Hanging With Damon Blust

Hanging With ...

DAMON BLUST

As Lucky, the Celtics' beloved mascot is rarely out of character

By Meredith Goldstein

Globe Staff

Lucky, the Boston Celtics mascot, has a real name. It's Damon Blust.

It turns out Blust -- who spends halftime flipping, roller skating, jumping on trampolines, and sinking shots from the half-court line with his back turned -- is a real guy (and not an especially-talented leprechaun). He's 5 feet, 8 inches. He's 30. He drives a Nissan with a spoiler. And he just moved to Quincy.

But here, in the building next to the TD Banknorth Garden, the folks who work for the Celtics' front office don't always acknowledge that Blust is a man separate from the fictional Irish character he plays at games.

''Hello, Lucky," says the cheery doorman.

''How are you?," responds a beaming Blust, never mentioning that really it's Damon.

''I've grown used to answering to Lucky," he says later without any resentment.

Upstairs, down the hall from Red Auerbach's museum-style corner office, Blust stops at his cubicle. Would you believe that Lucky has a computer and an intern? Because he does. He also has business cards that read ''mascot coordinator." Under his desk, there's a case of Red Bull and a skateboard.

Blust says people call him Lucky without thinking about it because he doesn't wear a mask. His face was covered with a sphere when he was Globie, the Harlem Globetrotters' mascot. But now Blust makes history as the only mascot around that doesn't have a disguise.

''Big nose, gapped teeth -- I was Lucky," he says of being born for the role. ''God really knew what he was doing that day."

At the office, Blust checks his e-mail. He has received a request to appear at a party at the Roxy.

''Isn't that like a club?" he whispers to a co-worker. ''That's weird."

He stops to chat with Rich Gotham, executive vice president for the Celtics, who asks him about the NBA All-Star Game in Houston last month. Lucky was one of three mascots chosen to attend the event.

Blust tells Gotham an All-Star story about Snoop Dogg. He thought the rapper was scowling at him during the game, so he went over to Snoop to make amends (Snoop Dogg is a Lakers fan, and Blust was dressed as Lucky). Blust said the rapper quickly gave him a smile and said, ''No worries, cat."

Obviously impressed, Gotham smiles, and now that Blust has charmed the office like a good mascot, he's back in the car on his way to the Celtics training facility in Waltham. Just like the players, he practices his game-night tricks here.

In the car, he discloses that it's been a rough few years. He's finalized a divorce, and now he lives far from his son.

Blust stops when he sees a woman asking for money near the entrance to the Mass. Pike. He rolls down the window.

''You don't stop smiling, do you?" Blust asks her before handing her a dollar. Once she walks away, he adds softly, ''Maybe she's high as a kite, but she's always smiling. I used to get angry at people like that, not her specifically, but people. But the books I've been reading, I've learned that everyone has a purpose. And she's just always smiling."

Turns out Lucky is deep. He reads about mediation. He says his mind doesn't stop. He's into self-help guru Wayne W. Dyer, who has a bestseller called ''Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling."

''I choose to live in a friendly world," Blust says. ''It makes life so much more grand."

Blust says that long before he was Lucky, he was a kid who made bad decisions. He says he has the kind of past you don't talk about, even though he plans to write a book about it. He acknowledges that the Celtics may not like what he has to say.

''I may have to wait until I'm not Lucky anymore," Blust says, cryptically.

Inside the athletic center, Blust high-fives former Celtics head coach M.L. Carr, who happens to be at the gym. Blust gets a few minutes of physical therapy because of joints sore from flipping and jumping. He then heads into the Celtics practice court to perfect his blind throw. He stands at half-court with his back to the basket and hurls the ball over his head at the target. He keeps missing the shot.

Blust looks frustrated until he looks up to see that Michael Crotty, the Celtics' director of player personnel, is watching him from the floor above.

''All I need is a little bit of pressure," Blust says.

And with that, he makes the shot.

Meredith Goldstein can be reached at mgoldstein@globe.com.