on a pretty clear foul by the Celtics. After the next possession, Tommy goes on a tangent about the refs are screwing over the C's.
2. Caron Butler makes two pretty spectacular plays against the C's tonight. No respect from Tommy. Instead, he fabricates some offensive fouls the refs should have called on the play.
3. The entire Charlotte game. Dude needed a muzzle or a pacifier for this one. Crying didn't stop all damn game, despite the fact Celtics shot more free throws than the Bobcats.

straight up!!!! I love the C's up, but Heinsohn is just horrible!!! Y'all need to get a colorman that's worthy of working for the greatest basketball franchise of all-time cuz this guy is a disgrace!!!!! On a more positive vibe i really like Gorman and think he's one of the best and have alot of respect for him for having to work with a clown like Heinsohn.

[sully00]

Tommy is certainly a love/hate thing. I understand the frustration, hell sometimes Mike is furstrated, but you have to admire the outright love he has for this team. Getting on the refs is part of basketball and frankly doesn't happen enough in the arena anymore with the wine & cheesers who can afford the tickets down low. That is what home court advantage is about, making that ref question in the back of his mind whether or not he wants to get the lashing for making that call at home, whether it is right or not.

Anyway think what you want, he won't be doing full time much longer, and we will have some antiseptic never was who no one will ever, ever think about. But seriously how many teams starting 5 go over get daps from the color guy before a game, c'mon last night all 5 and Posey went over to Tommy before the game.

[UGA Hayes]

I'm sympathetic with the OP for this reason. When I was younger I watched a lot of college basketball, which is almost 100% rah-rah Dick Vitale stuff, 0% real analysis. It wasn't until I became more of a pro guy and listened to guys like Hubie, how much I had been deprived of actual basketball knowledge and had my head filled up with conventional wisdoms. I sort of feel like Tommy is depriving younger guys of useful baskeball analysis.

I guess my idea of a great analyst is the guy you would want a basketball phenom/prodigy sitting in front of the TV listening to and absorbing info in order to become the best baskeball player possible. This team has a lot of ideal- want your kid to imitate them type players on the roster- and I'm not sure Tommy does the best job of illustrating that.

[freakon0mics]

Tommy is a Celtic through and through. He works as a broadcaster but he is a fan. If your going to have beef, have it with the guys that hired him. Other than that, leave Tommy alone. He's basically all of us if we were broadcasters.

[Joebiscuit]

I ike Tommy but the OP makes some good points. Sometimes Tommy's just becomes too much and he complaing does get old. I can see why people who are fans of other teams hate him.

Although I find him less annoying than Donnie Marshall who has to tell us about 500 times a game how he used to play in the NBA or how he was teammates with Ray Allen.

[Cyclical]

BLJ, I sympathize with you. Really, I do. I agree he's a shameless homer who even in the face of video evidence will bitch at obvious calls. But Tommy is there for entertainment purpose. No more, no less. Obviously he's not everyone's cup of tea.

I still love Tommy. And he still does have a lot of little insightful nuggets you may miss. And hey, he's not leading our country into war, sending 20 year-olds to play Russian roulette with their lives for a false cause, so, I'm behind him. I find him likeable. I miss him when another couple of local boring suits from the opposing team broadcast the games when I watch on NBAtv. Do yourself a favor, either A) don't take him so seriously; or if that's an impossible task for you, B) listen to the radio broadcast.

[Nothingface]

How seriously you take Tommy should be as seriously as he takes himself.

If his whole homerism thing is part of a pre-meditated blowhard shtick (sort of like Don Cherry as Bostonians should be at least a bit familar...) then you can take it as humour, and it's not so bad.

If he is genuine in his comments (like Calderon should have his fingers broken...) then, well, that is just sad.

Unfortunately I think with Tommy, what we see is the real Tommy.

