Bob Ryan started his career as the Celtics beat writer in the fall of 1968. It so happens that it was in 1969 that I discovered the Celtics and fell in love with them. Ryan not only covered the Celtics, but he developed a close relationship with the team and the front office as well. Bob was also well known to the refs and he often worked them from his position at the press table. Ryan was always a big fan of Larry Bird's and co-authored a book with him.

Bob Ryan covered the Celtics and Boston sports for an incredible 44 years. From his first column to his last, Bob Ryan was the consummate professional. His colleagues referred to him as the "Commissioner" but I prefer to call him by the nickname that Lex has given him, and that is "Grandpa Celtic."

Grandpa Celtic covered the Celtics from his start at the Globe in 1969 until 1986, with 2 years off in 1982 and 1983 when Dan Shaughnessy and Jackie MacMullan covered the Celtics. Bob tried a couple of years with Channel 5 in Boston but wasn't happy there and was right back on the Celtics beat 2 years later. He was the beat writer for each the six Celtics championships that I followed as a fan. I developed a sort of bond with his writing.   I lived out of the area, but there was a news stand where I lived that carried the Boston Globe, albeit a day or so after the fact, but I gobbled every word that Grandpa Celtic wrote about my beloved Celtics.  His columns were my link to the Celtics. 


In 1989, Ryan was promoted from covering the Celtics beat to general sports columnist. Personally, I felt that was more of a demotion. Ryan would cover 20 NBA finals, 20 Final Fours, 9 World Series, 5 Super Bowls, the past 7 Olympics and many other sporting events. As the years have gone on, Ryan has written less about basketball and more about other sports and sports in general. In addition to writing for the Globe for the past 44 years, he has also done some writing for the Basketball Times.

In 2000 Ryan was named the AP National Sportswriter of the Year. He has been named the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association's National Sportswriter of the Year in 2000, 2007, 2008, and 2009. He has also been elected to the College Basketball Writers and New England Basketball Halls of Fame. Ryan is not just about basketball, he also has a vote for the baseball Hall of Fame.

Grandpa Celtic is an old school writer. His decision to leave the Globe after 44 years is because he feels that the new media has passed him by. When he began at the Globe in 1968, he used a typewriter, and copy via Western Union. There were at least three middlemen between him and the reader. Now there is one. Today, he could send a column via a BlackBerry.

"I really and truly believe that my time has come and gone; that the dynamics of the business, of what it takes, what it means to be involved in the sports business with all the Tweeting and the blogging and all the stuff, and an audience with a different taste - it's not me anymore. I'm not comfortable."

Grandpa Celtic will remain with the Globe as a Sunday contributor for 30-40 times a year. But he is stepping aside from writing full time and Celtics fans and the sports world are much poorer because of it.

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