March 17, 1963: The Boston Tear Party (We Love Ya, Cooz!)

March 17, 1963: The Boston Celtics hold a retirement ceremony for guard Bob Cousy. It becomes known as the Boston Tear Party.

A New York native, Cousy grew up first on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and then in the St. Albans neighborhood of Queens. An injury to his right hand forced the guard to dribble with his left, the result being that, when fully healed, he could do pretty much anything with a basketball with either hand. His dribbling skills led to the nickname "The Houdini of the Hardwood."

At a time when freshmen were eligible for varsity play (they would soon not be, until 1972), Cousy helped the College of the Holy Cross win the NCAA Tournament in 1947, and reach what would now be called the Final Four again in 1948. The Boston Celtics took him as a "territorial pick" in the NBA Draft. He led the league in assists 8 times, was named to the league's 1st 15 All-Star Games, and was named the league's Most Valuable Player in 1957, leading the Celtics to their 1st NBA Championship. He also formed the NBA Players' Association, the 1st players' union in any of the "big four" North American sports.

Soon, it would no longer be his team, as center Bill Russell made it his own. Cousy had no problem with this, for the same reason that head coach and general manager Red Auerbach had no problem with it: The Celtics kept on winning. They reached the NBA Finals again in 1958, but lost; then won them in 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962. In Game 7 of the 1962 Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Cousy preserved a 1-point lead in the final seconds by dribbling out the clock.

At age 34, he announced that the 1962-63 season would be his last. On March 17, the Boston Garden was jammed, and repeated standing ovations turned what was intended as a 7-minute ceremony into one lasting 20 minutes. A telegram from President John F. Kennedy, a Boston native, was read aloud: "The game bears an indelible stamp of your rare skills and competitive daring."

Trying to make his speech, Cousy was overwhelmed, and his noticeable speech impediment grew stronger. He struggled to find the right words, until the silence was broken by a fan later identified as Joe Dillion, a water worker from South Boston, yelling, "We love ya, Cooz!" This produced another standing ovation.

There was a game, and the Celtics beat the Syracuse Nationals, 125-116. There was no way that Auerbach -- Cousy was one of the few people to call him by his real name, Arnold, rather than his nickname, Red -- was going to let his team lose this game. Cousy himself only scored 8 points, but had 9 assists. Tom Heinsohn scored 28 points, Russell and rookie John Havlicek each scored 19, Sam Jones 16, Tom "Satch" Sanders 12, Dan Swartz 8, K.C. Jones and Clyde Lovellette 6 each, and Jim Loscutoff 3. For the Nats, who moved the next season to become the Philadelphia 76ers, Hal Greer scored 25.

Cousy helped the Celtics win one more title, again beating the Lakers in the Finals. He was immediately hired to coach at Boston College, and in 6 seasons, got them into 2 NCAA Tournaments and 3 NITs. In 1969, he was hired as head coach of the Cincinnati Royals. Despite having future Hall-of-Famers Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas, they struggled, and Cousy came out of retirement to play 7 games, wearing Number 19, because Robertson was wearing 14. It didn't help.

He was still with the Royals when they moved to become the Kansas City Kings in 1972, but was fired in 1974. He later overcame his speech impediment to broadcast for the Celtics. In 1993, he appeared in the film Blue Chips, as the athletic director of the university where Nick Nolte played the coach. A conversation between the two of them shows Cousy trying free throws. He makes 7 in a row, and Nolte says, "Do you ever miss?" By the time the scene ended, he was 10-for-10. He was 67 years old at the time.

He was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and to the NBA's 25th, 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams. Holy Cross retired his Number 17, and the Celtics retired his Number 14. He was the last living player from the 1st NBA All-Star Game in 1951, and he and Russell were the last living players of both the Celtics' 1957 NBA Champions and the NBA's 25th Anniversary Team.

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March 17, 1963 was a Sunday. There were 2 other NBA games played that day. The New York Knicks lost to the Cincinnati Royals, 116-109 at the Cincinnati Gardens. The aforementioned Oscar Robertson had 34 points and 14 rebounds. And the St. Louis Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons, 119-105 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

And the NHL's entire "Original Six" was in action that day, including the nightcap of the Boston Garden doubleheader for which Cousy's official farewell was the opener:

* The Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens played to a 2-2 tie. Johnny Bucyk and Doug Mohns gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead, but they blew it, as Dickie Moore and Bobby Rousseau scored for the Habs.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Rangers, 2-1 at the old Madison Square Garden. Bob Nevin and Eddie Shack scored for the Leafs, Andy Bathgate for the Broadway Blues.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-2 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. It was a rough game, with 11 separate penalties called. The Wings got goals from Bruce MacGregor, Vic Stasiuk, Alex Delvecchio and Marcel Pronovost; the Hawks got them from Ron Murphy and Stan Mikita.