[sully00]

The funny thing people seem to miss about Tommy is that you are getting a unique insight into the game. People have been trying to get coaches to wear mikes for years in that sense Tommy is quite ahead of his time. He gives you the coaches reaction to the play and the calls and the performance. I think it always works better as a 3 man booth with Cous who is more of a players view guy and people like that a lot better but unfortunately two of the best "player "analysts have other jobs in the organization and aren't available.

I think it would be fun to try and get Max and Tommy doing games together with Mike doing the play by play.

[GoGoCeltics]

Tommy offers plenty of insight into the game, but he just cries about every ambiguous call. I give credit where credit is due, and sometimes the Celtics just get outplayed. I can NOT stand it when people just blame it on the refs as if they have a personal vendetta against (insert favorite team here). Get over it. That is why I don't like listening to Tommy. The Celtics are far and away my favorite team and never for a moment have I rooted for anyone else, but I disagree with the notion that "bleeding green" is synonymous with "crying about every call against the C's."

[Nothingface]

The funny thing people seem to miss about Tommy is that you are getting a unique insight into the game. People have been trying to get coaches to wear mikes for years in that sense Tommy is quite ahead of his time. He gives you the coaches reaction to the play and the calls and the performance. I think it always works better as a 3 man booth with Cous who is more of a players view guy and people like that a lot better but unfortunately two of the best "player "analysts have other jobs in the organization and aren't available.

I think it would be fun to try and get Max and Tommy doing games together with Mike doing the play by play.

I think an important part of being a coach is being critical of your own players. I don't think what we see from him is a coaches insight at all.

[tombattor]

God, what's up with all these trash threads these days? Why fire Tommy? He's the broadcaster for the Celtics. Every team's broadcaster is biased towards that team. Tommy is no exception. Ok, maybe he takes it a little farther than most or all of them. But who cares? It's just part of entertainment.

Maybe you're not one of those, but I, as a Celtic fan, like listening to Tommy. Why? Because he's on my side, rooting for the same team, etc. For that reason, he continues to have his job and is loved among the Celtic nation. Also, he may be extremely biased, but you can't question his love and knowledge on the game.

[celtsloyalty]

no doubt he's a homer and always thinks the C's are getting screwed, usually I just laugh it off.

Man, I wish I could do the same. But the fact is people see Tommy as a generalization of Celtics fans. Unfortunately, some fellow Celtics fans indulge in being represented by a whiny old coot who cries and moans all game like he's got a perpetual period of PMS. I resent this man being our figurehead, I want to be seen as an objective fan willing to give respect where its due and see reality without being effected by the green Kool-Aid. Sadly, this is an uphill battle when the mouthpiece of your team is blithering on every night about how such and such opposing Center is committing human rights violations on Celtics players when he so much as looks at Pierce, Allen, or Garnett the wrong way. If Tommy was generally mad about the state of officiating in general then okay, but I've never heard him say the ref made a bad call against the other team, and he was noticeably silent the other night when Rudy Gay got his tooth karate chopped in half with no call. If that was the other way around and it was Pierce who got his tooth knocked out with no call, Tommy would have had a conniption on the sidelines. Actually heres proof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjU3nvru9wA

haha that video is awesome. I love having Tommy announce the games when the ref's are doing horribly because he's loud abnoxious and entertaining. Plus I feel like I have my own celtics spokesperson right on the sidelines to yell at the ref's. But the last couple years he just seems to complain about the refs screwing the Celtics on a nightley basis, which gets annoying.

[sully00]

-= original quote snipped =-



I think an important part of being a coach is being critical of your own players. I don't think what we see from him is a coaches insight at all.

I don't know how much of the C's you see so I can't really gauge whether your are talking about 3 or 4 times a year or 50 or 60 games. Tommy does not often come out and kill "his" team's players, nor do most good coaches. He frequently addresses plays, judgement, and effort. He frequently is giving you a coaches reaction in his call. Sure he is over the top with the refs and at times can come off as being a protective of players but he is also critical as well.

