Tasteless Boston Globe Quote

I’d be more upset with the Globe stealing your site’s name for their “Celtics Blog” than this reporter asking a question that has crossed my mind many times I attend games at the Garden.

The reporter’s choice of the word “skanky” was pretty harsh, but the “Celtic Dancers” are probably more apropos at the Foxy lady than a Celtics game.

I was curious to see Wyc say that “most” of his season ticket holders were in favor of this act. I’m guessing that 40% or more of the season ticket holders find the dancers objectionable for one reason or another. I go to Celtics games to see pro basketball. A dance troupe has no connection to the sport at all. I also find the dance group very disrespectful to Red’s legacy.

I have thought since last year that the Celtics Dancers are just a peep show in cheerleaders clothing, and don’t really belong at a basketball game. However, calling them skanky was kind of personal and unnecessary.

‘Skanky’ isn’t subtle, but neither are the Celtics Strippers. What’s more trashy is the Celtics having them—at very least in the style that they do—at all.

I also think Wyc is missing the boat here. Just because a majority of his season ticket purchasers are macho men saying, ‘yeah, bring ’em on’, doesn’t mean that it’s not short-sighted and antediluvian of them. Those male ticket purchasers bring women and girls to the game, and I believe they are more likely to be turned off by them and not return.

I know I’m not taking my nieces—or nephews—to see the team live while they have them.

Wyc is delusional if he thinks he’s built a contender for 5 years. Three tops and the dropoff is likely to rival last season.

I’m with Clover and Indeed. Between Lucky and the civil things they do during timeouts and halftime, there’s plenty of entertainment without the cheerleaders. The one game last year we had seats close to the court, I was squirming at the cheerleader acts with my wife next to me elbowing the crap out of my arm. (I’d just as soon have a Matt Hughes armbar applied than eat my wife’s repeated elbows) So every time they came out after that, out of self preservation, I ran to the concession stand.

My daughter in law is a cheerleader for our local arena football team and their acts are tasteful and entertaining. They are part of the atmosphere. The Celtics cheerleaders are like a burlesque sideshow. Skanky is not that far off, but a bad choice of words.

haha jeff thank you for this important sanctimony – i can only shudder at the thought of what the world would be like w/out your brave stance!

 :P

the whole reason everyone likes them is because they are skanky…sex sells

That reporter should be fired or suspended. I think it’s amazing that people are acting like just because they don’t like the dancers it somehow means the dancers aren’t human and can just be casually insulted in a major paper like this.

Emailed the Pres of the globe, the sports editor of the globe, and Wyc. I’m not a fan of the dancers either, but trying to humiliate them publicly by calling them “skanks” in a publication like the Globe is unacceptable, low class behavior, and disgusting. The man owes each of those women an personal and public apology.

There is a big difference in calling their manner of dress skanky and the dancers themselves skanky. He should have chosen his words more carefully. There are outfits of theirs that fit the definition, and having a 14 year old son, I am not real happy that they push this in his face as appropriate. He had the right idea for the question, but shouldn’t have done it in such an insulting way.

If Bill Simmons said this, we’d be doing high fives with him. Just saying…

we as a society need to lighten up, so he called them skany, get over it, calling for the guys head because he chose to use an adjective that some people cant handle is a bit rough, it wasnt a racist remark, or a homophobic remark, he simply used a servere adjective to describe the dancers dress and dancing ruitines. He could have put the question in a gentler manner, but to fire the guy….come on!

Bill Simmons is just as big a jerk as Edgers. His personal attacks on Glenn over the past three years have been just as tasteless. I will never read another Bill Simmons article as long as he is writing, not support him in any way. He is a classes individual; Danny and Wyc would do right to bar him from ever attending a Celtics function in any capacity whatsoever, sending the message that the personal attacks he made on team employees are unacceptable and his patronage of the team, in any capacity, is not welcome.

everyone with the exception of tmcdon, would be giving Bill Simmons high fives

Most those chicks are Laker fans anyways… Who gives a crap. Give the skanks the boot.

