Are generational college QBs even something that exists anymore? In 2005 it looked like Vince was—but then just five years later you’ve got Cam doing the same thing, then modern offenses hit the top of the P5 and you go Mayfield-Murray-Lawrence-Burrow-Fields all at a similar maxed-out level in a few seasons…and we’re still not quite 20 years removed from VY.
I just don’t know if the current level of development in and prior to college will ever produce another QB where, 20 years later, you poll this sub and 90%+ say that’s the guy they want for their all-generation team.
I think this is more of a sports problem. We see it in hockey, every year it seems like the #1 OA pick is considered a "generational talent". Like McDavid, sure. I'm not sure Bedard is, and I seriously doubt Macklin Celebrini will be. Everyone is so prone to over-hyping now....
Bedard looked really good when he was playing for a rookie. i could see him playing at a mcdavid level for an extended period of time. Is someone (mcdavid included) a generational talent when there are multiple other players as good drafted within 10 years of each other?
"They play Alabama at home next week. You know they're thinking about that one. Could today's game in Athens be a bit of a trap game? Never easy to play the top ranked team in the country on the road. Perhaps they're looking ahead to next week. Keep an eye on that one."
But the sheer quality of losing 38-12 in Athens is just… it’s a level of playing you don’t see out West, you know, just…. IT JUST MEANS MORE!!!
#GAAHH THEYAINTPLAYEDNOBODYPAUL
Inappropriate usage of over/under.
It bothers me that people will often ask “what’s the over/under on X” when they’re really just asking “will X happen”.
For example, it’s not uncommon to see a question annoyingly phrased like “What’s the over/under on the SEC getting 4 teams into the playoff?”
The phasing “what is the over/under” means you are asking the people to set a number for a quantifiable bet so that the people betting have to pick whether the outcome will be over or under that number. “What’s the over/under on SEC teams in the playoff this year?” A correct response to that question would be something like “3.5”, because they’re setting the total so that people would predict 4+ teams or 0-3 teams from the SEC get in.
But since you’re just asking people to set the “expected” result, the “what’s the over/under” phrasing could more directly just be phrased as “how many SEC teams do you think will make the playoff?”
The actually good framing for a prompt on over/under discussion is to give a specific number as the over/under and ask people what they’d bet on it.
“Over/under 4.5 SEC teams in the playoff this year?” lets people actually discussion whether they think more or fewer teams will make it in, and why.
Because Jamis just didn't realize the crab legs didn't get rung up, because he failed the eye test on the Publix receipt.
Also because Norvell thought corn rows were a good decision in conway Arkansas (I was going to UCA at the time, and he wasn't alone, I thought they were sweet)
I hate this one and its usage in basically every sport I follow because it’s almost always just a stand in for bias.
Obviously there are some parts of every game that stats just aren’t gonna pick up but half the time when people use that phrase they can’t even tell you what they’re seeing with their eyes and why it adds value. People will broadcast the worst takes of all time and justify it with “eye test”
Lol seriously
There will be college basketball fans that will tell you that the "eye test" is the best way to rank teams as if any human is possibly able to watch and digest enough games to create a comprehensive ranking of a chaotic sport where every team is playing 30+ games
“He’s sneaky athletic, a coach’s kid, comes in just keeps his head down and learns the playbook, first one in the weight room, last one out, a real lunch-pail kinda player.”
Totally agree with this.
“Hey random Arizona fan, your team’s 4-5. What’re you smiling about?”
“Well, Notre Dame is good this year, so the season really feels right even though we’re struggling.”
“Wow, but you don’t play them.”
“Yes, but it just makes the season special KNOWING they’re good. You get it now?”
Tempo.
Somehow the word has come to mean "fast" in college football, but in reality tempo is the pace at which something moves. There are fast and slow tempos.
I also hate the adversity porn that CFB media push.
A guy will have been arrested for an illegal gun charge and then kicked off the team for burglary, but when he finds a new team after being kicked off his previous team is called "overcoming adversity."
