More On the Booing

I know this has been discussed at length on the message boards, the blogs, the newspapers, and the radio, and this is going to be long, but I've decided to go ahead throw my two cents in anyway. The booing of Mohamed Massaquoi and the cheering that ensued when he was taken out of the game was beyond embarrassing. It was inexcusable, and it makes me ashamed call myself a student at this university, let alone a fan of the Georgia football team.

Jack went into great depth last week concerning the often pitiful Georgia fanbase, that includes wealthy contributers, sidewalk alumni, and students alike, but I don't think any of us ever expected to see a display even close to the one we witnessed in the second half on Saturday.

Personally, I'm not a proponent of booing your own team under any circumstances, but I can understand when, in the heat of the moment, one finds themselves upset when, say, the coaches opt to punt on a fourth and short or something. I don't like it, mind you, but at least I can understand it.



But booing your own players, especially a guy like Mohamed Massaquoi, absolutely blows my mind. I know you're frustrated, but what good do you really think you're doing out there? Do you think Massaquoi isn't giving 100% every time he's on the field? You think he isn't angry enough at himself that he isn't playing as well as he has in the past? I'm sure if he hears a couple thousand people railing on him at once, he'll finally decide, 'Hey, now I'm going to start trying'. And did he not catch a big touchdown pass in that very same game?

I always hear the argument, 'These players are on scholarship...They're going to get booed in the NFL...Now's as good a time as any to learn how it's going to be, etc.'

This isn't the NFL. It's big money, high stakes, and all of that, but it's still not the NFL. Terrence Edwards didn't make the NFL, and that didn't stop people from sending him death threats for not catching an overthrown ball in Jacksonville in 2002. Do you think Joe Tereshinski is going to the NFL? Probably not, but people have had no problem booing him all season long. Same deal with Fred Gibson.

Mohamed may play pro football someday, but for the time being, he's a 19 year old receiver (the best one Georgia's got, mind you) who's still adjusting to big time football. Now, I don't think he's going to let the cat calls of a few drunk rednecks get to him, but is this really the kind of environment you would want to play in for four years?



If you were an 18 year old recruit coming out of high school, would you want to know that, whenever you screw up and are frustrated enough with yourself, you're going to have to hear about it from some morons in the stands for the rest of the game? Or would you rather play somewhere where the fans are ready to encourage you to step it up and redeem yourself?

I realize what expectations are like at a program of this caliber, but I think there's a difference between maintaining a culture of winning and fostering one of utter delusion among the fanbase. It's good to expect big things out of talented players, but it's another to demand them and jump all over a kid when they aren't met.

It's been a tough year for the team, too. I know you're upset when you pay all this money and devote all this time, only to see the team fail to meet expectations. But you better believe that it's killing these guys, who devote all of their time and effort to their team, and who signed on at the University to play for championships, that they aren't playing well.

The last thing these players need is another guy jumping down their throats on Saturday. What they could use is one more person rallying around them as they try to get this thing turned around.