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re: Great sports phrases often misunderstood

Posted on 6/27/12 at 1:10 pm to
Posted by KennesawTiger
Your's mom's house
Member since Dec 2006
7429 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 1:10 pm to
quote:

John Madden



My favorite of all time:

Pat Summerall- "John, what do the Lions have to do to get back into this game?"

Madden- "Well, they really need to play better."

Summerall-"....."
Posted by GarmischTiger
Humboldt County
Member since Mar 2007
6666 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 1:20 pm to
The use of the phrase "get untracked". It's come to mean to come out of a slump - a lot like "getting back on track". It's widely used, but of dubious grammatical origin.

In the not-misunderstood-but-excessively-wordy category, I've never liked when players, coaches, sportscasters or journalists needlessly use sports nouns (football, baseball, basketball) as adjectives. As in, "LeBron's a helluva basketball player" or "This football team came prepared to play this football game today".
Posted by Stadium Rat
Metairie
Member since Jul 2004
9676 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 2:10 pm to
He's got "to play within himself". He's supposed to play in his mind? No, what it really means is to know the limits of your ability and don't try to go beyond that, because that's when mistakes are made.

"He plays great in space". Once in a while I wish they would call it what it used to be called, "the open field".

Herbstreet and Mussberger always say something like "he's the fastest in ALL OF college football. You can use that for emphasis once in a while, but mostly just leave out the "all of" part.
This post was edited on 6/27/12 at 3:10 pm
Posted by Sid in Lakeshore
Member since Oct 2008
41956 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 4:49 pm to
quote:

sports phrases often misunderstood


"Kill the Head"... Gregg Williams
Posted by Roovelroe
Mandeville
Member since Jan 2005
4372 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 5:06 pm to
I know baseball fans will think this is stupid, but I can't stand when they say a runner is in "scoring position" only once he reaches second base. You hit a home run and you just scored from home plate...why is second base scoring position? Drives me nuts.
Posted by Gravitiger
Member since Jun 2011
10898 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 5:12 pm to
Not limited to sports, but one that gets under my skin is when people say a guy "needs to get untracked." No, he needs to get back on track. The problem is that he is currently untracked--as in not on the track. One of those words that was apparently misused for so long that it was actually added to the dictionary under its ostensibly incorrect meaning.
This post was edited on 6/27/12 at 5:13 pm
Posted by hehateme2285
Katy, TX
Member since Dec 2007
5199 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 5:12 pm to
quote:

I know baseball fans will think this is stupid, but I can't stand when they say a runner is in "scoring position" only once he reaches second base. You hit a home run and you just scored from home plate...why is second base scoring position?


A single can score a runner from second. Can't score a runner from first
Posted by tadelatt
Buga Nation
Member since Jan 2010
12296 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 7:51 pm to
quote:

A single can score a runner from second. Can't score a runner from first



I thought this was your phrase...LMAO

But after reading the whole post, I agree with ya
Posted by Terry the Tiger
Cypress, Texas
Member since Jul 2009
3494 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 8:12 pm to
"vertical passing attack"
Posted by Terry the Tiger
Cypress, Texas
Member since Jul 2009
3494 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 8:18 pm to
The term "touchdown". Why is it called a "touchdown" when you are awarded one when the ball breaks the plane of the goal line without ever having to touch down in the end zone?
Posted by MottLaneKid
Gonzales
Member since Apr 2012
4543 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 10:08 pm to
"You play to win the game." really ??

or "The team that makes the most plays is gonna win today. " I certaintly hope so.
This post was edited on 6/27/12 at 10:13 pm
Posted by Woodreaux
OC California
Member since Jan 2008
2790 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 10:43 pm to
quote:

Why is it called a "touchdown" when you are awarded one when the ball breaks the plane of the goal line without ever having to touch down in the end zone?


Historic reason. In the early 20th century, the ball carrier was required to touch the ball to surface of the endzone to give his team a kick attempt.
This post was edited on 6/28/12 at 2:14 am
Posted by northshorebamaman
Cochise County AZ
Member since Jul 2009
35828 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 10:58 pm to
I see 'pin their ears back' used wrong quite a bit. The losing team is the one that 'had their ears pinned back', but I see people use it in reverse, as in 'we're just gonna have to pin our ears back and make a play'.
Posted by higgins
flowery branch, ga
Member since Dec 2009
7918 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 10:58 pm to
"big players make big plays in big games". Which usually comes out sort of ebonically as, "bih playa may bih play in bih game"
Posted by MintBerry Crunch
Member since Nov 2010
5140 posts
Posted on 6/27/12 at 11:55 pm to
This one's not necessarily misunderstood, but is just stupid: "He runs well in space." Well, no shite. Everybody runs well when no one's near them trying to tackle them.

It's misunderstood. By you.

It means he runs well In space when the one or two people that come to tackle him try, he will make them miss.

Same as open-field runner
Posted by fitz1190
Member since Aug 2008
3555 posts
Posted on 6/28/12 at 12:09 am to
kind of in the same category of all this...

I hate it when reporters ask athletes, "What does this victory mean to you?"

Drives me crazy.
Posted by Snakebucket
New Braunfels, Texas
Member since Sep 2011
3551 posts
Posted on 6/28/12 at 1:41 am to
I don't know about great phrases, but definitely annoying.

A pitcher saying "I'm just trying to make good pitches"

What's wrong with simply throwing good pitches.

In hoops, just trying to "Score the Ball"

WTF does this even mean




Posted by Dark Tiger
Member since Sep 2006
4494 posts
Posted on 6/28/12 at 3:08 am to


Good one. I think maybe people get it mixed up with an old country saying - "back your ears"...means to go all out or be aggressive, like a horse does when running wide open (their ears are back, not sticking out like normal) or a wolf does when he is attacking (ears are back, not out or up).
Posted by WILDTURKEYisgood
Madisonville
Member since Aug 2010
3320 posts
Posted on 6/28/12 at 5:42 am to
throw him the wing dinger!
Posted by Tommy Patel
Member since Apr 2006
7558 posts
Posted on 6/28/12 at 7:59 am to
quote:

"vertical passing attack"


well if you watched our offense last year you will remember that we had little or none in the Vertical category and we went to our Horizontal pass attack a lot with shitty results.
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