Sports idioms have been banned by the NCAA for use by any media, including journalists and television commentators, after an uproar of the usage of sports idioms incorrectly. The NCAA came to the decision rather quickly, sending out a one page memo on the new regulations. The controversy started after a news writer wrote a recap on the Final Four and misused sports idioms in such a way that the article had Ohio State winning by a touchdown against Syracuse. The majority of the press called the NCAA to resolve the issue so an incident like this would not occur again. They hope the NCAA instead issues a handbook guide dealing with how to use sport idioms in the right context.
The decision to ban sports idioms came as a total shock to the press industry, with some sports writers going as far to say the NCAA “dropped the ball” on the issue. The NCAA press release stated that they came to this decision due to the complexity to explain sports idioms. Also, sports idioms do not always make sense in everyday conversation, and do not meet the high academic principles the NCAA encourages. Therefore, any journalist covering NCAA sports using idioms in articles or the commentary box will have their press passes revoked. When asked how the press should describe plays in games, the NCAA responded by stating, “the press needs to be simply more descriptive, and can still resort to metaphors.”
Some executives from the NCAA have admitted internally that the NCAA “jumped the gun” on the resolution of an issue like this. However a majority of fans have said they are not surprised, considering the NCAA have made number of questionable decisions over the years. The harsh sanctions handed out to the USC Trojans athletic program in 2010 is a very good example. Facing a growing backlash, the NCAA once again claimed they were not looking to “score points with anyone.”
That claim might not be true however, as the English Proper Language Scholarly Association has supported the NCAA’s decision, stating “We are happy the NCAA banned sport idioms from being used, as they have caused the English language to be twisted in order to serve the need of sports writers to describe sport plays quickly. This is disagreeable to the English language. We hope the NCAA “hands the torch off” to the other professional sport leagues to ban these idioms.”
For now the sports press foundation feels they have been “hit below the belt” and will look to appeal this ban, if the NCAA decides to revisit the issue.
