To BOO, or not to BOO

by Colorado Fan on May 30, 2006 10:39 AM PDT Comment 21 comments

I can't remember the last time an Oakland Athletics team received a good old fashioned "BOOOOOOO!". Can you?

Do Oakland Athletics Fans have an issue with booing a team that isn't performing to its potential?

Booing is an Acceptable, Democratic Way to Vent: "Eventually the frustration factor hits the boiling point and fans rebel against the system in the form of booing.

In my book, that's perfectly acceptable. If the product on the field does not live up to expectations and fans keep hearing the same old excuses, a loud chorus of boos is the first step toward democracy in sports." - Ken Burger, Charleson.net

Personally (and Selfishly), I was hoping I would hear a chorus of BOOOOS last night. I was booing in front of my TV after the finish of the game. Were you?

Not sending Kotsay earlier in the count in the 9th Inning (Defensive Indiffernce would have occured, preventing a double play). BOOOOOO!
Not pinch hitting for Mark Ellis in the bottom of the 8th Innning - 2 Outs. BOOOOO!
Karsay Continually Sucking! BOOOOO!
Macha coming out to make another "too late" pitching change - BOOOOO!
Macha not warming up a left hander earlier in the game so he could face Doug Mienkievitiajkzcz (not Karsay). BIG BOOOOO!
THAT'S JUST YESTERDAY FROM THE 7TH INNING, ON. THE LIST GOES ON AND ON WITH PLAYERS LIKE DJ, SCUTARO, PEREZ, CROSBY, ELLIS!!!!!

If the manager is is going to praise the team when it continues to fail, and management continues to praise the team, making zero moves to improve the team (Steve Karsay doesn't count)...Who will reprimand this team for not pulling through a tough stretch, and winning some games, especially against the 3-22 Royals???

THE FANS, THAT'S WHO!

Some athletes play better when they are mad. The "I'll show you mentality" works in a lot of cases. Maybe it will bring the team closer together? Why not give it a try?

If we, OAKLAND A'S FAN, can make it a TEAM vs. THE FANS mentality, maybe it will spark this particular team. If Beane/Macha/Wolff won't do anything about consistent slow starts and injuries, why can't we try to do something?

BOOING might not change the current pattern of losing, but it will tell the players that we're not accepting the current level of play. Something this particular A's team has never heard from A's Fans.

Poll

Should This Team Get BOOED if they are losing (or lose) to the Royals tonight?

YES

31 votes

NO

12 votes

It's never OK to boo the home team

20 votes

63 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 21 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Sure.

This is not an acceptable level of play. They should know that...booing is your right when you paid for the ticket.

Joe Morgan smells bad and has poor english skills. Wait, so do I.

by sublimeguyjohn on May 30, 2006 10:42 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't boo the A's ...

The only way I would is if they did something particularly offensive and unacceptable - and playing baseball poorly does not qualify.

I'd cheer Ariel Prieto making the openning day start just as freely as I'd cheer Barry Zito. The Oakland A's are my team and I'll support them through thick and thin.

Devo's newest project And his blog

by devo on May 30, 2006 10:45 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Through thick and thin

That's right, we'll cheer for Joe Blanton and Juan Cruz.

Can intangibles exist? Only the ones you can touch.

by salb918 on May 30, 2006 10:48 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yup...don't boo

The only time I could boo an A's player is if he clearly was not trying or is a big-time jerk. But those instances are rare and fortunately I have not yet felt compelled to boo for those reasons.

So, support your team: don't boo. They need their fans behind them when times are tough. They may not be succeeding very much lately, but they are trying. They all hate their failures more than we do. If the A's piss you off so much that you need to boo, then avoid the aggravation and stay home.

BTW, I boo booers.

"The sun don't shine on the same dog's ass all the time."

-Catfish Hunter

by kaweahkaweah on May 30, 2006 10:50 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Booing

Doesn't it show that you care, and you want better results? Or, is booing for the "more passionate" Philly and New York fans?

June 19th - June 21st, 2006 ** Oakland Athletics @ Colorado Rockies ** Lets Go Oak-Land!

by Colorado Fan on May 30, 2006 10:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

No...

It's more like kicking your guys when they are down.

"The sun don't shine on the same dog's ass all the time."

-Catfish Hunter

by kaweahkaweah on May 30, 2006 10:53 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I can't boo my team

no matter how bad they are. I save booing for teams and athletes I have actual contempt for, not my own.

I am not above passive-aggressive groaning, though, which I used to do almost every time Macha called for Rincon.

Kettlecorn! Swishercorn!

by TurnTwo on May 30, 2006 10:53 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree fully

by Squeaky on May 30, 2006 10:55 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

IMHO:

I've never boooed a team I've cheered for-but I've called them a lot of bad names.

Ozzie "booed" his WS in TOR over the week-end by calling their play "a bunch of bullshit". All they did was go out and beat TOR and asskick CLE.

"The Matt Watson/Chiba Lotte Marines Fan Club"-The Committee is accepting new memberships (please pay in Yen). "Raking" numbers soon to be posted.

by bigelephant on May 30, 2006 11:08 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Man, no way

can you boo your team. You can boo a player that has done something he deserves to be booed for...or a pitcher who just sucks and just gave up the lead.....but booing the team as a whole? No freaking way.

