ESPN Grammar

[jtg51]

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"The Heat are on" is correct. Is would be used if "Miami is on" was used.

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Actually, either is correct. "Heat are" is more common, but the New York Times would say, "Heat is."

[Toopskees]

ESPN NASCAR commentators calling them "car of tomorrows."

[CardSharpCook]

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The Heat is...is correct. In American English anyway.

In British English either way is acceptable.

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Only if you're incapable of symbolic thought.

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I think you are the one lacking symbolic thought. A team has a name and becomes that thing. The group of players in Miami has become "The Heat". Whereas the group of players in detroit form "the Pistons". That is a group of pistons or a singular "heat". Using symbolic thought, using "are" or "is" should depend on which team you are refering to.

When refering to groups, it depends largely on how you refer to them. "The Smiths are coming to dinner" or "The Smith family is coming to dinner." Or even, "the board of directors say that they plan to...." or "the board says that they plan to..."


Of course, I'm no English teacher.

[AzDesertRat]

[MCS]

This annoys me as well. Is it really so unpossible to find broadcasters who care about grammar?

[esad]

Obviously it's:

The H is O

[Aces McGee]

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Instead of saying "Smith rushes for a 4-YARD touchdown," she insists on saying "Smith rushes for a 4-YARDS touchdown" and annoying the hell out of me.


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This is hardly a grammar issue. I'm sure she did not mean to say "Smith rushes for a four-yards touchdown." She was caught between saying "Smith rushes for four yards" and "Smith rushes for a four-yard touchdown" and slipped up.

-McGee

[ThaSaltCracka]

yeah, when you are on TV its better to just move along when you make a mistake than to correct yourself.

edit: speech mistakes, not fact mistakes.