Um, southieceltic33, “skanky” might not be strictly a racist word, but it is undeniably and unambiguously sexist. It’s a disgusting slur, and maybe I shouldn’t be but I’m surprised that some here don’t see this. Thanks, Jeff, for pointing it out.

That Globe reporter should be censured for his skankafobic remark.

it was kinda a skanky thing to say

Hey, that could be one of our own daughters out there (or sister for the younger generation). I didn’t approve of them last year, but the times have changed and we all have to adjust.

Today’s kids like them as well as many of the parents I speak to. How about Lucky? is he a skank too? Where was lucky in the 80’s

The Celtic Dancers are fine…

But if that was my daughter on the Dance Team and he called my daughter a skank… I’d be down the Boston Globe’s office waiting for him… for sure…..

I miss the phone booth with the money blowing around…

I’ll tell you what I don’t miss.. LOL The big hot air guy going around on the floor .. Give me a “C” give me an “E”………

To dismiss any ability to criticize an individuals movements or attire as being inappropriate, just because they may be someone’s daughter, is absolutely wrong Ancient Red. There are a lot of horrible people out there that are someone’s son or daughter. That doesn’t mean that they should be given a free pass. Sometimes a spade is a spade.

The guy should not have called the dancers themselves skanky, rather been specific about what they were doing or wearing and labeling that. He doesn’t know them personally. Some of them are probably really nice people, but I guarantee some of them are the label he called them. I’m betting you raised your daughter so that she wouldn’t act like that in the first place. I know my daughter wouldn’t consider dressing in most of what they do. It doesn’t make it correct though to not be able to voice concern about the appropriateness of entertainment that we are paying for. We are the customer in this situation and they aren’t moving/dressing in a way that I want my children acting. The more we ’’normalize’’ this type of behavior the more the next generation will follow suit. They will just have many that will push it up a notch. How far does it have to go before we say enough is enough? It should have been worded differently, but he is correct in his assessment.

Nobody needs to call out the dancers in a ‘family’ newspaper. Leave that to us jerks on the internets…

On a personal note, having uh, wandered into gentlemen’s clubs accidently in my past… I can tell you that the C’s dancers are respectable by comparison… Just sayin….

Newspapers aren’t ’’family’’ publications. How many times realistically do children read the paper. They are much more likely to read things on the web quite honestly. It doesn’t change the fact that his comments were inappropriate and worded poorly.

As far as the ‘’gentlemens club’’ analogy, I think you’re stretching the rationale a bit don’t you?! If someone is raping and killing people does that mean that someone beating their spouse is okay just because they aren’t as bad as the other behavior?! Come on. You are an adult and can choose that behavior. My kids don’t have a choice if we go to a Celtics game. I know I can choose to not go, but this is why things are being said to ownership. This way we maybe don’t have to make that choice.

The dancers are very “LA” and the Celtics are the opposite of LA. I’ve come around on a lot of the entertainment but these dancers don’t do it. Wyc isn’t doing broad canvassing if he thinks most season ticket holders like them. Here’s what this season ticket holder likes – Heroes Among Us, the Foxwoods shot (but stop screening for people who have never touched a ball before), the national anthem (most times), Lucky’s flips and dunks, the show on the Jumbotron, and the Tshirts and Parachutes are clearly popular (if not with me). L’il Phunk is adorable.
The kids on the bikes and/or dunking gotta go (not even a bit cute). And, the dancers should be bought tickets to LA or Vegas. They are all pretty and might catch on there.

Hey Ej, WHOAH! My point is that a newspaper should newspapers should refrain from using the word ‘skanky’. Should they lob that a Britney and Lindsay and Paris? Where does that end?

Don’t get me wrong. I go to games to see the game. I don’t see the need for the dancers or the fireworks, etc. My 8 yr old is entertained by mascots or contests or whatever. The dancers don’t seem to register (yet).

I suspect the C’s ownership is providing what season ticket holders and luxury box owners want. They want what all the OTHER franchises have. Dancers, fireworks, video displays, etc, etc, etc.

I might not like it, but I suspect the company that drops 10k a year on tickets gets their vote heard…