Stuart Scott is classless. It sounds harsh, but there is really no other way to describe him. It's one thing that it's become downright painful to watch him on TV in any fashion, but Stuart Scott has committed an unforgivable sin — he has turned his back on sports fans.
I finally began to realize this when I caught a quote from him in a recent issue of ESPN The Magazine. In his chat article, he responded to a question about fans by saying, "Booing is classless." Booing ... is classless. Not "boo-yahing," not the "boo!" you see coming from a cardboard ghost cutout on Halloween, but the booing that you hear at every single sporting event. Even now, I still can't fathom why he would say that. If he actually means and truly believes that, then it's something he should definitely keep to himself rather than insult his viewers.
Naturally, the first reaction when you see something like this is to question — is booing really classless? Could it be that Stu is right, and everyone else everywhere is wrong? When faced with great hypothetical questions, I tend to seek solace in common clichés, which sometimes leads me to ask myself ,"What would Jesus do?" In this case, I'd have to say that Jesus would be booing with the rest of us, because he seemed like a pretty cool guy. At the end of the day, there is one absolute truth regarding sports fans — everyone has booed at some point in their spectating career.
If you have ever cheered at a sporting event, more than likely you have booed at one, as well. There aren't too many of the "I'll cheer that everyone is trying hard, having fun, and that the officials are giving their strongest effort" type fans left, but that's not a problem. Booing is okay. In fact, I encourage it. Sports are meant to be emotional. You should be moved to the point where you feel like cheering and also to the point where you want to boo. Whether it be at a player that you can't stand, at a blatantly horrible call by the one official you know is trying to screw you over, or at a middle-aged fan who wrestles a 12-cent plastic basketball away from a handicapped fan, booing is normal.
Of course, there are a few occasions I would accept Scott's brilliant "booing is classless" theory:
1) Booing at third grade girls' soccer game — this is hazy, because you have to ask, why are the girls playing the sport? Do they just want to get some exercise or make some friends? Or do they want to experience what sports are like? If it's the latter, a little booing will at least give them a sense of what sports are like. However, those are rare occasions and it's better to err on the side of caution and go with the "no booing at third grade girls" rule.
2) Booing at funerals — there are no exceptions to this rule.
3) Booing during moments of silence or during the national anthem.
The sad part of Stu's comments was that there was no caveat. He didn't say, "Booing is classless ... when you are at the Special Olympics." I guess I don't understand how this happened. I know he once started as a sports fan as there aren't too many people who get into sports media without loving sports first. I also know that he's been kissing any professional athlete's tail for the past five years and has the journalistic integrity of a James Frey. Still, he's got be trying pretty damn hard to get athletes to love him if he's going to go far enough as to say that fans don't have a right to boo. I am amazed that a "SportsCenter" anchor can be so far removed from the people he works for (i.e. all sports fans).
What's next, Stu? Maybe that "cheering is classless, because cheering for one team only makes the other team realize they did something to allow their opponents to deserve cheers, and that's classless." Or maybe that "wearing your teams colors is classless, because you are just flaunting it in the face of the visiting team that they aren't good enough to support in public." Eventually, he will see even attending sports events as classless, because it will make visiting teams jealous because they don't have as many fans there.
It's true that he's the most polarizing "SportsCenter" anchor, which basically just means that people that haven't watched him on TV in the last five years like him, but anyone who has seen him on TV or who has heard of someone who may or may not know someone who has seen him on TV can all agree on one thing — Stuart Scott sucks. Still, plenty of people on TV suck, so what makes him different? The fact that he blatantly disrespects sports fans, which is something that is not to be taken lightly.
Stu, it's too late to fix this. You may not "holla back," there will be no "witness from the congregation." Most importantly, there will never be any emotional make-up that ends in a rehearsed handshake/hug/hand-pound between you and the common sports fan. You will never again be "as cool as the other side of the pillow."
The Sports Gospel According to Mark is sponsored by BetOnSports.com. BetOnSports.com gives you the greatest sports action to bet on. Wager on football, cricket, boxing, rugby, horse racing, and more. Mark Chalifoux is also a weekly columnist for SportsFan Magazine. His columns appear every Tuesday and Thursday on Sports Central. You can e-mail Mark at [email protected].
March 5, 2006
Kevin Beane:
Yeah, this was a weird one. I’m not really a Stuart Scott fan, and I definitely agree with you on the booing issue, but it was an off-the-cuff remark in chat. It doesn’t necessarily mean he truly believes booing has no place in sports. Most of us have the luxury of speaking off-the-cuff like that rather than speak/write a big dissertation on EXACTLY what we mean for all circumstances because most people won’t write a scathing column about us if we don’t. For what it’s worth, I also find your “if you believe something crazy/insulting, keep it to yourself” to be kinda chilling, and your remarks about 3rd grade girls reasons for playing sports bizarre.
March 5, 2006
mc:
I’m not so sure it was an off-the-cuff remark, it’s not like he was sitting at home on his computer and just threw that out at a friend, it’s on a page in the mag where he only gets 5-6 quesitons to throw out his takes on everything, so I’d be surprised if it was just a throwaway comment. I also think this is something he’s said more than once. And it doesn’t really take that much explanation, he pretty much just said he thinks booing is classless.
As far as him keeping it to himself, I’m speaking merely from a business standpoint. If Stu Scott thought all NASCAR fans were losers (he doesn’t, he’s always been a huge nascar guy), then what sense would it make for him to say that? The only thing remarks like that can do for him professionally is screw him over and turn an entire group of people off from watching him on SC.
The reasons third grade girls play soccer are pretty simple- to have fun. Still, it occasionally can be an interesting situation, because even at that level you can find the odd team that has the intense coach who is just focused on winning, with the great kid and her friends on the team. Even at that level, the politics involved in playing time and people taking it too seriously can happen, just not on as big a scale as, say, high school sports.
I probably should have clarified that, because I actually heard someone booing at a (young) girls soccer game, and he explained himself saying “so and so is playing to see what sports are like” and that a little booing (no heckling) would introduce her to the part spectators play in sports. I thought it was hilarious, and I probably should have used that anecdote instead. Sorry for the confusion.
March 6, 2006
Mark Barnes:
Mark, a very well-written, thought-provoking piece. I must disagree, though. Not about the Stuart Scott comments, because I can take or leave him.
He’s dead-on about booing though. Go to an event and cheer your favorite team and players. Don’t boo, though. It makes you look prehistoric and just plain stupid. Remember that someone on the other side is cheering just as hard for their favorite team and players. And we all need to just get along.
Simply yelling, “Hey you are less-than-excellent” would be the classy thing to do.