Ridiculous sayings, Strong Playoffs, NFL and College: Do many fans understand what a nickel defense is?

Here are some sports jargon and trite phrases, some incomprehensible, that I’ve heard sports announcers make over the years, Hopefully, they’ll not be used in 2025 (but they will).

That’s an impossible catch:” If it was impossible how was the catch made.

They’re in the nickel defense: It assumes that everyone watching a football game knows what a nickel defense is.

He really squared that one up: It assume that everyone watching a baseball game knows players’ jargon.

He’s great in the clubhouse: Said of a player who is not so great on the field.

He made a circus catch: Maybe the announcer needs a thesaurus.

He had to make that catch. Easier said than done.

He’s out with a “leg” “shoulder,” “ankle” or “rib” (without saying it’s an injury).” I thought all humans have legs, shoulders, ankles and ribs.

That’s a backbreaker: Call in the MDs.

He’s been off the charts this season:  But at least he’s on the playing field.

He’s looking for a flag: It’s usually flying from the top of a stadium.

It depends on the spot: I thought it depends where the player was tackled.

He’s a student of the game: But how did he do in college.

There’s some extracurricular activity: I thought it was just pushing and shoving.

The momentum has shifted: At least for one play.

They have to stop the run: Maybe that’s what the “student of the game” learned in college.

They have to establish the run: The “student of the game” has to make up his mind. 

There’s still plenty of time left: But the clock shows there only a minute remaining in the game.

The “skill” position players have to step up: The other players on the field are unskilled?

That’s what I call a football player: I didn’t know that. I thought he was a ping pong player.

He’s a football player. Now I’m sure.

“It’s a battle,” “it’s a bomb,” “it’s a blitz,” and they’re in the “red zone” or “trenches:” Not really, it’s just a football game.

He always gives it 110%. The new math?

He made something out of nothing: Magical.

He’s a north to south runner: Except when the teams switch side after half-time and he’s a south to north runner.

The quarterback and the receiver are not on the same page: Maybe one is a speed reader.

It’s a game of inches: I always though it was a game of first downs and touchdowns.

He playing with a swagger: Doesn’t that call for an unsportsmanlike penalty?

He made a football move: Golly gee. I thought that’s what football players were supposed to do.

They have an old school approach: Before the Big Ten expanded to 18 teams?

He’s a home run threat. In football?

They stretched the field: Huh! I thought the NFL determined the size of the grid.

That’s an impossible catch:” If it was impossible how was the catch made.

They’re in the nickel defense: It assumes that everyone watching a football game knows what a nickel defense is.

He really squared that one up: It assume that everyone watching a baseball game knows players’ jargon.

He’s great in the clubhouse: Said of a player who is not so great on the field.

He made a circus catch: Maybe the announcer needs a thesaurus.

He’s looking for a flag: It’s usually flying from the top of a stadium.

It depends on the spot: I thought it depends where the player was tackled.

He’s a student of the game: But how did he do in college??

There’s some extracurricular activity: I thought it was just pushing and shoving.

The momentum has shifted: At least for one play.

They have to stop the run: Maybe that’s what the “student of the game” learned in college.

They have to establish the run: The “student of the game” has to make up his mind.

There’s still plenty of time left: But the clock shows there only a minute remaining in the game.

The “skill” position players have to step up: The other players on the field are unskilled?

He has a big arm: Maybe the QB needs treatment for Lymphedem

Prior to becoming the sports marketing guru at two national PR agencies over a 35 year span, I spent a number of years as a sports reporter. After turning in my copy about the first football game I covered, a copy editor gave the article back to me and said, “Remove all the sports jargon and rewrite it in proper English. We are not a foreign language publication.”

It’s beyond my reasoning why sports announcers – primarily football ones – have to use inside football terms, jargon and words that wouldn’t be accepted by an English teacher to describe what’s happening, while print reporters can write a story of a game using only words that relate to the dictionary definition of them. (Kudos to Troy Aikman, who always explains what “football talk” means in proper English.)

If any of you were fortunate to hear the late Vin Scully or Marty Glickman, who I had the privilege of working with for eight years, describe the actions of a ball game, you might remember that using proper English did not detract from watching or listening to a ballgame. They didn’t have to use gobbledygook in order to describe what was happening.

Also irksome to me is when today’s TV announcers describe what’s happening on the playing field, as during pre-TV days, when viewers couldn’t see what’s happening, or describe a fumble or an interception as if it was first time it ever occurred and make it sound as if the world is coming to an end. (There’s a good case to be made that because viewers can see what’s happening, that the only person in the booth that’s necessary is the analyst, who also can identify the players during his analyses.

What’s missing are announcers like John Madden, who could provide analysis in a manner that was entertaining as well as factual. Or Lindsey Nelson, who could light up a TV screen because of his attire. Or Don Meredith, on Monday Night Football, who would sing the Willie Nelson song, “Turn Out The Lights, The Party’s Over,” when it was obvious which team would win. Or so many other announcers  who could entertain as well as describe the action like Rosey Roswell of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who  when a Pirate hit a home run would say, “Raise the window, Aunt Minnie!

Here it comes” and break a light bulb to signify a broken window. And then would say, “Aunt Minnie didn’t open the window in time.” Those are just a few of the announcers who could entertain as well as explain, without using jargon and trite phrases.

And, importantly, not announcing that every play is announced like it was the first time it ever happened.

(This piece also ran in Bulldog Reporter)