Bob Ryan Robert " Bob " P . Ryan ( born February 21 , 1946 ) is an American sportswriter for " The Boston Globe " . He has been described as " the quintessential American sportswriter " and a basketball guru and is well known for his coverage of the sport including his famous stories covering the Boston Celtics in the 1970s . After graduating from Boston College , Ryan started as a sports intern for the " Globe " on the same day as Peter Gammons , and later worked with other Globe sports writing legends Will McDonough and Leigh Montville . Ryan announced in early 2012 his retirement from sports writing after 44 years once the 2012 Olympic Games concluded . His final column in " The Boston Globe " was published August 12 , 2012 . Biography and career . Personal background . Born in Trenton , New Jersey , Ryan grew up in a house , " that revolved around going to games " and went to high school at the Lawrenceville School from 1960 to 1964 . He graduated from Boston College as a history major in 1968 . Ryan and his wife Elaine have a daughter Jessica , and a son Keith who died in 2008 . They are grandparents of triplets . They have been married since 1969 . Today , Ryan lives in Hingham , Massachusetts . The dedication page in " Forty Eight Minutes " , one of Ryan ' s books , says , " To Elaine Ryan : In the next life , maybe you ' ll get a nine - to - five man who makes seven figures . " Ryan has also done humanitarian fundraisers for years to help inner - city teenagers with their educations . Son ' s death . On January 28 , 2008 his 37 - year - old son Keith , was found dead in his home in Islamabad , Pakistan . Initial reports indicated that his death was an apparent suicide , however reports in the Pakistani newspapers Dawn and The News International indicated that Ryan ' s death may be investigated as a murder . A State Department spokesperson would only say the death was under investigation . Bob Ryan released the following statement : " Everyone is devastated . I am well aware of these reports and we are very concerned about that . ( But ) we have no reason at this time to doubt the official version " . Keith had been working in Pakistan since December 2006 as an attache for the U . S . Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency . Keith was a 1988 graduate of Hingham High School , Trinity College , the London School of Economics and Boston College Law School . He had previously worked for the U . S . Border Patrol and the Immigration and Naturalization Service , where he was assigned to the violent gang task force . Keith was married to Kate and had three children , Conor , John , and Amelia , who live in Silver Spring , Maryland . Celtics beat writer . In the fall of 1969 a vacancy on the " Globe " ' s Celtics beat was created , and Ryan got the job . While covering the Celtics , Ryan developed a close relationship with the Celtics organization . Ryan would even go out to dinner with the team . Ryan sat at the press table 8 seats from the Celtics ' bench , where colleagues referred to him as the " Commissioner " , not unlike Peter Gammons ' s nickname . Boston Sports Media critic Bruce Allen has said , " His passion is not faked . " One night Hue Hollins , the referee , went to the press table to explain a call to Ryan during a time - out even though he was not obligated to . Another time Ryan wrote a column about the Washington Bullets ' Rick Mahorn and how he played dirty under the hoop . When Mahorn was called for a foul Gene Shue , the Bullets ' coach , turned around and said , " That ' s your fault , Bob Ryan , your fault ! " Dennis Johnson was often annoyed with Ryan and would go up to the press table and say , " Hey , Bob , keep it down . We got a game going on here " when Ryan sideline coached . From Ryan ' s first column on Larry Bird headlined " Celtics draft Bird for oh what a future " to his last " Larry ! Larry ! Larry ! " Ryan was always a fan of his and eventually co - authored a book with him . In Tom ( Tommy ) Heinsohn ' s book " Give ' em the Hook " , Heinsohn is negative towards Ryan . Ryan , who began writing for the " Globe " in Heinsohn ' s rookie season as a coach , would make friends with the players and vent their feelings towards Heinsohn , their fans , and their teammates , claims Heinsohn . Heinsohn didn ' t like how he didn ' t feel in control of his team . Heinsohn believes that Ryan started to " think of himself as another member of the family " and that he even started coaching the team through his beat stories . Heinsohn goes on to talk about Ryan ' s bloated ego and the fact that he was then thinking of himself as a basketball guru . Heinsohn also says while noting disapproval of Ryan that at the time anyone who lived in Boston and even remotely followed basketball read Bob Ryan . In recent years Ryan has been less critical of Celtics coaches , including Doc Rivers , of whom he said , " I ' m a Doc guy . " General sports columnist . In 1982 Ryan would hand the torch of the " Globe " Celtics beat to then - not well known Dan Shaughnessy , and later Jackie MacMullan . He did this in order