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by Randy OoneyMy Nickel’s Worth by Randy Ooney
My Nickel’s Worth by Randy Ooney
Cliché
Journalism is an art of projecting thoughts and events to an audience through the media, whether it be TV, Radio, print, internet, and other sources, but does not include shouting “Go in the hole!” on the golf course after Tiger tees off on a par 5. Reporting styles of newsmen like Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley, and sports reporters such as Curt Gowdy and Herb Carneal seem to be a thing of the past. The holler guys of today are all looking for unique phrases and clichés to distinguish themselves, but others seem to just keep sweeping the floor with the same old broom.
Rob Stone came on the PBA telecasts but didn’t know the difference between a six pin and a ten pin. But he proceeded to enhance telecasts with new catch words like hambone, yahtzee, six pack, back to back jacks, drop and give me ten. I really didn’t care to have the game called by someone who knew less about bowling than drock, but the PBA keeps striving to stir interest in our sport, with only marginal success.
But since it is now baseball season, although 1500 ESPN radio can’t decide whether to recap basketball or make NFL predictions, the MLB network has exposed us to a number of play by play guys and analysts of major league baseball. None are as bad as our own team of Dick and Bert, but some are pretty close. Many of the home run calls are ridiculous, the worst being the Yankee’s “It is high, it is far, it is gone!” “An Abomb from Arod.” Hawk Harrelson’s “You can put it on the board….yes!” doesn’t bother me – it’s his call, but what’s with the “Stretch” before and the “Mercy” after. Home runs have been called “Big Fly”, “Tater”, “Round tripper”, “Four bagger”, (Which makes me wonder if Rob Stone might call it a Hambone if he ever does a baseball game). Justin Morneau wonders why it is not called a quadruple. I don’t care what you call it, Justin, but I wish you would start hitting them again.
Let’s go back to the booth and pick on a few catch phrases:
“A good piece of hitting” – I don’t know who the first guy who said this was, but hitting does not come in pieces.
“Jam Shot” – Take a small one ounce glass from your cupboard and fill it with strawberry preserves.
“We’ll step aside” – used before a commercial. You guys are on radio or TV. Play the commercial – you don’t have to step anywhere. Who started this one?
“Did he go?” – You may want to ask the base umpire if the batter swung. Asking if he went could be a little personal and could refer to a boat on Lake Minnetonka.
“Splitter, Cutter, Hook, Knuckler,” – All names for pitches that are not really names for pitches.
Enjoy the midsummer classic coming to you from Kansas City. The game where the managers use Little League rules to try and get everyone in the game, and there’s always controversy about when and how to use pitchers. Too bad Drew Butera didn’t make the team, in case the AL runs out of pitching.
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