64-straight games

I'm seeing a graphic on ESPN right now:

"Memphis: won 64-straight home games vs unranked teams"

Where in the WORLD did people start getting the idea that the hyphen is supposed to be there? I'm seeing it as often as not.

 

That is quickly becoming a sore point with me as well. Not quite as bad as "could of," but you would hope professional journalists know better.

 

I've gone back and forth with this forever. What's it supposed to be?

 

Why would you use a hyphen?

 

I suppose because someone could look at "64 straight games" and think, "What's a straight game? Is that different from a curvy game? And why did they play 64 of those?"

If you say "64-straight games," it's obvious that straight is connected with 64.

 

I thought it did go there since "64-straight" is a compound modifier of games. How should it be done?

 

Because 64-straight is a modifier for home games. That's what I always thought.

EDIT: McNuggetsMan beat me.

 

Yeah. compound modifier. That's the fancy editing term for which I was looking.

 

Why not say or write won 64 home games in a row? Is is that much wordier? It eliminates the whole hyphen issue, which is way out of control in my estimation anyway. I have a thing against hyphens. I know, there are bigger things to worry about. But hyphens bug me.

 

You're right. It does eliminate the whole hyphen issue. Not as concise, but it still works, I think.

 

I thought you weren't supposed to use straight in that instance? I thought it should always be consecutive?

 

Yeah, but that falls into the same catetory as "against" instead of "over."

Even though "Team A gets a 11-10 win over Team B" is technically wrong, people still say and write it.