Sorry, but Bibby was right (kind of)

[Donoghus]

The Celtics did pretty well attendance wise last year.  I have to say, our crowds were pretty good considering we had the second worst team in the league.

That's my thought.  We had a terrible team, our superstar player missed half the season, we play in a crappy stadium, in a saturated sports market, and the Celts still sold around 16,500 tickets per game, putting them around 20th in the NBA.  That's not bad for a team that was intentionally losing games at the end of the season.  From memory, our sports broadcasts also did fairly well, and of course, the Celtics have more team-dedicated blogs than any team in basketball (including this one, which is one of the most popular -- if not the most popular -- team-dedicated basketball websites in the blogosphere.  Fans here care.

In agreement with these two thoughts.  I recall being amazed to see the balconies nearly full on game nights despite the awful record and the perception that they were intentionally losing games last season.  I don't recall the fans with the potato sacks over their heads or just blantant negativity at the games.  Most fans that were attending the games last season had come to the realization that this was an extremely young team that was in the process of a rebuilding mode and there was excitment there with a lot of the young guys like Jefferson, Gomes, and West.   There was optimism there.    

[mhbhaecceity09]

Just thought I would contribute a few facts in the form of (admittedly qualitative) statistics, notwithstanding Twain's cautionary advice:

A search of NBA.com archives reveals that last January, 19, a Friday, the C's enjoyed a solid attendance of 16,019.  Allowing that those numbers are inflated at least 25%, there were around 12,000 people there, even though everyone in the building knew the C's were dead in the water that year.

Two weeks earlier, on Thursday January 4 against the Lakers (a much more interesting team to host than Sacramento despite a down year), the Arco Arena hosted only 17,317 fans, or a difference of 1,298. 

Fast forward to February 27, Mike Bibby's home debut in ATL versus his old team, the Kings.  The Hawks are in the playoff hunt and unveiling their new PG who is supposed to help lead them to the promised land.  Attendance? 15,661 or almost 500 less Bagheads then the Cs had in Boston last year.  In the cold of January.  Playing a meaningless game.  To be fair, that Friday New York was in town and the attendance was 18,339. But two weeks later, against LAC on a Friday night, the attendance dropped precipitously to 16,107, just a handful more than the C's had on hand January 19, 2007.

These numbers suggest that Mike Bibby is, like most outside observers, unaware of the dedication and passion of Celtics fans.  I have a feeling that his understanding will increase tonight.  Borrowing from my UT colleagues, "Give 'em h***, give 'em h***, make 'em---!

<EDIT> Please refrain from profanity (masked or otherwise) - Thanks, Redz

[jr_3421]

I got the chance to go to one of the games last year, and let me tell you the garden was rocking. Granted it was verus the Magic and it went into double overtime, but the point is that the fans came out and to me it seemed like a sellout. One of the best games I've been to.

[sns0274]

There are always going to be band wagon fans as well as front runner fans (fair weather fans) this is a fact of life and sports in general. How many people really want to say, "hey, my teams a loser". Fact of the matter is that Boston carries one of the largest if not the largest dedicated fan bases around. Boston recieved a nick name from Pitino that was degrading, yet accurate, The fellowship of the miserable. This in itself says that there are a lot of die hards out there. We root, complain, examine and even belittle our own teams. This shows a very loyal, even if distraught fan base. So calling Celtic fans band wagon riders is really a very inaccurate description.

[bringbackcousy]

lastyear was wicked random for which games would be packed and which ones would be half empty. I attended 38 of the 41 home games last year(+2 preseasons) and I was shocked many times to have the garden completely full on a night when we would play a bad team. Although I bought really cheap seasons last year and basically sat in good seats just about every game. I only sat in my aweful seats for 2 of the 38 games.

[celticjames24]

I think Bibby should just shut his mouth... sure the Celtics had a rough season last year. And lately we haven't had that great of teams, but I've been a Celtics for since I was 5 yrs old (I'm almost 19) and all I've ever known is the less than stellar seasons and the blown playoffs. But there have been good times too, the 2001 conference final run, and all the other good times. But still this is nothing like we Celtics fans (born after the last championship season) have seen. First time since Bird's last yr we won 50+ games, we had the best record in the NBA, we had three all-stars since the 80's, first time we've made the playoffs in three seasons. So it's only natural that there would be more focus on the Celtics. Especially since lately the Pats and Sox have been so good, the Celtics sorta got forgotten. But people still watched and rooted for them. Last year I went to a game, and the house was nearly packed, sure it was early in the season... but overall the fans didnt give up.
And Bibby needs to look at where he is playin, ATL has had one of the worst attendance ratings for the past nine seasons. Their fans should be jumping on a bandwagon cuz the Hawks are in the playoffs... but the house will only be packed down there because of the Celtics being in town.