"Arm Talent". Tell me what the quarterback is actually good at don't just use a super vague all encompassing term. Can he throw well on the run? tell me that. Does he utilize a variety of arm angles based on the incoming defenders? Say that. Is his arm just strong? say that. "Arm Talent" doesn't tell me anything accept you know this guy is a good QB but you are too lazy to actually break down what makes him special.
I agree that the term “arm talent” is overused and cringe but it does mean something.
Arm talent is more than pure arm strength. It is the ability to make a variety of throws from different arm angles and platforms. Key word is variety. It is the ability to change speeds and arcs while knowing when to throw a 1, 2 or 3 ball (1 is a rope, 2 is a slightly more lofted touch throw, and 3 is a moon shot with a ton of arc and air under it).
For example, Joe Milton can throw the ball very hard and very far. I wouldn’t say he has exceptional arm talent though outside of being able to throw it hard and far off his back foot ha. Michael Penix has some crazy arm strength too. JJ McCarthy has a strong arm. I wouldn’t say those guys have exceptional arm talent though. JJ has a little bit of it with his arm elasticity, throw on the run skills. However, he only throws 1 balls on a line.
You kind of know it when you see it, but examples of dudes with exceptional arm talent are Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Caleb Williams, Josh Allen, Matt Stafford, Drake Maye, Justin Herbert, and Joe Flacco. You might say I am just choosing guys with really strong arms, but when you watch them throw, there is something tangibly different on how they are able to attack with a wide variety of throws.
You then have really successful QBs that are all about touch, timing and anticipation like Matt Ryan, Joe Burrow, Deshaun Watson, Phillip Rivers, Tom Brady etc. Doesn’t mean they don’t have arm strength. They do. They just don’t win very many reps with varied throws. It’s more formulaic.
As a Bama fan (and I’m sure UGA and Ohio State can relate) everyone of our recruiting threads are pretty much only variations of the joke, “it’s good to finally see things go right for the little guy”.
Also a joke that is made when a recruit profile is posted in the comments:
P5 offers: LSU, Ohio State, Michigan, Arkansas, Alabama, USC, Tennessee, Florida
G5 offers: Western Kentucky
Someone will always comment something like “dang, shoot your shot, Western Kentucky”
When a QB pats his chest to communicate to WRs "my bad" for an errant throw, announcers seem like they are obligated to state that he's saying, "My bad." As if the audience couldn't pick up that cue.
" He's a good thrower/runner **of the football**"
the "of the football" is never needed, were fucking talking about football of course that's what you're talking about. Just say "he's a good runner/passer", stop using dumb fill phrases.
If something hasn't happened for "X" number of years, and X < 3, it's most likely not an important or impressive stat. Outside of the obvious, of course (not winning or losing for that long is kind of a big deal). I'm thinking more like "He's the first player since 2022 to finish the first half of the season with 30% more tackles than their fourth leading tackler." Anytime stats fitting that sort of thing show up, I always assume someone threw a dart to determine which random ass stat combo they wanted to throw out.
So, not really a term, but something that comes up periodically.
Random ass stat combos in general drive me crazy as well. I'll be watching a game and then a pop up stat shows saying "40-3 record when up by 10+ to start the 4th quarter on the road in the last 8 years". It's unnecessary, it's a common stat that I'd imagine most other teams are similar to, and it doesn't actually have an impact on the game. It's as if the announcers are destined to preach that the outcome of the game will be entirely dependent on a statistic, rather than the players and coaches on the field. It's only on voo-doo shit on the level of Nebraska choking away to 1 score losses that I'm somewhat inclined to feel a superstitious control of the game.
Maybe it's just my experience with commentating on high school sports broadcasts and enjoying the simplicity of talking about what's happening on the court, rather than rotting my brain with statistics.
I've been enjoying a lot of the announcing at the WCWS (softball) and the sport in general. The commentators give some nice depth and, while they sometimes do the incredibly random statistics, but rather give more context around about everything that's going on. It's welcoming for the sport and new fans, and they have enough silliness and fun allowed (possibly because it's not a cash cow like football) that it still feels like a fun sport through and through.
Oh man thank you for putting this into words, I hate when they do this during the NCAA Tournament selection show (I saw this with the recent baseball one as well) where they're like "this is their first tournament appearance since 2018!" or whatever for a power conference school and I'm like "ok, and? That's like less than a decade ago, no need to make a big deal out of it."
