If your hometown college basketball team wants to break a two game losing streak, a game against the reigning national champions from last season, who already beat them earlier THIS season, seems as good a time as any, right?
When the intent to create clickbait intersects with bad writing
I’ve commented on bad, misleading, attention-grabbing headlines before, and this one compounds it with the use of the passive voice in a misleading way:
“Coach Jim Boeheim was involved in a fatal car crash last night.”
Until you hear the story (it was on the radio), it makes you wonder: involved in a fatal car crash? Was he killed?
No. He was the driver of a car that struck and killed someone.
Second: since when do we refer to a car hitting someone as being “in a car crash”? Technically, I guess, it’s accurate, but it’s misleading.
Third, the passive voice: “was involved in”? He was driving the car that hit and killed someone, so sure, he was “involved.” The car didn’t do it all on its own.
My sympathies go out to the man who was killed, and his friends and family, and to Coach Boeheim and HIS friends and family. From all accounts, this was a tragic accident. Roads were slippery/icy; I was out on them myself a little more than an hour earlier. Coach Boeheim was apparently trying to avoid a car that has spun out and was in the road in front of him and in that effort, he struck someone on the shoulder of the road. But for the radio to word things this way is irresponsible, the audio equivalent of clickbait, and it brings discredit on those who would do this for the purpose of sensationalizing a tragic situation.
In training
This is about the time that I remember we’ll be leaping forward to Daylight Saving Time in two weeks, and that I should try to start going to bed earlier and getting up earlier now, so it doesn’t hit me all at once.
(I hate getting up earlier.)
Some go into training for the Olympics. I go into training for Daylight Saving Time.
If you’re looking for the Super Bowl…
I don’t know how to break it to you other than to just say it:
Super Bowl LI is NOT being played in Long Island, as you might have thought.
…and the winner is…
Both the Screen Actors Guild awards and the NFL Pro Bowl are on tonight. I’ll be switching back and forth between the two, which may result in me seeing an award for Best Acting in Exaggerating an Injury on the Field.
Some game or another
I am watching the Olympics. There is a large number of people wearing vivid colors running around in circles. They are all running in the same direction. I need know no more.
Multitasking?
Watching the Olympics. 400 M individual medley. How can they swim and sing at the same time?
How you win the World Series
I was just enlightened by a baseball commentator. Do you know why KC won the World Series? Because they set goals. They were determined to win their division, then their league, then the World Series.
Oh, and they had a never-quit attitude. Unlike the other teams, I guess.
“Do we really want to win the division?”
“I don’t know, man. Then we have to play more games. And that Gatorade bath is COLD.”
Kickoff!
Just heard a fine mixed metaphor in sports news on the radio. They reported that the ALCS series was going to kick off today.
Uh… uh…
READY TO PLAY! Or not.
I love it when sportsball teams say they’ll “have to come ready to play.”
What ELSE did they think the whole “putting on uniforms and traveling” thing was about?
Team 1: puts on uniforms, travels to meet other team
Team 1: “So, what do you wanna do now?”
Team 2: “I dunno. Hey, how about we go out to grab a bite somewhere?”
Team 1: “Sounds good.”