Agronomy Update

  “Hey Maay-horn, are you guarding me?  I’m over here!” – Larry Bird, NBA Hall of Famer It was Eastern Conference NBA play-off basketball in May of 1987, and despite the verbal taunting from Bird, Rick Mahorn (properly pronounced muh-Horn) and the Detroit Pistons had just prevented the Celtics, and Larry Bird specifically, from scoring the go-ahead basket late in the 4 th quarter on the famous parquet floor.  The Pistons were rewarded possession of the ball, had a one-point lead, a full time-out to spare, and five seconds remaining on the game clock.  Mahorn and his teammates were just moments away from getting a critical playoff win.  However, Larry Bird kept his mind in the game, and executed one of the greatest steals of his career and arguably in all of basketball history.  The famous Johnny Most play-by-play quote is highly reminisced, “Annnnnd - now there’s a steal by Bird, underneath to DJ, lays it in!”  It was Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals with the series tied at two

  "We’re not giving-up, and you’re not going to give-up either!” – Larry Bird, NBA Hall of Famer   It was halftime of the Boston Celtics game at “The Omni” Coliseum in Atlanta (January of ’86), and the visitors found themselves in a big deficit – 22 points (48-70).  The 1980’s era of basketball did not have regular 20-point comebacks like today, but Larry Bird still found a way to get fired-up to start the 3 rd quarter and he informed the referee to stay mentally sharp as well despite the scoreboard reading.  I’m not sure what was said during the intermission by head coach K.C. Jones, but the Celtics did claw their way back into the game throughout the third period.  In the fourth quarter, the Celtics were able to force overtime and found a way to complete the night with a 3-point win!  Bird finished with a game-high 41 points, including four free-throws in the waning moments to seal the game, to go along with 7 rebounds and 6 assists.  Dominique Wilkins led the Atlanta Hawks w