A call to arms ...

Kudos to the Celtics Beagle (celticsbeagle.net) for this rallying cry to Beantown fans as the first round rolls along ... You can read the whole stirring tribute here (igtc.com), but here's a little snippet:

Our starting Point Guard, Rajon Rondo, was born four months before
the Celtics won their last Championship.

The veterans on our team were all little kids.

The Celtics of today are not the storied teams of old. The direct
connections that flowed back in the days when the new guys played
rookie seasons as the Legends that preceded them were nearing
retirement and eventual enshrinement in the Hall of Fame were gone.

Red Auerbach died over a year ago, never to see this magical season
from his familiar Loge seat.

So who guides these young players, with so much drive and enthusiasm?

We do.

We, who grew up watching Russell and Cousy, Heinsohn and Havlicek,
Bird and McHale, and all the others.

We are that connection. We are Red Auerbach's cigar, Loscy's
hard-nosed play, and Johnny Most screaming that Havlicek stole the ball.

We want this team to win, we have hoped and prayed and bragged and
whined and begged for this team to win as we sat through the seasons
of degradation and losses both of games and of people.

This season, they gave us one of the finest regular seasons in NBA
history. They took game one against the Hawks. But we need look no
further than Detroit and Washington to see where complacency and
comfort get you.

Wednesday night, the Celtics host the Hawks again.

Celtic Fandom, it's your time. If you can go to the game, rock the
building to it's very foundation, until the buried remains of the old
Boston Garden thrum with the sound. If now, be outside, add your
support from the street. if you're at a restaurant or a bar, rock
THAT building to it's core. If you're at home, watching on tv,
listening on the radio, or online, let our voice be heard so the
team knows we are there, across the country and around the
world. Then do the same for the away games in Atlanta. We KNOW they
never fill their court, so let US do it!