[Magz50]

Ah so that is who that guy was! I switched to the C's game last night during halftime in the Spurs game and was immediately irritated by the commentator saying Butler commited offensive fouls when he was abusing Pierce in crunch time. I was like..wtf is this homer commentator talking about. I had no idea who it was. It was pretty sad to listen to lol. At least i know his name now!

[pierced]

y rant on Tommy? If you hate him then don tbe a Celts fan!

[BrokenLeftyJumper]

Wow, it seems like a lot of responses are from those hoping Tommy is reading this so they can get a Tommy Point. Yipeee!!!

(1) Tommy is entertaining - I just don't get this argument. Entertaining in what way? He b*tches and cries about everything? How is that entertaining? If that's entertainment, then heading down to the old folks home must be an awesome Friday night activity for some of you guys. Seriously, someone needs let me know how he's entertaining. Is it the brutal Yao Ming chopsticks type jokes? You all must still be amused by the "old peepee in your coke" song, too.

Tommy is like the "loud guy" at games. Now, I'll admit the 'loud guy' can be amusing at first. But after about a half hour of sitting near the loud guy, as the jokes get stupider and stupider, everyone in his damn section wants him to put a friggin cork in it or at least get some new material. You all that support Tommy are like the buddies of the "loud guy." You know the spineless jellyfish who sit around the loud guy and giggle like school girls at everything he says and egg him on to keep it up despite the fact nobody else is laughing.

(2) Tommy supports the Celtics so I'll follow him to hell and back - Must be some real party liners who throw this argument out there. Probably the same people who loved the Joe Forte pick because it was "Red's pick." The same people who thought "who cares that he's a 6'3 shooting guard with no handle, no hops, a busted jump shot, and a propensity for wearing shirts with Snoopy on them, as well as a gun collection that Sebastian Telfair would envy, he's RED'S pick!!! He'll be the next Jordan!!"

Come on, just because Tommy loves the Celtics does not mean he isn't a freakin bag of wind.

For anyone that plays ball, you must know the teammate whose always trying to call 3 seconds, illegal defense, palming violations and the like. Now, do you just support that guy cuz he's on your team? Nah, at some point during the game, your gonna be like "listen rulebook nazi, STFU and play ball, enough with the Bill Lambeer act."

(3) Tommy as knowledgeable analyst - Please. I know he was coach of the year and his teams did very well during his time as coach, but even he will admit that all he did was roll the ball out and let the guys play with it. The NBA has changed. Tommy's only insight into actual coaching is his simplified notion that running more automatically leads to more winning. Worked thirty years ago Tommy, but if you'd chill with the stubborn high horse viewpoint, you might realize that's not necessarily the case in today's NBA. And how bout Tommy's keys to the game, those are really insightful aren't they. They generally sound something like: (1). Score more points than the other team and (2) Get more tommy points than the other team. Listen to Hubie Brown, the guy is just as senile as Tommy, but he actually understands the league beyond "ahhh, the refs have it in for the Celtics." Or listen to Cedric Maxwell, he's a Celtics fan, but he'll at least tell it how it is, instead of giving us this fantasyland created by Comrade Heinsohn. I'll take the truth any day over some douche just telling me what he thinks I want to hear.

(4) Tommy represents us as Celtics fans - Hell no. I like to think there are some of us out there who watched last nights game and said in there heads: "Damn, Caron Butler worked Pierce on two straight plays, even pimping a game winning layup with 15 seconds left. Respect." Instead of "Well the Wizards just scored so as soon we see the replay I'll tell you what call the referee missed on that play, so we can keep up our reputation as being miserable sore losers who cannot accept defeat without trying to pin the blame on someone else." Damn, Tommy does not represent me or any other clear thinking Celtics fans. I love the C's but I'm not about to straight up say something is one way when video evidence right in front of me is saying that its the other. That only makes you look a total clown, and if you want Tommy to represent you, then thats exactly what you are. Be proud.