Sunday, May 11, 2008
Bandwagon and fair-weather
The Celts are a very frustrating team. ... I always liked Delonte. ... OK, so there are a lot of fair-weather Celts fans these days. But I'd submit A.) there are many different shades of fair-weather fans. B.) Mike Bibby was wrong to say Celts fans were fair-weather in the way he meant it. The fact is that the Celts, even at the lowest of their lows, were still drawing bigger crowds than, say, oh, Bibby's Hawks. Here are the NBA attendance records. There's definitely been a fair-weather attendance increase this year, to an average 18,624, 12th best in the NBA, up from 16,843, 20th best, last year. But it's not that big of a difference. Granted, there would have been more fans this year if the Garden was bigger. And, granted, they were practically giving away tickets last year. But my point is that core Celts fans, by and large, hung in there over the gloomy M.L Carr/Pitino/Phase One Trader Danny eras. The crowds were thinner, quieter and younger. But it was still pretty amazing that anyone bothered to show up during last year's fight-to-the-bottom debacle. ...
BTW: The Celts were the No. 1 road draw in the NBA this season. Guess there's a lot of fair-weather Celts fans in Detroit, Chicago, LA etc.
BTW II: Who are the biggest bandwagon fans in Boston? Patriots fans. Sorry. But where were they all during the Clive Rush/Harvard Stadium/Joe Kapp/Chuck Fairbanks/Sullivan-Kiam etc. eras?
BTW III: Who are the best fans in Boston? Bruins fans. Despite the Curse of the Jacobs and despite the loss of so many blue-collar residents, it's remarkable how core Bruins fans still dream on.
BTW IV: Sox fans are in a league of their own. But let's admit it: They have even more fair-weather fans than the Celts. Look at the numbers in the '60s, '70s and '80s. Hell, the end of WWII did more for Sox attendance, percentage-wise, than anything else over the course of their history. ...
The Celts are a very frustrating team. ... I always liked Delonte. ... OK, so there are a lot of fair-weather Celts fans these days. But I'd submit A.) there are many different shades of fair-weather fans. B.) Mike Bibby was wrong to say Celts fans were fair-weather in the way he meant it. The fact is that the Celts, even at the lowest of their lows, were still drawing bigger crowds than, say, oh, Bibby's Hawks. Here are the NBA attendance records. There's definitely been a fair-weather attendance increase this year, to an average 18,624, 12th best in the NBA, up from 16,843, 20th best, last year. But it's not that big of a difference. Granted, there would have been more fans this year if the Garden was bigger. And, granted, they were practically giving away tickets last year. But my point is that core Celts fans, by and large, hung in there over the gloomy M.L Carr/Pitino/Phase One Trader Danny eras. The crowds were thinner, quieter and younger. But it was still pretty amazing that anyone bothered to show up during last year's fight-to-the-bottom debacle. ...
BTW: The Celts were the No. 1 road draw in the NBA this season. Guess there's a lot of fair-weather Celts fans in Detroit, Chicago, LA etc.
BTW II: Who are the biggest bandwagon fans in Boston? Patriots fans. Sorry. But where were they all during the Clive Rush/Harvard Stadium/Joe Kapp/Chuck Fairbanks/Sullivan-Kiam etc. eras?
BTW III: Who are the best fans in Boston? Bruins fans. Despite the Curse of the Jacobs and despite the loss of so many blue-collar residents, it's remarkable how core Bruins fans still dream on.
BTW IV: Sox fans are in a league of their own. But let's admit it: They have even more fair-weather fans than the Celts. Look at the numbers in the '60s, '70s and '80s. Hell, the end of WWII did more for Sox attendance, percentage-wise, than anything else over the course of their history. ...
