Passing: Arnold "Red" Auerbach, Basketball Legend

Truly the end of an era.

The passing of Red Auerbach at the age of 89 is everything you'll read about it in the obituaries. But it also represents far more.

Born on September 20, 1917, he came from an era when basketball's ground zero was the sidewalks and settlements of New York's Lower East Side and featured such other names as Holman and Holtzman.

Known for his championship titles, his eye for talent, his innovation that include embracing the first Black players in pro-Basketball (i.e. Bill Russell), and the famous "victory cigar", Auerbach was a figure almost bigger than life.

''I never thought he'd die,'' said author John Feinstein, who last year collaborated on a book with Auerbach on the coach's reflections of more than 70 years in basketball. ''He was a unique personality, a combination of toughness and great, great caring about people. He cared about people much more than it showed in his public face, and that's why people cared about him.''

Obituary: Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2006/10/28/passing_of_a_celtics_legend/ and Associated Press