Dogs and cats living together! And ... I like these Celtics

BOSTON -- This is painful.

Not sure I can do it.

Deep breath. Om freaking shanti. Here we go ...

I like the Boston Celtics. The players, the organization, everything about them.

Thanks to Garnett and Co., the shamrock no longer sickens Freeman. (Getty Images)

Do you have any idea how hard that was to do? Like many people who grew up on the East Coast, I was raised to despise the Celtics. Boston haters across the country know exactly what I'm talking about and are aggressively nodding their heads in agreement.

When I interned in Boston and first met Larry Bird, I wasn't in awe, I wanted to smack him in the mouth.

I always believed Danny Ainge to be an agitating punk, Kevin McHale a jerk and Celtics fans obnoxious yahoos who abused Bill Russell and gleefully counted their titles in your face. That latter part particularly hurt since I was a fan of the Washington Bullets, a team that would get steamrolled yearly by the Celtics.

And has Robert Parish ever smiled?

Ever?

How times and perceptions have changed.

The Celtics have always been a great, awe-inspiring franchise (which admittedly is the biggest reason they were so hated) and while this current group will never reach Russell or Bird heights, Boston has become a team you can truly admire because it has so many decent people both playing for the organization and running it.

Can't believe that sentence just rolled off the word processor.