Dance distraction?

The Celtics announced the addition of a dance team for the 2006-2007 season today, ending their holdout as the last team in the NBA without one.

For some, this announcement is a non-issue because it does not relate directly to basketball. Having dancers on the sidelines will not help Doc Rivers with his late-game substitutions and will not teach Al Jefferson how to rotate on defense.

The Celtics insist on entertaining their fans during every break in the action. (Globe Staff Photo/Erik Jacobs)

But the presence of a dance team will certainly have an impact on the experience of attending a Celtics game at the Garden next season. The Hartford Courant’s Matt Eagan, for one, has an opinion on this development. Speaking from the most conservative viewpoint, Eagan sees the formation of a dance team as the last step in transforming a franchise that was once more traditional than any other into just another team.

I don’t agree with the severity of Eagan’s assessment, but I agree with his viewpoint. Dan Shaughnessy wrote two weeks ago about the “NASCAR-ization” of Fenway Park. While Fenway was once an example of all that was pure about baseball, Shaughnessy lamented the fact that, “Everything (at Fenway) is sponsored. Everything is for sale.” This, he argued, takes away from the Fenway experience.

To be fair, the NBA has always been far more focused on entertainment than Major League Baseball, to the point where blaring hip-hip during timeouts seems almost natural. But for some, the Celtics always have been, and should continue to be, different. Bill Russell, Red Auerbach, Larry Bird, and Bob Cousy worked hard to give them that right.

This past season, the Celtics brought in dancers from the outside to entertain fans during games. They also had contests, trivia questions, and other entertainers during every break in the action. There is rarely, if ever, a quiet moment to reflect on or talk about the game.

For casual fans that need to be entertained, all of the peripheral entertainment is part of the experience of attending a game. I could personally do without it, but in this age of cell phones, iPods, and multitasking, I understand how some people can’t do without a moment of quiet.

To me, the dance team is not the real issue. The days when attending a Celtics game purely for the sake of the basketball are long gone and have been for quite some time. If they were not adding a dance team, the Celtics would add another contest or give Lucky a few extra shots at the basket.

On the outside, it may look like the Celtics have finally sold out, but from the stands, not much will have changed.