07/10 (All-Star) Quickie

Let's be clear: Fans have an inalienable right -- an inalienable right -- to boo. It is as fundamental of a right of fandom as anything. It is damn near close to the First Amendment of fandom.

And so to the fans of Kansas City who booed Robinson Cano last night: Good for you. Cano took it in stride (as he should have -- and good for him), even if it clearly unnerved him.

KC fans are mostly genteel, but under all that is a fair amount of discontent and desperation, mostly because their team sucks and is unlikely to ever get much better.

This felt like a primal release, not just at some superficial affront by Cano in not picking a Royals slugger for the AL HR Derby team, but just as catharsis.

In that way, they weren't booing Cano. They were booing their lot in life, right there on national TV, when everyone was finally paying attention to them: Our team sucks and we're not happy about it.

The release was productive, healthy and entirely entertaining. Frankly, I don't care what their reason was; they have the right to boo whatever (or whoever) they want. Boo away, friends.

(I also hear that there's a movement for fans to turn around and cheer Cano tonight -- I'm sure they will, and hopefully it will simmer down the hysterics who hated their booing last night. Good for KC for having a little bit of nuance about the whole thing.)

More:

*I don't blame the rest of the NBA for not wanting slop to facilitate the Nets getting Dwight Howard and creating a half-decade contender.

*I have no idea why the Magic won't take Bynum and take their chances that with a year to woo him (and the ultimate financial advantage via his Bird rights) that he will stay. Totally worth it.

*I don't watch much NBA Summer League, but I enjoy perusing the box scores for summer studs. Jared Sullinger is off to a good start, and I really like Orlando Johnson.

*Player I'm most excited to watch tonight: RA Dickey.

*Today's must-read/must-buy: "Dream Team," the new book by Jack McCallum about the fabled 1992 USA Olympic Basketball team.

*EA's NCAA Football '13 also comes out today. I'm not a huge gamer, but if I was, I would appreciate the ability to put Tim Tebow on any team in the country. I don't have to worry about that.

-- D.S.