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Tommy John Surgery

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Pete Incaviglia, May 9, 2008.

Page 2 of 5
  1. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    I seriously hope you are not a sportswriter.
     
    spnited, May 10, 2008
    #13
  2. TwoGloves

    TwoGloves Well-Known Member

    No, I'm a sports writer. Two words, not one there Einstein. Not a doctor either. When Tommy John had his surgery, I was about 10 years old. I never really checked into his surgery much since I never had to write about it. I just seemed to think it had something to do with his rotator cuff, not his elbow. Shoot me. I guess that means after 25 years I've been in the wrong business since I'm not an expert on Tommy Fucking John's 1970s injury. On another note, how long have you been a bitter, know-it-all prick?
     
    TwoGloves, May 10, 2008
    #14
  3. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    This made me laugh.
     
    BYH, May 10, 2008
    #15
  4. Chi City 81

    Chi City 81 Guest

    93 years?
     
    Chi City 81, May 10, 2008
    #16
  5. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    The Google (and, to a lesser extent, The Wiki) precludes age and/or experience from being a legitimate excuse for ignorance.

    If you have time to post on a message board, you have time to look it up.

    "Better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."
     
    buckweaver, May 10, 2008
    #17
  6. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Under my old boss, we were not allowed to say Tommy John surgery because his surgery was a while ago and it was assuming the readers knew exactly what it meant. So you said ligament replacement surgery in his elbow (or whatever is being done). If you wanted to go on and explain that it is often called Tommy John surgery and why, that's fine.
    It is a rule I kept in place during my reign of terror.

    had Tommy John surgery means nothing to the average reader.
     
    Moderator1, May 10, 2008
    #18
  7. Nathan Scott Phillips

    Nathan Scott Phillips Member

    But any baseball fan hears or reads it at least once a week and many probably have no idea what it is. They do know that it's relatively serious and keeps you out for a year. Ligament replacement surgery means nothing to them either, since a lot of people have no idea what a ligament is. We had this discussion too, and unlike most medical terms, chose the shorthand rather than using technically accurate language. There was a time when our style insisted on calling them magnetic resonance imaging exams, but now we're allowed to use MRI exams, because more readers will have run into the acronym than the actual name for the procedure.
     
    Nathan Scott Phillips, May 10, 2008
    #19
  8. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    So just say Tommy John because they don't know ligaments?
    If I tell my wife that a pitcher just had Tommy John surgery, she'll look at me like I'm nuts and ask questions. As she should. And this is someone who will soon have a Phd, not an ordinary dumbass.
    If I say he had a ligament replaced in his elbow, she will understand.

    More people know what a ligament is than know who Tommy John is and what his surgery was - regular folks that you want reading, too, not just baseball geeks like us.
     
    Moderator1, May 10, 2008
    #20
  9. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    That's just about a perfect description right there. I'll use it myself the next tme it's applicable, thanks Pete!

    What do people here use when someone has Lou Gehrig's disease? Just ALS, or do you spell it out and describe it, or say Lou Gehrig's disease, or what?
     
    micropolitan guy, May 10, 2008
    #21
  10. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Lou Gehrig's Disease has a little more reach into the non-sports world but the same thing applies.

    As for the above example, why do you need the Tommy John in there? What's wrong with "had surgery to repair ***"
     
    Moderator1, May 10, 2008
    #22
  11. Calvin Hobbes

    Calvin Hobbes Member

    Not to threadjack or anything, but let's decide once and for all ... sportswriter or sports writer?

    I had been under the impression the former was correct. Others in my shop insist on the two-word version.

    Clarification?
     
    Calvin Hobbes, May 10, 2008
    #23
  12. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    I always do two words.

    The one-word version gives me chills.
     
    imjustagirl, May 10, 2008
    #24
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