| | BOSTON -- Casey Meserve stood on the parquet floor at the
FleetCenter on Wednesday wearing a Celtics tank top and an
expression longer than a full-court pass.
|  | | Antoine Walker helped the Celtics send out the 53-year-old playing surface with one last victory. |
She'd fought through traffic for the final chance to visit the floor that has played host to all of Boston's 16 championship teams, and every player in basketball's Hall of Fame.
The parquet, which has been in use 53 years, was being retired
after Wednesday night's game against Atlanta.
"It's horrible," Meserve, 19, of Pembroke, said between heavy
sighs. "It's a shame. It's been through so much. Havlicek stole
the ball here. Larry Bird did so many incredible things. It's not
just a floor."
The team allowed fans to take the floor for three hours
Wednesday afternoon, and they came in droves.
Some hoisted fake 3-pointers and free throws, others carried
their children over the beaten wood and bolts, pointing to spots
that were scenes of great Celtics moments.
"This is the end of an era," said Kerry Struble, 33, of Wolfboro, N.H., moments after he picked himself up off the Celtics leprechaun at center court, where he'd posed for a picture.
The parquet was built for $11,000 during World War II. Because
of a wood shortage, the floor was made with short boards of red oak
of varying lengths and widths. When the Celtics moved out of the
old Boston Garden in 1996, they took the floor with them.
The floor had various imperfections, from wide seams between the
boards to supposed dead spots, where the Celtics were said to
direct opponents in hopes of stealing the ball.
But the the reason the Celtics have won 16 NBA titles wasn't the
floorboards but the players they supported. And that's why Bill
Russell, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, K.C. Jones and Tommy Heinsohn
came back Wednesday night to share their favorite Celtics moments
in a halftime ceremony called "Parquet Memories."
"Tonight, they've given us 45 seconds to express 50 years of a
relationship," Cousy said. "This floor was a part of all that. It
watched over the greatest sports team dynasty that ever was, and
probably than ever will be."
The new $200,000 floor will look much the same as the old one,
complete with the leprechaun at center court. But it will have a
shock-absorbing system that should ease the wear and tear on the
players.
The team said it would salvage some boards from the old floor
and use them as replacements boards on the new surface, which
should be in place when the Celtics play Cleveland on Jan. 3.
This nod to tradition mattered little to John Daley, 59, of
Needham. He remembered firing off a letter of advice to Red
Auerbach when he was boy, heartbroken over a Celtics playoff loss.
He also remembers the string of 11 championships in 13 years.
"Why would you want to get rid of it?" he said.
Some fans had a decidedly more practical approach to the last days
of parquet.
Tammy Struble, 29, a self-described basketball maven, said she didn't understand all the hubbub over a collection of worn boards.
"I feel a little geeky here," she said. "There's no mystique.
It's just a floor."
Craig Cameron, 18, of Hopkinton, said a closer look at the floor
was an eye-opener for him. It probably does need to be replaced, he
said.
"It seems like it's getting a little old," he said. "At the same time, it's a shame. It's a link to the past, to the Garden's glory days. Besides the (championship) banners, this is all that's left."
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