Blog-Cabin The world's foremost informative blog... for ILS 200

The sports world, in all its glory, hasn’t exactly garnered worldwide respect for its exemplary command of the English language, and in a world that continues to place a higher premium on knowledge and intelligence, those in the athletic realm have managed to fool a large portion of the population, and feign intelligence with the overuse of sports clichés. These clichés give the appearance of a clearly thought out idea, without truly saying anything. Of the clichés one overwhelming culprit comes to mind, a sneaky one liner that truly means jack squat. What is it? Well, “it is what it is.” The epitome of all sports clichés and the go to response of so many, “it is what it is,” allows athletes, coaches, and any who unwisely chose to employ this phrase a way of answering a question with a mean-nothing answer, or as Douglas McCollum, a writer for slate.com put it, “It helps them avoid speaking about the essence of anything. “ For some the saying is a way of admitting fault or defeat, while others use it to seem humble, when really it accomplishes neither. Still, no one benefits from the use of the vacuous saying. No opinions are expresses, or ideas brought out, no one gains any insight or deeper understanding after hearing that answer. All too often I see sports writers and reporters ask athletes brilliant questions, that I truly want to know the answer to, only to hear those five meaningless words come tumbling out effortlessly, followed by a swift change of topic, leaving me annoyed and cheated of a competent answer. This whole business of never truly answering questions plagues all aspects of the sports arena. “How does this loss affect your team, and will you change your perspective towards coaching this team?” a reporter might ask, “Well it was a tough loss, and we fought hard, but in the end, it is what it is, we just have to move forward.” What was that? Nowhere in that answer lied a coherent thought. Such a meaningless, rushed, go to answer deserves no place in modern society and language, and should be done away with as quickly as it’s used to avoid a question.