I recently took a road trip to Veterans Stadium with a few Boston fans to catch the Red Sox-Phillies game. During the rainy roller coaster of a 13-9 game, my friends couldn’t help noticing something. As my Fenway-friendly fan put it, “man, these Philly fans really know how to boo!”
Throughout the game we listened to between 15 and 20 booings. When Dan Plesac entered the game in the fifth inning and walked two batters, he was showered with “boos” as he was pulled from the game. When the Phillies failed to score a run with the bases loaded and nobody out, 61,000 fans voiced one word in chorus: “Boo.” Every time a “Let’s go Red Sox” chant began to build, it was quickly pounced on by thunderous boos. A fan failed to catch a foul ball with his bare hand: “boo.” Yeah, Philly fans were wrong to boo Donovan McNabb when he was drafted in 1999, but they’ll boo him again if he doesn’t play to expectation, because they care.
True fans of sports teams aren’t afraid to tell it how it is, and everyone could surely learn a little something from them. Webster’s dictionary defines booing as “an interjection” used to express contempt or disapproval. Boo, pronounced “bu,” dates back to the 15th century, when something pissed someone off and they decided to do something about it. If someone can’t pull something off, if someone is doing something wrong, let them know about it-boo them!
If you’re out somewhere with a group of friends, pretend you’re a disgruntled fan at a ballgame and show your emotion. If someone or something needs to be booed, let them have it! Imagine a teacher in class who, upon deciding to give a pop quiz receives a raucous boo from her classroom. Picture the shock on a girl’s face at a bar, when, having refused a drink from you, gets showered by boos from your buddies! How else will people realize that they aren’t making you happy? How else will someone know that they aren’t performing to their expectation? Forget about filling out complaints at stores-walk up to the manager, stare them in the face, and let out a grating boo!
Still not quite sure how or when to boo? Here’s a short list of examples.
That guy at a sporting event who’s wearing a jersey that isn’t related in any way to the two teams playing that day (i.e. Yankees fans), boo! Parties that run out of beer too fast, boo! The herds of freshman guys that slip into your parties, boo! Guys that wear T-shirts that are two sizes too small for them, boo! That kid in class who is always answering questions, but that one time when he slips up, boo him like Kobe Bryant at a Colorado cheerleading competition! No means no, boo! Girls with belly button rings, who really shouldn’t have belly button rings, boo! A friend in a crowded car who passes gas that smells worse than the state of New Jersey, boo! Babies with pierced ears, boo! People who refer to Beirut as beer pong, boo! Delicatessens that raise the price of a Chicken Madness from an even $6 to $6.55, so now you actually have change when asked for it upon exiting the door, boo! Bars with cover charges, boo! DOPS officers who refuse to let you in the library without your GOCard even though you’ve seen her the past five nights, boo!
I’m not suggesting that you be as negative as Philadelphia sports fans. That would be nearly impossible. I’m merely offering you a way to express your emotions and get a few more laughs out of your day. After all, classes have started and Rhino’s is losing business, yay!
