Booing College Football Players

[MWil23]

25 minutes ago, winitall said:

Not really addressing this at you, but I’ve seen this sentiment that NIL is a game changer for booing a lot, and I don’t really understand it to be honest. Your relationship with the player hasn’t changed, as the funds from your TV viewership or tickets is still only “paying” the player in a scholarship. That hasn’t changed from NIL. If it’s because the players are now *legally* making money off their status, were you okay booing the Alabama, Georgia, OSU players but not MAC kids because only the big schools had bag-men?  I guess I just don’t see how NIL has changed the equation here. 

NIL has changed the equation in that the kid is getting paid off of their own likeness based upon their marketability, which for football purposes definitively relates to their on the field product. People can argue semantics about that if they want to, and tbh, for female athletes it's different altogether (not condoning those reasons or even indicting them, just simply stating them).

If D.J. U from Clemson is going to be the face of the Dr. Pepper CFP world, and he's a large part of why they're a 2 loss team, if he's not producing at an elite level despite getting paid a lot of money (the same for Alabama's QB, etc.), then yes I'm fine with it. It's not like MOST of these guys are making money off of a YouTube channel that's separate from their athletic self (see: The kicker from a few years ago).

And for the record, I don't really want to hear sob stories about D-1 athletes at all, as the meals, training routine, stipends for housing/books, gear, and a full scholarship is a whole lot more than every other 1AA, D2, and D3 kid, not to mention the disparity from a sport to sport impact. I also don't disparage them from "getting theirs" while they can.

[winitall]

32 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

NIL has changed the equation in that the kid is getting paid off of their own likeness based upon their marketability, which for football purposes definitively relates to their on the field product. People can argue semantics about that if they want to, and tbh, for female athletes it's different altogether (not condoning those reasons or even indicting them, just simply stating them).

If D.J. U from Clemson is going to be the face of the Dr. Pepper CFP world, and he's a large part of why they're a 2 loss team, if he's not producing at an elite level despite getting paid a lot of money (the same for Alabama's QB, etc.), then yes I'm fine with it. It's not like MOST of these guys are making money off of a YouTube channel that's separate from their athletic self (see: The kicker from a few years ago).

And for the record, I don't really want to hear sob stories about D-1 athletes at all, as the meals, training routine, stipends for housing/books, gear, and a full scholarship is a whole lot more than every other 1AA, D2, and D3 kid, not to mention the disparity from a sport to sport impact. I also don't disparage them from "getting theirs" while they can.

Using DJ U as an example, why does it matter that he is the face of Dr Pepper specifically though?  I feel confident in saying that both he and Lawrence made a TON more than that under the table from boosters, so why wasn’t it okay then?

For the record, I think fans should boo whoever they want in college. Personally, I probably would boo the overall team more than a specific player, but everyone can make their own call.  I just think it’s weird to point specifically to players getting paid legally as the reason, when they are/were getting the same amount under the table already. 

[ronjon1990]

Boo away. 

They're performers. If you don't like what you see, boo them. If you like it, cheer them. Or just do nothing. 

If someone doesn't want to get boos thrown at them, there are plenty of jobs out there that you'll never get those or cheers for, albeit lower paid. 

I can handle getting booed at for stinking up a karaoke bar that I pay a cover to go to and then for drinks. In that case, a football player can handle getting booed for sucking when they're the ones reaping benefits of they're successful. 

[ramssuperbowl99]

2 hours ago, winitall said:

For the record, I think fans should boo whoever they want in college.

"Should" is an interesting word here. It's a high bar to clear. Booing is pointless. Every single player on that field knows more about their specific assignments than the fan, so if you're booing someone because you think they screwed up, they either already know or you're probably wrong.

But in terms of a lower bar, of whether or not some other fan would have a problem with it, can I say it depends on the fan? A little kid booing or a hammered college student booing is one thing, but as an adult, I'd feel pathetic booing an 18-23 year old. And if I see a fan booing who's old enough to be booing his kids or grandkids, I don't exactly think more highly of that person. Then again, I spend my Saturday afternoons roasting my own program, so it's not like I can claim moral high ground here either.

[winitall]

59 minutes ago, ramssuperbowl99 said:

"Should" is an interesting word here. It's a high bar to clear. Booing is pointless. Every single player on that field knows more about their specific assignments than the fan, so if you're booing someone because you think they screwed up, they either already know or you're probably wrong.

