Jeff Ruland and Rick Mahorn played for the Washington Bullets in the early 1980s, Ruland at center and Mahorn as power forward. The Bullets were Eastern Division rivals of the Boston Celtics and thus evil doers, as were all Celtics rivals, in the view of Johnny Most, the Celtics radio broadcaster from 1953 through 1990. With his gravelly voice and outright rooting for the Celtics, Most was a memorable figure for all of us who listened to him. Like many, we would often watch the Celtics on TV with the sound turned off, listening to Most. Johnny was not always accurately describing what we were watching, but he sure was entertaining.
In Johnny's lexicon, Ruland was McFilthy and Mahorn McNasty, because of their rough and rowdy ways against the Celtics. This morning, for some reason I can't figure out, those nicknames popped up in my head so I went looking on YouTube but, unfortunately, could not find any video with Most using those names, though I can distinctly hear his voice in my head calling them out.
(McFilthy)
(McNasty guarding Robert Parrish)
Ruland's career was short, but Mahorn played for 18 seasons and in 1985 was traded to the Detroit Pistons, the most hated rivals of the Celtics, allowing Most to continue lambasting McNasty after he joined The Bad Boys.
(Johnny Most)
You can listen to Johnny's over the top invective against the Pistons below.
And here is Johnny calling four game winning shots by Larry Bird.
I miss Johnny and those Celtics days.. In the mid-80s on a flight from Indianapolis to Boston I got up to use the bathroom in the rear of the plane and saw Johnny standing there also waiting (the Celtics had played the Pacers the night before). Introducing myself as a Celtics (and Most) fan, Johnny embarked on a one-way conversation at the same volume he used when announcing. I'm sure everyone on the plane, including the pilots, could hear him.
It was only when researching this piece I realized Most served in WW2 as a gunner on a B-24, flying 28 combat missions.
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