Worst phrase in sports commentating?

MarkDallas

Sophomore
Aug 27, 2014
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I will add that I think "wide open" is way over used.

If a player has a step on his man, he is "open". He needs to be, say, 5 yards from someone to be "wide open."
 

RocketDawg

All-Conference
Oct 21, 2011
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Gotta agree with you there. But I don't think I've ever heard an announcer say it. I don't like "grindin'" either, but once again, it's not aired.
 

RocketDawg

All-Conference
Oct 21, 2011
20,496
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The universal use of "velocity" to describe a pitcher's speed. Velocity is a vector quantity that has both speed and direction. When they say "he has great velocity" what they really mean is "he has great speed". Speed is a scalar without any particular direction.
 
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00dog

Guest
"Vertical"

for jumping high, as in, "he really got vertical." Can verticality be far behind? Or is it already in use? Don't care for the alternately used term, "elevated"

Also, the famed "in space" previously noted.

And for Griz fans, the constant us of "in rhythm." I really hate that one.
 
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olblue.sixpack

Redshirt
Aug 14, 2012
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My top choice is "Dribble Drive"

What you'll hear about Syracuse a thousand times this week - how they overcame adversity to get to the Final Four.

What really happened was they cheated; came off of probation; drew Dayton, MTSU, and Gozaga; and then had a great comback against UVA. In other words, while real people were facing real adversities, they were playing basketball.
 

Maroonthirteen

Redshirt
Aug 22, 2012
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Not TV but radio...... "Left to right on your radio dial"..... That tells me nothing.

Unless I know the direction the pxp guy is facing and I'm driving that same direction.

Just give a direction... North, South....
 

Indndawg

Senior
Nov 16, 2005
7,248
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"Lets see what kind of blitz pkg. Coach Hornblower is gonna dial up for this

3rd and 14"

Dial up..............maddening
 

Hump4Hoops

Redshirt
May 1, 2010
6,611
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I prefer RBI but understand why RBIs is correct. I have a better solution.

Just change it to BIR. 1 BIR = 1 Batted in Run, 2 BIRs = 2 Batted In Runs. Everybody wins.
 

mstateglfr

All-American
Feb 24, 2008
17,025
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The one that bothers me of over correcting it the use of "metals" in golf. "He is hitting a 3 metal". Just stick with woods.

I think that dbag Johnny Miller started this back in the early 2Ks.
Just one more reason to loathe that bitter man.

Yes, they arent made from the wood of a Persimmon tree anymore, but its just as inaccurate to call them 'metal' as 'wood'. There are polymer inserts and carbon fiber additions which arent mentioned. Calling it a 'metal' is only being partially correct in a lot of instances.
But really, the bigger argument is that an iron isnt made out of simply iron, yet its still called an iron. If a fairway wood is going to be called a 'metal', then any iron should be renamed as well. Call it a 4-steel. Oh but wait, what about a tungsten bodied titanium faced club? Looks like that needs to be called a 6-TungTi or something like that!

Or how about we just call irons iron, even though they are made from a lot of different materials and we call woods wood, even though they are made from a lot of different materials?


Changing a name to be more accurate, only to still be inaccurate is flippin stupid.
 

mstateglfr

All-American
Feb 24, 2008
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From back in the day- 'His strength is his strength'.
- We get it, Jamont Gordon was strong.


Of all time- 'Unbelievable!'...and all other claims made about a play or event being the greatest ever.
- It actually is believable since it just happened.
 

dogmatic

Redshirt
Aug 22, 2012
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"Untracked" or "coughed up"

Back in the era of The Three Daves, they got on a kick of saying "once the offense gets untracked" or "Smith's running game couldn't get untracked," which was a malapropism for the term "on track." It caught on and I started seeing and hearing it everywhere. Even saw it in print from time to time.
It was as aggravating as hearing someone say "myself" when they should say "me" or "I" - Just profoundly ignorant.

Second place would be "coughed up the ball." Just terrible.
 

SignalToNoise

Redshirt
Aug 22, 2012
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Really grates on my nerves when they talk about the difference in score as a "X point differential". That is not what differential means.
 

kired

All-Conference
Aug 22, 2008
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Semi-related question... why do business executives see the need to express things in sports terms? Do they think we're really that dumb? Our ceo and upper management do this constantly in company meetings and they sound like they've never watched a game in their life. We need to "secure a touchdown" or "get the ball in the endzone and score a goal".

Come on - just say we need to sell more stuff.
 

TXDawg.sixpack

All-Conference
Apr 10, 2009
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Mine has always been "lose contain" when the defense lets a ball carrier get to the outside. Since when is "contain" a noun that can be lost? Does it take too long to say "they lost contain-MENT"?
 

Wesson Bulldog

All-Conference
Nov 3, 2015
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Anything any color commentator in the history of sports has ever said
Except for Richard Williams. I actually learn something about the game of basketball by listening to him.
All televised games should be televised without announcers. Just the camera and graphics and replays are enough.
 

moneydawgs

Redshirt
Jan 15, 2016
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Some of these comments are in fact annoying but some of these are just bitchy grammatical errors. It's not like the commentators have a script to read off of for the entire game
 

MarkDallas

Sophomore
Aug 27, 2014
2,607
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Anything any color commentator in the history of sports has ever said
Except for Richard Williams. I actually learn something about the game of basketball by listening to him.
All televised games should be televised without announcers. Just the camera and graphics and replays are enough.

Wow. I assume you're also unhappy with us all standing on your lawn.
 

Wooly17er

Redshirt
Dec 15, 2011
765
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Any saying at a live game after a First Down

The worst is "First Down....Ole Miss." But I also hate "First Down...Roll Tide."
 
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