Simmons echoes my thoughts.....Wyc & Steve this is for you.

[SShoreFan]

Or in the very least follow the lead of the Laker girls. They actually aren't embarassing to watch... They look good, and have a professional way about them. It sounds like the Celtics dancers are more like the Clipper Strippers.... where the movements aren't exactly dancerly.

Ugg, I can't believe I'm asking the Celtics to follow the Lakers. Yeah, just get rid of the dancers.

Just get some guys/gals that do crazy flips n' shoot more t-shirts into the stands. And they should never, never disrupt the flow of the game... like in the scenario mentioned by MikeD.

Three more t-shirt guns have to be a lot less expensive, less disruptive and less offensive than dancers.  Although the shirt guns need to be strong enough to reach the cheap seats.

[Roy Hobbs]

yeah i'd prefer we ditched the cheerleaders. not a fan to tell you the truth. red didn't want them and we shouldn't have them.

I'm not all that concerned with the issue one way or the other on a personal level, but suffice it to say that maestro's "Red didn't want them" phrase remains a valid explanation with regard to decisions made around this team.  Following his lead seemed like a generally sound course of action 

-sw

Red wouldn't even be able to legally enjoy a cigar any more.  How'd you like to be the security guy to tell Red smoking's not allowed?

I think saying "Red didn't want them," is not a valid reason to get rid of the dancers. So what? Red was from a different time, the culture and everything has changed, this isn't 1957 anymore. As mentioned above, Red smoked in the arena, should we allow smoking in the Garden now because Red didn't mind it? I also read in Cousy's autobiography that Red didn't allow his players to eat pancakes and he found out one time that Cousy and Sam Jones (I believe it was Jones) had pancakes for breakfast and fined each of them for it saying it wasn't healthy. But he had no problem with allowing Heinsohn to smoke cigarettes and drink coffee during halftime. If you don't like the dancers and want them gone then that's fine. But Red not wanting them is completely irrelevant.

Eh...  just because you don't find it relevant doesn't mean it isn't to many others.  Red is the patriarch of the Celtics family; his opinions carry great weight with some, including myself.  It's kind of like when my grandfather gives me advice; it's given special weight by me, because he's seen things I never will.  Those years of experience count for something.

I'm not a fan of the dancers.  They're pretty skank-a-riffic, and I really don't think children should be exposed to gyrating simulations of sexual acts.  Obviously, many of our more liberal members are going to disagree with that, but there are enough pressures on young girls to act a certain way (and young boys to think a certain way), without that being reinforced at Celtics games.

[KJ33]

Every other NBA team has had dancers for awhile with the Celtics as the lone exception.  There are even NBA All-Star Dancers now from each team, there is a bit of pressure from Wyc from the NBA Entertainment machine as there had been before the C's finally relented.  It might be a quaint notion that the C's are "different" from every other NBA franchise, but one year contending after 20 years since #16 doesn't put them in some elite status.  The NBA orchestrates most of what goes on for entertainment for the league as a whole, the C's didn't simply add them because they were an awful team and only until they were in contention again, that simply made the timing easier.  Fans who want to complain about the practice are years behind in their efforts as if you were an NBA fan in any one of the other 29 cities you would have been dealing with this for years at games.

If one wants to moralize over the whole issue of dancers at NBA games, not simply dancers at Celtics games, than his or her issue is with the league, and it is a legitimate opinion to wish the NBA's teams did not have dancers.  But it is naive to think the Celts can just decide unilaterally based on moral objections to drop them now, when every other team has had them for years and the C's were the last team to add them.  Every point made here about the distraction, interruption of the flow, etc. exists in every single NBA arena, and in many cases, to a much greater extreme in Boston.  As much as Celts fans like to hold themselves above all other fans, the Celtics are an NBA franchise that operates under the umbrella of the league as a whole, just like every other team.  Start a campaign at the league office to rid the NBA of dancers (or T-shirt guns, or mascots, or loud music) if you want, but to single out Boston on this issue is missing the point.

