Customer Reviews

Rebound!: Basketball, Busing, Larry Bird, and the Rebirth of Boston

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

From 1974 to 1987 the citizens in the city of Boston, had forced school busing legally imposed on them to desegregate schools. The upheaval locally and in the eyes of the world that this poorly thought out and ill planned debacle incurred on Boston's entire citizenry is exquisitely detailed by the author. Intertwined with this turbulent tale is the history of the cities beloved professional basketball team the Boston Celtics. The Celtics have won more World Championships than any team in basketball history, including ELEVEN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN THIRTEEN YEARS BETWEEN 1956 AND 1969 a record unmatched by any professional team in any sport. In 1978 and 1979 the Celtics had two of their worst years in memory, including finishing last in the Eastern Conference with a record of 29 wins and 53 losses, a won/lost percentage of .354 in 1979. So as the city of Boston was disintegrating in a sea of black versus white... and a ravaging legal battle... attacking the basic rights and freedoms of individuals in the towns that they had lived in for generations... the vaunted Celtics... who normally had the power to give their citizenry something to cheer for... and to forget... even temporarily... their daily woes... had become a disorganized... dispirited... team... that was tarnishing the true meaning of *CELTIC-PRIDE*.

The original premise of forced busing was to provide equal opportunities for a good education to all people, but the whole plan was flawed from day one. "SOMEWHERE DOWN THE PATH TOWARD DESEGREGATION, THE ESSENCE OF EDUCATION HAD BEEN SACRIFICED. MORE THAN *ONE-HUNDRED-MILLION-DOLLARS* HAD BEEN SPENT TO BUS CHILDREN FROM ONE NEIGHBORHOOD TO ANOTHER WHILE SCHOOLS WERE LEFT IN DISREPAIR, CLASSROOMS WERE LOCKED DOWN, AND HALL MONITORS WORE RIOT GEAR." Buses delivering black students to white schools and white students to black schools were pelted with rocks and turned over. As many students stayed home from school as attended school. Perhaps the most disheartening thumb-nail-sketch that crystallized the totality of the abyss that this mismanaged-misapplied-government-legal-blunder... was the picture of a white man "spearing" a black man with a FLAG POLE WITH THE AMERICAN FLAG STILL ATTACHED TO THE POLE in front of city hall. It could easily have been confused as the devils version of the raising of the American Flag at Iwo Jima.

The *FORCED-BUSING* situation caused such chaos that SOUTH BOSTON HIGH SCHOOL AND CHARLESTOWN neighborhoods "were transformed into a virtual police state; Boston police, U.S. Marshalls, and the National Guard were summoned with the task of "peace keeping". Helicopters hovered above the streets while the National Guard marched below, and the police flexed their muscles and snapped their batons on street corners and in school hallways." President Ford was quoted as saying: "THE COURT DECISION IN THAT CASE WASN'T THE BEST SOLUTION TO QUALITY EDUCATION IN THAT CITY. I RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE WITH THE JUDGE'S ORDER."

Throughout this sad expose on a city's judicial decisions going drastically wrong... the reader is intermittently peppered with details from different years of the Celtics history. One shortcoming of the book is that at times the author jumps from busing... to basketball... and back... and changes the year of focus that he starts with... and ends with... making it confusing at times if you are a person who enjoys statistical and year reference. The prevailing-overriding-poetic "dream/hope" of the story is based on the civil disorder vein, co-mingling with the drafting of... and signing of... All-American basketball player Larry Bird... whom they hope will help heal the city's wounds through their love of a victorious Boston Celtic team.

Two very interesting things to note are: 1) The 1981 Larry Bird led Boston Celtics who did win the NBA Championship... had a roster of six black players and six white players. 2) On the author's list of twenty Celtics and NBA figures that were interviewed for this book... none of them are Larry Bird.

For the first time on Amazon, I have to confess to writing a critical review with some trepidation. That is because REBOUND! author Michael Connelly lives in the same Boston neighborhood as I do, so for the first time, I criticize someone's commendable hard work with the possibility of having that person see me in the local Dunkin' Donuts and take his revenge.

