Bill Simmons Translator: We Were Little, Swarthy People. No, Really

ESPN Page 2 columnist/national movement Bill Simmons has filed an unusually brief missive about last night's Game 7. You know what that means: It's time for The Bill Simmons Translator!

Outside the Boston Garden before Game 7 of the '84 NBA Finals, scalpers were getting upwards of $2,000 per ticket. Since we were fortunate enough to own midcourt seats, I remember my father perking up as we heard the numbers being tossed around on Causeway Street. Four grand for our seats? He could barely afford season tickets as it was. That money could have paid for the next two seasons. It was enough to make him think.

Translation: You see, even though my family was wealthy enough to afford courtside season ticket seats at Boston Garden, you shouldn't take that to mean that I grew up rich. Because I'm not. I'm one of you. I'm a regular guy. I am not the least bit a pampered Boston kid. Nope.

Last year, during the 20th anniversary of that Celtics-Lakers game, I couldn't resist asking Dad if he truly contemplated selling those Game 7 seats. He smiled and shook his head no. "You can't put a price on a Game 7," he said simply.

Translation: Particularly when, you know, you're rich enough to have courtside season tickets. We bet the poor black people would have sold them, though. And we don't blame them! Times are hard!

Game Seventh Heaven [ESPN Page 2]