Bear with me (or is it bare?). I'm off on my annual rant about TV sports announcers, both the play-by-play guys and their "color" men. (I got chastised once for using that word from my daughter--she never heard the term and thought I was being derogatory!)

First of all, there are several announcers that get my goat, either because I can't understand them (usually black--sorry), or I can't stand how and what they say. Think Dick Vitale. He's my most reviled. And while I ALWAYS mute him, unless I erase the "hearing impaired script", I find myself reading what he's saying.

The other night, he used "real" for "really" twice in once sentence. Nooooooooooooo! I go ballistic when I hear that. And they all (except Bob Knight) do it. One guy the other night said "had ran". Had ran!! Brother. I was no English major, but I recognize bad grammar when I hear (or read) it. Saying "good" instead of "well" bothers me, too: "He shot that ball real good". Iiiiiieeeeee!

And while I'm in the neighborhood of words spoken, I'm curious as to how the word "pretty" became a modifier, as in "It was a pretty wide-ranging conversation, pretty open" (Robert Gates referring to his talks with China). What is meant by "pretty"? Very? Really? (and here is where so many people wrongly say "real".) I use "pretty" sometimes, but I don't like it. For me, it means "fairly". No big deal, I guess.

Another topic: Ted Williams. I wish I was speaking of the great baseball player, but it's about the "man with the golden voice". After seeing the promo that he was Dr. Phil's subject, I tuned in. 10 minutes worth is all I needed to determine Ted is a worthless piece of s##t. I had a sneaky feeling he wasn't all he was cracked up to be. Sure enough, Phil exposed him to be a continuing alcoholic and verbal abuser--a "n'er-do-well", as my dad says. He's a chronic lier and denyer, as well. Too bad. I liked his voice. I thought we had the makings of a "really good" story. Or is that "pretty good"? (roll eyes and wink) Adios for another day.