"We'll break it all down from here."

[inthesuburbs]

Is it possible we could stop using this trite expression?
I wonder how many readers stub their mind on that usage every time. "Joe breaks down the defense."
Whatever happened to analyzing, explaining, discussing, etc.?
I guess as soon as we stop saying some players are more "physical" than others.
Or "resiliency."
It's sort of like being a police reporter, right? Cop reporters end up talking like cops. ("The suspect fled on foot...") And sports reporters end up talking like coaches.

 

[cjericho]

All of sports radio is trite.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Join the conversation.

 

[HanSenSE]

They all can score the basketball.

 

[cjericho]

Dribble drive.

 

[Alma]

It's brutal.

But it's the thing now, too. If I read another Smart Football post "breaking down" Chip Kelly's inside zone play, I may die.

 

[Bronco77]

They all can score the basketball.

And defend the rim. Or dominate in the paint (always amuses me when that one is used in an arena with unpainted free-throw lanes).

 

[Flip Wilson]

"He's tall. He's got great length."

 

[I Should Coco]

I always bristled when Burnt Hamburger would talk about someone "exploding" through the hole. Or "he EXPLODES for the touchdown!"

There better be body parts all over the end zone.

 

[Bronco77]

I always bristled when Burnt Hamburger would talk about someone "exploding" through the hole. Or "he EXPLODES for the touchdown!"

Don't forget those fearsome "eruptions" -- "The Wildcats erupted for 21 points in the fourth quarter." Lots of volcanic activity this time of year.

 

[Earthman]

It's a fluid situation

 

[Doc Holliday]

We just need to execute.

 

[Alma]

Those buzzwords are all used to cloak what is really freaking obvious: Sports aren't that hard to understand. It is vitally important that coaches have you think it is, the better to protect their haphazard decision-making.

 

[dirtybird]

Those buzzwords are all used to cloak what is really freaking obvious: Sports aren't that hard to understand. It is vitally important that coaches have you think it is, the better to protect their haphazard decision-making.

Really?

I mean, the broad strokes are not that hard to understand, sure. But the specifics are endlessly granular. They're so much so, it's sometimes a wonder how people can be devoted to such small bits of physical rhythm, balance and technique. Now you could argue most readers might not care, which is fair, but your readers might also be irrational, demanding for the third string quarterback to play and judging every call on outcome instead of approach. I don't know if the goal is to reflect that.

And there are many writers who watch the games through that same petulant light. I've sat in press boxes and seen writers shout out critiques that don't match what just happened. I've seen them unable to discern between coach's call and execution. A lot of folks will assign precise meaning to the sort of random ebbs and flows that happen in sports. If this was all that easy to understand, I'd imagine we'd have far less of that.

(I suppose it's perfectly fine to view spots through a simpler lens, but that makes it harder to turn around and act like an expert on the details)

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I can only say this. In 1987, my rookie year as a beat writer, then Pats offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia told me only half-joking, "the most important thing to remember is that it's a simple game." In 2016, Bill Belichick brought Scar out of retirement for what I'm sure was very good money to coach the O-line again because in the AFC title game, the Broncos proved Scar was right.

 

[playthrough]

Those buzzwords are all used to cloak what is really freaking obvious: Sports aren't that hard to understand. It is vitally important that coaches have you think it is, the better to protect their haphazard decision-making.

I think you might be right but I'm going to wait 'til the next segment when Herm breaks it down.