By Charles Bricker
I’ve long considered John McEnroe one of the three most incisive tennis analysts doing television broadcasts — right up there with Jason Goodall and, when he gets an opportunity to display his skill, Jim Courier.
Yet I’ve also wondered just how much better John would be if he had stronger literary skills. Because along with the knowledge and sometimes astonishing insight McEnroe brings to his TV work is a heavily disturbing over-abundance of cliches.
Now maybe that doesn’t bother you. Maybe you use just as many cliches as John — sports and otherwise — in your everyday conversation. But for me it’s gruesome.
I cringe every time Mac informs me that so-and-so “isn’t pulling any punches” out there. Or that some lower-ranked player keen on an upset is “pushing the envelope.”
Believe me, I can handle a scant few of these overused phrases during the course of an hour and a half telecast, but John never limits himself to merely a few cliches.
Here’s a partial list from a recent telecast and, if by chance you missed it, not to worry. He’ll be at Wimbledon in a few days, regurgitating his favorite shopworn phrases.
“That’s his bread and butter shot,” said Mac a few days ago during a telecast. Was he influencd by the hour? It was, after all, near lunchtime. Not long afterward, he added, “That’s what the doctor ordered.” And, “he’s swinging for the fences.” Not to mention, “behind the eight ball.” As well as, “he’s got a lot left in the tank.”
One after another the cliches lined up, like a veritable machine gun of triteness. Were you there to hear McEnroe call one player “a breath of fresh air” or, at the other end of the spectrum, suggest that his opponent was ready to “throw in the towel.”
“Let’s give credit where credit it due,” he later commented, then made sure to use “lay it all on the line,” “take the wind out of his sails,” “go toe to toe,” “get his act together,” “roll the dice,” “take it up a notch,” and that old standby, “playing with fire.”
I’m ready to overlook “easier said than done” and “loosey-goosey.” I suppose while those phrases are threatening to enter the pantheon of cliches, they haven’t quite gotten there yet. But I would caution John to go easy on those two.
In fact, I’d caution him to sit down with someone at the network and talk in some depth about his overall use of the English language. One of the things that makes Goodall, the former British player, so very good is his ability to communicate with some originality. And when he does, you take notice of what he says. When you hear Johnny Mac utter, “he wears his heart on his sleeve,” you’ve heard that so often that you tend to let the comment float by without paying much attention.
Mr. McEnroe has the potential to be the best tennis commentator ever to sit before a microphone. He sees patterns of play during matches that don’t occur even to people who know the game and, of course, having been a star, he understands what players are thinking, emotionally, under various circumstances.
But, for God’s sake John, get off the cliches. I know you can do it and it will only make you a better analyst.
Come on! The sky’s the limit.
Charles Bricker can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com