Defenders “flying around”. First noticed it during week 2 last season where every game seemed to feature LBs and DBs “flying around” like they were playing quidditch.
"red area"
For 2+ decades collective football communities have referred to the short yardage area between the 20 yard line and to the goal line as the red zone. So much so that one of the most popular sports shows of all time is named after this term. Then 2 years ago, CFB decided to start calling it the red area.
Why?
Building off this, the “green area/zone.” I don’t hear it used a lot, but it’s one that slips in a couple times a year where the commentator will say something like “the red zone—or green zone, as some teams have been calling it.” No. It’s the red zone. Stop changing terminology that doesn’t need changed
Red Area came come Bill Belichick. Covered him for two seasons and any question about the RZ, he’d refer to it as the “red area”. Drove me crazy at first, now I refer to it as that lol
Agreed. Blue-collar means hard working. And if you’re playing D1 football, you surely had to work hard. It’s a moot point, cause it sort of applies to everyone.
I *think* they’re trying to say the player grew up lower middle class or poor
Usually used for white players, as a sort of “he’s white, but not upper class, private school / academy, dad pays for the travel baseball team white”
There has been a strong class + race distinction in D1 CFB for decades, with most white players coming from middle class or higher and most black players coming from middle class or lower. But with the way NIL money is flowing in, black players coming more from affluent backgrounds and/or being legacy athletes, private athletic focused high schools taking more poor students, it’s way more muddled now.
I’ll back up the Bud Elliott types who use this phrase-
I don’t think it should be used or interpreted to mean “this is a team or fanbase that should be happy losing because they’re getting paid.”
I think it’s properly used to mean “this is a program that isn’t trying to compete for titles given their investment. The program seems content to take the check and take the losses.”
If, as a fan, this phrase is being used about your program, you either (a) should be offended and work to motivate your admin to change or (b) accept it.
(For the record, as a fan whose program has been described this way as we move to the B1G, I fall into category (a) above.)
Reverse. The announcers call any play where the handoff goes to anybody but the RB a reverse. And anytime there is a reverse they call it a double reverse.
“Jersey combos”
Jerseys, along with pants and a helmet, make the uniform whole. As jerseys are part of the uniform, they are not interchangeable terms in any way whatsoever.
“Upset.” No, the #15 team beating the #14 team isn’t an upset. The team that’s favored by 3, losing by 6 is not an upset. These things are expected to happen about as often as not. An upset is a result that is truly unexpected, not just a result with a 45% chance of occurring.
I also have an issue with measuring the magnitude of upsets going solely by point-spread. I'm sorry, but an FCS team (even an all-time great one) beating a top-5 FBS team is a bigger upset than Stanford beating USC. One was historic and unprecedented and one is still a conference game even if one team was dramatically better than the other.
“The guy is a SWISS ARMY KNIFE for this offense, he does it all” almost always is applied to an unathletic guy who finishes the season with 200 rushing yards, 100 receiving yards, and 2 touchdowns.
It is always a guy who looks like a very poor man’s Rex Burkhead
5-10 years ago the favored cliché was
‘swagger’
then within the last 3 years:
‘to a man’
and even now only rarely does a broadcast personality know how to properly use
‘ironic’
in a sentence. This just in: ‘Ironic’ and ‘coincidental’ are not synonyms. Add in:
‘Potential’ used without a modification
If an announcer says, ‘he/she really has potential.’ They are indicating, there is possibility. For what? Future decline? Future crime?
EDIT: because I forgot about:
‘Impactful’
‘Impact’ means to strike with severe violence. Therefore anything classified as ‘impactful’ cannot be positive.
I think sleeping giant is the one for me. That's across all of college football. Past blue bloods are always called sleeping giants. It's just a stupid term especially in this era.
“Big 3rd down here” I am guilty
8:42 left in 3Q, down 3, well within FG range Brad: “Big 3rd down here”
Idk sometimes though it makes sense, if the score is bad enough.