I doubt that such an event will occur, or that Mr. Connelly would even take such a tact if he were able to recognize me in the event of such an interaction; but, the closeness does give me pause to qualify the rather low rating with the caveat that in assigning 2 stars I don't mean to impugn Mr. Connelly's work itself. Clearly he has worked long and hard to get this book researched, get it written and -- perhaps above all else -- get it published. For that he take pride justly.

Anyway, to the substance of the review:

Connelly approaches the subject "Basketball, Busing, Larry Bird and the Rebirth of Boston" as a mirror on himself and not as much a lens on society or a window on the city. In other words, this book is a memoir in other clothes.

Nothing wrong with that in and of itself; but, if you want a book about Boston's busing era (which continues today in less flagrantly contested form), about the Celtics, about Larry Bird or about Boston's history, there are better choices out there on any and all of the above. Connelly's work does nothing to add to that library of writing and does precious little even to make for a particularly compelling or worthwhile aggregation of that work.

In the historical context he leans heavily on previously released works, especially definitive works by BC professor Thomas O'Connor. There is precious little new analysis or interpretation of the city's historical events and their impacts on cultural identity, political formation, or social context.

It's clear that Celtics basketball plays a major role in Connelly's own life and in the way he sees the city, and it is from that reality that the memoir style emerges. Connelly's thesis never really plays out convincingly. Instead of the emergence of a clear story about the significant and independent role that basketball and Bird played in the events around busing in the 70s and the rapprochement of the 80s, Connelly tells his own story of the ways to see connectedness in these two things.

The premise itself doesn't really survive scrutiny. The notion that Bird himself was any kind of cultural or political force in Boston - even if only through the transmogrification of his play on the court as a symbolic statement about Boston and its denizens - is laughable at first blush and remains so in the end. In fact, one needn't look much further than Seth Davis' upcoming NCAA-tournament tie-in release "When March Went Mad" to get the full picture of exactly how crude Bird was and how ludicrous Connelly's premise is.

That is to say nothing of the fact that Connelly is playing fast-and-loose with the timeline. The busing riots and other political strife - best described in the late J. Anthony Lukas' "COMMON GROUND" - were centered around the 1974 busing order. In fact, even eariler in 1968, Boston was contending with mounting socioeconomic, political and racial strife that is covered in great detail in the NPR presentation of "The Night James Brown Saved Boston." But, Bird did not even arrive in Boston until 1979, the Celtics didn't win a championship until 1982, and - while the city was by no means restored to its past glory as a beacon of equality and civil rights (as the wellspring of William Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist movement, the frequent resting place for Harriet Tubman and her riders, or as the chosen home of Frederick Douglass) - the riots, secessionist movements, and other remnants of the mid-70s upheaval had dissipated.

If you want a book about Boston during this era, look to Lehr's BLACK MASS as - in my opinion - the rise of still-at-large underworld boss James "Whitey" Bulger and his subsequent reign of terror over the city make a more apt historical marker for the city during the "Bird Era."

Again, I don't deprive Mr. Connelly of the credit he deserves for a book that is obviously the result of a hard won labor of love, but REBOUND! breaks no new ground and strains a pretty tenuous premise beyond the breaking point.

Terrific read from the Boston Herald's Michael Connelly. Though Larry Bird does not make an appearance until the final third of the book despite being featured prominently in the title, I can forgive the author this indiscretion because I had a very nice time reading his work of history. Excellent job detailing the complicated love affair between the city and its favored franchise, the NBA's Boston Celtics, owners of more titles than any other basketball team. The book does seem to end to abruptly for my taste, with little description of exactly how and why Bostonians managed to make their city a little safer in the early 80s than in the early days of forced busing during the mid 70s.

Highly recommended for everyone interested in Boston history as well as any fan of the Celtics!

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book. It combined the decline and stagnation of the city of Boston thanks to forced busing with that of the Boston Celtics. The books also maps the return to glory of each thanks to the fact that competent leaders emerged and focused on excellence rather than their own selfish agendas. Michael Connolly does a great service to his work by showing these two environments as occurring on parallel tracks but not always related to each other.