[celts55]

Or in the very least follow the lead of the Laker girls. They actually aren't embarassing to watch... They look good, and have a professional way about them. It sounds like the Celtics dancers are more like the Clipper Strippers.... where the movements aren't exactly dancerly.

Ugg, I can't believe I'm asking the Celtics to follow the Lakers. Yeah, just get rid of the dancers.

Just get some guys/gals that do crazy flips n' shoot more t-shirts into the stands. And they should never, never disrupt the flow of the game... like in the scenario mentioned by MikeD.

Three more t-shirt guns have to be a lot less expensive, less disruptive and less offensive than dancers.  Although the shirt guns need to be strong enough to reach the cheap seats.

Have to disagree. I find guns more offensive than women.

[SShoreFan]

Or in the very least follow the lead of the Laker girls. They actually aren't embarassing to watch... They look good, and have a professional way about them. It sounds like the Celtics dancers are more like the Clipper Strippers.... where the movements aren't exactly dancerly.

Ugg, I can't believe I'm asking the Celtics to follow the Lakers. Yeah, just get rid of the dancers.

Just get some guys/gals that do crazy flips n' shoot more t-shirts into the stands. And they should never, never disrupt the flow of the game... like in the scenario mentioned by MikeD.

Three more t-shirt guns have to be a lot less expensive, less disruptive and less offensive than dancers.  Although the shirt guns need to be strong enough to reach the cheap seats.

Have to disagree. I find guns more offensive than women.

T shirt distribution instruments.   

[SShoreFan]

Every other NBA team has had dancers for awhile with the Celtics as the lone exception.  There are even NBA All-Star Dancers now from each team, there is a bit of pressure from Wyc from the NBA Entertainment machine as there had been before the C's finally relented.  It might be a quaint notion that the C's are "different" from every other NBA franchise, but one year contending after 20 years since #16 doesn't put them in some elite status.  The NBA orchestrates most of what goes on for entertainment for the league as a whole, the C's didn't simply add them because they were an awful team and only until they were in contention again, that simply made the timing easier.  Fans who want to complain about the practice are years behind in their efforts as if you were an NBA fan in any one of the other 29 cities you would have been dealing with this for years at games.

I would be very interested in knowing if the dancers are indeed mandated by the league or if there's league pressure on having them.  Also, I would be interested in hearing from 1 person who bought tickets to the Celts because of the dancers, Lucky's dunks and flying shirts.

Although I am strong proponent of screaming hot women and have been known to hang out with those left leaning crazies -- I thought Hobbs' post was an excellent assessment of the situation.

"Just because" everyone else is doing it doesn't fly in my book. "Just because" is not a reason to have a policy.  If it were, then Fenway park would be full of carnival like events in between innings that assault the senses in most major league parks around the country. 

I am pretty sure that kids & families would be much more interested in a chance to catch a shirt or to be the lucky row to win a soda or any other a million promotional things that could put fannies in the seats when the team isn't racking up 60+ wins.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Can't we just be happy for them that they're earning a living?

[Redz]

I'm not a fan of the dancers.  They're pretty skank-a-riffic, and I really don't think children should be exposed to gyrating simulations of sexual acts.  Obviously, many of our more liberal members are going to disagree with that, but there are enough pressures on young girls to act a certain way (and young boys to think a certain way), without that being reinforced at Celtics games.

TP for excellent contextual use of the word "skank-a-riffic". 

I hate to say it, but a lot of the dancing I saw from that huge group of kids at the game was fairly suggestive too (and that's more disturbing to me than a group of alluring adult females tempting the imaginations of a packed house of distracted & attracted hoops fans).

I think perhaps we're just getting old!

[Green Pride]

The central problem here is that the Celtics dancers are an expansion team. Think about it: everybody else already had dancers, so we get the leftovers. They need more clothes, a better choreographer, and much more talent!

