Nail in the coffin

[BlacknGold]

A few days ago, one of our guys wrote a brief on a high school softball game and used the term "nail in the coffin," as in "Bumble High scored four runs in the sixth to put the nail in the coffin."
A reader called and said she was "appalled" that we used that term and threatened to unsubscribe to the paper. So, our managing editor told us that we shouldn't use the term anymore. I think that is ridiculous.
Does this happen anywhere else, or am I just out of it?

 

[cougargirl]

It shouldn't be used because it's cliche. However, nothing people call to complain about surprises me anymore. For entertainment, start a list of all the stupid things callers and e-mailers complain about.

 

[BlacknGold]

Agreed on the cliche part, but I guess that's a whole different conversation

 

[sportschick]

It would have made me hurl, but for a different reason.

That level of cliche has no place in a newspaper.

 

[HejiraHenry]

Seems to me to be both trite and in bad taste.

And coming from me, that's quite an observation.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Use it again to put the nail in the coffin of her subscription.

Of course, that will make it hard for her to read any more articles about how hard Little Johnny tries, for I'm assuming that's the only reason she was reading that article.

 

[buckweaver]

I had no idea "nail in the coffin" was in bad taste. I'm, ahem, dead serious -- I only think of that term in relation to "NBA Jam." Boom-shaka-laka!

 

[Write-brained]

Maybe the reader wasn't offended at all, just hates reading trite cliches.

You should call her and thank her.

 

[spaceman]

change it to "apholstery tack in the casket lining" ... it's more insider-ish that way.

 

[John]

Seems to me to be both trite and in bad taste.

And coming from me, that's quite an observation.

Indeed, it is. Life in the corner suite must be working for you.

 

[clutchcargo]

No cliches. Period.

 

[Starman]

No cliches. Period.

End of thread.

 

[ColbertNation]

Then again it was a brief, which are often either riddled with cliches or mind-numbingly repetitive (I, for one, prefer the latter).

 

[villageidiot]

I had a guy call me up earlier tonight and ask for some help with some "final four" information. He then, I **** you not, asked me to read him all 64 teams in the NCAA tournament so he could fill in what apparently was a print out of the brackets without the first round pairings.

Uh, no.

I slammed the phone, collected my cool and then answered the phone again.

"This is Coach Doe over at Bumble**** High. Got some track results for ya."

 

[clutchcargo]

He hit that one from downtown.

 

[ColbertNation]

I had a guy call me up earlier tonight and ask for some help with some "final four" information. He then, I **** you not, asked me to read him all 64 teams in the NCAA tournament so he could fill in what apparently was a print out of the brackets without the first round pairings.

Uh, no.

I slammed the phone, collected my cool and then answered the phone again.

"This is Coach Doe over at Bumble**** High. Got some track results for ya."

Wow, your coaches call in their results? I'm jealous.
There's a little irony and a little truth in that, actually. A lot of our coaches neglect to call in their games. This causes parents to call and complain that we didn't put their kids in the paper, at which point I get chewed out by my bosses for not calling all of the coaches myself and asking for their game information.
Oh, have I mentioned that my shop is a little backwards?

 

[villageidiot]

The boxes aren't in the paper the next morning because the coach didn't call them in. So when pissed off parents call you to complain, tell them you'd be happy to print the box scores, if only the coach would call them in.

Try it.

 

[ColbertNation]

Doesn't work. Their main complaint is often that we didn't actually staff the game. My answers rarely satisfy them. That's when they go above my head and the aforementioned situation plays out.

 

[villageidiot]

Could you be a little more specific about your paper. Weekly? Daily? What's the circulation and how many high schools are you dealing with?

 

[ColbertNation]

Daily; 16-20k; 5 high schools and one private school; 3 full-time in sports (including me) and no part-timers or stringers.