On Wednesday, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino was asked by the media of what drives the Celtics right now, as they have taken a 3-2 series lead over the Miami Heat.
Menino's response?
"There's a lot of heart in this team, let me just tell you. KJ is great but Hondo is really the inspiration. Hondo drives that team."
Yikes. Like, seriously? "KJ" and "Hondo?" I'm sure we all know what he was meaning, though. "KJ" had to mean Kevin Garnett, as he tried to use his nickname of "KG." For "Hondo," he had to have meant Rajon Rondo.
But still, like the video says above, you have to at least know these guys, especially being the Mayor of the city. Or, at least, get a fact-checker.
Otherwise, you got some old guys thinking you are referring to Kevin Johnson, who is the mayor Sacramento who also used to play for the Phoenix Suns. Or John Havlicek, who's nickname was "Hondo." But then again, he isn't been in a Celtics uniform for over 30 years!
Menino would later tweet, "You know it's championship season when I flub our athletes' names! Sorry KG & Rondo, it's kind of my thing -- another Menino-ism!"
However, this isn't the first time Menino has mixed up names. When talking to the media before the New England Patriots took on the Denver Broncos back in January, Menino said the key for the Pats to win is by "Grabowski" and "Wes Weckler." Of course, he meant Ron Gronkowski and Wes Welker.
Then, when Boston was dedicating a statue to Bobby Orr, who helped the Bruins win a Stanley Cup in 1970; Menino made another terrible sports reference. He talked about his favorite moment in the city's sports history, which was when Jason Varitek hit the game-winning field goal to help the Patriots win the Super Bowl in 2002. Of course, he did mean Adam Vinatieri...but this was a huge blunder.
If the Celtics make it to the Finals, let's hope Menino gets his names right.
Josh Dhani is the founder of FootBasket. He also contributes at Hoops Authority and Eight Points Nine Seconds. You can read more about him at his website. Follow him on Twitter @joshdhani.
