Null phrases used to pad a broadcast
DMZ · October 11, 2005 at 6:08 pm · Filed Under Mariners
Collected through the 2005 season:
As far as [x] is concerned
As we said
At this moment
Game [x] of a [y] game series
[I/we/you] can’t stress enough that
[I’m going to/I’ll] tell you what
It’s one of those things
Let me tell you something
No question about it
No doubt about it
One of the things you’ll [see/notice]
One thing I’ll tell you
Right now
That’s a case where
The thing about that is
They always say
Think about that
You could say [this/that]
You talk about
We always talk about
Comments
38 Responses to “Null phrases used to pad a broadcast”
added tonight, courtesy of Lou — ‘waal, Timmy….’
I love having Lou in the booth. When he no longer manages he should consider broadcasting.
Courtesy of Lou, again:
“…so, we’ll see what happens.”
Does “he’s gotta keep the ball down” constitute a null phrase? I think when it’s said so often it becomes meaningless it should qualify.
I miss Lou.
how long was he in the booth for the Yankees? was it a year?
You make a whole list of Rick Rizzs’ creepy bonhomies about the lovely children he shares the booth with during the kids’ inning of M’s broadcasts….
How about “new episodes of House MD will debut Nov. 1st”? I have heard so many times, it 419 to be specific in the last 2 1/2 mins, that it may have become a new member into the baseball lexicon.
Rizzs: “Attaboy!”
Fairly: “Good Golly!”
Lou is such a straight shooter. He’d be an awesome number 2 in the booth.
How about the ever popular Rizzism — “Say friends…”
“Holy Smokes”
“Y’know, when I was a second baseman playing for the Big Red Machine…”
The only thing that creeps me out about Rizzs is the way he says “Buddy” when referring to the kids (and sometimes other people). Don’t know why, but it just does. Unctuous ooze.
Fairley’s “There’s no doubt about that” isn’t just a null phrase, it’s also a leading indicator he has absolutely nothing to add on the topic and doesn’t have a clue of another topic he could propose instead. Not that that stops him talking or even slows him down.
Another repeated Lou-ism tonight:
“You’ve got a point” — whenever McCarver or Buck differed at all from something he had just said.
How does Lou keep from cussing or saying something spectacularly inappropriate on air?
Let me tell you something, there’s no question that’s a case where you make a good point; I can’t stress that enough.
Wise-cracking sentences aside, how about “speaking of [insert name, place, subject].”
By the way, I have no problem with Lou in the booth; would you rather have Bret Boone back? Piniella has some professional broadcasting experience; in 1989, he co-hosted the Yankees’ pre-and post-game shows on MSG Network. Of course, his next two jobs would prove far more fruitful.
Don’t forget “Make no mistake…”
My personal anti-favorite:
“The fact of the matter is…”
FWIW, with all the discussion of upcoming roster moves, has anyone given any thought to what could be improved by changing out our broadcasters? A recent Fairly-ism when discussing Felix’s high ERA over the then most recent couple of games: “ERA a tad high” when their graphic said 9.90.
Ummmmm….yeah….
How narrow a sample size would one have to draw to give Felix an ERA of 9.90?
How about, “And this crotch-scratch brought to you by the Washington State Lottery Commission, which invites you to play Instant Win…” Anybody else sick of every visit to the pitcher’s mound, splintered bat, or bobbled foul ball in the stands being sponsored by a company looking for a clever tie-in?
Say friends, the radio is even worse; I guess it’s not enough that we have commercials between innings and “calls to bullpen brought to you by…” but in between batters or pitches they’ll just toss in a plug for Sterlings Savings Bank or something. It’s like a little baseball between in the advertising.
“I don’t know about that one, but this guy really is one of the best umpires in the league”.
Lou reminded me of that last night after talking about how crappy the umpire was and then cleaning it up, but the guys in the M’s booth really do say this a lot as if the umpire will come up and get them.
“This goes without saying but…”
That was Lou in the booth? He sounded so old.
Has anybody else noticed how many people (not just baseball broadcasters) say “The thing is is that …” (with two “is”)? It’s some kind of strange grammatical epidemic.
Let’s not forget, even the score is also brought to you by Trane Heating and AC.
The all-purpose Vin Sculley line . . .
“It’s interesting to note . . . “
Personally, I don’t care how many of these null statements are used by an announcer. What I wish for, is the statement that FOLLOWS these null statements to be informative/factual/interesting/etc. That is a bigger source of irration than the use of these null statements. I’d love to hear Rizzy say “Let me tell you something, as far as WFB is concerned, his butt belongs on the bench.”
#13 – it’s because it reminds you of Peter Graves in “Airplane”.
#28 – the all-purpose VS line is “I remember when the Daaadgers….”
The way Ron pads the air time is just to say the same thing about 3 times, and then modify the words a little and say it twice more for good measure.
I will grudgingly admit that he has improved and seems to do this less frequently than in previous years.
I was going to repeat something I heard that former second baseman for the Big Red Machine say that was really silly, but I’ve forgotten it.
Even with Joe Morgan, I have to admit I didn’t mind the ESPN announcers half as much as FOX (“Derek Jeter is GOD”) this year.
The one that gets me is when one guy asks a question, and the other guy start the reply with “There’s no question…”
If I ever had to listen to Joe Morgan and Tim McCarver at the same time, I think I’d set the building on fire.
All-purpose-means-nothing-filler-phrase:
“At the end of the day”
(What about the other 23 hours?)
Ron Fairly’s personal all-purpose-means-nothing-filler-phrase:
“I’ll tell you what…” Usually followed with “he likes the ball out over the plate.”
(Who doesn’t ???)
While we’re on the subject of broadcasts, how did they manage to spread out four division series all at different times, and now that there are only two series, they have to be on at the same time?
On the other hand, we can switch channels as soon as each inning ends, and miss most of the commercials.
The null phrase to end all null phrases:
“It goes without saying that ….”
Re #20: I think they were trying to show how Felix had had a rough time over the past couple of games. It doesn’t mean anything, but it does illustrate how figures and stats can be manipulated to show anything you want. It was Fairly’s comment that jumped out.
One sports cliche that I am really tired of is how you can generally count on someone making the statement that a particular player “is the best in the league at” or “does X better than anyone else.”
I agree with #29…use whatever terminology you choose, just say something meaningful with it.
#34 hit it out of the park with “he likes the ball out over the plate”. No Ron, he likes it in his ear hole. Is there a player that doesn’t like the ball “out over the plate”?
But let’s not forget Jay Buhner – “No doubt.”