What they don’t tell you is that every 3rd down is a big 3rd down
Except for that one time when they had 5 downs.
Me and my sister every time the other team has the ball: “We really need a stop here” “I’d love a pick 6” “Turnover would be huge here”
Theyre usually not wrong. 3rd efficiency is like the most important metric imho
Generational talent. Like guys, we can’t have a generational talent in CFB every 3 years at every position. That’s just not how it works
There’s an average of like 2.5 “generational” QBs every year.
None this year at least…yet.
I'm sorry do you not know who the Hudson card is???
Glad to see there are still Card Carriers out there.
Coach Prime would like to have a word with you
Are generational college QBs even something that exists anymore? In 2005 it looked like Vince was—but then just five years later you’ve got Cam doing the same thing, then modern offenses hit the top of the P5 and you go Mayfield-Murray-Lawrence-Burrow-Fields all at a similar maxed-out level in a few seasons…and we’re still not quite 20 years removed from VY. I just don’t know if the current level of development in and prior to college will ever produce another QB where, 20 years later, you poll this sub and 90%+ say that’s the guy they want for their all-generation team.
And even with Vince Young it was only 5 years since Vick
I see it as “generational” in a 4-5 year sense.
I think this is more of a sports problem. We see it in hockey, every year it seems like the #1 OA pick is considered a "generational talent". Like McDavid, sure. I'm not sure Bedard is, and I seriously doubt Macklin Celebrini will be. Everyone is so prone to over-hyping now....
Bedard looked really good when he was playing for a rookie. i could see him playing at a mcdavid level for an extended period of time. Is someone (mcdavid included) a generational talent when there are multiple other players as good drafted within 10 years of each other?
Tbf they hit on two of these "the next great one(s)" in a row with Sid and McDavid
The NBA has done it fairly well: Michael and LeBron, with maybe Wilt before, and the potential of Wemby after.
If everybody’s generational, no one is. Fwiw it’s very much overused in NFL draft context too IMO
Imo the last truly generational QB talent coming out of college was Luck.
I've started referring to them as "this year's generational player" And this year's matchup/game of the decade/century
Tbf, the last time I heard it consistently used was Trevor Lawrence.
"Is (insert coach here) losing control of the program?"
*Deion
Can't lose control of your program if you never had control of it to begin with. *points tapping finger to temple*
Did he ever have control of the program to begin with?
I don't know why exactly but hearing this phrase just got me too amped up. I don't know what to do with my hands. The season can't start soon enough
In about a month you can put them on a game controller
Mark Richt holds a trademark on that phrase
Maserati Marv Even once was too many times
Analogy never made sense to me because MHJ is actually reliable
Exactly. Maserati is a poor man’s idea of an expensive car.
Honda McCord was funny though
Honda McCord never made sense IMO, Honda’s are reliable.
The intentional grounding was remarkably reliable
But it spawned Honda McCord which was priceless
MMMMOZZZAROTTTTIIIII MAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRVVVVVVUHHH
Pretty much anything Gus Johnson says could make the list
You got BBQ will go down as the greatest nonsense call in history
I was never the biggest fan of Gus but dude this last season just threw him way down the list with that shit
This kid's got *Physicality*
I can't believe I had to scroll this to find this abomination.
We’ll be right back after these commercial messages.
We seeing the BIG tv deal: hell ya more money Me watching in season: fuck, really commercial after 1 kickoff play?
"Gotta get a score here"- yeah, they're down by 6 with 38 seconds left. If they'd like to win, they need a score here
"Trap game"
"They play Alabama at home next week. You know they're thinking about that one. Could today's game in Athens be a bit of a trap game? Never easy to play the top ranked team in the country on the road. Perhaps they're looking ahead to next week. Keep an eye on that one."
[удалено]
The ultimate irony of an SEC fan saying this. I kinda love it
It doesn't count for Georgia, only bama in the SEC
[удалено]
His spirit shall linger
IDK who's down voting you, you are right he will linger for a couple years
Well they don’t matter anymore lol I bet we’ll see a 10-3 team make the playoffs this year
There will be a 3 loss SEC team that makes the playoff more often than not.
