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By Chad Finn, Boston.com Staff During the two press conferences on two channels separated by anhour or so in time and a million miles in tone, Kevin Garnett and Josh Beckett reminded us that they have one thing in common beyond the standardintense fame and seemingly endless zeroes on the paycheck of themodern athlete. A extraordinary gift for defiance. Not that the way one uses it at all resembles how the other does. On Garnett, the victor in the immediate aftermath Thursday night ofwhat astute observers said was his defining performance as aCeltic, his defiance was both serious and amusing, an admonitionnot to write him off at age 35. "I'm really good at my craft and I take my craft reallyseriously,' said Garnett after his 28-point, 14-rebound, 5-blockinstant classic. "I guess being 35 -- soon to be 36, not 37, 76 --look it up. I put a lot of work into my craft. I take this veryseriously. I always have since '95 when I was able to come intothis league and it's almost like you guys are shocked." On Beckett, stone-faced and outwardly indifferent in defeat, hisstubborn defiance was enough to make you wish the World Series starof just five years ago would pack up his spikes, glove, smirk,fading fastball and collection of fancy new punch-top Miller cansand go back to the mansion, hunting blind or some combinationthereof where he spends the 4 1/2 offseason months that apparentlydon't count as days off in his mind. "We get 18 off days a year,' he said when asked after his 21/3-inning, 7-run gem whether his golf outing the day after missinghis last start could lead to a perception problem. "I think wedeserve a little time to ourselves." For Garnett, there is no perception problem. His was defiance aspride, a way to use slights both real and imagined as fuel for hisextraordinary and intense performance in the Celtics' Game 6victory over the Hawks. "Like this ain't what I do every day and this ain't what I wasbuilt for," he continued. "It does come off kind of disrespectfulat times. I put a lot of work and time into this, so when I hit thefloor there's certain things I expect of myself. Certain levels Iexpect out of myself.I take this very seriously, so you guyscalling me old, that number fueled the fire. You have no idea whaty'all even doing when you do that." For Beckett, it was defiance as petulance, an almost daring refusalto concede that perhaps playing golf wasn't the brightest ideaconsidering the Red Sox are dead-last in the American League Eastand seem to careen off rock-bottom every other day. "I spend my off days the way I want to spend them,' he said. Itwas surprising he didn't punctuate it with a belch. Garnett was reminding us not to doubt him. Beckett, yet again, wasgiving us every reason to just that. While Garnett has made adjustments this year -- his willingness toplay center, a position he has long loathed, is a tribute to thepeople skills of Doc Rivers and the respect his players have for him -- I really do notbelieve Beckett ever will. I'm not sure he's capable, and not justbecause he was central in burying a manager in Terry Francona who had many of the same strengths as Rivers. Beckett, born with lightning in his arm, has always been this guy.I remember interviewing him during his brief stay in Portland adecade ago during his rapid ascent to the major leagues, and theonly differences between then and now were that he swore morecreatively, had a haircut not even Bryce Harper could love, and was probably 30 pounds lighter. The attitude worked for him when he had a 97 miles per hour movingfastball to fall back on. It worked for him in 2003 and '07 when hewas integral in championship runs. When all was right, his attitudewas even part of his charm. But now, in the wake of the Septemberdisaster that has somehow bled into this season, a disaster inwhich Beckett was both complicit and, surprise, defiant about,you'd think the man would mature and learn to deal in humility andaccountability from time to time. It's not like he hasn't had a lotof opportunity to practice recently. But while his fastball his lost a few crucial ticks of velocity,that defiance is as blazing as ever. Because Beckett doesn't appearto take great care of himself and seems too stubborn to admit hisheat will never be what it was in his youth, I've always thought hewould lose it faster than a pitcher of his ability usually would. Iwrote in the offseason that they should consider trading him,though I never expected that they would do so. No matter how much Sox fans howl for it, no matter how loud theboos become, it's not happening now. He's a 10-5 guy, meaning hecan veto a deal to any destination he does not like. He's pitchingpoorly. His reputation is tattered. He has two years left on afour-year, $68 million deal. He's not going anywhere other than thedriving range, and given his history, the disabled list for atwo-week siesta this summer. Garnett hinted last night that this might be his last year. Let'shope that is not so for many reasons. He is not the one among lastnight's defiant duo who should be leaving. But wouldn't it be just like Beckett to stick around for two moreyears and force the remaining Fenway faithful to watch him stink upthe joint. What a final masterpiece of ignorant defiance it wouldbe. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Laser Tattoo Removal Machines Manufacturer , China Permanent Laser Hair Removal Machines, and more. For more , please visit ipl Laser Equipment today!
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