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The fans who booed Anthony Morelli at Saturday’s Blue-White Game should be ashamed of themselves.

It was incredibly inappropriate and tasteless.

No, Morelli may not have lived up to expectations during his two seasons as Penn State’s starting quarterback. But to boo him in that setting — a practice scrimmage, after his career is over and while he’s being honored on the field for an achievement — was shameful.

Joe Paterno was upstairs in the broadcast booth and didn’t hear the boos, which seemed to come from at least half of the 73,000 fans at Beaver Stadium. Informed about what happened, Paterno told the Mirror he’s troubled by the fans’ reaction.

‘‘I’m just disappointed that they would boo Anthony,’’ Paterno said. ‘‘He did a great job for us a couple years, worked hard and certainly did not deserve to be booed.’’

No college athletes, the coach added, should be booed.

‘‘That doesn’t belong in college sports,’’ Paterno said. ‘‘I don’t think there’s anybody that deserves to be booed, not college kids.

‘‘Whether they’re playing football or baseball or softball or what, they get out there to have a little fun, represent their institution the best way they can and hopefully they win some.’’

Morelli won his share of games, going 18-8 as a starter, but the physically gifted quarterback underachieved at PSU. Was he really so bad, though, that he deserved the pitiful reception he received Saturday?

Morelli never pulled a knife on a teammate. He was never arrested. He didn’t get involved in brawls. He didn’t embarrass the university.

He mouthed off a few times and seemed to sulk, and he threw an occasional tantrum in practice. The perfect teammate he was not.

But a villain? He wasn’t that, either.

I’m not preaching that booing is wrong. It’s not.

It may be rude, but if you pay your money, you have the right to boo. There are, however, appropriate times and places.

You don’t boo high school kids. Ever. That should not need an explanation.

If somebody’s getting paid to play a game, booing them is certainly OK. That even goes for minor league baseball players. Curve players are professional athletes, and booing comes with the territory.

College is a tougher call.

It’s not right to go to a softball game at St. Francis or volleyball game at Juniata or baseball game at Mount Aloysius and boo. Student-athletes in non-revenue sports at small schools don’t deserve that.

A football game at Penn State is a much different story. Nittany Lion football is, for all intents and purposes, a professional sport, with annual revenues reportedly in the $40 million range.

Some may disagree, but the view here is it’s perfectly acceptable to boo during a PSU game. Tickets are expensive, expectations are high, the players are treated like royalty and they know what they’re getting into when they sign up.

The disturbing thing about fans booing Morelli on Saturday is that it was not a game. It was a practice, a carnival atmosphere designed to celebrate the program while looking forward to next season.

Additionally, Morelli isn’t even the quarterback anymore. Everybody had two years to boo him, and he’s gone now, so cut the guy some slack.

Cory Giger is at 949-7031 and cgsports12@aol.com.

 

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