Tale of two cities: Interested fans vs. glitz

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - When Lisa Censullo and Marty Joyce are in their courtside seats at TD Banknorth Garden watching the Celtics, they have no doubts they are at a basketball game. But at Staples Center for the NBA Finals, the feeling is much different, the Winchester couple said.

"It's like watching a game in a nightclub," Joyce said. "The opinions [of fans] aren't there, with a few exceptions. At the beginning of this, nobody held the option Boston could win. They thought the Lakers were going to sweep, then they thought they would take it in six games."

While the Celtics and Lakers clash on the court, Censullo and Joyce have been in a clash of styles with their courtside counterparts. The Bostonians, who sit near the Celtics bench, shout and get rowdy, the Angelenos dance and check each other out on the scoreboard screen.

In almost every way, Censullo and Joyce are outsiders. Not only are they cheering for the visiting team, they are actually cheering. Normally, they would be in a less high-profile location. But they are guests of Jimmy Goldstein, probably the most loyal Laker fan ever, who is both returning a favor and making a statement to his less passionate compatriots.

"Courtside in Boston, people are always jumping up, standing up," Goldstein said while lunching with his guests at Sonny McLean's, a Boston sports-themed bar on Wilshire Boulevard. "In LA, they are not inclined to do that. If they do, the ushers restrain them.

"The mentality of the courtside seat-holders, so many of them go to the game to be seen and to see celebrities. There aren't too many basketball experts at the game. I've been complaining about the lack of a stat board at the Staples Center and they act like I'm crazy, like I'm the only person who cares about stats. And there's no replays, unless it's a great play by the Lakers. But no one seems to mind."

Goldstein has spent much of his life attending basketball games - he has had season tickets for the Lakers and Clippers since the franchises were established in Los Angeles - and he is gaining some perverse satisfaction from the Celtics' success in the NBA Finals.

"The Lakers came back to within 2 in Boston's arena, and everyone was screaming for Boston to hold the lead," Goldstein said. "When Boston was coming back against the Lakers [in Game 4], everyone went completely numb. What's the reason people go to the game? I saw people at the game I haven't seen all year. They don't know basketball, but they know it's a big event and it's the place to be."

Goldstein credits Celtics backers with providing the difference in the Finals.

"There is no question the fans motivate the players," Goldstein said. "In Game 1, during the pregame introductions, the noise was louder than at any arena I've been in, and that includes Utah. It gives the Celtics inspiration."

Goldstein was courtside with Censullo and Joyce for Games 1 and 2, and he invited them to accompany him to Games 3-5. And they have added some lively North Station flavor to the bland and somewhat opiated LA Live district, where jaywalking is considered rebellious, if not criminal.

"Kobe [Bryant] hates Marty. He's always giving him dirty looks in Boston," Censullo said. "When he saw him here, he wasn't too happy about it."

Joyce got into a dispute with Penny Marshall during the Celtics' second-half rally en route to the 97-91 win Thursday.

"She practically was spitting on me," Joyce said. "She's a tough girl from the Bronx, and I got on the wrong side of that. I want to be a good guest, but it's a basketball game and I was standing up and showed a bit of my Boston self."

Joyce, a stockbroker who grew up in West Roxbury, has been attending Celtics games since he was 9 years old.

"I started out sitting behind a pole, the worst seats in the house," he said.

Joyce gradually moved closer to the court. He remembers the mixed blessing of a game when Indiana's Chuck Person connected on seven 3-pointers against the Celtics.

"I knew we would get better seats after that," Joyce said, "because half the people sitting there wouldn't be coming back."

Joyce became friends with players, administrators, coaches, and owners. While many season ticket-holders renounced their seats during the down years, Joyce remained attached to the courtside view, convinced by an encounter with Shaquille O'Neal.

"Shaq was right in front of me and he throws down a massive dunk," Joyce said. "I told him, 'You ain't all that.'

"Then, he puts a fake on Vitaly Potapenko and tomahawks a dunk and he says to me, 'What do you think now?' And I turned to Lisa and told her we're never leaving these seats."

But Joyce was also realistic about the Celtics' proficiency.

"We're basketball fans and we cheer for the team," Joyce said. "When the Celtics were bad and the playoffs were going on, we were still watching basketball, just different teams.

"It was a painfully long time until the Celtics were playing again in June. It's a little surreal."

Asked when he believed the Celtics would return to their championship-contending days, Joyce replied: "When they hired Danny Ainge. I knew they would get back immediately. Danny is the smartest athlete I've ever met. He is focused and basketball is his passion."

Joyce is optimistic about the Celtics' chances now and for the future.

"I've been optimistic the whole time," he said. "I thought we would win. But the Lakers just quit in the middle of the NBA Finals, and that should be a real concern.

"LA has the younger team and [Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce] are getting older. But they are very well-conditioned athletes and they should be able to play effectively for another three or four years. The question is do they want this to be something special or is one [championship] going to be enough?

"From looking into Kevin Garnett's eyes for 60-odd games, I think if he gets this one, he's not going to be satisfied. He's going to want to come back for more."