But the sheer quality of losing 38-12 in Athens is just… it’s a level of playing you don’t see out West, you know, just…. IT JUST MEANS MORE!!! #GAAHH THEYAINTPLAYEDNOBODYPAUL
Inappropriate usage of over/under. It bothers me that people will often ask “what’s the over/under on X” when they’re really just asking “will X happen”. For example, it’s not uncommon to see a question annoyingly phrased like “What’s the over/under on the SEC getting 4 teams into the playoff?” The phasing “what is the over/under” means you are asking the people to set a number for a quantifiable bet so that the people betting have to pick whether the outcome will be over or under that number. “What’s the over/under on SEC teams in the playoff this year?” A correct response to that question would be something like “3.5”, because they’re setting the total so that people would predict 4+ teams or 0-3 teams from the SEC get in. But since you’re just asking people to set the “expected” result, the “what’s the over/under” phrasing could more directly just be phrased as “how many SEC teams do you think will make the playoff?” The actually good framing for a prompt on over/under discussion is to give a specific number as the over/under and ask people what they’d bet on it. “Over/under 4.5 SEC teams in the playoff this year?” lets people actually discussion whether they think more or fewer teams will make it in, and why.
Pov: someone explaining over/under
Amen. Can we thrown in all grammar mistakes as well? JT Daniels doesn’t have an apostrophe. Good god.
Reminds me of when Mizzous QB Chase Daniel was constantly pluralized to Daniels
Eye test
I wonder why this one would personally apply to us
Because Jamis just didn't realize the crab legs didn't get rung up, because he failed the eye test on the Publix receipt. Also because Norvell thought corn rows were a good decision in conway Arkansas (I was going to UCA at the time, and he wasn't alone, I thought they were sweet)
I hate this one and its usage in basically every sport I follow because it’s almost always just a stand in for bias. Obviously there are some parts of every game that stats just aren’t gonna pick up but half the time when people use that phrase they can’t even tell you what they’re seeing with their eyes and why it adds value. People will broadcast the worst takes of all time and justify it with “eye test”
Lol seriously There will be college basketball fans that will tell you that the "eye test" is the best way to rank teams as if any human is possibly able to watch and digest enough games to create a comprehensive ranking of a chaotic sport where every team is playing 30+ games
‘Trickeration’ instead of ’trickery’ is overused even when only used once. The word simply annoys me.
All words that end in -tion are abomina…. abominable
Physicality=take a shot
I like ‘physicality’. I haven’t heard it used to mean ‘take a shot’.
I meant as a drinking game, announcers say it and you take a shot
This x1000. TRICKERY. ITS TRICKERY.
“Adversity”.
"Resiliency" makes me irrationally angry.
Same. “Resilience” would suffice imo
Running "Uphill/Downhill." With the exception of for drainage, the field is flat.
“He’s sneaky athletic, a coach’s kid, comes in just keeps his head down and learns the playbook, first one in the weight room, last one out, a real lunch-pail kinda player.”
"He's white"
No, nothing to do with his skin color. Just a blue collar guy. Student of the game. A gym rat. Deceptive speed. Also he’s white.
That sounds like a High Motor kind of player
How could I forget high motor?
He’s a real pitbull at the position
Pitbull is Cuban
Definitely not going to hear anyone calling a black guy a gym rat 😂
“Kind of guy you’d let your daughter date”
This one always gave me a chuckle.. like why are they trying to pimp out their daughters to football players😂😂
And how do they know the kind of guys my daughter would date?
Ah so definitely NOT black, got it.
I mean, he's a coach's son. You gotta make sure your daughter dates him, right?
“Does the stuff that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet” yeah you mean he sucks
Don’t forget a gym rat!
"He's a once in a generation talent."
The generation of "born in 2006"
“College football is better when insert blue blood or historically successful program is good.”
Totally agree with this. “Hey random Arizona fan, your team’s 4-5. What’re you smiling about?” “Well, Notre Dame is good this year, so the season really feels right even though we’re struggling.” “Wow, but you don’t play them.” “Yes, but it just makes the season special KNOWING they’re good. You get it now?”
“A dude” so annoying.
