Bill Russell (basketball)

At McClymonds High School in Oakland, California, one of Russell's basketball teammates was a future Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer, Frank Robinson. The stereotypical image of a leprechaun bedecked in green is particularly strong in the United States, where it is widely used for a variety of purposes, both commercial and non-commercial. He was life-long friends with another legend, the late Wilt Chamberlain, who many consider to be the greatest ever offensive player; their on-court battles were perhaps the greatest individual rivalry in the history of the league. Many Irish people find the popularised image of a leprechaun to be little more than a series of offensive Irish stereotypes and a trivialisation of Ireland's rich and ancient culture. At one point, he refused to play a game when he and his black teammates were refused service at a local restaurant. Movies, television cartoons and advertising have popularized a specific image of leprechauns which bears scant resemblance to anything found in the cycles of Irish mythology. He was exceptionally active in the American Civil Rights Movement. The term leprechaun language, used by some Unionists in Northern Ireland, is a pejorative for the Irish language.

In 1980, he was named the greatest player in the history of the NBA by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America. Leprechauns have also been used in jokes regarding fiscal irresponsibility, the idea being that the politician or political party being attacked has found a pot of gold, or is going to ask a leprechaun for the location of such a pot, accommodating their spending. Russell has received virtually every NBA honor that exists, and in 1968, he received Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award. Costello addressing the Oireachtas in 1963:. Russell served as player/coach from 1966 to 1969, winning two NBA championships; he later coached the Seattle SuperSonics (1973 to 1977) and Sacramento Kings (1987 to 1988), but did not succeed in winning another championship. This can be seen from this example of John A. In 1966, legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach named Russell his successor as head coach; he thus became the first African-American head coach in US major league team sports history. In the politics of the Republic of Ireland, leprechauns have been used to refer to the twee aspects of the tourist industry in Ireland ^{[17] [18]}.

Russell played for the Celtics from 1956 to 1969, winning the NBA championship every year except 1958 and 1967. The cluricaun is considered by some to be merely a leprechaun on a spree ^[16]. Russell was also the captain of the 1956 United States men's Olympic basketball team, which won the gold medal at the Melbourne Summer Games. Some writers even go as far as to substitute these second two less well-known spirits for the leprechaun in stories or tales to reach a wider audience. Born in Monroe, Louisiana and raised in Oakland, California, the 6-foot 9-inch (2.08 m) tall Russell played college basketball at the University of San Francisco, which he led to NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956, including an impressive string of 55 consecutive victories. The leprechaun is related to the cluricaun and the far darrig in that he is a solitary creature. His major contribution to the sport was raising defensive play to a new level; he is commonly considered the greatest defensive center to ever play the game. The modern image of the leprechaun is almost invariant: he is depicted wearing an emerald green frock coat, and bestowed with the knowledge of the location of buried treasure, often in a crock of gold.

William Felton Russell (born February 12, 1934) is a former American basketball player remembered for his central role in the Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 championships in the 13 seasons that he played. ^[15]. Some commentators accuse Allingham of leaving the legacy of the modern image of the leprechaun described below. In a poem entitled The Lepracaun; or, Fairy Shoemaker, the 18th century Irish poet William Allingham describes the appearance of the leprechaun as:. Yeats, in his 1888 book entitled Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry describes the leprechaun as follows:.

Samuel Lover, writing in the 1831 describes the leprechaun as,. The leprechaun originally had a different appearance depending on where in Ireland he was found.^[11] Prior to the 20th century, it was generally agreed that the leprechaun wore red and not green. In other stories they are told of riding shepherds' dogs through the night, leaving the dogs exhausted and dirty in the morning. ^[10].

the leprechaun shouts at her that she is being chased by a swarm of bees, but when she looks around there are no bees and the leprechaun is vanished. She takes him up in her hand and sets out to find the treasure, but all of a sudden she hears a louds buzzing behind her. In another story, a young girl finds a leprechaun and bids him show her the location of his buried money. Upon his return he finds that every weed in the field has been tied with an identical red ribbon, thus making it impossible to find the treasure.^{[8] [9]}.