Lil' Funk just embarrasses the dancers. They are so much more likable, and just more in time with the music than the Celtics "dancers". If I weren't worried about keeping 7 year olds up late, I'd much prefer just to have lil' funk as the entertainment. And judging by crowd reaction, I'm not alone.

P.S. Things must be pretty good if we are discussing the dancers during the playoffs...

[celts55]

Every other NBA team has had dancers for awhile with the Celtics as the lone exception.  There are even NBA All-Star Dancers now from each team, there is a bit of pressure from Wyc from the NBA Entertainment machine as there had been before the C's finally relented.  It might be a quaint notion that the C's are "different" from every other NBA franchise, but one year contending after 20 years since #16 doesn't put them in some elite status.  The NBA orchestrates most of what goes on for entertainment for the league as a whole, the C's didn't simply add them because they were an awful team and only until they were in contention again, that simply made the timing easier.  Fans who want to complain about the practice are years behind in their efforts as if you were an NBA fan in any one of the other 29 cities you would have been dealing with this for years at games.

I would be very interested in knowing if the dancers are indeed mandated by the league or if there's league pressure on having them.  Also, I would be interested in hearing from 1 person who bought tickets to the Celts because of the dancers, Lucky's dunks and flying shirts.

Although I am strong proponent of screaming hot women and have been known to hang out with those left leaning crazies -- I thought Hobbs' post was an excellent assessment of the situation.

"Just because" everyone else is doing it doesn't fly in my book. "Just because" is not a reason to have a policy.  If it were, then Fenway park would be full of carnival like events in between innings that assault the senses in most major league parks around the country. 

I am pretty sure that kids & families would be much more interested in a chance to catch a shirt or to be the lucky row to win a soda or any other a million promotional things that could put fannies in the seats when the team isn't racking up 60+ wins.

Not my sons. They would prefer the screaming hot women as you so eliquently put it.  

Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of the dancing. I also happen to hate the blaring music, the jumbotron, and Lucky for that matter, but compared to stuff on MTV, the internet, and on TV in general i just don't see it as being an issue.
What i do agree with you on is the problem of the morons who feel it is nessasary to yell out inapproprate comments at the dances. But these are the same idiots who are usually sitting there cursing and yelling stupid stuff anyway. They seem to come woth the whole game experance. I personally would prefer to ban them than the dancers.

[jaketwice]

yeah i'd prefer we ditched the cheerleaders. not a fan to tell you the truth. red didn't want them and we shouldn't have them.

I'm not all that concerned with the issue one way or the other on a personal level, but suffice it to say that maestro's "Red didn't want them" phrase remains a valid explanation with regard to decisions made around this team.  Following his lead seemed like a generally sound course of action 

-sw

Red wouldn't even be able to legally enjoy a cigar any more.  How'd you like to be the security guy to tell Red smoking's not allowed?

I think saying "Red didn't want them," is not a valid reason to get rid of the dancers. So what? Red was from a different time, the culture and everything has changed, this isn't 1957 anymore. As mentioned above, Red smoked in the arena, should we allow smoking in the Garden now because Red didn't mind it? I also read in Cousy's autobiography that Red didn't allow his players to eat pancakes and he found out one time that Cousy and Sam Jones (I believe it was Jones) had pancakes for breakfast and fined each of them for it saying it wasn't healthy. But he had no problem with allowing Heinsohn to smoke cigarettes and drink coffee during halftime. If you don't like the dancers and want them gone then that's fine. But Red not wanting them is completely irrelevant.

Eh...  just because you don't find it relevant doesn't mean it isn't to many others.  Red is the patriarch of the Celtics family; his opinions carry great weight with some, including myself.  It's kind of like when my grandfather gives me advice; it's given special weight by me, because he's seen things I never will.  Those years of experience count for something.

I'm not a fan of the dancers.  They're pretty skank-a-riffic, and I really don't think children should be exposed to gyrating simulations of sexual acts.  Obviously, many of our more liberal members are going to disagree with that, but there are enough pressures on young girls to act a certain way (and young boys to think a certain way), without that being reinforced at Celtics games.

