Sports jargon that makes your skin crawl

[eyesroll]

I have two sports-jargon peeves:

1. "Winningest." It just sounds weird. Sure, it's more economical than saying "won a higher percentage of games than anyone else." But it still sounds weird.

2. "He gave good hustle." What part of speech is "hustle," anyway? My aversion to this word probably stems from my elementary-school gym teacher's massive overuse of the word. But still.

So, what bugs you?

[shaolinmonkey]

1. When they say, that was "a great golf shot"

as if we don't know what sport we're watching. Jeez.

[eyesroll]

4. Ah. Yes. "The Browns just aren't in this football game."

The football announcers are terrible with that as well.

[Phillycat]

16. Madden is the worst with that in football.

"Now they're really playing football down there on that field!"

Well, John, they're wearing huge pads, smashing into each other, and carrying around a FUCKING FOOTBALL.

What the fuck else would they be playing, numbnuts?

[eddiebrowns]

2. 110%

[kick-ass-bob]

3. upside.

only hacks use that term.

[sniffa]

8. or how 'bout "postentiaL"?

or "project" - i hate that.

drafted in the fifth round, they beLieve he'LL be a Long term project

[kick-ass-bob]

10. yes potential, too.

Upside seems to be the new potential.

[tcfrogs]

12. I think you can blame this guy for those phrases

Mel Kiper Jr.

[tcfrogs]

5. "Walk-off home run"

or any such variant. It's gotten much more frequent use over the past few years, such as walk-off single, walk-off walk, etc.

[sniffa]

7. waLk off waLk and waLk off baLk are my fav

[trotsky]

6. "moral victory"

n/t

[skygazer]

9. "He's got game"

Sounds like he just came in with a side of venison.....

[Richardo]

11. Any syllable that comes out of Milo Hamilton's mouth...

...he's a walking argument for mandatory retirement. (This is Houston-specific)

- Insists on hanging annoying, sophomoric nicknames on everybody.*
- Will not reveal the score EVER
- Will not reveal who is playing - visiting team is always 'they'. If you tune in in the middle of a game and don't have a schedule in front of you, you're screwed until Alan Ashby comes on.
- Uses "we" and "us" as if he were down on the field


*(At least Chris Berman's nicknames had some wit attached to them: Don "Def" Lepperts is one of my faves)

[trotsky]

13. Hehe, Berman's nicknames.

Those are great. Curtis "My Favorite" Martin, or Marco "Polo" Coleman. Or his quick exchanges with Tom Jackson - "Derrick Brooks, FROM?" Tom: "Florida State!" Always cracks me up. Those two are a funny pair.

[underpants]

15. Former Oriole John "tonight let it be"Lowenstein

adn LA/ Radiers receiver Alexander "If loving you is wrong I don't want to be" Wright

[Phillycat]

18. Eric "sleeping with" Bieneme.

[Phillycat]

19. Kevin "totally" Gross.

LOL!

[Richardo]

21. One I coined in the Berman tradition: Javier "Than Air" Vazquez

:D ...he was on my fantasy baseball team at the time.

[benito]

14. "he has to play within himself"

That is the WORST!!!!
ABC loved to toss that one on hawkey goalies during the playoffs. It makes me violent when I hear it, it's so stoopid.

[omshanti]

17. "trifecta" used in the wrong context. Hate it. n/t

[Bunny]

20. He got a high ankle.

I take it this refers to an injury on the upper reaches of the ankle. It sounds funny, though. A high ankle. What about a low groin? :P

[underpants]

22. "It was a WAR""We are in a WAR" "It will be a WAR"

Winslow "The Chosen One" tried that crap at UMiami and just today A-Rod opened his piehole

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/baseball_usa_yankees

"We went to war, we will be back and somebody's going to pay," Rodriguez said.