booing

thumb|Fans of the Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians baseball team booing fans of the [[Detroit Tigers]] Booing is an act of publicly showing displeasure for someone or something, such as an entertainer or an athlete, by loudly yelling "Boo!" and sustaining the "oo" sound by holding it out. It may be accompanied by hand gestures such as the thumbs down sign.

Players booed for their performance reported that booing "spooked" or "bothered" them or their teammates to the point that it "affected their performance". Nick Swisher stated "It hurts. Sometimes I'm a sensitive guy and some of the things people say, they get under your skin a little bit." Ledley King stated, "It just frustrates me when the crowd boo England, who is that going to help? It just heaps more pressure on the players and gives us even less of a chance of scoring". However, the counterargument goes that the combination of booing and applause help keep the quality of public performance high, by emotionally rewarding the good and punishing the bad.