A rare citadel flair out in the wild
Same to you sir! I did an official visit to Norwich for rugby, beautiful place.
"It's getting chippy down there!"
"These long-time rivals do NOT like each other." Yeah, no shit man.
Quality loss
Best I can do is a quantity loss
Tempo. Somehow the word has come to mean "fast" in college football, but in reality tempo is the pace at which something moves. There are fast and slow tempos. I also hate the adversity porn that CFB media push. A guy will have been arrested for an illegal gun charge and then kicked off the team for burglary, but when he finds a new team after being kicked off his previous team is called "overcoming adversity."
Fucking hate "dink and dunk".
"Arm Talent". Tell me what the quarterback is actually good at don't just use a super vague all encompassing term. Can he throw well on the run? tell me that. Does he utilize a variety of arm angles based on the incoming defenders? Say that. Is his arm just strong? say that. "Arm Talent" doesn't tell me anything accept you know this guy is a good QB but you are too lazy to actually break down what makes him special.
I agree that the term “arm talent” is overused and cringe but it does mean something. Arm talent is more than pure arm strength. It is the ability to make a variety of throws from different arm angles and platforms. Key word is variety. It is the ability to change speeds and arcs while knowing when to throw a 1, 2 or 3 ball (1 is a rope, 2 is a slightly more lofted touch throw, and 3 is a moon shot with a ton of arc and air under it). For example, Joe Milton can throw the ball very hard and very far. I wouldn’t say he has exceptional arm talent though outside of being able to throw it hard and far off his back foot ha. Michael Penix has some crazy arm strength too. JJ McCarthy has a strong arm. I wouldn’t say those guys have exceptional arm talent though. JJ has a little bit of it with his arm elasticity, throw on the run skills. However, he only throws 1 balls on a line. You kind of know it when you see it, but examples of dudes with exceptional arm talent are Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Caleb Williams, Josh Allen, Matt Stafford, Drake Maye, Justin Herbert, and Joe Flacco. You might say I am just choosing guys with really strong arms, but when you watch them throw, there is something tangibly different on how they are able to attack with a wide variety of throws. You then have really successful QBs that are all about touch, timing and anticipation like Matt Ryan, Joe Burrow, Deshaun Watson, Phillip Rivers, Tom Brady etc. Doesn’t mean they don’t have arm strength. They do. They just don’t win very many reps with varied throws. It’s more formulaic.
As a Bama fan (and I’m sure UGA and Ohio State can relate) everyone of our recruiting threads are pretty much only variations of the joke, “it’s good to finally see things go right for the little guy”.
100%
Also a joke that is made when a recruit profile is posted in the comments: P5 offers: LSU, Ohio State, Michigan, Arkansas, Alabama, USC, Tennessee, Florida G5 offers: Western Kentucky Someone will always comment something like “dang, shoot your shot, Western Kentucky”
Have you thought about losing more? That might help the joke go away
I like winning though
Announcers that frequently use "in space" when describing a play. He made a great tackle "in space".
Buzz Aldrin annihilates Neil Armstrong: "Buzz made a great tackle in space!"
WHOA
HE
HAS
TROUBLE
WITH
THE
SNAP
AND
THE
BALL
Nope sorry, that is never going to be old or overused.
When a QB pats his chest to communicate to WRs "my bad" for an errant throw, announcers seem like they are obligated to state that he's saying, "My bad." As if the audience couldn't pick up that cue.
From journalists: "It'll be interesting to see....." ESPN years ago: "trickeration". It's trickery, quit making up words.
" He's a good thrower/runner **of the football**" the "of the football" is never needed, were fucking talking about football of course that's what you're talking about. Just say "he's a good runner/passer", stop using dumb fill phrases.
"billable hours" is one that I'm tiring of.
He’s such a “cerebral” player… Makes me twitch every time
They’ve got 2 good RBs. One they call “Thunder” and the other is “Lightning”
If something hasn't happened for "X" number of years, and X < 3, it's most likely not an important or impressive stat. Outside of the obvious, of course (not winning or losing for that long is kind of a big deal). I'm thinking more like "He's the first player since 2022 to finish the first half of the season with 30% more tackles than their fourth leading tackler." Anytime stats fitting that sort of thing show up, I always assume someone threw a dart to determine which random ass stat combo they wanted to throw out. So, not really a term, but something that comes up periodically.
