Stupid Sports Cliches

The worst sports cliches? Divya Parmar has the answers.

by Divya Parmar (Columnist)

18

716 reads

Sports

March 31, 2008

Basketball, MLB, NBA, College Basketball, Sports

 I was thinking about annoying cliches and here are three that stood out.

1. "Inning eater" or "never missed a start." This one really annoys me. Who cares if someone pitches a lot of innings? Are they good innings or not?

If I offered your team a pitcher that would pitch 35 starts and 9 innings each start guaranteed, but would allow 6 runs each time, would you want him on your team? NO. You'd cut him immediately.

Barry Zito never misses a start, but he allows 7 runs when he pitches, that's not good for your team. You would rather have an injured pitcher than a crappy pitcher that is never hurt.

2.  "Energy guy." I hate when they call a guy an "energy guy." That usually means they aren't very talented, but just throw their body around for the good of the team.

Also, are they saying that the other nine players (out of the 10 on a basketball court), who are world-class athletes themselves, have no energy?

In addition to that, how did these players get to such a high level? By working hard. To get so high, you have to be dedicated to your game. You have to have energy and hustle and give it your all. So why is that one guy the "energy guy?" Is everyone else not trying or something? It makes no sense.

3. "They have a good RPI". For college basketball, that is an overrated measurement of a good team.

Arizona got in the Tournament over Arizona State because of RPI. RPI should be used less in favor of head to head records and conference records. That is a fairer way to decide which team is better.

Who cares if you have a hard schedule and play tough opponents if you lose anyway. Judge based on other criteria, not RPI.

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comments (17) write a comment »

  1. That's it?

    Well good list... I disagree about the "Energy Guy" thing.. Sometimes it's more than just throwing your body around for the good of the team.. It's about providing a spark.. Plus those guys that throw their body around are great role players, every team needs someone like that.

    Good list... I'd like to see more though.

    1. I wrote it in a hurry, and didn't plan it out with a long list.

      But thanks for the support and the compliments!

  2. Don't forget my all-time favorite: we don't train to loss. Really? Who knew?

  3. I'd say anything that John Madden ever says.

    "Now what they're trying to do here is score!!! And their goal is to score more then the other team!!! And whatever team scores more in the end wins!!!"

    Thanks John.

    1. I can't stand that the guy gets mega-millions to point out things that everyone who has watched the game for two years knows! He is SO overrated. And by the way, John, it's not "none yards," it's "no yards." And it's either a slant, post, or seem--there is no "skinny post!" How did this guy ever win anything? Don't get me started! Boom, Pow--he must have watched too much of Adam West as Batman.

  4. I vote for "gives 110%." Why doesn't it annoy more people that this is not possible? Can I give you 110% of all my possesions? Of course not! (Would I if I could? Of course not!)

  5. Anything that Madden says, definitely. I hate the whole "clutch" thing in baseball. People quote "batting average with runners in scoring position" every 5 seconds in a baseball telecast, when the stat is all luck and small sample size. Most players are not guys who "know how to win" or don't, it depends what team they are on more than anything. That's why Pitcher Win-Loss Record is the most overrated stat in the history of pro sports--all it basically says is how good the supporting offense was.

  6. Not really the cliches that come to mind in my book. "Inning eaters" and "energy guys" are absolute realities and important pieces to any championship puzzle. From my Detroit background, Jack Morris was an inning eater of legendary proportions whose ability to throw deep into games really helped his team. Dennis Rodman was an "energy guy" who absolutely dominated the court at times with his relentless hustle. I was thinking of things like "taking it one game at a time," and "defense wins championships," and "the better team won." Not to say that these don't all have some small grain of truth, but they're over-used and often-times inappropriate. I do agree that "they have a good RPI" is sometimes a poor indicator of team prowess, but I wouldn't exactly call it a cliche, as it is often phrased very differently. For example,"they have a bad RPI," or "they have a mediocre RPI," which are simply statements of a perceived strength of schedule.

  7. Nice attempt. Try and think of some things that sports personalities frequently state as fact that generally cannot be proven and typically go unchallenged. I know you read my article on stupid sports cliches last week (thanks for the comment), and I think a good example of this is something like "the other team wanted it more".

    I'm currently working on "Stupid Sports Cliches, Volume Two" so be on the lookout.

  8. Whoa, Jason, calm down there dude, the guy is trying his best. We don't get paid for this ya know.

    Good article. I, too, would have liked to have seen more. How about when a guy is described as "gritty" or "scrappy"? That usually refers to a white guy with little talent who gets his uni dirty.

    1. Eat a big truckload of shit, Bob... you fuckin fruity loser Cubs fan

      Uh, this just in.. the Cubs are a bunch of fluffers

      But at least all you faggy Chicago people with your annoying shitty Chicago accents can go to all the games and watch them get their balls kicked in by the vaginitis ass Brewers

  9. Volume Two is now posted.

  10. Dude BE EASY!

  11. i can't stand when they talk about keeping the ball away from a said team's great offensive player by running the ball. Ok maybe makes the game fatser (and maybe closer to avoid a blow out) but if you score quick or slow what matters is the scoreboard. It's not like if you keep the ball away from the other team that you can score 3 times while you are keeping it away this only helps to not get blown out unless in fact your running game is your strength.

    Also any mention of golfers being athletes is very annoying. Maybe they are but you cant tell from what they do on a golf course. Golf is a hobby or maybe even a sport but not an athletic one. I'm sure tiger woods is a great athlete but i've never seen him do anything atheltic.

    o and the defense wins championships - scoring more points than the other team wins championships so whatever gets the job done. it happens that most teams that win championships have had very good defenses but not always.

    its also very annoying when kids that suck at baseball take up lacrosse and then make fun of baseball players for not playing a sport with contact. Tell that to the guy who had his career ended in the all star game against pete rose. lacrosse honestly is a retarded game and unwatchable unless there is a fight on. i'd say half of the field should be eliminate since it serves no purpose.

    i also dont like the cliche "too high" in baseball since my dad would say it every single time it happened. I love the part in major league where the other dude says "too hard".

    I hate people that put soccer down also. Probably takes the most athleticism of any sport (yes i've played just about everything except hi ly (spelling i know its with a "j" or soemthing))

    feel free to bring on the comments...

  12. Hey Jason, why don't you "buck" the bad attitude and try to demonstrate that you know anything about sports, civility, and/or anything in general. Your bile-ridden attempts at trash talk aren't impressing or intimidating anyone here, as it takes a true coward to spew his venom across the anonymity of cyberspace.

  13. Hey Jason, why don't you "buck" the bad attitude and try to demonstrate that you know anything about sports, civility, and/or anything in general. Your bile-ridden attempts at trash talk aren't impressing or intimidating anyone here, as it takes a true coward to spew his venom across the anonymity of cyberspace.

  14. somebody already did this, but I agree that the ones that you pointed out are annoying

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About the Author Divya Parmar (columnist)

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