{"id":77724,"date":"2015-12-15T19:17:17","date_gmt":"2015-12-15T19:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=77724"},"modified":"2023-04-13T15:09:04","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T15:09:04","slug":"behind-mic-cleaning-cliche-closet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-cleaning-cliche-closet\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Mic: Cleaning the Cliche Closet"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have broadcast well over 4,000 games in my 40+ years at this job, about one-third of them football games.\u00a0 For the RCN-TV team, this past Saturday\u2019s win by Parkland over Upper Dublin in the PIAA state football semifinal was our final football game for this season.\u00a0 Parkland will now play for the AAAA state title this Saturday in Hershey.\u00a0 The game will be on PCN starting at 6:00pm.<\/p>\n

As exciting as this season was with the success of our teams, I am never real sad to put away the football clich\u00e9s for another year (both the coaches\u2019 and mine).\u00a0 As I was packing away my notes this morning, I looked at some of the things coaches told me and some of the things I wrote down as keys to victory.\u00a0 Take a look:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to take it one game at a time.\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 I know the thought here is that a team may look past another team or the coach does not want to offend the team that they are playing at the time, but really?\u00a0 You can only play ONE game at a time.\u00a0 Talk about THAT game and leave the clich\u00e9 in the closet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other team wanted it more.\u201d<\/strong> – Over all my years of competing and broadcasting, I can\u2019t remember a team NOT WANTING to win.\u00a0 You cannot practice WANTING TO WIN, but you can face a team that is better than you are on a given night or, even worse, perhaps they were prepared better and that might actually reflect on the coach who was asked, \u201cCoach, what was the difference in the game?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s deceptively quick.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Does that mean he looks slow, but isn\u2019t?\u00a0 Or he\u2019s not as slow as he is \u2026. What?\u00a0 Am I deceptively handsome and, if so, is that a good thing?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know either.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are better than their record indicates.\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 Ouch!!\u00a0 I use this one often when the teams look like a complete mismatch.\u00a0 I am just trying to keep you from changing the channel.\u00a0 That makes me deceptively sneaky, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gave 110%.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 No, he didn\u2019t.\u00a0 No, he couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 Need I explain?\u00a0 And why is it almost always 10% more than you can actually give?\u00a0 Why not make it 125%?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a downhill runner.\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 What if the field is level (which it is)?\u00a0 Are there runners who run uphill on a level field?\u00a0 Who makes this stuff up?\u00a0 And why do I continue to use it?<\/p>\n

There are certainly many others (\u201cThe defense bends, but doesn\u2019t break\u201d; \u201cThe quarterback had all day to throw\u201d, etc.), but you have heard them time and time again and I have probably said them time and time again.\u00a0 But what can I say, \u201cI write this column one blog at a time and try to give 110% and I think it is better than what others might indicate.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Get the picture?<\/p>\n

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Saucon Valley was one of the top four teams in the state in the AAA football bracket and they were beaten on Friday night by a 72-27 score by Imhotep Charter. Imhotep is a private school and gets players from all of Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey.\u00a0 I know the PIAA does not want to consider separating private and public schools for their championships, but something seems wrong when these two teams compete on equal footing.<\/li>\n
  2. Parkland is everyone\u2019s favorite to win the EPC, but without their football players, they have started 2-3; 2-1 in the conference. They have Pleasant Valley and Northampton this week and should win both.\u00a0 Next Tuesday, however, they will play Central Catholic and the football players, at best, will have one day of practice.\u00a0 We will broadcast the Central game.<\/li>\n
  3. How about Moravian Academy? They did not win a game last year.\u00a0 They are already 3-1 overall and 3-0 in the Colonial League East.\u00a0 I would be shocked if they compete for the title, but there has certainly been some marked improvement.<\/li>\n
  4. I\u2019m sure you are all wondering, \u201cHow is Gary doing with his NFL season predictions made before the season started? In the AFC, after 14 weeks, I picked every current first place team \u2013 New England, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Denver correctly.\u00a0 In the NFC, I picked the Packers, Seattle, Carolina, and the Eagles to win their divisions.\u00a0 Only the Eagles are tied for first.\u00a0 The others are in first place by themselves.\u00a0 A perfect 8 for 8.\u00a0 Now you know why I brought this up.<\/li>\n
  5. The Eagles are tied with Washington and the Giants at the moment and have the Cardinals (uh, oh), the \u2018Skins and the Giants left. The \u2018Skins have the Bills, the Eagles, and the Cowboys left.\u00a0 And the Giants have Carolina, the Vikings, and the Eagles left.\u00a0 Very, very interesting!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"Gary's<\/a><\/p>\n

    NFL PICKS LAST WEEK \u2013 10-6; OVERALL 129-79 (62%)<\/strong>
    \nNFL PICKS (WEEK FIFTEEN)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    ST LOUIS<\/strong>
    \nJETS<\/strong>
    \nMINNESOTA<\/strong>
    \nJACKSONVILLE<\/strong>
    \nHOUSTON<\/strong>
    \nKANSAS CITY<\/strong>
    \nBUFFALO<\/strong>
    \nNEW ENGLAND<\/strong>
    \nARIZONA<\/strong>
    \nCAROLINA<\/strong>
    \nSEATTLE<\/strong>
    \nGREEN BAY<\/strong>
    \nMIAMI<\/strong>
    \nPITTSBURGH<\/strong>
    \nCINCINNATI<\/strong>
    \nNEW ORLEANS<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I have broadcast well over 4,000 games in my 40+ years at this job, about one-third of them football games.\u00a0 For the RCN-TV team, this past Saturday\u2019s win by Parkland over Upper Dublin in the PIAA state football semifinal was our final football game for this season.\u00a0 Parkland will now play for the AAAA state…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic","category-featured","category-sports"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBehind the Mic: Cleaning the Cliche Closet - 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