to go to WCVB for a couple of years . Ryan ended up hating it and moved back to the Celtics beat in 1984 for two more seasons before getting promoted to general sports columnist in 1989 . Ryan would cover 20 NBA finals , 20 Final Fours , nine World Series , five Super Bowl s , the last seven Olympics and many other events . In recent times Ryan has become less basketball - oriented and more general sports - oriented . He has also written for the " Basketball Times " . Ryan votes for the Baseball Hall of Fame . Retirement . At 60 , Ryan wants his retirement from the job to be graceful : " I ’ m not bitter . I enjoy my job and I still think I do it well , but they are chipping away , chipping away and they are making it far less pleasurable . I want to get out when I feel like getting out . If you stay around too long , there is no way you can dictate your terms , " he said . Ryan also asked , " How do you explain to Stephen A . Smith that he has no idea of the game and how much fun it was ? He thinks he knows everything , but he will never know what I know about the Celtics . " On February 14 , 2012 , during a podcast with Bill Simmons on Grantland . com , Ryan announced that he would retire after the 2012 Summer Olympics in London . Said Ryan , " I really and truly believe that my time has come and gone ; that the dynamics of the business , of what it takes , what it means to be involved in the sports business with all the Tweeting and the blogging and all the stuff , and an audience with a different taste - it ' s not me anymore . I ' m not comfortable . " Ryan indicated that he would stay involved with sports in a part - time capacity after retirement , but is not interested in continuing at the pace he does now . Ryan ' s last day as a Red Sox reporter was July 16 , 2012 . Ryan ' s final column in " The Boston Globe " was published August 12 , 2012 . He will remain columnist emeritus and write on a part - time basis . He also will remain on ESPN ' s " Around the Horn " . Television and radio work . Globe 10 . 0 . On June 26 , 2007 Bob Ryan ' s show , " Globe 10 . 0 " , made its premiere on the New England Sports Network . The half hour show , which airs every Tuesday , Wednesday and Thursday , features Ryan interviewing different " Boston Globe " sports writers on ten issues related to New England sports . It was canceled by NESN in December 2008 , but continued on the " Boston Globe " website . Guest appearances . Ryan is a regular guest on radio ; some of his appearances on the radio include : Controversies and mistakes . Joumana Kidd comments . In May 2003 , Ryan appeared on " Sports Final " , a local sports talk show airing on WBZ - TV . At that time , Ryan said that Joumana Kidd , then - wife of then - New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd needed someone to " smack " her for taking her son T . J . , then 4 years old , to NBA play - off night games where they could be taunted . He accused Joumana of being an exhibitionist and using the child as a prop to get television time . The show ' s host , Bob Lobel , asked Ryan to retract his statement immediately : The comments struck a chord because in 2001 , Joumana Kidd had been the victim of Domestic violence by her husband , Jason Kidd . Ryan returned to Boston to meet with executives at the " Globe " . Ryan publicly apologized , but the " Globe " still suspended him and barred him from television for one month . " Four weeks took my breath away . But I ’ ll abide by it , " he later said . Then Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney chastised Ryan for his comments . Gerry Callahan of the " Boston Herald " defended Ryan while " Herald " Ombudsman Jim Baker did not . The " Boston Phoenix " called it a " moment of temporary insanity . " Ryan later said , " I ' m angry with myself forgetting in the heat of battle that the woman had been hit . " 2006 Final Four column . Ryan made a mistake in 2006 when he wrote a column promoting the Final Four matchup of Louisiana State University and George Mason University , and recommending fans tune to see two of the biggest players in college basketball , LSU ' s Glen " Big Baby " Davis ( a former Boston Celtic ) and George Mason ' s Jai Lewis . However , LSU and George Mason were on different sides of the NCAA Bracket and were not scheduled to play one another . The Globe did not find this error and the inaccurate column was run in the Globe . Ryan referred to this incident on ESPN ' s " Around the Horn " , when discussing a topic about making mistakes , on April 27 , 2010 . However , he would not reveal what the incident was , saying that any viewers who wanted to know about his March Madness error could check Wikipedia and find out for themselves . Theo Epstein confrontation . Ryan had a run - in with Red Sox GM Theo Epstein . In November 2006 he had a small unfriendly exchange with Epstein saying " on behalf of an eager constituency , I hope the rumor ( of a J . D . Drew deal ) isn ' t true . " Curt Schilling would call into Dennis and Callahan and criticize Ryan , but NBC Sports ' s Tom Curran sided with Ryan .