Well, provided you have the same definition of the word as The Bulletin's Sandy Penner in his list of top ten anticlimactic games in Philadelphia sports history. I'll spare you a review of them all and just hit the high points:
"The funny thing about the word "anticlimactic" is nobody knows what it means or how to pronounce it."
And as will become painfully apparent, neither does Mr. Penner. To review, anticlimactic means, among other things, "an event, conclusion, etc, that is far less important, powerful, or striking than expected."
"In sports, these [anticlimactic] games are not necessarily ones where we know who's going to win, but rather ones where the outcome is foreshadowed by catastrophic events earlier."
Wrong.
"10. 2005 - Eagles vs. Patriots, Super Bowl XXXIX"
Okay, I included this first one to be kind. Yes, this game was anticlimactic. After losing the NFC Championship game so many times, it was a big deal for the Eagles to get to the Super Bowl. But they lost. I would consider that an event far less powerful than expected. But then Mr. Penner ruins his own point with this reasoning.
"Even the most optimistic Eagles fan had to know in the back of his mind that the Birds weren't going to beat the Patriots. McNabb wasn't going to beat Brady and Reid wasn't going to beat Belichick. I think I watched an episode of "Gilligan's Island" where I believed the S.S. Minnow crew was going home more than I foresaw a Birds Super Bowl win."
Completely wrong. Anticlimactic does not mean simply "expected" or even "impossible." And what the heck is going on in that last sentence? I think he meant to write, "The S.S. Minnow crew had a better chance of getting off Gilligan's Island than the Eagles had of winning the Super Bowl." But he didn't. He wrote that gibberish. And it's still not anticlimactic.
"9. 1980 - Phillies vs. Royals, World Series Game 6: The first out of only two times in my Philadelphia sporting life that I was sure the outcome was going to go the way I wanted it to. After the ninth-inning comeback in Game 5 in Kansas City, the Phillies weren't letting this get to a Game 7. Tug McGraw didn't make it easy with his penchant for loading the bases, but heart palpitations aside, I never had a "this is going to happen" moment."
Disturbingly wrong. Seriously, is he out of his mind? He thinks Game Six in 1980 was anticlimactic. Game Six. First World Championship ever for the Phillies. Ninth inning, bases loaded, go ahead run at the plate, one out, Bob Boone muffs a high foul ball that Pete Rose catches mid-air, runners hold. Two outs. Willie Wilson. Tug McGraw. A stadium, a city, an entire fan-nation holding its breath. Anticlimactic. If I need to explain why he is wrong, maybe you shouldn't read this blog anymore.
Plus, Mr. Penner needs to proofread his work. If he was sure the outcome was going to go the way he wanted it to, then I think he meant he never had a "this isn't going to happen" moment. It's bad enough having to read his tales of anticlimax, I'd rather not also have to distinguish what he meant to write from what he actually wrote.
"7. 1977 - Sixers vs. Blazers, NBA Finals Game 6: Even as a precocious 9-year-old, I understood the gloom and doom that was about to befall the Sixers that Sunday afternoon in Portland. After winning the first two games of the series, the Sixers folded like a cheap lawn chair in the next two games in Portland. I don't know what was more chaotic: the Sixers' final play which resulted in a George McGinnis runner off the front rim or Bill Walton, smelly armpits and all, ripping his shirt off as the Blazers celebrated.
6. 1981 - Sixers vs. Celtics, Conference Finals Game 7: I knew it was coming, but that didn't stop me after the game from running away from home while thinking to myself, "Now I know what hell feels like." The Sixers blew huge leads in Games 5 and 6 and couldn't have scored if they were playing 5-on-3 in the last couple of minutes of Game 7. As Bobby Jones' last-second pass hit the top of the backboard while fans rushed the floor at the Boston Garden, I went through what could only be considered an out-of-body experience. I should stop now before I start to have flashbacks."
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. He needs to sit there in his wrongness and just be wrong. The rest of the poor writing aside, I must point out - again - that anticlimactic does not mean "expected." The very fact that he "knew" the Sixers were going to lose (or "expected" them to) based on their poor performances in the games immediately prior proves they're not anticlimactic because the loss was NOT less powerful or striking than expected (quite the opposite, as he writes, the loss WAS expected). For the record, anticlimactic also does not mean "disappointing," "maddening," "crushing," "soul-shattering," or "I need to run away from home because I know what hell feels like." Conversely, I experienced all those things as I read Mr. Penner's column.
There's more, but I'd rather put this post out of its misery and just skip to the end.
"The lesson here is it's no fun when you know who's going to win."
Actually, the lesson here is that you don't know what the word anticlimactic means. Well that, and the fact that Mr. Penner seems destined to become a regular here. I'll do my best to make him feel right at home.
