Garnett Mania in Boston

Well, as Dennis Green told us to do a long time ago, we should really just crown 'em right now.

Boston Celtics fans are in absolute delirium over the recent deal that brought superstar Kevin Garnett to The Hub. Garnett appeared at Fenway Park yesterday and threw out the first pitch. He was greeted and bear-hugged by David Ortiz, the god of Boston baseball, and then spoke to the media and denounced any notion of Boston being a racist city.

All is right in the world. Boston chat rooms and fan blogs and forums are buzzing in anticipation. Danny Ainge just saved his job and revitalized the dwindling Celtic fan base, all in one, late-in-the-game blockbuster deal that brought the greatest Celtic since Larry Bird to the Garden.

Soon the Charles River will spit out its pollution and crime in Boston will cease. The Big Dig will come in under budget and public transportation will be free for all.

The Garnett deal has had that type of affect on Celtics fans, rescuing them from the bag-over-your-head state to the instant euphoria of relevance. Boston basketball is back on the map, and that's all that really matters, even if "back on the map" means somewhere in Northern Canada.

Excuse the previous hyperbole, but the Celtics hype around here is really premature. As Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan pointed out in a column about the current delusion rampant among Celtic fans, after Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, the Celtics have some of the worst players in the NBA filling out the 4-12 spots.

But all the fans of Green will point to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers last season. Remember them? Who did LeBron have for a supporting cast? Zydrunas Illgauskas, Daniel Gibson, Drew Gooden . . . and there's the point.

The Celtics have three legitimate all-stars, and though somewhat aged and a little bit slower, they are still better than most teams' top three in the league. Will that get you to a championship? The people around here think so.

The problem that Ryan has with the deal is the seeming hypocrisy of General Manager Danny Ainge, who preached "youth and athleticism" from Day One, only to trade away his whole Boston existence for some aging talent.

Where will that leave Boston three years from now? Irrelevant. Again.

But that doesn't matter to the folks around here. They want a championship and they want it now. As a friend said to me the other day, "If they win a championship in the next few years they could go for 20 years without another one and I'd be fine."

That's the mentality. Whether that will be the mindset a few years from now (when the effects of the luxury tax and old age take their toll on the team) is still up in the air.

For now, the Celtics are a hot ticket again, and everyone has forgotten about the future.

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