AARRGGHH!!! Sportsman cliches, only better than Teacher cliches and Policeman cliches. It happens to them all. Even Tim Henman started doing it last year.
@All Foreigners...
The phenomenon that Ysh is being aggrivated by is the tendancy of sportsmen to talk with sentences which mean nothing. A sportsman's head, after a time becomes so saturated with all the sports related cliches [already mentioned by Grunt, Ysh and sleep] that he cannot help but say them, all the time, and even when he doesn't mean to. The cliches become so inflated in the sportsmans mind that whenever he is required to say anything, he is incapable of thinking through the words he knows, and compiling them in such a way as to convey his meaning - he just has to eject a standard issue, generic sports cliche, sometimes even if it is completely irrelevent to the subject he's talking on (normally sport). I'm sure the exact cliche vocabulary is peculiar to England, but there must be a US equivalent...
They say "the end of the day"...
I watch the GP500 etc and all of those racing drivers can speak at least 2 different languages.They speak well on their race and don't quote any clichés. I think it is a problem of education 
It is interesting to note that even Rugby has some intelligent people playing. The only intelligent footballer i can think of is Steve McManaman who left for Spain
It is interesting to note that even Rugby has some intelligent people playing. The only intelligent footballer i can think of is Steve McManaman who left for Spain
I'd have to get drunk every night and talk about virility...And those Pink elephants I'd see.
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HighLordDave
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If you listen to sports players talk long enough, a lot of the time they also sound like politicians towing the party line. In some cases (ie-hockey, Australian rules football, boxing, etc.) the over-use of cliches may be attributed to rough play and too many blows to the head.
I think in other cases, athletes are fed some standard lines in training camp or players association meetings and all they do is repeat them. For instance, during contract negotiations, players will repeat the phrase, "It's not about the money . . . " when, in fact, it is about the money. What they don't want to do is sound or look like ungrateful bastards who get paid a lot of money to play a game, but hold out of contracts for even more money.
They also don't like to talk bad about other players on their team and with a few exceptions, young players often don't talk too much about themselves for fear of being beaten down by veteran teammates. There is a scene in Bull Durham where Crash (Kevin Costner) is telling Nuke (Tim Robbins) what to say and how to say it when he makes it to the big leagues so as not to appear arrogant and how to ingratiate himself to the organisation and the fans.
We should also accept that many (but not all) professional athletes are underprivileged kids who happen to be good at playing a game. They are ill-mannered, inarticulate and undereducated. Their entire lives have been geared towards sports and they had someone else write their papers and take their tests during college (if they even went to college). As a result, when asked by the media or their fans for a comment, they will repeat from memory a response that a coach, agent or other player has told them to give.
I think in other cases, athletes are fed some standard lines in training camp or players association meetings and all they do is repeat them. For instance, during contract negotiations, players will repeat the phrase, "It's not about the money . . . " when, in fact, it is about the money. What they don't want to do is sound or look like ungrateful bastards who get paid a lot of money to play a game, but hold out of contracts for even more money.
They also don't like to talk bad about other players on their team and with a few exceptions, young players often don't talk too much about themselves for fear of being beaten down by veteran teammates. There is a scene in Bull Durham where Crash (Kevin Costner) is telling Nuke (Tim Robbins) what to say and how to say it when he makes it to the big leagues so as not to appear arrogant and how to ingratiate himself to the organisation and the fans.
We should also accept that many (but not all) professional athletes are underprivileged kids who happen to be good at playing a game. They are ill-mannered, inarticulate and undereducated. Their entire lives have been geared towards sports and they had someone else write their papers and take their tests during college (if they even went to college). As a result, when asked by the media or their fans for a comment, they will repeat from memory a response that a coach, agent or other player has told them to give.
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If brute force doesn't work, you're not using enough.
If brute force doesn't work, you're not using enough.
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Yshania
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@Frogus - thanks for clearing that up two points:
1. It should have been addressed to all that misunderstood, rather than foreigners to the UK. Kameleon didn't understand! though HLD did
2. I believe Minerva's initial intention when posting this thread was that she was aggravated in general by the saying 'at the end of the day' which is common among many - other than sportsmen/women. Sleepy and myself picked up on her reference to an England football manager and the thread morphed into sportsman sayings
two points:1. It should have been addressed to all that misunderstood, rather than foreigners to the UK. Kameleon didn't understand! though HLD did
2. I believe Minerva's initial intention when posting this thread was that she was aggravated in general by the saying 'at the end of the day' which is common among many - other than sportsmen/women. Sleepy and myself picked up on her reference to an England football manager and the thread morphed into sportsman sayings
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Guinness, black goes with everything.
Guinness, black goes with everything.
Yup. I don't expect too much from footballers anyway(btw, Sleepy is right to say McManaman is one of few intelligent footballer in UKOriginally posted by Yshania
2. I believe Minerva's initial intention when posting this thread was that she was aggravated in general by the saying 'at the end of the day' which is common among many - other than sportsmen/women. Sleepy and myself picked up on her reference to an England football manager and the thread morphed into sportsman sayings
Shame, he won't go to World Cup). I hate so many people use it in any conversations and whatever topic, not just in sports."Strength without wisdom falls by its own weight."
A word to the wise is sufficient
Minerva (Semi-retired SYMer)
A word to the wise is sufficient
Minerva (Semi-retired SYMer)