Words That Sportswriters Use That Make Me Cringe

Well, you can post a crooked number. Which I've never understood either. Sixes and eights are kind of smooth. One and seven are kind of straight or angular. What makes the number crooked? Did it embezzle money from one of the concessions stands? Is it cheating?

 

Different kind of crooked. In baseball a crooked number is anything from 2-9. A zero in one inning or 1 run is not crooked. Get it?

 

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I suppose. Still not a fan of the expression, though.

 

You do know that Owen High School - where Roy Williams coached and Brad Daugherty played - calls its boys' teams "Warhorses" and girls' teams "Warlassies."

 

Consecutive. Always. Was emphasized at a notable former stop.

 

Ran into a gender-neutral SE who changed that up at one stop.

Problem ... one of the high schools was an "-ettes." Had been that way for generations, won two girls' basketball state titles and was well known outside the area. Some were fine with it, but we did get some pushback from two or three girls' basketball programs that still wanted the "Lady" designation.

Another stop didn't do "Lady." Problem ... Pat Summitt's program has always been known as the "Lady Vols" - does anyone think Kellie Harper is going to mess with that, especially since she played under Pat? - and Kim Mulkey's program in Waco is still known as the "Lady Bears." Louisiana Tech is the Bulldogs for men and "Lady Techsters" for the women. Do you (continue to) make exceptions for them and, if so, where the line drawn? Number of national titles? General prominence of program? Current relevance of program?

 

It's mostly a phrase used in the dugout. Not many sports writers use it.

 

Also, wish guys would stop writing: "Patrick Mahomes completed passes to seven different receivers."
"Seven receivers" is fine. The only reason you'd need the word different is if we somehow suspected the receivers were all clones of each other.

 

A well-meaning student at a local high school led a push for the school to drop the "-ettes" for the girls' teams. The decision-makers of the district went along with it, thought it sounded like a good idea, getting all gender-neutral and stuff. The only problem was, the student failed to talk to any of the former players of the basketball "-ettes," who had won a few state titles. She caught hell after the change was made, and the "-ettes" was quickly added back.

 

Had one stringer who liked to write "Podunk East is 2-1 on the young season with the win." Would one write "Podunk East is 7-2 on the old season"?

 

It always strikes me as kind of strange when alumni of a high school get involved in something like this.

There's a high school in my hometown that's still the Indians. They've thought about changing and alums lose their shit.

My old high school is the Lancers. Change it to the Pederasts if you want. I could not care less.

 

There are two high schools in Wilmington, Del. named after DuPonts. A.I. DuPont is the banal Tigers. But P.S. DuPont (school may not be there anymore, declining city enrollment) is/was the superb Dynamiters. I don't know if they change that for the girls' teams, but it is gender neutral.