By Jack Healey
Every once in awhile I like to remind people how stupid so many sports cliches are. They are over used and tiresome yet coaches,players,fans and for some reason media members continue to use them. Here they are and as I say with #1 I will stop talking about it when the rest of you stop talking about it:
1. Momentum from game to game,week to week. The king of the dumb cliches. There is no momentum from game to game. It changes within a game about 100 times. You can’t believe in momentum and then say your team suffered a let down. If that’s the case where was the momentum? You can’t have it both ways!
Last December Castleton beat Norwich in mens hockey 2-1 and then lost to St. Mike’s 7-0 the next day. Where was the momentum? Was it a let down? Maybe,but then if it was …. let me repeat what about the momentum from the game before? There was none of course because….every game is a separate entity.
2. It’s tough to beat a team three times. Yes I agree it is tough to beat a team three times because it’s tough to win multiple games. This cliche is generally used after a team has already beaten a team twice and then loses the 3rd game. It’s an excuse and it makes the team feel better. The point is you don’t have to beat a team three times, you only have to beat them once because you’ve already beaten them twice. What the hell does game 3 have to do with the other two? The answer is nothing because every game is a separate entity.
Just last night in playoff action Castleton beat Keene State for the 3rd time in womens basketball,but in boys basketball Rutland lost to Burlington after beating them twice during the season. What happened before just doesn’t matter!
3. A 2 goal lead in hockey is the worst lead in sports. Really? Why? You are leading by 2 which is a hell of lot better than losing by 2.
These are my top three stupid cliches and I will repeat them or add some more in the future. Why? Because you people keep using them!