Played a game vs CC the other day which is on jjnet under video on demand.
Watched it again last night and I noticed how I myself had been wronged by the infamous "airhit". I've played jazz for some time now, and I can't say I've ever took notice of "airs".

And that gave me a pause. I started pondering as to why. Well for one, I suppose I'm not a careful enough jj2 player and I still adhere to my old way from the olden days, where runing around with or without pu's was the name of the game for the majority of jazzers (as opposed to the young players of today who after playing for only a month or two, can do tricks I'll never be able to duplicate myself). So that was one explanation.

Then I started thinking about that airhit from the point of view of this topic. Was I angry about that airhit at the time?
Not really. I was only angry that I had got hit. I was angry, that my team, instead of going for the kill of a pu-less Fawful would have to go R whereas just a couple of seconds ago their flagcarrier had had 3 and seek PU on DW. I also panicked and went for the carrot where I got hit again, but this time it was valid.
In other words I guess I always viewed airhits as my own fault. I'm not a very self-confident player I guess, and I tend to believe the worst of myself which also affects the quality of my game (if you don't expect to perform there is no way you will perform). I suppose players with more self-confidence and talent are the ones shouting: AIR! during games, to show it wasn't their fault. And these players (for whatever reasons) are genuinely better than me on average - so maybe shouting Air! isn't all that bad.

On the other hand, watching the rerun of that airhit, I noticed how me gettin hit by air, was at least to a certain degree, my fault as well. I was in an open space above the carrot and seek pu. We all know both sides tend to exchange volleys of seeks up there, so I should have just played it safe and should have stayed a bit lower in respects to that area.
In other words, airs are a reality we have to incorporate in our gameplay. We know there are areas where such air are less likely to occur, as you might be able to see the enemy from afar and he can't do anything to hurt you which gives you time to retreat. So although the air wasn't my fault, it actually was.
One has to always take into account the probability of airs and where they are more probable to happen. Then depending on your team mates health and ammo and depending on the enemies health, you have to decide which would be the best strategy - to stay exposed to a possible air, or to hide away and camp in an "air-free zone" somewhere.

From a psychological perspective, players who shout Air will most likely be better players than the ones who don't. But they might be more annoying. And what they themselves should realize is, that airs have to be taken into account when decidind on your strategy and movement in the level. When they somehow manage to incorporate that aspect of the game in their gameplay, they will not only be good or above-average players, they will be great players. It's pretty likely they will also be viewed as generally nicer