Now that almost a week has gone by since the conclusion of the first total tournament week (all four classes playing the same week), it’s a good time to review a list of the most overused tourney words and phrases used by radio and television announcers.

Even if these phrases or words were only heard once, it was once too often. Call these the Double Dribbling of the Mouth award nominees. In no particular order:

1. “The Mecca” – It’s been explained before, but just because someone – whoever it may be – called the Bangor Auditorium the Mecca of sporting venues for high school basketball years ago, that doesn’t mean the Auditorium suddenly has a new name. The “Mecca,” for those who don’t already know, is either a city in Western Saudi Arabia considered the most holy city of Islam or the Milwaukee Arena, the former home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks (1968-1987). The Bangor Auditorium is simply that… Not the Mecca, not “the Aud.” If you really need to shorten it, try “the Auditorium.” People will know what you’re referring to.

2. Dribble-drive – Is this a noun, verb… adverb? Actually, it’s not even a word or a legitimate phrase. What if it’s a fast break? Does that make it a dribble-sprint? If you’re running out the clock, does that make it a dribble-walk or dribble-stand? It makes no sense and adds nothing to the play-by-play description. In fact, it confuses things. You dribble to the basket, you drive to the basket, but you don’t dribble-drive to the basket. It may be all right to dribble and drive, but friends don’t let friends dribble-drive.

3. Outside three – This is so bad, it’s even an affront to sports jargon. When it comes to 3-pointers, where else are they taken from besides outside? In order to get credit for one, you must shoot from outside the 3-point arc, which is 19 feet, 9 inches away from the hoop. There’s no such thing as an inside 3. Why? Because if you’re inside the arc, you don’t get three points. Besides, they already have names for it. It’s called a two-point basket or a field goal.

4. Johnny-on-the-Spot – Who is this Johnny anyway? Is it the Johnny who also came marching home, John Q Public, John Doe, Johnny Ray, or the one Chuck Berry and members of Men at Work told to be good? It’s an old catch-phrase, but definitely one whose time has come… and gone. Evidently calling someone the right person in the right place at the right time, or saying they have a nose for the ball is too wordy.

5. Hoop and the Harm – Someone must have been hoping this would be basketball’s answer to ummm, hmmmm…. Well, there’s no corresponding catch phrase in any other sport. This is just simply stupid. If you’re all about alliteration, just say field goal and a foul.

6. TV graphic acronyms – They might not be slang terms or new words/phrases, but they can be irritating, especially when the acronyms used to identify schools don’t. Or worse, they confuse viewers who have no idea what LAD, SAW, or PSQ stand for. They look more like airport abbreviations on a boarding pass than they do school acronyms. For the record, LAD stood for Lee Academy, SAW was for Southern Aroostook, and PSQ was Presque Isle, but figuring out how the acronyms were decided is a lesson in frustration as the process used to determine the acronyms is obviously not the same for each school. SAW refers to Southern Aroostook Warriors, but using the same system for Lee should make the Pandas LAP. Time to call in the codebreakers.

Hitting a homer

Local radio announcers Ron Lisnet and Dean Smith attracted some national recognition and publicity this week with their call of the final shot in the University of Maine men’s basketball game against University of Maryland Baltimore County last week.

Their animated call of Ernest Turner’s buzzer-beating, game-winning 3-point shot from just inside the halfcourt line to beat UMBC 69-66 was the winning entry in the “Homer Call of the Week” contest on ESPN Radio host Dan Patrick’s national weekday show. Nationwide voting made WZON’s announcing duo the clear winner with 48 percent of the vote. Two NBA broadcasts finished second and third.

Lisnet handles play-by-play and Smith provides color commentary for UMaine men’s broadcasts on Bangor sports radio station WZON (620 AM).

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or aneff@bangordailynews.net