Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Spain versus Sweden

 I just had to mention this. I've been watching soccer matches, especially the Women's World Cup. There's an odd thing...the announcer's seem to always refer to a team's effort as a plural..."Spain have scored", for example. In American English the word "team" is singular and the correct grammar would be, "Spain has scored". this is always a distraction to me when watching a broadcast. Another thing that seems odd is how the announcers always say, "the left hand side" or "the right hand side" rather than simply saying "the left side" or "the right side". That "hand" is superfluous. Okay...I understand that when describing the "right side", a person may think it's as opposed to the "wrong side" so, on a certain level, maybe clarifying "direction" from "right or wrong" may help some listeners. But why bother with saying "left hand" when "left" is all that's needed? Last night's match between Spain and Sweden brought in an entirely new phrase! The woman announcing the play-by-play said, "the near hand side"! All I could do was laugh. Aside from that...I have found all the Fox announcers to be exemplary. That is a stark contrast to the Telemundo calls. While some people praise those announcers, I actually hate their work. When  goal is scored, I immediately mute the sound on my TV because I despise the drawn out, self-centered shout, "g o a l" that drags on for so long and then is repeated. This means of description detracts from the action on the field. Other announcers, after declaring that a goal had been scored, continue to describe what is happening on the field...not the Telemundo guy. I should also mention that I equally abhor the Telemundo guy who shouts, "goal, goal, goal goal" so many times I want to puke.