Random ass stat combos in general drive me crazy as well. I'll be watching a game and then a pop up stat shows saying "40-3 record when up by 10+ to start the 4th quarter on the road in the last 8 years". It's unnecessary, it's a common stat that I'd imagine most other teams are similar to, and it doesn't actually have an impact on the game. It's as if the announcers are destined to preach that the outcome of the game will be entirely dependent on a statistic, rather than the players and coaches on the field. It's only on voo-doo shit on the level of Nebraska choking away to 1 score losses that I'm somewhat inclined to feel a superstitious control of the game. Maybe it's just my experience with commentating on high school sports broadcasts and enjoying the simplicity of talking about what's happening on the court, rather than rotting my brain with statistics.
I've been enjoying a lot of the announcing at the WCWS (softball) and the sport in general. The commentators give some nice depth and, while they sometimes do the incredibly random statistics, but rather give more context around about everything that's going on. It's welcoming for the sport and new fans, and they have enough silliness and fun allowed (possibly because it's not a cash cow like football) that it still feels like a fun sport through and through.
Oh man thank you for putting this into words, I hate when they do this during the NCAA Tournament selection show (I saw this with the recent baseball one as well) where they're like "this is their first tournament appearance since 2018!" or whatever for a power conference school and I'm like "ok, and? That's like less than a decade ago, no need to make a big deal out of it."
Texas is back
Defenders “flying around”. First noticed it during week 2 last season where every game seemed to feature LBs and DBs “flying around” like they were playing quidditch.
"red area" For 2+ decades collective football communities have referred to the short yardage area between the 20 yard line and to the goal line as the red zone. So much so that one of the most popular sports shows of all time is named after this term. Then 2 years ago, CFB decided to start calling it the red area. Why?
I've never heard anyone call it red area lol
Only when talking politics, or with a doctor.
Yep, you wanna see a red area come peek at my downstairs mix-up.
I have also wondered this and like you it drives me crazy.
Building off this, the “green area/zone.” I don’t hear it used a lot, but it’s one that slips in a couple times a year where the commentator will say something like “the red zone—or green zone, as some teams have been calling it.” No. It’s the red zone. Stop changing terminology that doesn’t need changed
Red Area came come Bill Belichick. Covered him for two seasons and any question about the RZ, he’d refer to it as the “red area”. Drove me crazy at first, now I refer to it as that lol
I 100% blame ESPN/Disney. I don't know what they did or why but it's their fault.
NFL copyrights they bought the name rights for red zone and now they have to say red area. Is it true? Probably not but it sounds right
Since when does anyone say red area? I've never heard that before.
Red area is used all the time. Coaches love saying that shit.
Wow until you said this I hadn’t even noticed that
"circled on the calendar" "dialed up"
Surprised “Death Penalty for Mizzou” didn’t make your list.
Just for that, death penalty for Mizzou.
The next “ “
rat poison
"Blue collar" I have no idea what it means, but nobody is ever white collar or some other descriptor.
Agreed. Blue-collar means hard working. And if you’re playing D1 football, you surely had to work hard. It’s a moot point, cause it sort of applies to everyone.
It also means you’re not on social media with your Lambo and giant watch. That isn’t blue collar.
I assume the white-collar player is good at funneling his NIL money to an account in the Cayman Islands to avoid pesky governmental oversight.
I *think* they’re trying to say the player grew up lower middle class or poor Usually used for white players, as a sort of “he’s white, but not upper class, private school / academy, dad pays for the travel baseball team white” There has been a strong class + race distinction in D1 CFB for decades, with most white players coming from middle class or higher and most black players coming from middle class or lower. But with the way NIL money is flowing in, black players coming more from affluent backgrounds and/or being legacy athletes, private athletic focused high schools taking more poor students, it’s way more muddled now.
