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 Exercise 3.3
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Here is the first two-thirds of a story by Alan Greenberg of The Hartford (Conn.) Courant. Label passages in the story that conform to Gunning's principles. For example: Put action into your verbs ("And he whipped himself to the edge of exhaustion doing it, and the sellout crowd into an almost interminable state of ear-splitting frenzy"). BOSTON-Larry Bird's scariest move of the day was his 60-foot walk from dressing room to interview room through the cramped catacombs of Boston Garden. To escort their city's priceless treasure through a grabbing gauntlet of 40 half-crazed, half-drunk, half-naked male fans, the Garden sent two blue-shirted security guards who couldn't have combed Jerry Sichting's hair without a ladder.
It was like shipping the Hope Diamond in a single-ply shopping bag. But Bird, his brand-new green world champions T-shirt already black from post-game sweat and champagne, walked on. As he did, the mob moved in, and the sloping shoulders and broad back that had just carried the Celtics to their 16th National Basketball Association championship were slapped so hard and so often it sounded like hail hitting a tired tin roof.
"You wouldn't believe how bad it hurts to play 42 or 43 minutes and have people slap you on the back," Bird said.
If he and the Celtics had lost Sunday, it would have hurt a lot more. They didn't lose for a lot of reasons. But mostly, they didn't lose because Larry Bird wouldn't let them.
Coming off the Game 5 calamity in Houston, Bird had said it would be this way. He said the Celtics were going to run and rebound in Game 6 with a verve that had virtually vanished on their tiring trip to Texas. And he promised he would lead them. And when Larry Bird gives his word, just be glad you're not the one being sentenced
To a career already crammed full of finest hours, Larry Bird added another two-hour documentary detailing why he is the greatest basketball player the world has ever seen. He did what he wanted to do on the steamy Garden floor Sunday, which was everything.
And he whipped himself to the edge of exhaustion doing it, and the sellout crowd into an almost interminable state of ear-splitting frenzy. The result was one of the most one-sided runaways in NBA finals history.
| But even though the crowd hit its ear-crushing crescendo when a Bird three-pointer and Bill Walton jump shot gave the Celtics an 89-61 lead with 10:20 to go-the final shotgun blast to a tottering team already shot full of holes-Bird refused to take his hand off the trigger until he had 29 points and the Celtics led by 22 with 2:20 left.
Then, and only then, did he feel sufficiently secure to let the delighted Walton lean on him like a 7-foot puppy as they stood there, jiving and high-fiving in front of the Celtics' bench.
Only then, with the crowd calling his name in thanks, with the Rockets reduced to ashes, would he allow the game to go on without him.
"When you're in the game and you've got a 15-to 20-point lead, you don't want someone else to come in and flub it up for you," Bird said. "If we're going to lose the game, I want to be out there."
Until he dropped. Or overwhelmed his opponent.
It didn't take long to see which it was going to be. He made the game's first steal, the first dive for a loose ball. He barged into the Rockets' redwood forest and ripped away rebounds. Some he snared by getting perfect position, others he snatched off the long, higher limbs of Akeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.
"The ball was very wet because of the heat (80 degrees at courtside)," Bird said. "If you got a hand on it, you were going to be able to knock it away."
Unless, of course, you were trying to knock it away from someone named Bird. It was Bird bolting up the court to lead the fast break. Bird barging into the high-flying Olajuwon on a jump ball, then tipping the ball to a disbelieving Dennis Johnson. Bird shooting that silken stepaway jump shot over Rodney McCray. Bird flicking an awesome arrow of a give-and-go pass to the cutting Kevin McHale, only to bite his blond mustache as McHale missed the layup.
At halftime, the Celtics had a 55-38 lead, Bird had eight of their 15 assists, and if McHale hadn't missed more layups Sunday than he'll miss in the next 27 years, he'd have had nearly twice that.
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2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education