I would classify myself as extremely liberal.  I strongly dislike having dancers at the games.

Maybe I have a mental problem where I _just_ care about the basketball. I find the dancers slightly sleazy, and don't see what relevance they have to the game.

There is a place to see that kind of thing, and it is called "the internet."

[SShoreFan]

Here's a solution

how about these dancers?

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ken3we3xkEQ&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param>

[fairweatherfan]

The big problem I have with the dancers is that they often seem to work against the team.  <snip>

Anyone remember opening night when they showed Ray Allen warming up before the game and having to dodge the dancers practicing their routine?  I hope to God they've fixed that by now, cause that is just an organization with its priorities out of order (or more likely, one that's not used to having players shoot around so early).  No problem with the dancers generally though.

[nickagneta]

Arnold Auerbach was always of the opinion that the fans came to watch a basketball game and that when the fans were in the arena it was the job of the Celtics to entertain the fans with excellent championship basketball. Hence his stance aginst Dancers, music and other frivolities during timeouts.

The game was the show, the show did not have a game in it.

And that philosophy was okay by me.

I was, and I am sure many others here were, at or watched those playoff games of the 70's and 80's. On television you could always tell it was tell the game was at the Garden because of the parquet and because when the Celtics went into a timeout with momentum the crowd would go nuts. When the network came back from commercial 3-4 minutes later, the crowd was still going nuts. It just never stopped. Part of that was because of the tradition of such behavior over the years.

But all that was lost with a 20 year+ drought of quality playoff basketball. Seats needed to be filled in lean years. As with every other venue, other entertainment had to keep the interest of the crowd.

But with quality basketball back in town, maybe it's time to return to the tradition, especially during the playoffs. Make the game the show again. Nix the idiots dancing on the scoreboard and show highlights of the Celtics from earlier in the game or earlier games. Use Lucky more get rid of the dancers. Use the scoreboard wisely to keep the energy pumped and not the crowd loud. These are two completely different things.

And do it all in the name of Red who's name the court the Celtics play on is named after. Red would never have wanted cheerleaders or dancers on his court and the court is still his. Respect his legacy. Respect the tradition.

[celts55]

Arnold Auerbach was always of the opinion that the fans came to watch a basketball game and that when the fans were in the arena it was the job of the Celtics to entertain the fans with excellent championship basketball. Hence his stance aginst Dancers, music and other frivolities during timeouts.

The game was the show, the show did not have a game in it.

And that philosophy was okay by me.

I was, and I am sure many others here were, at or watched those playoff games of the 70's and 80's. On television you could always tell it was tell the game was at the Garden because of the parquet and because when the Celtics went into a timeout with momentum the crowd would go nuts. When the network came back from commercial 3-4 minutes later, the crowd was still going nuts. It just never stopped. Part of that was because of the tradition of such behavior over the years.

But all that was lost with a 20 year+ drought of quality playoff basketball. Seats needed to be filled in lean years. As with every other venue, other entertainment had to keep the interest of the crowd.

But with quality basketball back in town, maybe it's time to return to the tradition, especially during the playoffs. Make the game the show again. Nix the idiots dancing on the scoreboard and show highlights of the Celtics from earlier in the game or earlier games. Use Lucky more get rid of the dancers. Use the scoreboard wisely to keep the energy pumped and not the crowd loud. These are two completely different things.

And do it all in the name of Red who's name the court the Celtics play on is named after. Red would never have wanted cheerleaders or dancers on his court and the court is still his. Respect his legacy. Respect the tradition.

While I have already stated that I personally hate also the extra crap at the games, I think you need to accept that things change. Hell, Red would have people still smoking in the building. I doubt Red would be thilled that people have to pay to watch the games on TV. This is a younger MTV/Sportscenter driven socity we live in. Saying to respect Red's tradition is a bit like respecting your grandpa. Sure you do but your not throwing out your computer. Things don't go back to the way there were. We must accept change and move on.