Sports Cliches I’m Really, Really Tired of Hearing:
1) “In Space” — re football, seems to mean just “past the line of scrimmage with nobody immediately around.” OK, I get it. Enough, already.
2) “Swagger” — Body language and attitude that is supposed to show confidence, an upbeat attitude and an “I’m better than you are” mindset. Spoken of by TV announcers, coaches and athletes as if it’s a good thing. In reality, great athletes have an understated grace that is the diametric opposite of swagger.
The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Paul Daugherty had a great column recently about the perils of NFL football. Half of the players surveyed by Eric M. Carter for his book Boys Gone Wild: Fame, Fortune, And Deviance Among Professional Football Players reported deep depression even at the height of their careers. Who would have thought that fabulous wealth, community adulation, pursuit of mindless pleasure, lack of supervision and grounding would lead to that?
By the way, the link above is to the book’s Amazon site. Warning: Googling “boys gone wild” most definitely gives a whole ‘nother type of links.
Oh, and . . . I am a sports fan, of sorts (observer-style). I’ll watch just about any college football. And Duke basketball. But I’m not fair-weather about it: I also steel myself to watch the Bengals and the Reds. Hey, the Bengals are 8-2 3, so maybe it’s working!
cleve callison’s blog 
Leave a Reply