Old I Say Thee Nay!

Stupid links, random comments, and occasionally even sustained insight.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Them's Fightin' Words(?)

Here's a quote taken from Sports Illustrated's Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column today: "Chris Simms didn't lose his starting job last year. Chris Simms lost his spleen.''

It's a quote from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager about one of their quarterbacks. It sounds cocky and disrespectful - "Simms was so bad, he lost a body part!" And while the use of spleen instead of heart, or guts, or any one of the typical sporting story parts, could cause you to raise an eyebrow, it also makes the speaker seem that much more indignant with him.

Except.

Chris Simms was hit so hard during a game his spleen ruptured. And he finished the game. What seems to be an insult is revealed to be a vote of confidence in Simms's ability to lead the Buccaneer's offense. It's the kind of wordplay I love to see, even if it wasn't really clear to the original speaker (something which may not be the case; general managers tend to be pretty well educated).