The Most Tired Cliche in Sports

[Oski]

I see (or hear) this in various forms at least ONCE PER MONTH. The first time, it was funny, but it got tired fast. I bet its been around for about 50 years. Maybe someone can tell me when it first popped up.

Anyway, here goes: [Example]

Question: "How do you think your 2002 Laker team compares to the 1971 Knicks."

Athlete (or sports writer, etc.) "Well, I think it would be a close battle, but of course the guys on the Knicks are in their 50's."

or.

"Do you think Willie Mays could hit .400 against this pitching?"

"Uh, it would be close, but of course, he's 65."

Can this already. I've heard it in just about every sport. What I can't believe is most of the time, its done by print journalist who should know how tired this cliche is.

Any others?

[whiskeytown]

reminds me of the old chestnuts from the Naked Gun series -

"Cigarette?" - "yes, it is"

RB

[Uston]

Louis Prima: With all the great players playing ball right now, how well do you think you would do against today's pitchers?

Ty Cobb: Well, I figure against today's pitchers I'd only probably hit about .290

Louis Prima: .290? Well that's amazing, because you batted over .400 a... a whole bunch of times. Now tell us all, we'd all like to know, why do you think you'd only hit .290?

Ty Cobb: Well, I'm 72 f*cking years old you ignorant son of a b*tch.

[SossMan]

Of course someone has to mention the old: "We're taking it one game at a time", but my personal fave is:

Stupid Halftime football commentator 1: "So, the score is still tied at zero, there has been 23 total yards between both teams, do you think this is good defense or bad offense??"

Stupid Halftime Footbal Commentator #2:
"Well, i think it's a little bit of both..."

arggghhhh...for once i just want someone to say, "it's
sh!tty offence, okay Dick?"

[M2d]

that whole "110%" thing still ranks up there for me.

[jdl22]

The one that I just love is the "we shocked the world" type response. People say things like this at all levels of sports including small college games and the little league world series.

Similar to that is the one where they say "everybody said we couldn't do it, but we believed in ourselves." This is especially interesting when about half of the pundits on tv predicted that the winning team would win.

An example of this type of mindset was shown on ESPN after the playoff game between the Eagles and Packers. They showed a sign in the Eagles locker room that apparently one of the coaches had put it. It said something like "The whole world wants Brett Favre and the Packers to make it to the Super Bowl, where do you fit into that scenario." I never heard anybody on tv or in the street say that they wanted Brett Favre to go on one last run to the Super Bowl. I live in Pittsburgh where most people hate the Eagles and I heard none of that. Teams love to feel that the "whole world" is against them.

Even if you ignore the fact that the vast majority of human beings don't care about American sports these claims are usually wrong. I'm sure coaches of both the Pistons and the Lakers are using this spin. For Detroit it's "the lakers are the most popular team in the NBA so everyone is against us" while in the LA locker room they probably say "we're the most hated team in basketball everybody hates us."

[andyfox]

When Karl Malone hit a jump shot last game, Doc Rivers said, "He's got to do more of that."

Gee, ya think? Considering his team scored all of 68 points, I would say yes, he needs to put the ball in the basket more.

[JTrout]

"I'm just going to play my game, and take it one shot at a time."

[John Cole]

The disappearance of the subjunctive: "If I'm Pedro, I'm thinking about . . . ."

"He brings a lot to the table."

"This is (fill in the blank) saying goodnight." Just say "Goodnight" already.

"Clemens is 41 years of age." Is it a rule announcers can't say "years old"?

Joe Morgan--not a cliche, but he sucks.

"Nomar's hitting in the five spot (or five hole)." When did "batting fifth" become inadequate?

When was the last time a downhill putt wasn't "tricky"?
Answer: When it's "slippery."

"Prolonged slump."

Just venting. Sorry.

[jdl22]

On a similar note to those you mention, why do they always say the name of the sport before saying game or team?

What a great football game!
The Pistons are a great defensive basketball team.

...

[John Cole]

Easy answer: because somebody else said it a million times before. (Sort of defines a cliche.)

When did golf announcers start using the completely idiotic "thirteen fairway" and "thirteen tee" and "thirteen green"? And, more importantly (like these are life altering considerations) why?

[jwvdcw]

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/cliches.html

[RocketManJames]

Some variant of:

"At this point, it's all about who wants it more."

That one annoys me.

-RMJ

[Oski]

Well, after reading the ESPN page, I realize I mislabled my rant. I guess its not a cliche, but rather a joke (or attempt at one.) So, its "the most tired joke in sports."

Sorry.

