Partially blocked

Do you use this term? Isn't it somewhat like saying a little bit pregnant?

I know a writer who says "It's blocked if it lands behind the line of scrimmage. If it goes farther, it's partially blocked."

What say you? I say it's blocked, tipped, deflected -- and give appropriate yard-line points of reference. I don't like "partially blocked." What's completely blocked?

 

I don't have a huge problem with the term, though I can see how some people do. "Tipped" or "deflected" are probably better words.

Still, if you use the phrase "partially blocked," the reader knows what you're talking about.

 

If a guy gets two fingers on a kick and it sails awry, to me it's partially blocked.

If a guy gets it good and it falls to the turf where it's recovered, it's blocked.

Good question.

 

If a guy barely gets it at the line, I use tipped or deflected.

 

I think it's a good term. You can have a punt that's blocked, but still goes 10 or 15 yards. It helps explain a short punt in a nice, concise way that tells the reader it wasn't a shank. It also gives some credit to the guy who made the play to get a piece of it.

My rule of thumb: If it's swallowed up or knocked backward, it's blocked. If it's deflected and goes less than 15 or 20 yards, about the same distance as a shank, it's partially blocked. If it's deflected and still goes more than 20 yards, it was tipped.

 

I think partially blocked is a TV/radio term, and I try not to use them in my stories.

 

I don't like it, but it has its uses.

You can't really say the field goal was blocked, but still went through the uprights. Partially blocked or tipped or deflected is what you'd have to use.

 

Deflected or tipped. It can't be "partially blocked."
Either it's blocked or it isn't. If it isn't blocked behind the line of scrimmage, it is tipped or deflected.
Partially blocked is a godawful term that is used way too much.

 

I'd tend not to use it, but I see where it functions in a technical sense.

If you take block to mean that the forward progress of the ball is stopped, that the ball ceases to move forward, then partial block would seem to fit situations where the ball's progress is altered without a complete cessation and regression of its progress.

 

Even better answer.

 

South Carolina "partially blocked" an LSU punt Saturday. It traveled well beyond the line of scrimmage (22 yards, I think). That was the first LSU punt an opposing player got a hand on this season.

LSU's 2007 statistics list the Tigers with one blocked punt. There is no category for partials.

Of course, I do understand the need to paint the full picture. I like some of the answers here. Some of them gave me a better way of thinking about the topic. Thanks.

Still can't bring myself to use "partially blocked" in a story.

 

I still don't quite understand why that is.

If a car is stalled in the roadway, making it so you have to drive around said car to proceed on your way, the roadway is "partially blocked." The roadway isn't "blocked" -- because you obviously got through.

Not sure why a punt can't be described in the same manner.

Agreed, it's no skin off my back just to call it tipped or deflected. I just don't get how the word "blocked" has to mean "totally blocked." It's not the same as partially pregnant or completely destroyed, in my estimation.

But then again, what do I know?