There’s nothing more exhilarating for an athlete than taking the field in front of thousands of supportive, cheering fans.
It gets the blood flowing, the adrenaline pumping and reminds you how great it is to be playing the game you love.
But on the flip side, there’s nothing more painful than hearing those same fans rain down boos of displeasure.
It’s like Brutus stabbing Caesar in the back. The once beloved and trusted friend has turned, and that thought hurts almost more than the cold steel in your back.
But we’re talking about sports, not ancient Rome.
Fans expect to see a great battle when they pay good money to attend games. So when the athletes fail to perform, the fans have every right to boo.
Take last Saturday’s football game against California. The Spartans were expected to slaughter the Golden Bears like a routine hunt. But MSU never showed up, and Cal subsequently routed the would-be hunters 46-22.
The game began with cheers as 72,634 fans packed Spartan Stadium for its 21st consecutive sellout.
They expected greatness, but only got mediocrity.
Down 7-0 after the first quarter, fans were still supportive, as any good fan would have been. Even when times are rough, it’s the fan’s duty to try and keep his or her team up and positive.
But by halftime, with the Spartans trailing 25-0, the boos began. And they were justified. MSU had played miserably and given the fans nothing to cheer about.
To a fan, that’s a slap in the face. When you show up in support, you expect to be rewarded. Yes, you might not always get a victory, but you at the very least expect a good showing.
On Monday, junior quarterback Jeff Smoker said, “I’ve never been booed like that in my life.”
Well Jeff, I’m sure you already know this, but you get what you deserve.
After a performance like Saturday’s first half, the Spartans should consider themselves lucky any fan was still there at the start of the third quarter.
I’ve always said there’s no reason to leave a game early. But in this case, there was no game. See, for a game you need two teams, not one mercilessly beating the other one senseless.
Thankfully, the boos at the end of the first half seemed to hit home, as MSU opened the third quarter with 14 straight points to make it a game again. And the fans responded by erupting into joyous cheer.
But yet again, the Spartans disappeared. Cal added another 21 to its score, while MSU only managed to post eight more meaningless points in junk time.
So, of course, the fans ended the game with plenty of boos. They felt cheated, and rightfully showed their displeasure.
Their Spartans had robbed them of a decent performance and left them just as humiliated as the athletes themselves. It was a good thing head coach Bobby Williams called those two timeouts in the final 15 seconds, because it allowed the fans to rain down boos one final time.
“That’s going to happen,” senior strong safety Thomas Wright said after the game. “If I was out there, I would boo, too.”
So I say to you, Spartan fans, boo until your team gives you something to cheer about.
Don’t let the Spartans off lightly. Force them to play to their potential.
When they don’t, exercise your right and boo.
Eric McKinney can be reached at mckinn54@msu.edu.