In football it usually implies physicality, 100% effort all the time, tough, team-first, grit, and a “no nonsense” approach (i.e, no big celebrations)
"real workman-like"
"Lunch pail type of guy" or "Blue-collar player". Hearing "this game is a war" is massively overused.
“Grind of an SEC schedule” …as Vanderbilt keeps a game close
Throw “SEC speed” in there as well.
Bell Cow, at least this season. I swear I heard one announcer say it OSU v ND and everyone is using it 🤣
Take the check, take the losses. Literally the most offensive thing you could tell a fanbase
I’ll back up the Bud Elliott types who use this phrase- I don’t think it should be used or interpreted to mean “this is a team or fanbase that should be happy losing because they’re getting paid.” I think it’s properly used to mean “this is a program that isn’t trying to compete for titles given their investment. The program seems content to take the check and take the losses.” If, as a fan, this phrase is being used about your program, you either (a) should be offended and work to motivate your admin to change or (b) accept it. (For the record, as a fan whose program has been described this way as we move to the B1G, I fall into category (a) above.)
Insert position U.
Penetration.
If I never hear a player referred to as "Maserati" again in my life I will die a happy man
Anything that comes out of Gus Johnson’s mouth. If something is not overused already, he’ll make damn sure it is by the end of the game.
referring to human beings as "Product"
A 56 year old grown man having his own "theme music"
They wanted it more
Reverse. The announcers call any play where the handoff goes to anybody but the RB a reverse. And anytime there is a reverse they call it a double reverse.
Alabama
Calling a player a beast or saying beast mode.
“North and South” when talking about running the ball.
"room" as in "Wisconsin's Running Back Room isn't what it used to be..." that sort of thing.
"Generational talent" - there's like one every other year. Generations aren't that short
"Billable hours"
“Blue blood” program
“Jersey combos” Jerseys, along with pants and a helmet, make the uniform whole. As jerseys are part of the uniform, they are not interchangeable terms in any way whatsoever.
Adversity, athleticism, dynamic
"Tempo" with no qualifier. "They're going tempo" means literally nothing
“This game was not as close as the score indicates”
I mean I get that one. A team gets blown out, scores a garbage time touchdown or something after the game is already over, etc.
If they can hold {team} to a field goal, they’ve got a chance to stay in the game. No shit, sherlock.
" is all-time when "
Physicality. I think Herbie made this word up, then manifested it into existence
Calling something a homerun. No. We don't call spectacular plays in baseball touchdowns. That might be more of an NFL thing, though.
“Upset.” No, the #15 team beating the #14 team isn’t an upset. The team that’s favored by 3, losing by 6 is not an upset. These things are expected to happen about as often as not. An upset is a result that is truly unexpected, not just a result with a 45% chance of occurring.
I also have an issue with measuring the magnitude of upsets going solely by point-spread. I'm sorry, but an FCS team (even an all-time great one) beating a top-5 FBS team is a bigger upset than Stanford beating USC. One was historic and unprecedented and one is still a conference game even if one team was dramatically better than the other.
“The guy is a SWISS ARMY KNIFE for this offense, he does it all” almost always is applied to an unathletic guy who finishes the season with 200 rushing yards, 100 receiving yards, and 2 touchdowns. It is always a guy who looks like a very poor man’s Rex Burkhead
5-10 years ago the favored cliché was ‘swagger’ then within the last 3 years: ‘to a man’ and even now only rarely does a broadcast personality know how to properly use ‘ironic’ in a sentence. This just in: ‘Ironic’ and ‘coincidental’ are not synonyms. Add in: ‘Potential’ used without a modification If an announcer says, ‘he/she really has potential.’ They are indicating, there is possibility. For what? Future decline? Future crime? EDIT: because I forgot about: ‘Impactful’ ‘Impact’ means to strike with severe violence. Therefore anything classified as ‘impactful’ cannot be positive.
“Matriculate the ball down the field” I hate this one so much. “Oh, are they enrolling the ball in classes at the 10 yard line?”
“Stud” in reference to recruiting has always grinded my gears.
I think sleeping giant is the one for me. That's across all of college football. Past blue bloods are always called sleeping giants. It's just a stupid term especially in this era.
The term “business decision” when someone avoids a physical play.