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Sep 7, 2007 7:40 pm US/Eastern
Celtics' Cooz Immortalized With Bronze Statue
by Ron Sanders
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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A statue of NBA hall-of-famer Bob Cousy is being constructed for Holy Cross.
WBZ
Celtics legend and NBA hall-of-famer Bob Cousy was immortalized in bronze at his Alma Mater in Worcester when an artist rendered a statue of "The Cooz" at Holy Cross.
The bigger than life computerized statue image was unveiled Friday. Next June, the 7-foot bronze statue sculpted from the son of poor French immigrants, who grew up in a ghetto on New York's east side, and went on to captain six world championship Celtics teams and become known as the Babe Ruth of basketball, will be unveiled.
Cousy is a Holy Cross alum who says he came to the small New England college a "wet-behind-the-ears teenager" in 1946. He graduated from Holy Cross in 1950.
"I was actually fabricated overseas. I was born six months after the boat landed at Ellis Island in the heart of the depression, 1928," Cousey said.
"This monument is not for that person," said sculptor Brian Hanlon. "It's about them and, in that way, it can inspire and educate."
"The statue is a memorial of the past, a celebration of the present and an inspiration for the future," said Rev. Earle Markey of the Holy Cross Basketball Alumnus.
"Now I'm going to be a statue," Cousy said. "I mean, is there anyone in sports who has ever been more fortunate or lucky?"
Cousy said he'd like to see his statue flanked by one representing a female athlete, and another for a minority. That, he said, would sum up his education and what he's tried to practice in life.
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