paraphrase Ferdinand Magellan, what a long, strange trip it was.

The Celtics are back from their annual February frolic through the West. It was their Headbands-over-America Tour, covering three time zones, seven games, and 14 days. They returned home yesterday still squarely in the thick of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. But they were a grumpy group overall after losing the last two games, and four overall.

The green headbands were revealed in Denver in the trip opener. They were a sign of bonding, unity, and togetherness and they remained throughout the trip, through good times and bad. We safely can state they had no impact whatsoever on any of the results and, from a fashion standpoint, the Celtics are not going to be walking the runways of Florence any time soon.