On Saturday, February 4, 1995, a huge snowstorm hit Boston shutting down the airport. On Sunday, February 5, 1995, I flew out of Memphis to Boston for a week of training. We had no issue on the flight. It was when we got off the plane that the issues began. As we approached the baggage pick-up area, the doors to the outside opened. A blast of air came through the doors that was colder than any that I had ever felt. My first thought was that I didn’t want to go outside. We soon caught a cab. Our driver was a man with dark skin that we assumed was an immigrant because of his accent. I’m not sure what language he was speaking on his radio. It sounded like he was saying, “Ju ju ju ju ju ju.” We never heard a word that sounded like anything else. He took us to the Four Seasons Hotel where our training was being conducted. This hotel was next to Boston Common, the oldest city park in the United States.
This hotel is nicer than any other where I have stayed. The 4-star restaurant in the hotel charged $20 for a bowl of Fruit Loops for breakfast. I found this out from one of the guys that went on the trip with us. The hotel was in an expensive neighborhood and we had to search long and hard to find places to eat that were within our travel budget.
The guy who conducted our training had a thick Boston accent. When he said my name, he said, “Aaht” instead of Art. It was like he was clearing his throat instead of saying my name. One day during a break, we were talking about possibly going to a club that was down the street from our hotel. When he tried to caution us about the neighborhood, he told me, “Aaht, be careful in the Pahk”. We never went to the club or the pahk, but we did go to the Bull & Finch Pub on the other side of Boston Common from our hotel. This is the bar that was the inspiration for the bar in the television series, Cheers. The series had only been off the air for two years when we visited. The bar looked nothing like the set of the series.
One of the first nights of our trip, we decided to visit the historic Faneuil Hall marketplace area where we saw the statue of Red Auerbach and ate at the Union Oyster House. They told us that this was the oldest restaurant in the United States with the original stalls. They sat us in a booth with a plaque that said it was John F. Kennedy’s favorite booth. I noticed that there was a bar about two steps away from this booth and decided that this was the reason it was his favorite. We strolled around the neighborhood after our meal and there was practically no one else walking around that night. When we returned to the hotel, I turned on the TV and found that there was a -40 degree wind chill that night. Only fools like us in thin little Tennessee jackets would be out in weather like that.
The highlight of the trip was on Wednesday February 8, when we had a chance to see Boston Celtics play the Cleveland Cavaliers. This was the last season that the Celtics played in the original Boston Garden. I watched a lot of NBA basketball at that time. A chance to visit the Garden was a dream come true. We arrived at the game early enough to be there when the gates opened. We decided to find our seats then go to a concession stand to get food. As we walked down the hallway to a stairway to our seats, my friend said, “Hey! There’s Eric Montross!” The rookie center for the Celtics was just walking down the hall and went through a door near the concession stand. While we were trying to regain our composure after seeing one of the stars of the game, my friend said, “Isn’t that M. L. Carr?” It was Carr who was on two of the championship teams with Larry Bird and was current General Manager of the team. He had come out of the door that Montross had gone in. We decided that this was the place to hang out if we wanted to get close to the stars. I didn’t expect to be that close to the players at a professional game. It was like being at a high school gymnasium. We did see former player and coach Tommy Heinsohn while we were hanging out there.
You could tell that the arena wasn’t being taken care of either. It was like they knew it would be closing soon so why paint anything that needed it? The team wasn’t in good shape either. None of the stars of the Bird era were around anymore. This was the one season that Dominique Wilkins, superstar from the Atlanta Hawks, played as a Celtic. He was beyond his prime too. They were able to squeak out a victory over an unimpressive Cleveland lineup.
We left Boston on Friday of that week, which was the first time the temperature was above freezing the entire time we were there.