But in terms of a lower bar, of whether or not some other fan would have a problem with it, can I say it depends on the fan? A little kid booing or a hammered college student booing is one thing, but as an adult, I'd feel pathetic booing an 18-23 year old. And if I see a fan booing who's old enough to be booing his kids or grandkids, I don't exactly think more highly of that person. Then again, I spend my Saturday afternoons roasting my own program, so it's not like I can claim moral high ground here either.

Yeah, should probably wasn’t the right choice there. I meant it more as a “can” than anything else. TBH, I think anyone booing a random player on their team is pretty lame, but I was trying to avoid getting on a soap box or something. Although I have cursed the sky at certain players (from the comfort of my own home) during certain plays against OSU so I might be a bit of a hypocrite there. 

[MWil23]

22 hours ago, ramssuperbowl99 said:

"Should" is an interesting word here. It's a high bar to clear. Booing is pointless. Every single player on that field knows more about their specific assignments than the fan, so if you're booing someone because you think they screwed up, they either already know or you're probably wrong.

I should also specifically say a few things here, on my own rationale for booing. As a whole, I only boo under the following circumstances:

1. When it's a clear "(lack of) effort" issue

2. When it's an opposing player who I dislike for any particular reason, and even then I'm more of a "side comments" type of guy. My claim to fame, on Bob Feller Day (spring training), aside from getting Bob Feller to THANK ME (I can now die in peace. TL;DR he was coming through, no one would move, and I yelled "Hey, Bob Feller is coming through! Get out of his way! Let him through!!!!!"...and, get this...the man smiled, made direct eye contact with me, and TIPPED HIS HAT TO ME AND SAID, "Thank you.")

...well anyway, my other claim to fame was when Juan Pierre struck out, and I yelled from the first row behind center field "Don't worry Juan! You're already in mid-season form!!!" and I got Franklin Gutierrez and Grady Sizemore to make eye contact with me and double over in laughter.

3. To voice collective displeasure at the product that I'm seeing on the field

22 hours ago, ramssuperbowl99 said:

But in terms of a lower bar, of whether or not some other fan would have a problem with it, can I say it depends on the fan? A little kid booing or a hammered college student booing is one thing, but as an adult, I'd feel pathetic booing an 18-23 year old. And if I see a fan booing who's old enough to be booing his kids or grandkids, I don't exactly think more highly of that person. 

That's generally where I am as well. It's a bad look, albeit I will generally yell loud things to voice specific displeasure as opposed to booing.

22 hours ago, ramssuperbowl99 said:

Then again, I spend my Saturday afternoons roasting my own program, so it's not like I can claim moral high ground here either.

I'm usually in the "self loathing" category as the Randy Quaid from Major League fan on my couch just waiting for something bad to happen.

[ramssuperbowl99]

8 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

I should also specifically say a few things here, on my own rationale for booing. As a whole, I only boo under the following circumstances:

1. When it's a clear "(lack of) effort" issue

2. When it's an opposing player who I dislike for any particular reason, and even then I'm more of a "side comments" type of guy. My claim to fame, on Bob Feller Day (spring training), aside from getting Bob Feller to THANK ME (I can now die in peace. TL;DR he was coming through, no one would move, and I yelled "Hey, Bob Feller is coming through! Get out of his way! Let him through!!!!!"...and, get this...the man smiled, made direct eye contact with me, and TIPPED HIS HAT TO ME AND SAID, "Thank you.")

...well anyway, my other claim to fame was when Juan Pierre struck out, and I yelled from the first row behind center field "Don't worry Juan! You're already in mid-season form!!!" and I got Franklin Gutierrez and Grady Sizemore to make eye contact with me and double over in laughter.

3. To voice collective displeasure at the product that I'm seeing on the field

I mean I said this at the beginning, I don't want it to come across like I think fans who boo are universally better than fans who don't or like it's from any place of moral superiority or anything. It's a cultural thing.

There are specific situations where people booing makes me think less of them, but the context matters a lot. Like if some old Mets fan boo'd Javy Baez/Francisco Lindor for giving them the thumbs down, I feel a whole lot differently than I feel about fans who boo'd Andrew Luck for medically retiring. And booing the officials is universally different, since that's part of what makes home-field advantage real. 

[TLO]

Maybe not necessarily the players, but as a USC fan, it’s perfectly acceptable to boo the coaching staff tbhwy