Releasing the leprechaun, he leaves to get a shovel. The farmer ties a red ribbon to the plant, first extracting a promise from the leprechaun not to remove the ribbon. The leprechaun assures him that the treasure is buried in an open field beneath a particular ragwort plant. A farmer or young lad captures a leprechaun and forces him to reveal the location of his buried treasure.

Many tales present the leprechaun as outwitting a human, as in the following example:. By nature, leprechauns are said to be ill-natured and mischievous, with a mind for cunning. Among the most popular of beliefs about leprechauns is that they are extremely wealthy and like to hide their gold in secret locations, which can only be revealed if a person were to actually capture and interrogate a leprechaun for its money. Although rarely seen in social situations, leprechauns are supposedly very well spoken and, if ever spoken to, could make good conversation.

Their pastime is in the making of shoes for other faerie folk such as themselves. In most tales and stories leprechauns are depicted as genuinely harmless creatures who enjoy solitude and live in remote locations, although opinion is divided as to if they ever enjoy the company of other spirits. The tales are usually told conversationally as any other occurrence might be told, whereas there is a certain solemnity about the repetition of a folk-tale proper. Stories about leprechauns are generally very brief and generally have local names and scenery attached to them.

Leprechauns rarely appear in what would be classed as a folk tale, in almost all cases the interest of these stories centres round a human hero. Some alternative spellings of the word leprechaun that have been used throughout the ages are; leprechawn, lepracaun and lubberkin. The original meaning was of some kind of spirit and not specifically associated with the Irish mythological character:^[6]. The word leprechaun was first recorded used in the English language in 1604 in Middleton and Dekker's The Honest Whore as lubrican.

Another derivation has the word "leprechaun" deriving from luch-chromain, meaning "little stooping Lugh", Lugh being the name of a leader of the Tuatha Dé Danann.^[5]. An alternative derivation for the name, and the one quoted by the Oxford English Dictionary, is leath bhrógan, meaning shoe-maker — the leprechaun is known as the fairy shoemaker of Ireland and is often portrayed working on a single shoe.^[4]. This is the etymology given in the Collins English Dictionary.^[3]. One of the most widely accepted theories is that the name comes from the Irish Gaelic word leipreachán, defined by Dinneen as "a pigmy, a sprite, a leprechaun; for luchorpán"; the latter word Dinneen defines as "a pigmy, a leprechaun; 'a kind of aqueous sprite'";^[2] this word has also been identified as meaning "half-bodied", or "small-bodied".

There are a number of possible etymologies of the name "leprechaun". . ^[1] While anyone keeps his eye fixed upon them, they cannot escape, but the moment the eye is withdrawn they vanish. They are said to be very rich, having many treasure crocks buried during war-time.

Their trade is that of a cobbler or shoemaker and they are often described as being seen working on a single shoe. They usually take the form of an old man and enjoy partaking in mischief. Leprechauns and other creatures of Irish mythology are often associated with "faerie forts" or "faerie rings" — often the sites of ancient (Celtic or pre-Celtic) earthworks or drumlins. They are a class of "faerie folk" associated in Irish mythology and folklore, as with all faeries, with the Tuatha Dé Danann and other quasi-historical races said to have inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Celts.

In Irish mythology, a leprechaun (Modern Irish: leipreachán) is a type of male elf said to inhabit the island of Ireland. a familiar which increases the amount of meat recieved from killing an enemy in the online game Kingdom of Loathing. former Deep Purple guitarist Richie Blackmore often dresses up as a leprechaun for promotional photo shots and when playing live. Lucky Charms breakfast cereal.

the Wagga Brothers emblem. the Boston Celtics logo. the mascot of the University of Notre Dame. Alosha Trilogy, by Christopher Pike.

The books of Herminie Templeton Kavanagh, on which Darby O'Gill and the Little People was based. Rowling. K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer. Spellbreaker: Secret of The Leprechauns. Leapin' Leprechauns.

The Luck of the Irish (Disney Channel Original Movies). Kabouter Plop (Plop the Leprechaun). Treehouse of Horror XII, an episode of The Simpsons. Finian's Rainbow.

Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Leprechaun.