CBS just did a fluff tribute to longtime sportscaster Dick Enberg, along the way extolling his understated elegance and commitment to finely crafted prose. I spent the piece wondering, “wait, did he die? Did I know that?” As it turns out, no, he is still alive, but retiring. He ended the piece by reflecting on how 50 years worth of athletes provided the fodder – he just reported on it. He said, “we just deliver the baby and they’re the ones who write the script.”
Hmmm.
Last sentence after a 50 year sportscasting career…and you mix a metaphor. Maybe, “we just promote the play, they’re the ones who write the script.” Or, “We just deliver the baby, they’re the ones who copulate in the bathroom stall during the prom.” Personally, I’d stay away from either. We give you the news, they make it. We tell the story, they live it. We are merely witnesses to their dastardly deeds. Something like that. While he probably wouldn’t have scripted it ending that way, we can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater; he didn’t stick out in either direction per my recollection, which makes him an effective announcer. That’s how a good announcer does it. He lets the athletes write the scripts, he just delivers them babies with a subtle whisper for all the world to see.
Words 
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