[blackaces13]

I'm glad this got to golf because I watch a lot of golf and its announcers are the undisputed kings of the cliche and they're really good with redundancies too. Let's see what I can come up with off the top of my head:

Saying the word "golf" when its entirely obvious they are talking about golf. Everyone in the audience knows they are watching golf!!!

"What a great golf shot that was."

"He's got such a rhythmic golf swing."

"What a brutal golf hole."

"When you play a golf course like this one..."

There's a million superfluous golfs in every telecast.

Some things you will hear everytime you watch any tournament without fail, any player, any course:

"The pin is tucked just 3 paces from the edge of the green."

"Its amazing he hits it as far as he does with such a smooth flowing swing like that."

"He doesn't have much green to work with."

"The greens are running about a 12 on the stimpmeter."

"If the wind gets blowing here watch out."

"He's got great imagination around the greens."

"He's got a dicey lie in the rough he has to be careful his clubface doesn't get twisted on the way through causing a pull to the left."

Tiger gets his own category:

"I didn't have my A game today"

"I was just grinding my butt off out there today."

"I caught a few squirrely lies today."

"I went out and tried to put up a few birdies early and put some pressure on the leaders."

There's a ton more but this is already too long.

[SossMan]

cmon....keep em coming!!

[SossMan]

[ QUOTE ]
When was the last time a downhill putt wasn't "tricky"?
Answer: When it's "slippery."


[/ QUOTE ]

Classic....i almost pissed myself when i read that.

[BeerMoney]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm glad this got to golf because I watch a lot of golf and its announcers are the undisputed kings of the cliche and they're really good with redundancies too. Let's see what I can come up with off the top of my head:

Saying the word "golf" when its entirely obvious they are talking about golf. Everyone in the audience knows they are watching golf!!!

"What a great golf shot that was."

"He's got such a rhythmic golf swing."

"What a brutal golf hole."

"When you play a golf course like this one..."

There's a million superfluous golfs in every telecast.

Some things you will hear everytime you watch any tournament without fail, any player, any course:

"The pin is tucked just 3 paces from the edge of the green."

"Its amazing he hits it as far as he does with such a smooth flowing swing like that."

"He doesn't have much green to work with."

"The greens are running about a 12 on the stimpmeter."

"If the wind gets blowing here watch out."

"He's got great imagination around the greens."

"He's got a dicey lie in the rough he has to be careful his clubface doesn't get twisted on the way through causing a pull to the left."

Tiger gets his own category:

"I didn't have my A game today"

"I was just grinding my butt off out there today."

"I caught a few squirrely lies today."

"I went out and tried to put up a few birdies early and put some pressure on the leaders."

There's a ton more but this is already too long.

[/ QUOTE ]

I watched golf today and heard at least half of those.

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, after reading the ESPN page, I realize I mislabled my rant. I guess its not a cliche, but rather a joke (or attempt at one.) So, its "the most tired joke in sports."

Sorry.

[/ QUOTE ]

Too late. Cliches are more fun.

You guys are missing the obvious one. My favorite is anyone who thanks God in the post-game interview. Pretty sure that you putting the ball in the basket, or scoring a touchdown, or hitting a home run, was far more important on his list of things to do compared to the people starving all over the world. Always makes me laugh.

[bingledork]

I hate when golf announcers say: "This putt breaks from left to right."
Is that any more helpful than "This putt breaks right." ??

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

My pet peeve is the athlete who thanks God for the victory. If I were a reporter, my next question would be "What is it about your opponent that God particularly dislikes?"

Disclaimer: Best thanking of God - John Wetteland of the Yankees - "I'd like to thank my point man - Jesus!!"

[Sooga]

you know what annoys me more than any cliche are those insipid questions that reporters ask that can only be answered in one way. Stuff like:

"Tell me, how important was was this win tonight?"

- How else can you answer this? "you know, it really wasn't all that important, we could have afforded to lose it."


Or, "How valuable is <insert name of superstar> to your team now that he's playing so well?"

- How else can you answer this? "Eh, you know, we could probably win just as many games without him."


These 'interviews' are such a colossal waste of time because of these ridiculous questions. Have any of these guys heard of open-ended questions?

[WEASEL45]

"That's why they play the game"

[CORed]

One game at a time.

Just once, I'd love to here a coach or player say, "We're gonna take it 3 games at a time and give 95%".

[adios]

On someone who makes a dumb play or shows a lack of some basic skills for a particular sport:

"but he's a great athlete"

Two teams are playing in a meaningless NFL game as at least one of the teams is out of the playoffs:

"they're trying to win to build momentum for next year"

A guy hits a home run:

"He got all of that one"

"They rose to the occasion"

There's a lot more besides the ones mentioned and the ESPN mentioned ones. Too many in fact.