Dan Shaughnessy Can Stick It

Dan Shaughnessy had a maddening column yesterday that I am compelled to comment on. The column lamented that today's basketball stars are not as accessible as the players of days gone by.

Shaughnessy specifically was speaking about the Celtics teams of the 80's and how he and Bob Ryan were so close with the team. Shaughnessy then tells lots of interesting tales including one about Cedric Maxwell:

We knew that Cedric Maxwell would always have Dolph Schayes paged over the terminal intercom when the Celtics were waiting for baggage. Anywhere in America. Every trip. For years.

"Would Mr. Dolph Schayes please meet his party at carousel seven?"

One day in Salt Lake City, Dolph Schayes just happened to be at the airport and appeared at the carousel asking who was looking for him. Max loved that one.

That's a great story but here's the problem - I read the Boston Globe sports section religiously in the 1980's and I never saw Shaughnessy (or Ryan for that matter) bring up the Maxwell story or any of the other stories Chinless mentions. It would be one thing if the writers used to fill the readers in on anecdotes like the one above but if they were keeping them to themselves - for the reader what's the difference? Boo hoo - Shaughnessy and the other writers don't get access and don't get to be chummy with the players. My heart bleeds for him. But what is the difference to the readers if those stories never made the paper anyway?