[ma11l]

I am 21 and also a part of the age group that has never even seen the Celtics win a championship.  I'm offended bu the comments that Bibby made. 


Then there are those lucky enough to have seen the good times and the great teams and the championships.  Those were at least 22 years ago and yet they're still here as fans.  There's another age group that Bibby's comments offended.


Sure, there are bandwagon fans, there is no questioning that.  There will be forever, in every sport.  Red Sox nation is full of pink hats.  Many people didn't follow the Pats as closely as they did before the rings, its human nature.  But to call out one of the most passionate, knowledgeable fan bases in the country is just dumb.  Hopefully tonight will be a long loooong night for Bibby.

[TheReaLPuba]

Ticket sales and attendance numbers doesn't accurately represent the faith of Celtics Nation.

I'm sure there were a lot of tickets given away that were credited with as being "sold" so the numbers aren't very authentic.

The fact was...last year you didn't go to the games to see the C's win...you went to the games to have a good time with friends and family....you went to have a good time knowing full well the C's had about a 20% chance of winning.

This year is completely different...not only do you expect to see the C's win but you expect them to win by a lot at home.

Going to C's games was about the team and the team winning....as it should be.

It's ok to be embarrassed or ashamed of the team last year....because the team WAS an embarrassment.

Heck even Cousy is man enough to admit he was afraid to show up wearing a C's hat in public....you can't blame fans for not paying extremely high ticket price fees to see their beloved C's lose night in and night out.

[bostonsportsfan]

Bibby was right? are you kidding me? I challenge any one of you to name me a team in the NFL MLB NHL or NBA that had such a horrible season yet the fans still showed up in the numbers they did and had the number of fans that boston did watching the games on tv. I challenge you i dont care what sport who can challenge the 07-08 boston celtics I dont think any of you can name a team that was that bad whose fans still cared as much as they did.

[bleedingreen]

Sorry, but speak for your self. (fo real)

[paintitgreen]

Bibby may be an arrogant little punk, but I agree, he makes a valid point. We're pointing to the fact that he's in Atlanta. It's not like he said Atlanta had better fans than Boston, he just said Boston fans were bandwagon fans. Don't think for a second that's not the national perception thanks in large part to Pink Sox Nation. I think he's probably comparing it to Sacramento, where they DID sell out all their games, even last year, when they were terrible. Not to call you out, mhbhaecceity09, but you mentioned they drew "only" 17,317 to the Lakers game. That's Arco's capacity. They sold out every single game last year despite having a lottery team with little playoff hope. It was only this year, when they were exceptionally bad and missing players like Bibby and Kevin Martin to injury, that they failed to sell out every game. We didn't. There are reasons for it. Nobody wants to buy expensive seats to a crappy game. $10 tickets sell out but who wanted to pay $90 to see that team? Nobody, especially not the rich bandwagoners who can afford those prices and who the teams - ALL teams, particularly those in large markets like Boston - try to attract. 

To paraphrase the Dude, Bibby's not wrong, he's just a, well, you know, don't want to violate posting rules.

[BASSTHUMPER]

bibby is right....i cant count the times ive admited it the past to be a celtics fan...bein at a bar tossin a few and asking the bartender to put it on the celtics game and people jus clowin my team.."bird days are over"..etc...my love for this team started with parish bird mchale johnson ainge...and many true fans before that..

i dont want kev being here be the reason why people like the celtics cause when kev and paul and ray are done we will be rebuildin once again and those that are here for kev wont be here when he leaves..

there is so much behind the definition of the word celtic...the meaning of the 3 leaf clover...Mr Red...so much behind the green..sumthin i cant turn off and on..it stays with me...*sips 40oz*....

[gpap]

Bibby just made that stupid comment to take away the attention of how much of a disparity there is between the Celtics and the Hawks.

For you (the original poster) to even partially condone his comments or
agree with them is ridicolous.

[Robb]

Here's the imporant part:  Being right don't make you good at basketball.

[chrismihm]

I got the chance to go to one of the games last year, and let me tell you the garden was rocking. Granted it was verus the Magic and it went into double overtime, but the point is that the fans came out and to me it seemed like a sellout. One of the best games I've been to.

I was at that game too and the garden was NUTS.  such a good game i just remember paul hitting crazy clutch fadeaways over hedo and then big al having a game sealing dunk. so much fun.