The more that I watch sports on TV, the more I realize that people on TV are incapable of talking.
Trust me, I know that it is not easy to talk on the spot. Sometimes it isn’t even easy to write on the spot. And with TV personalities constantly multitasking, it makes it harder.
However, this is inspired by an ESPN studio host who spoke of college football teams winning “road games” as “leading the game on the ro-ad.” My friend told me that that’s a Black Sheep movie reference. But that movie is from 1996! And it isn’t funny!
Because of this, I am providing everyone the explanation of the phrase, the context in which it is used and the reason why I will not use each phrase.
Without further ado my biggest pet peeves:
“Walk-off (hit, walk, hit-by-pitch).” Baseball. This one should need no explanation. It’s an invention by TV people to deviate from “game-winning.” The proper term is “game-winning” not “walk-off.” An editor told me this three years ago. He’s not wrong.
“True freshman.” A freshman in his first year. College sports. Isn’t the distinction between a “true” freshman and one who has used his redshirt year, calling the latter a “redshirt freshman?” True freshman is redundant…and stupid.
“Irregardless and resiliency.” Irregardless isn’t a word. Look it up. As I type it, there are red squiggly lines underneath the word, meaning it isn’t a word. Resiliency is technically correct, but I don’t like it. Therefore, I won’t be using it. I’ll use resilience instead.
“Overuse of a sports name as an adjective.” All sports. This is most obsessive in football. Broadcasters refer to players as “football” players. Or the field is a “football” field. Or the ball is a “football.” We know what sport we’re watching. However, this overuse runs rampant in every sport. “Baseball” players or “being unselfish on the basketball court.” Again, we get it.
“Improper use of ‘it’ and ‘their’ and ‘is’ and ‘are.’” All sports. This takes some getting used to, I’ll admit. But wrong is wrong is wrong. Calling a singular “their” is always wrong. For instance if I say “New York are playing well,” is that right? No, of course not. So why is it ok to say, “I like New York’s team. They are good.” That is wrong. “New York’s team” IS singular. “The Yankees” ARE plural.
“The ambiguous ‘they.’” All sports. You’ve undoubtedly heard it before. “They have stopped the play to call a penalty.” Who is this they? A lot of times it is an official or the officiating crew, but calling the officiating crew “they” is insulting, and “they” have certainly been insulted enough.
This is simply the list for now. I’m sure I’ll think of more examples as I hear them and as time passes. If you have one that is a pet peeve of yours, comment below.
I realize this post is self-serving, but it is therapeutic. Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pickensfcsports and if you have a comment, go for it!
I am pretty sure you could write a separate blog post about the inane ramblings of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver in the postseason. I like how Michael Kay made a semi-subtle dig at them last night…but I agree with his point, it would be great for the two home town areas of teams in the post season to be able to hear their usual commentators.
And back on topic, it does drive me nuts when people say things that are blatantly grammatically incorrect.
Look out!