He is also smart enough not to present the Celtics as a panache for what ailed the city but still shows the Celtics did have a positive impact. Connolly also presents the warts and all overview of how the busing issue was totally mismanaged by politicians who mortgaged the lives and educations of students for their own narrow minded ends. Connolly does a very good job of making it clear who was at fault without assigning blame. As is often said, he lets the facts speak for themselves. This is a very interesting history of a critical period and well worth reading.

A must read if you love Boston, live in Boston, love the Celtics, or simply like to know more about the history of one of our greatest cities. ENJOY.

First, basketball and the Celtics didn't "save" Boston in 1981 any more than in 1974 and 1976. Ditto for Larry Bird vs. Dave Cowens. And, other than his hometown Celtic fandom and his anecdotal feelings about Boston, Connelly offers no proof of this anyway.

Second, to believe that any pro sport could have such an effect in saving or rebirthing a city is to trivialize the non-sports world, in my opinion.

Third, given that Kevin Garnett had certain conceptions about Boston as late as 2007 shows that even if "Basketball Jesus" DID save Boston inside Boston, the city still had an image problem elsewhere in the NBA's roster of black players. Hence, the "forced juxtaposition" part of my review title.

Fourth, you can find better coverage elsewhere of the Celtics in general, the 1974, 1976 or 1981 dynasties or of Bird's impact.

Fifth, Connelly seems to have a lot of negative baggage toward Judge Arthur Garrity, who penned the desegregation court order.

A. Eleven weeks was not that short of a time to get busing started. (Especially if put in the lens of, oh, 150 years or so before that.)

B. Even though Connelly notes Garrity got the case assigned to him by lot, he then engages in quasi-conspiracy thinking that Garrity was "chosen" for this case because of reason(s) X, Y and/or Z. Hogwash.

C. He engages in personal sniping at Garrity's judicial mien, etc., and seemingly can't find a single source favorable to Garrity.

D. In short, this book ain't any better on Boston's racial situation than it is on the Celtics.

A much, MUCH better angle for the book would have been to start with Bill Russell's comments, then move on to the 1970s Celtics, looking at black-white player relations, black player perceptions of Boston, black and white player comments, if any, on the schools issue, etc.

It would take somebody better than Michael Connelly to write that book, though.

That period in Boston was quite complicated and Connelly does a great job of intertwining the two parallel stories. It was a great book and the details are fascinating to read and remember. This is the second book that I read from this author and he has shown that he has the ability to bring great stories together.

Great book about the busing issue of the 70's which is paralleled by the ups and downs of the Celtics over the same time period culminating in the drafting of Larry Bird and the city coming together to handle its issues. Connelly has done a great job researching this and talked to many wonderful sources providing some incredible information. I enjoyed it cover to cover and was disappointed when it ended. Can't give a book a higher recommendation.

A somewhat cheesy book based on a ridiculous premise: Larry Bird and the Celtics healed racial problems in Boston. The author desperately tries to relate busing with the Boston Celtics, but the connection is tenuous at best. The author never presents any evidence that the Celtics championship in 1981 provided anything but a very temporary reprise from the racial problems plaguing Boston. This conclusion seems to exist only in the author's mind, and perhaps in this regard the author is idealizing the events of his own childhood for the sake of a story, without regard to reality. The reality of the situation is that most whites fled Boston in the aftermath of busing, and Boston to this day remains a very segregated city. The author conveniently leaves any discussion of post-1981 Boston out, seemingly resting his case for this Celtic-led reconciliation in the fact that Bostonians turned out in droves to celebrate the 1981 NBA championship.

If you want a good history of busing, read Common Ground. If you want a good history of the Celtics, read Dynasty. If you want an overly idealized, bordering on pathetic, attempt to connect these two themes, then read Rebound.

With a good mix of sports and history, "Rebound" is a great book for readers with a variety of interests. Connelly does a great job of telling the parallel stories of the Celtics and the court ruling to begin busing student in an effort to desegregate the Boston school. "Rebound" is educational, thought provoking and entertaining. I also recommend Connelly's previous book "26 Miles to Boston."