If point guard Rajon Rondo’s name strikes you as familiar, or special, or rarefied, you may be more than a little correct. A rose by another other name smells as sweet (apologies to Derrick Rose).
Though Rajon is Latvian for "District", the word “Rondo” has growing resonance in National Basketball Association terminology. The name Rondo has its roots in poetry and music, which also resembles Rondo’s ball movements and body language.
A rondo is a motif of classical music, like the repeated action of an alley-oop between the point guard and Kevin Garnett, seen in its spectacular form nearly every game.
In music, rondo refers to fast and vivacious style, like the ultimate uptempo player himself.
A classical rondo featured a popular or folk character.
Today in Boston, Rondo surely has managed to blend perfectly his folk hero role among four future Hall of Fame players who’d dominate other point guards, but play at his beck and call.
Those of a certain age from the 1960s will also recall that Rondo was a blended hybrid, dark-skinned grape that came to be the essence of a rich, ruby red wine.
Its ability to mature early gave it high resistance to winter frost and dangerous mildew. Like the essence of the Rondo wine, our Celtic tends toward yielding colorful play and has a panache that is unmistakable.
A decade later, Rondo was a popular citrus soft drink from the 1970s whose formula was "blended from fine essences" and "lightly carbonated,” sort of like the Celtic version of Rondo.
That pop drink, the Rondo, became known as “The Thirst Crusher,” and inspired people to crush empty cans with creative authority in their commercials. Boston’s Rondo crushes every opposing team and has satisfied the thirst for another Boston Celtics' championship.
Rondo Days is an annual weekend festival held in mid July in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that commemorates the Rondo neighborhood of Africa. In Boston, we now enjoy a season full of Rondo days and nights, game time festivals in which we can never be sure what new flashes of brilliance we will see.
Another variation of Rondo is the French spelling as “Rondeau.” This is a poem of 13 lines in three stanzas. Nothing is lost in translation, because a Celtic Rondo is sort of like a point guard among a team of 15 players and four superstars.
In Medieval times, a troubadour went around singing the classic Rondo. Today in Boston, Celtic fans are singing the praises of the neo-classic Rondo.
Could there be a name more appropriate for the Celtics than Rondo, their young star who turned 25 recently?
A belated happy birthday wish to you, Rondo!
Chloë Sevigny Janet Jackson Georgianna Robertson Reese Witherspoon Jordana Brewster
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