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"The funny thing about the word "anticlimactic" is nobody knows what it means or how to pronounce it."
And as will become painfully apparent, neither does Mr. Penner. To review, anticlimactic means, among other things, "an event, conclusion, etc, that is far less important, powerful, or striking than expected."
"In sports, these [anticlimactic] games are not necessarily ones where we know who's going to win, but rather ones where the outcome is foreshadowed by catastrophic events earlier."
Wrong.
"10. 2005 - Eagles vs. Patriots, Super Bowl XXXIX"
Okay, I included this first one to be kind. Yes, this game was anticlimactic. After losing the NFC Championship game so many times, it was a big deal for the Eagles to get to the Super Bowl. But they lost. I would consider that an event far less powerful than expected. But then Mr. Penner ruins his own point with this reasoning.
"Even the most optimistic Eagles fan had to know in the back of his mind that the Birds weren't going to beat the Patriots. McNabb wasn't going to beat Brady and Reid wasn't going to beat Belichick. I think I watched an episode of "Gilligan's Island" where I believed the S.S. Minnow crew was going home more than I foresaw a Birds Super Bowl win."
Completely wrong. Anticlimactic does not mean simply "expected" or even "impossible." And what the heck is going on in that last sentence? I think he meant to write, "The S.S. Minnow crew had a better chance of getting off Gilligan's Island than the Eagles had of winning the Super Bowl." But he didn't. He wrote that gibberish. And it's still not anticlimactic.
"9. 1980 - Phillies vs. Royals, World Series Game 6: The first out of only two times in my Philadelphia sporting life that I was sure the outcome was going to go the way I wanted it to. After the ninth-inning comeback in Game 5 in Kansas City, the Phillies weren't letting this get to a Game 7. Tug McGraw didn't make it easy with his penchant for loading the bases, but heart palpitations aside, I never had a "this is going to happen" moment."
Disturbingly wrong. Seriously, is he out of his mind? He thinks Game Six in 1980 was anticlimactic. Game Six. First World Championship ever for the Phillies. Ninth inning, bases loaded, go ahead run at the plate, one out, Bob Boone muffs a high foul ball that Pete Rose catches mid-air, runners hold. Two outs. Willie Wilson. Tug McGraw. A stadium, a city, an entire fan-nation holding its breath. Anticlimactic. If I need to explain why he is wrong, maybe you shouldn't read this blog anymore.
Plus, Mr. Penner needs to proofread his work. If he was sure the outcome was going to go the way he wanted it to, then I think he meant he never had a "this isn't going to happen" moment. It's bad enough having to read his tales of anticlimax, I'd rather not also have to distinguish what he meant to write from what he actually wrote.
"7. 1977 - Sixers vs. Blazers, NBA Finals Game 6: Even as a precocious 9-year-old, I understood the gloom and doom that was about to befall the Sixers that Sunday afternoon in Portland. After winning the first two games of the series, the Sixers folded like a cheap lawn chair in the next two games in Portland. I don't know what was more chaotic: the Sixers' final play which resulted in a George McGinnis runner off the front rim or Bill Walton, smelly armpits and all, ripping his shirt off as the Blazers celebrated.
6. 1981 - Sixers vs. Celtics, Conference Finals Game 7: I knew it was coming, but that didn't stop me after the game from running away from home while thinking to myself, "Now I know what hell feels like." The Sixers blew huge leads in Games 5 and 6 and couldn't have scored if they were playing 5-on-3 in the last couple of minutes of Game 7. As Bobby Jones' last-second pass hit the top of the backboard while fans rushed the floor at the Boston Garden, I went through what could only be considered an out-of-body experience. I should stop now before I start to have flashbacks."
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. He needs to sit there in his wrongness and just be wrong. The rest of the poor writing aside, I must point out - again - that anticlimactic does not mean "expected." The very fact that he "knew" the Sixers were going to lose (or "expected" them to) based on their poor performances in the games immediately prior proves they're not anticlimactic because the loss was NOT less powerful or striking than expected (quite the opposite, as he writes, the loss WAS expected). For the record, anticlimactic also does not mean "disappointing," "maddening," "crushing," "soul-shattering," or "I need to run away from home because I know what hell feels like." Conversely, I experienced all those things as I read Mr. Penner's column.
There's more, but I'd rather put this post out of its misery and just skip to the end.
"The lesson here is it's no fun when you know who's going to win."
Actually, the lesson here is that you don't know what the word anticlimactic means. Well that, and the fact that Mr. Penner seems destined to become a regular here. I'll do my best to make him feel right at home.
---
1 comment:
You were right. It was anticlimactic.
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