Maybe you're a rare bird, not a boo bird. Maybe you've never booed anyone at anytime at any sporting event. Maybe you've never uttered so much as a discouraging word in a gymnasium or stadium.

If so, welcome to what I suspect is a very small club.

Most people, even those without a mean bone in their body, are prone to utter disparaging comments at one time or another.

And many choose to boo.

I suppose some people simply boo while others BOO. You know who what I'm talking about. The veins pop out in the neck and the face turns redder than an overripe tomato.

If you want to cut those who boo some slack, I suppose you could say it's their way of showing they care. Care too much? Probably.

Without any reasoned perspective? Undoubtedly.

So tell me, what makes us boo who we boo?

The most frequent target is officials, and that target is as old as the hills. Does booing an official make any sense?

Having officiated basketball for more than 30 years, I'm admittedly biased, but I have seen booing have very little, if any, impact on most officials. The fact is, officials know that as soon as they don a striped shirt, they're going to be booed.

I can understand why fans are upset when a bad call goes against their team, but do fans really expect booing to help an official do a better job?

Call me cynical, but I have yet to meet fans booing an official because they think an official is unfair.

If fans were truly concerned about fairness, wouldn't they boo every bad call whether or not the call was in their team's favor?

What makes even less sense is when fans boo coaches and players. Thankfully, I have yet to witness this at the small-college and high school level, but it regularly happens at the professional level and, to some extent, the major college level.

Booing an opposing player is not uncommon. Sometimes fans boo out of respect for an opponent who is very talented. The booing may result because a particular player is seen as cocky, moody or winning too much.

Reggie Jackson generated a lot of booing from fans when he starred for the Yankees. Barry Bonds is targeted by many fans as he chases the all-time home run record.

Talented athletes can be victimized by the home crowd as well when fans are disappointed or feel like they need to take out their frustration on someone.

Alex Rodriguez, arguably one of the best players in baseball and a likely future member of the Hall of Fame, has been subjected to some intense booing at Yankee Stadium.

Fans can develop a reputation for being hard on their teams. New York fans can be brutal, but perhaps no city has a reputation as tough as Philadelphia, which may be the booing capital of the United States.

If that doesn't make you proud, what will?

I don't know of any research that shows booing helps a player relax and play better, so why do fans boo?

Maybe it's a chance to verbally cut down highly paid athletes a notch or two if they don't live up to expectations.

The most common argument is, "I bought a ticket, so I have a right to boo."

Here's my perspective in a nutshell: Freedom of speech knows no bounds when it comes to making civilized people act uncivilized.

Most of us could stand a little biblical admonition: "Don't ever forget that it is best to listen much, speak little and not become angry. Don't be too eager to tell others their faults, for we all make many mistakes."