Bring back Hammer.

by OaktownPower on May 30, 2006 11:12 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah

I dont think you can ever boo the team or a player, for example when they take the field, mound, or AB.

However I do think you can boo specific play. For example: If the A's are playing poorly like right now and they have the bases loaded and no outs and fail to score, Im booing.

IMO this shows that the fans think that play was unacceptable Vs telling the player/team YOU SUCK.

Bill Stoneman is about to be offered three seasons of a right-handed version of Vladimir Guerrero - Rev Halofan

by pickinmachine on May 30, 2006 11:20 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'll save the booing...

for when I'm a ghost. And rest assured, I will be a ghost. Not the friendly kind either. I'm going to be the kind of ghost that trips people, and makes you lose your keys, and steals socks out of dryers. Oh, you'll rue the day you asked me to boo!

I'll be booing and you'll be rueing. Poetic justice.

New advertising campaign...A's Brand Baseball: Blink, and You'll Miss It. - Kyli

by McFood on May 30, 2006 11:48 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

nah, no booing

At home I do vent my frustration by offering a loud "You suck!" toward the TV any time an A's player does something I don't like... no matter how much I might love him. A fly ball gets behind Mark Kotsay and 2 runs score? "You suck!" Mark Ellis coming up with RISP and 2 outs (lately) elicits a groan, then a "You suck!" as he's turned into out #3. Bobby Crosby barely laying off a pitch that bounced 4 feet in front of the plate? "You suck!"

But it doesn't count, because no one hears me and I don't believe it anyway...

Putting the "fun" in "perfunctory"

by Poppy on May 30, 2006 11:51 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

If Poppy "boos" in her house

and no A's player is around to hear it, did she really make a sound?

"The sun don't shine on the same dog's ass all the time."

-Catfish Hunter

by kaweahkaweah on May 30, 2006 11:57 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's me, too!

I'll be sitting there in my living room, telling Swisher he sucks for swinging at something out of the zone. Occasionally someone will poke their head into the room and say, "I thought he was your favorite." And then I have to sheepsihly respond that he is.

I only do it when I'm at home, though.

Kettlecorn! Swishercorn!

by TurnTwo on May 30, 2006 11:57 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Closet BOOer's

Looks like we have a lot of closet BOO'ers:

yes: 52%
no: 20%
never: 28%

I think booing is contagious. If you get a section of people booing a player, you might starting hearing more and more booing. Kind of like a Riot of Boo's.

If the A's lose like they did last night, I wouldn't mind hearing the team getting boo'ed for a little bit...especially if DJ, Ellis, Perez, Scutaro, or a "1st-Pitch Kotsay" out, make the final out of the inning.

June 19th - June 21st, 2006 ** Oakland Athletics @ Colorado Rockies ** Lets Go Oak-Land!

by Colorado Fan on May 30, 2006 2:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Last time I BOOed one of our own

was Rincon!

I am one of those types that when things get ugly, I sit and get quiet. I don't want others around me to talk, I don't want to hear people, I just want quiet! Hence my self induced social exhile last week!

But in the case of Rincon, he was a repeat offender. I had had enough of him and was ready to ring him up! I had passed the quiet dissapointment of a bad performance or two (or three...or four...) and gone to the dark side of pure disgust! So I would boo him! From the moment he stood up to take off his jacket in the bull pen until he sat his big ass on the bench after giving up a run or two (or three... or four...)!

So I believe booing your own team is ok, if they truly deserve it. One bad outing does not warrent a boo. One rough stretch does not warrent a boo. Going out and BLOWING the game EVERY time you go out there, THAT will get you a boo!!

"Now, I'm not the guy who's in trouble, it's the guy on the mound who's in trouble.'' Swisher Pics

by BobbyCrosbysGirl on May 30, 2006 2:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

VOTE YES ON BOOING!!

Never thought of it that way but i completely agree! We should not be losing to the Royals, i dont care about injuries. NOT ACCEPTABLE!!

"It was pretty sweet. I could see the Oakland Airport."

by Daveed on May 30, 2006 4:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I have booed players...

who don't run out a ball. I don't boo for outs or general performance.

by IM4Oakgal on May 30, 2006 4:57 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

BOO

Tonight's game deserves a HUGE BOO - Defensive lapses, first pitch hitting failures, AAA bullpen not helping (except Gaudin)...

but yet again, the 5,000 remaining Oakland Fans leave the stadium with their tails between their legs. Go get 'em tomorrow boys. Whatever...

Horrid.

June 19th - June 21st, 2006 ** Oakland Athletics @ Colorado Rockies ** Lets Go Oak-Land!

by Colorado Fan on May 30, 2006 11:06 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

For me, it depends on who the player is...

Tonight's game for instance, I boo'd Antonio Perez because of his lousy AB's resulting in an eventual strikeout, but I would never boo Eric Chavez or any of our regulars because they've demonstrated their worth on the field and in the batters box many times over.
Perez has yet to do that and he's still an outsider in my eyes. So, until then, he still gets boo'd.

by sf drift king on May 30, 2006 11:36 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs