[外電] Allen跑去看Obama就職

[calbert (Yummy)]

The beauty of stuffing more than 1 million people into a city that on any
other day holds 500,000 is that eventually they all blend together and the
sight becomes a cluster of colorlessness.

 Discuss
COMMENTS (6)
Because they were packed shoulder to shoulder for blocks, the view wasn't of
a black man and then a white man. It was of people wearing peacoats, knit
caps, and mittens identifiable more by their collective emotions - bubbling
eagerness, then teeming excitement - than their faces.

Somewhere in a crowd larger than the record 1.2 million that flooded the
capital for Lyndon B. Johnson's inauguration 44 years ago were Celtics guard
Ray Allen, managing partner Steve Pagliuca, and strength and conditioning
coach Bryan Doo.

Allen and Pagliuca realized two weeks ago that they were heading to
Washington to see President Obama's inauguration.

Pagliuca is a longtime Obama supporter who fancies himself a student of
history. He is the type to give friends history books as gifts.

For almost a year, Allen has been trying to work this inauguration into his
plans and couldn't help seeing the stars align.

The day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a successful white man and a
successful black man traveled together to Washington to see the nation swear
in its first black president.

"Basketball has grown to such a level, but never will it ever compare to the
impact that our government has on the whole world, and our president," Allen
said yesterday.

Pagliuca said he and Allen arrived in Washington at about 2:30 a.m.
yesterday. After a 6:30 wake-up call, they departed for the inauguration. In
fact, after defeating the Suns Monday night at TD Banknorth Garden, the
Celtics voted to take an early flight to Miami to watch Obama's speech on
television.

"When you have the legacy of Red Auerbach, who was a pioneer in civil rights,
it gives the Celtics a connection with a historic day like this," Pagliuca
said.

Their private car could only get them about 17-18 blocks, so Allen and
Pagliuca walked the rest of the way. Pagliuca had a seat next to Allen, about
20 yards from where Obama took the presidential oath. Pagliuca said he and
Allen got a little emotional when Aretha Franklin sang, and both truly
enjoyed the experience.

"Ray is a very cerebral basketball player and person with compassion for
history," Pagliuca wrote in an e-mail yesterday. "Ray said that this showed
that if someone is smart and works hard they can get to the highest office of
the land.

"[Allen] was very happy to come down to the historic event. It was a
fantastic experience. People will look at this event the same way they did
when Martin Luther King said his 'I have a dream' speech over 40 years ago."

The temperature was frigid. The crowds were enormous. The day was long. But
even before leaving, Pagliuca said the day would be immeasurable.

"This feels like kind of a culmination," Pagliuca said Monday. "We
desperately need some new leadership in the country. We have a tough economic
situation. We've got the war in Iraq going on and Obama has a lot of issues
to face, but he's a very, very smart guy."

But the symbolism of celebrities and strangers, black people, white people,
all people uniting meant more.

"The American people want to be held in high esteem around the world," said
Allen, who hopped on an afternoon flight to Miami to join his teammates for
tonight's game against the Heat. "They want America to get back to the days
when we held our heads high around the world. As soon as I got down there, I
was like, 'Wow. We're back.' Not necessarily world dominance, but world
acceptance."

-------
最後一句話真棒

--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) 
◆ From: 218.163.144.189
→ lovefordidi :看無XD
推 andy80209   :熱愛籃球的黑人總統..以後會經常看到他在NBA現場嗎XD
→ jasonlin0630:雷槍今天三分球一顆都沒進...還敢跑去看什麼鬼就職
→ gohit       :樓上不用鞭那麼用力吧 也是跟賽爾帝克今天的戰術有關
→ viking0518  :3F..就職完昨天雷槍5/6三分球,跳針跳大了吧
推 karlkao     :3f糗 應該希望ray每天看就職演說才對 看完5/6沒看0/2
推 jackydai    :你管人家是不是因為看歐巴馬三分沒投進 更何況還跳針
噓 u7273       :純噓三樓...