We keep moving forward

It wouldn't be necessary to start this column with a cliche-description on how Celtic fans feel today or how the team feels. Everyone's hurting this morning after last night's tough (understatement) loss and will be for the foreseeable future. There's so many questions about this team ahead and just as many questions looking into the past, going back to last night's game.

Somehow, some way, they just couldn't pull it out. Regardless of what happened, the Lakers do deserve credit for winning that series last night. I will in fact give them their due.

What is there to even say? I could write how much I dislike Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest's sudden clutch performance, Sasha icing the game at the line, or dirty Derek Fisher's big three-pointer. I won't. I also won't write about Ray Allen having another cold game, Kevin Garnett's wasted performance, or the lack of a clutch rebound or stop when they needed. If you expect me to touch upon the 13 point lead that was blown, I won't do that either. It was in the third quarter and leads in the NBA don't mean as much -- let ESPN make a big deal about it if they want, you know, if you can turn on the TV.

What I will say is this. I had a feeling last night during the 4th quarter I didn't like. The game was close, with the Celtics either up a point or two, or down a point or two. And then it hit me.

I didn't think they were going to win.

I consider myself to be optimistic and realistic about sports -- even my Boston teams. I can place my bias aside when necessary, and last night I did that. But I realized I had lost something I once had. From the years 2004-2008, I always had the gut feeling our teams would pull out the big wins when they needed to, and the usually did. The big losses started to pile up, however. The 2006 AFC championship to the Colts, the 2007 Super Bowl, 2008 Game 7 of the ALCS at Tampa, and then two brutal playoff perfomances by the Red Sox and Patriots last year in 2009. Though it was just two years ago the Celtics won the title, something last night didn't feel right to me.

We've been so blessed and so fortunate to have seen all of these titles in our short lives. And there's plenty more in our future, too. If we're all lucky enough to live another sixty years, you can bet we'll see plenty more championships in the city of Boston. When you go to the playoffs as much as Boston teams do, you're going to win a lot of championships, and you're going to lose a lot of championships. It's the way sports work. Celtics fans will be waking up in November, ready to rumble for the long haul of the season and for another title run. Nobody knows what the team will look like, but there's the hope that sports gives us that keeps us coming back for more.

I hope my confidence in my team's ability to win the big one comes back. I miss it -- and I need it. Though we all hurt today, we can be proud we got there, got to see it and be a part of it, and just do what we've always been doing. Keep moving forward.

JMO