Please no cheerleaders!!

[Gregory Odegaard <grodeg@kalama.com>]

Okay, for all you Celtics listers out there, this is Greg's wife, not Greg. I know he's a huge fan of the Celtics and of the Boston area in general, and after our recent experience with going to a Blazers game, it made me pause and think about the privledge of being able to see the boys in green on a regular basis. 

First of all, I'm a basketball fan too. I'm not as rabid a fan as Greg (or our seven year old for that matter) but hey, when you're female and six feet tall you get drafted to play and learn to love basketball. We had the honor of getting to see a game in the hallowed ground of Boston Garden, and there isn't a bigger contrast in sports between there and the Blazer arenas.

Please tell me that with the move to the Fleet Center, the Celtics didn't sell out and get "cheerleaders" like many of the other NBA teams. That I tell you was the most pathetic scene I saw before the Blazer-Jazz contest last Friday. We were admitted early since our son was there as a part of Blazer Scout night. As Carlos Rogers was in the process of giving a very inspirational talk to all of the Cub and Boy Scouts and parents, the Blazer "dancers" were going through their routines on the floor. They literally were disrupting the shootarounds of both Blazer and Jazz players. I actually saw two of them cut off Greg Ostertag as he was working on long jumpers. I kept thinking to myself this would NEVER happen in Boston! During one of the time-outs, there was a mini-blimp flying around the Rose Garden dropping gift certificates for CDs. Again, fans in Boston are too intelligent to fall for this crap. They come to watch basketball, and they expect to see a basketball game, not some entertainment spectacle. 

So for those of you thinking what's her point, why is she rambling on about this stuff, here's the deal. You whom are fortunate enough not only to consider yourselves Celtics fans, but to live in the area and actually be able to attend games, count your blessings. You don't know how good you got it! Your are smart enough about the game that you don't need to be coddled in order to keep your attention, but if it should, all you have to do is to look up at the magnificent collection of banners and retired numbers hanging from the rafters. While the Blazers are off to a fine start in this abbreviated year, sure as the beer will be green tomorrow they will find some way to blow it before the championship rings are handed out. The boys in green may not be doing so well right now, but another great thing about Celtics fans is the fact they don't abandon their team when things are bad. I'm not saying that Blazer fans are the worst in this category, but they certainly are fickle. The Celts fortunes will turn around again, and their fans will be there just like they are now.

On this St. Patrick's eve, may I say I'd give anything to be celebrating with you in Boston tomorrow. It can get very lonely being an Irish Catholic married to a Norwegian living in the Pacific Northwest. So lift a pint for me, and don't ever take your basketball for granted. There are those of us who can't wait to get to make the pilgrimage again to the land of pure hoops, and none of the bells and whistles that Paul Allen thinks we need to watch the game. Tnaks for letting me air my gripe.

Ann Odegaard