Giving 110 percent

What is that? That's one of the worst sports cliches around! As a member of media I've had about enough of these "go-to" phrases from sports figures in the WHL circuit. Now, I've heard them all. They vary as to whether a team is going good or spinning their tires. Over the last three years in Broncoland the cliches have been fired at will! It's been a virtual cliche smorgasborg. Here are some of the quick one-liners I could live without over the last three seasons:

"We have to start bearing down on our chances" One of my recent dislikes. It refers to a team struggling to put the puck in the net. It's something that has plagued the Broncos since the days of Tyler Redenbach and Jeremy Williams going 1-2 in the WHL scoring race. the cliche refers to making the most on your scoring opportunities. Enough already!

"We need to play a full 60 minutes" Ugggh, this one has to go. It's been a catch-phrase for a few seasons at times. All the Broncos are using this line this season. We all know the game is 60 minutes. It's a cliche best used to describe a lapse in a game where the other team turns it up a notch or things come a part at the seams on the other end. We'll see who the next interviewee is that decides to throw this one my way. Guaranteed it comes tomorrow night vs Portland.

"We just have to do the little things right" How 'bout this . . . do the big things right too! It's a phrase thrown around indicating the need to take care of the small details of the game - get pucks in deep, limit turnovers, chipping pucks, etc. I know these things are an important part to the game but can we cease the old go-to liner?

"Take it one game at a time" or "One shift at a time" Another classic "we're struggling recently" catch phrase. It refers to the need of not getting ahead of one's self and "focusing on the task at hand".

"Don't allow ourselves to get to high or too low" Yes, good in theory but rarely does a team stick to it. Players have a bad way of celebrating every win like it was their first and every loss likes it's the end of the world. I like emotion in the game, in the players and coaches. Let it out. better yet, tell ME about it. That stuff is radio gold.

"We just didn't get any puck-luck" Sort of self-explanatory here. A usual line when the "bounces just didn't go our way". I'm as guilty as the next one here. That's a common phrase up in the broadcast booth. It's a way to take soltice after a loss in my opinion.

"We came out flat tonight" To the Broncos credit this hasn't been a cliche they've used over the last little stretch. It's go to line whenever getting outplayed, outshot and outscored in the 1st period of the game.

Here's some cliches I would love to hear in the future "All lines are firing" , "it was a good team effort", "our powerplay was the difference tonight"

Anyways . . . it's the Broncos and Portland Winterhawks Wednesday night at the CC. It's the only meeting between the two teams this season. I'm looking forward to seeing the Hawks. They are truly an international team. They have players representing 11 different provinces, states or countries compared to the Broncos five. Portland features players from B.C., Alberta, Sask, Manitoba, Minnesota, California, Nevada, Germany, Sweden, and Washington.

Man, lets hope Portland's play-by-play broadcaster Dean "Scooter" Vrooman remembers his broadcasting equipment this time! Last year he left his gear in the hotel in Medicine Hat and I had to give him our old rinky-dink mixer board to do the game. He said it was fine . . . but I think he was just being nice. For more info on the 'Hawks check out this blog:

afterthewhistle.blogspot.com - It's hosted by Portland's color commentator Andy Kemper who couldn't make the trip to the prairies because of "his real job"

We're on the air tomorrow night at 7pm. Included in the pre-game show will be a look at the SJHL neutral site game in Gull Lake Friday night between Kindersley and Notre Dame.

Go Broncos,
Jon