When figuring out the dynamics of this historic World Series between the Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox, one needs to really know only one fact.
It was first heard in May 1982 in sweltering Boston Garden, during a Celtics’ Game 7 playoff loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. As one credible account has it, a local attorney named Joel Semuels figured if his beloved Celtics couldn’t win, then he wanted Philadelphia to defeat the Lakers in the NBA Finals. He began the chant, two buddies joined in, and soon the entire building was rocking with it.
“We didn’t really like the Lakers very much because of their Hollywood style, their cheerleaders, their air conditioning,’’ Semuels, 72, said in a phone interview Monday.