I have a lousy memory for tasks and social commitments, and a really good memory for facts. So when I couldn't remember a name that I thought I would know, was sure I would know, and didn't know, it shocked me. I had a name-sized hole in my memory.
I don't remember everything that I've ever learned, but I when a fact doesn't come immediately to mind my brain gives me a signal: I know it and I'll remember it pretty quickly; or it will take some effort, but I'll get it; or it will take a lot of effort, and I might or might not get it; or I won't be able to retrieve it, but when it's told to me, I'll recognize it; and very occasionally I know that even if someone told me the answer, I would not reliably recongize it.
So here's the missing fact, the name of my one of my daughter's dogs. I know that I know it. I'm surprised that it doesn't come to me instantly, but I'm confident that it will appear soon. But it doesn't. I try a little. No luck. I try harder. Still no luck. And suddenly I'm sure that I'll recognize it when I hear it, but I'm not going to get it on my own. But I should know it.
My memory is full of all kind of facts. One of my sons-in-law has made me aware of this: when I tell him something interesting that I've read, I'll often accompany the facts with the name of the book or article where I learned it, and the name of the author. And then there's random stuff. Like right now, idly thinking about the kinds of things that I can remember, my brain starts pummeling me with random shit. Want to know the names of the Brooklyn Dodgers of my youth? Catcher: Roy Campanella. Infield: Gil Hodges, Billy Cox, PeeWee Reese, Jackie Robinson. Outfield: Carl Furrillo, Duke Snyder, and...who was in right field? I don't remember, but I'll recognize it if you tell me. And Hank Bauer played right field for the Yankees, along with Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. Yogi Berra was catcher and then Elston Howard, the first Negro (as he was called) Yankee. And in the Yankee infield, I remember Hank (Moose) Skowron (FB) and Phil Rizutto (SS). I'll probably recognize the rest if you tell me.
The championship Celtics of yesteryear? When I lived near Boston it was Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert (The Chief) Parish, Scott Wedman, Dennis "DJ" Johnson. And there's another guy who used to play guard and whose name eludes me for the moment. He ended up being the team's general manager. That's one that will come to me, my brain tells me. Just wait.
My brain keeps feeding me names. Paul Silas, the amazing rebounder famous for being so unable to jump that you couldn't slide a nickel under his shoes. Doc Rivers who played for the competition and became a Celtics coach. Tommy Heinson, player than a coach. Red Auerbach, the greatest coach, of course. Bill Havlicek, who I misremembered for a few moments as Bob. His name comes to me through the voice of the Celt's broadcaster, Johnny Most Here/s Johnny shouting "Havlicek stole the ball! Havlicek stole the ball!” as the Celts win.
Which reminds me of Gerald Henderson taking a pass from Larry Bird ("Bird stole the ball') on a lazy inbounds pass that he flipped to Henderson who stuffed it to beat the Lakers in a game that the Lakers had locked up. I remember Kevin Garnett and (pause, I see an image and need a moment to match a name to an image, and yes, it's...) Paul Pierce. Garnett, Pierce, and someone else who came to the Celts in a deal that was put together by...Danny Ainge. Yes! That's the guy I couldn't remember. And Rajim Rondo played point guard.
Other names linger at the periphery of my memory and beg to be invited in. There's Mike Krzewsky (OK Google, it's spelled Krzyewski, but I think I did pretty well, and next time I'll get it right because I can sing it to the Rzeszutek song). Coach K who came to the Celtics from...was it Kansas? No, memory is wrong. Google says it was Duke. And says the Celts offered him the job, but he declined. Fake memory.
Nate Archibald who is called “Tiny” but was around 6’2" (Google says 6'1", that's around). Not so tiny. But there were some really tiny players I can remember. Muggsy Bogues. And Calvin Murphy. Google says Mugsy was 5'3", the shortest player ever to play in the NBA (14 years.) And Calvin was 5'9"
I've used Google while editing this to fill in the details and it's reminded me of other names. But here I'll only record the ones that came without help. Chris Ford played guard and later coached the Celts. Danny Ainge not only played professional basketball but also baseball, and if I recall correctly, for Toronto (that's the Blue Jays, not the Raptors). (Google agrees and tells me he played baseball before he graduated, basketball afterward)
And then Bill Walton. I remember that for a while the Celtics were the only team in the NBA that could put five star-quality white players on the floor: Bird, McHale, Walton, Ainge, Wedman. I remember the Valentine's Day Massacre when the Celtics killed the Rival Lakers, Wedman pouring in 3-pointers. But I misremember it. It was Memorial Day, not Valentines. And I don't remember the final score, other than it was embarrassing to the Lakers. Courtesy of Wikipedia it was 148-114.
ML Carr returns to memory, waving his towel and getting the fans riled up. And some white guy with an Italian last name Scarlotti? (My brain tells me that I’m not gonna get it without help--Scalabrini, thank you Google) And there was another great center, a red-head whose name eludes me. (Dave Cowens, thanks, Google)
Basketball player names from other teams fly into my head. Famous ones like Kobe Bryant. Almost famous like the graceful Laker James Worthy--a worthy opponent for years. More obscure like Vinnie “Microwave” Something (Johnson says Google) who played for Detroit and regularly racked up points from Detroit. Isiah Thomas. Wes Unseld. Downtown Freddie Brown. Doctor J. Bill Laimbeer, a center for Detroit. Moses Malone. Stop, already!
I could go on for hours. But I won't. My brain is full of all sorts of odds and ends like that.
The thing is: if I can remember all those names and assorted facts, remember the names of all my daughter’s other dogs, past and present, the dogs we had, the dogs my family of birth had, why couldn't I remember Marble? And why did I think that I could?
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