WA footy journos at the cutting edge

by F.M. FRASER

WESTERN Australian based AFL teams may be cellar dwellers at the moment, but the state's football journalists and commentators continue to operate at the cutting edge of their profession. They have given the game a range of new phrases meant to bring readers and listeners closer to the action, even if further from the English language.

The most recent such phrase is 'time clock'. According to The Concise Oxford Dictionary, a clock is a 'time-measuring instrument'. Yet in a recent article in The Sunday Times (Tigers coach ticked off by lost seconds, 4 May) Sam Lienert wrote that 'the time clock kept running'.

What other clock might Sam have been distinguishing the instrument used at Telstra Dome that night from? I have no idea. Maybe Sam thinks therefore that the famous nursery rhyme should now read: 'Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the time clock'? And Bill Haley's hit song be re-titled 'Rock Around the Time Clock'?

But let's not be too hard on Sam, though. He could have just picked the phrase up from Glenn Mitchell who has used it a few times in his television broadcasts of the WAFL. They can fight over the intellectual property rights.

However, Sam or Glenn didn't pioneer this practice of adding a word where it isn't needed. They have merely followed the lead of Dennis Cometti who decided that when two players are in a contest to get to the ball first it is a 'foot race'. Think about it. What other race are footballers going to engage in? An egg and spoon race? A boat race?

And can somebody explain to me why 'players' as a term has disappeared in favour of 'player groups'? West Aussie journos can't claim total credit for this, although the have made a solid contribution to its dissemination. It seems to be a national phenomenon. Even coaches and players themselves have embraced this one. Does this represent a carefully considered assault on liberal individualism? What's behind it? I am yet to observe one sentence where the phrase 'player group' instead of 'players' adds precision to the idea being communicated. It's a major worry that 'players' are disappearing. We need them to conduct the games.

Yet the creativity of our commentators isn't confined to surplus words. They have also jettisoned the longstanding distinction between comparatives and superlatives in English grammar. Dennis Cometti consistently describes how, in a contest of just two players or teams, one or other does 'best' rather than 'better'. Since Dennis is in so many other respects an outstanding and erudite journalist who commands wide respect, others are now repeating the error. It seems the journos don't know that you need three or more for anyone to be best in any contest - football or otherwise.

So for football followers who want to be reassured that the West is still making a difference to the game, all of the above is good news. Off the field, if not on it, the influence isn't waning thanks to the WA's footy scribes and broadcasters.

17 June 2008

If you'd like to comment on this story email us and we'll put your contribution on our new-look letters & comments page.

australianrules.com.au

Disclaimer