I don't recall the Boston sports fans hating Ewing (who was, after all, a "local boy" from Cambridge), though we did root against the Knicks on general principle.
But in fairness, it's likely that (my friends and) I aren't and weren't typical Boston sports fans or Simmons readers. For example, *I* think that a chant of "Yankees suck!" at Fenway Park *when the Yankees aren't even the opponent* is one of the stupidest crowd chants ever. So what do I know about typical? :-)
Simmons was energizing a fanbase predisposed to dislike Patrick Ewing.
I don't recall the Boston sports fans hating Ewing (who was, after all, a "local boy" from Cambridge), though we did root against the Knicks on general principle.
But in fairness, it's likely that (my friends and) I aren't and weren't typical Boston sports fans or Simmons readers. For example, *I* think that a chant of "Yankees suck!" at Fenway Park *when the Yankees aren't even the opponent* is one of the stupidest crowd chants ever. So what do I know about typical? :-)