Growing up my dad always told me not to boo. “We’re not a booing family” he would tell me, and I have, for the most part, stuck to that. I think it’s unfair to boo and overly heckle a player who is struggling. I would really hate it if I was having a bad day or week and someone came to my desk and started booing me. It certainly wouldn’t help me pick myself up. And while I do not agree with booing in most cases, I understand why people do boo. I certainly make no where near what Pat Burrell or Brett Myers makes, so the expectations are incredibly higher for them then they are for me. And while my job certainly has its perks, it has nothing like those of professional athletes.

Even so, I find booing to be classless and derogatory. That is, however, unless it comes to J.D. Drew, and other athletes of his ilk. I have absolutely no respect or tolerance for players who hold out when they are drafted by a team they do not want to play for. Players being drafted high in the draft are, by definition, going to crappy teams. If they were good teams, then they wouldn’t be getting drafted so early. The way teams get better is by drafting good players. Similarly, it is ludicrous to expect huge sums of money as an unproven rookie. Players are paid tons of money because they have shown they can produce when it counts, can win games, and can draw fans to the stadium. A rookie has shown that he can do none of that. Maybe he did that in college, or high school, but the major leagues is a completely different arena, especially in baseball.

When Drew was drafted second overall in the 1997 MLB draft by the Phillies, he and his agent Scott Boras (shocker there) decided to hold out and not sign for anything less than $10 million. The Phils had no intention of paying an unproven schmuck like Drew that much money, so he ended up playing for the St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League. The next year he was drafted fifth overall by the St. Louis Cardinals. J.D. Drew was projected to have a monster career, and while he has had a decent enough career, he has never been able to stay healthy, and never panned out to what was expected.

My contempt is not just for J.D. Drew, however. I also find it repugnant that Denver Broncos legendary quarterback John Elway likewise held out after he was drafted in 1983 by the Baltimore Colts. He refused to play for the Colts because he felt he would not be able to be successful with them. With Elway’s talent, the Colts would have been good. Hell, it wasn’t like his beloved stupid Broncos won much. They didn’t win the Superbowl until his final season. Elway is trash and deserves to be booed wherever he goes.

Likewise, New York Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning is trash, and I would have thought that even if he didn’t play for the toolbox Giants. Manning was selected first overall by the San Diego Chargers in the 2004 NFL draft, but refused to play in San Diego. He was then traded to the Giants. He, along with Elway, was afraid the Chargers wouldn’t be good. Boo hoo. Looks like he didn’t know what he was talking about considering the Chargers are one of the best teams in the AFC and have the best running back in the league in LaDainian Tomlinson.

Therefore, I find it completely acceptable to boo J.D. Drew and all the other pieces of trash that are like him. Boo away Phillies fans, boo away.