They've been a real turnoff

But 0.5 is something else entirely. When a sporting event has a 0.5 rating, it indicates a state of ennui that should alarm anyone making a livelihood from that team, or league. If that rating pertains to a playoff game, the situation is exponentially worse. It is, frankly, catastrophic.

So what does that tell us about the current local position of the once-proud, 16-time NBA champion Boston Celtics? That 0.5 is what they drew locally for last Saturday afternoon's playoff game against the Indiana Pacers. That 0.5 translates into approximately 10,000 homes in Greater Boston, and an audience of 25,000 people. You want a frame of reference? The Revolution drew a 0.8 for their game Saturday night against the San Jose Earthquakes.

The Celtics will play Indiana in Game 3 of their first-round series tonight at the Fleet. I am sure we will be told that the game is a sellout of 18,624, whether it is or not. It may even have the feel of a playoff game. But outside of what actually happens within those four walls, there will be no other local manifestation of an NBA playoff taking place in our town. In this town, the talk is of the Red Sox, who are in New York, the NFL Draft, which takes place tomorrow, of the Bruins' demise, and perhaps even of the Revolution. No one is talking about the Celtics, the Pacers, or the NBA.

As one of my old history teachers used to say, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

The Celtics are not a horrible team. They're surely not a very good team, either, but they aren't horrible. But their presence in the playoffs with a record of 36-46 is an embarrassment. If this were college ball, they would have been in a position to turn down the invitation to the tournament on the basis of unworthiness. It is strictly a byproduct of Eastern Conference ineptitude. The rules call for eight teams from each conference and, as mediocre as the Celtics were, seven teams were worse.