OT: A Break in the Action. "Avoid Cliches Like the Plague."

[Kibitzer]

We all frequently cringe when sportscasters -- play-by-play or analysts -- utter tiresome pet phrases. Players and their coaches or managers are similarly afflicted whe expressing themselves during interviews or pressers. Here are a few of the least welcome too this fan's ears:

- "He's a gamer. He comes to play." [Why else is a uniformed athlete on the court or field -- but to play?]
- "We'll play one game at a time." [Is there any other way?]
- "They wanted it more." [Inane excuse for losing.]​

We were amused when Doris Burke seized on the verb "comported," or annoyed when Meghan Culmo did her Santa impersonation: "Ho-ho-HO!"

OK 'Yarders, which tiresome utterances cause you to roll your eyes? (N.B., any announcer, player, or coach -- any sport, local or national is fair game -- even Dicky V.)

GO!

 

[Zorro]

We (they) just wanted it more.
Someone has to step up.
...and take their game to another level
They have to compete.
72" wingspan.

 

[johnnyc]

'110 percent'
'play within yourself'

 

[Intpseeker]

They're long and know how to score the ball

 

[Gus Mahler]

Let the game come to me.
We just wanted to come out aggressive.
Pick six.

 

[UcMiami]

Loved the bus trip from the movie Bull Durham where the Cosner character starts teaching the cliches. It is actually a very good lesson for athletes/coaches to learn as it is an easy way to avoid troubling quotes the next morning. In a gotcha culture with unfettered access and no filter on what gets out, any public figure that doesn't have stock phrases to trot out is asking for trouble. And it is an easy way to deal with the equally inane questions from reporters.

'110 percent' is my personally most loathed one. Though all the quasi religious ones bother me too.

 

[Zorro]

It was a learning experience.
We just weren't ready.
We made some poor decisions out there.
Actually, any McCallie presser is a trove of cliched excuses.

 

[pacific 44]

Anyone know what a sticky wicket is?A local sportscaster in Maine where i grew up used to say"He's sticking to him like peanut butter on a wool sock"when a player played exceptionally good defense.One of the sponsers was Glidden paint and when someone would swish one through the net he would say"HE SHOOTS FROM WAY DOWNTOWN ...AND IT'S GOOOD LIKE GLIDDEN

 

[UcMiami]

Sticky wicket comes from the game of cricket where the ball is bounced to the batsman - normally the ground is very hard and dry, if it gets softer and moist the ball doesn't bounce off it as fast and seems almost to be sticking to it. The wicket is a set of three vertical poles stuck in the ground behind where the batsman stands - there are two of them at opposite ends of the pitch, and the term wicket is also used to refer to the area between the two.

While it originally referred to the soft moist ground and slower bounce, it also became used to refer to any difficult pitch where the bounce was unpredictable, and from there to any difficult situation. Not sure if it is also the origin of 'sticky' being used to define anything that was difficult as in 'sticky situation' or 'sticky moment' almost synonymous to 'tricky'.

 

[Wally East]

"Scoring the basketball."

That phrase is just so many kinds of awful.

 

[WestCoastFan]

Two favorites:

"Really fast in-space"..compared to being on an orbiting object?
"He/she is day-to-day"...aren't we all?

 

[Aluminny69]

 

[WestCoastFan]

Sticky wicket comes from the game of cricket where the ball is bounced to the batsman - normally the ground is very hard and dry, if it gets softer and moist the ball doesn't bounce off it as fast and seems almost to be sticking to it. The wicket is a set of three vertical poles stuck in the ground behind where the batsman stands - there are two of them at opposite ends of the pitch, and the term wicket is also used to refer to the area between the two.

While it originally referred to the soft moist ground and slower bounce, it also became used to refer to any difficult pitch where the bounce was unpredictable, and from there to any difficult situation. Not sure if it is also the origin of 'sticky' being used to define anything that was difficult as in 'sticky situation' or 'sticky moment' almost synonymous to 'tricky'.

Apply that synonymous analogy to Richard "Dick" Nixon and we really have some discussions points.

 

[HuskerDo]

My favorite: "Coach told us to just go out and have fun."
It's the most uni-directional, for winning only. Try imagining this conversation: "Jim-Ray, why did you lose by 28?" "Coach told us to just go out and have fun."

 

[BigBird]

I am weary of Mike Breenan's "dawn tawn" calls. It's apparently a tribute to Marv Albert who popularized it, or something.

"Hail Mary" passes? Really? I cringe every time I hear it used instead of "desperation."

 

[Zorro]

You could feel the momentum shift.

 

[Bigpetunia]

He left it all on the field...

 

[Gus Mahler]

He really showed some heart out there.

 

[UCAP_Fan]

"Twice on the pipes" Doris Burke says this when a shot gets blocked. I never liked the song and I don't think young people would know what she is talking about. The song is so old.

 

[Bestiarius]

Speaking of old time....

 

[Zorro]

But I, for one, never got tired of that one. Same goes for "We've got Diana and you don't".

 

[DaddyChoc]

A man amongst boys

 

[DaddyChoc]

"missed the bunny" "things are getting chippy"

 

[Kibitzer]

Comments critiquing refs we often hear:

"Good call."
"Bad call."
"Good no-call."​

A comment we never hear:

"Bad no-call." ​

 

[DaddyChoc]

"extra pass" "coach on the court"