Booing your own team is part of the game*

*In northeast sports towns.

Francis Clines comes out against booing your own team in Sunday’s edition of the New York Times.

His piece focuses on the Mets. But it happens in Philly, too. And I don’t have a problem with it. Booing a visiting Scott Rolen half a decade after he was traded does not yield any internal dividends. But booing a lackluster team or a snotty player or a poor coaching decision all are legitimate reasons to groan publicly.

Players serving time on the Phillies come to know that boos serve as dissatisfaction with effort more than anything. And when the results are positive, Phillies fans will cheer as loud as any in the game. In New York, I imagine the case is not much different. The Mets are not playing to their potential. If they do, they would receive equally boisterous accolades.

Should fans sit back silently, or worse, cheer a floundering ball club? Of course not. Northeast sports fans are the best in the country, because they care. Those emotions should involve cheering, and booing, too.

-Greg Berlin