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Patrick O'Brien said...

Hoosker Du

Nebraska Football Hall of Fame
Dec 11, 2001
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"I mean" 57 times in a 4 minute and 37 second interview. How on earth did our beloved mother tongue become so broken?
 
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I've got a brother whom I love who says "you know" an average of 14 times a minute...I know...I've counted...my wife thinks I have an obsession...

He also whistles.....:(
 
I'm not singling out just him. There are many younger kids that start sentences with "I mean." I even say it on occasion, and I get pissed at the millennials for indoctrinating me.
Is there anything that doesn't "piss you off"? Your posts seem to lean repeatedly in the direction of picking out the negative.
 
Is there anything that doesn't "piss you off"? Your posts seem to lean repeatedly in the direction of picking out the negative.

If you couldn't tell, I'm not really pissed at the millennials. I was more so poking fun at myself for falling prey to saying "I mean" periodically as well.
 
I've got a brother whom I love who says "you know" an average of 14 times a minute...I know...I've counted...my wife thinks I have an obsession...

He also whistles.....:(
I used to refer to Mike Minter as "Mike 'You Know' Minter" for the number of times he'd inject "you know" into his thoughts.
 
"I mean" 57 times in a 4 minute and 37 second interview. How on earth did our beloved mother tongue become so broken?
I mean he is a 19 year old kid and was obviously pretty nervous I mean in front of the media. Also, I mean I have heard from multiple people that he is not the brightest crayon in the box if you know what "I mean".


It's also happened before you know?
 
I had an ancient teacher once who concluded each sentence with "as it were". Sometimes he would get excited about the topic and add a couple "as it weres" in the middle of his sentences. Drove me crazy.
 
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I had an ancient teacher once who concluded each sentence with "as it were". Sometimes he would get excited about the topic and add a couple "as it weres" in the middle of his sentences. Drove me crazy.
love this!!!!!!!!
 
Funny how we get attached to words...about two years ago, my wife broke me of saying "interesting" to cover almost everything...
 
To the "fans" who say this speech pattern is no big deal from a football perspective, let me hit you with some reality.
It's 4th and goal from the 1, Huskers down 5 with the ball and there's 1 second on a stopped clock. POB stammers his way through the play call in the huddle costing us precious seconds off the playclock. The team gets to the line, the defense shifts, and he stammers his way through the audible costing more seconds. Delay of game. Now it's 4th and 6. And all this happened because some idiot "fans" thought it was no big deal and didn't pressure the coach to hire some public speaking support staff for POB. For shame.
 
To the "fans" who say this speech pattern is no big deal from a football perspective, let me hit you with some reality.
It's 4th and goal from the 1, Huskers down 5 with the ball and there's 1 second on a stopped clock. POB stammers his way through the play call in the huddle costing us precious seconds off the playclock. The team gets to the line, the defense shifts, and he stammers his way through the audible costing more seconds. Delay of game. Now it's 4th and 6. And all this happened because some idiot "fans" thought it was no big deal and didn't pressure the coach to hire some public speaking support staff for POB. For shame.

You said stopped clock ;)
 
Streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetch
Hardly. Let me hit you with some more reality. The other day I noticed a giant hole in the nutrition department for athletics. I heard from a friend that in order for coach Diaco to maintain his energy level he drinks like 3 coffees a day. That's not healthy and can lead to performance decline as his body breaks down due to the extra stress it puts on his cardiovascular system. And how can he coach well dealing with health problems?

Now some "fans" might say this isn't the nutrition department's job and this is a stretch. Those fans don't understand what it takes to win in college football. I do. And although I've never played football or been a part of a coaching staff I am smart enough to see the perfectly obvious.
 
You said stopped clock ;)
Playclock, delay of game. Due to stammering. I think in timeouts the playclock starts at like 25 or something once the TO is over.

But that's all beside the point. Read the tone of my other two posts. Winking

Edit: I guess the other option in this "realistic" scenario is an incomplete pass on 3rd and 1 stopping the clock without a TO. Here he'd be more likely to be leading a huddle too.
 
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Hardly. Let me hit you with some more reality. The other day I noticed a giant hole in the nutrition department for athletics. I heard from a friend that in order for coach Diaco to maintain his energy level he drinks like 3 coffees a day. That's not healthy and can lead to performance decline as his body breaks down due to the extra stress it puts on his cardiovascular system. And how can he coach well dealing with health problems?

Now some "fans" might say this isn't the nutrition department's job and this is a stretch. Those fans don't understand what it takes to win in college football. I do. And although I've never played football or been a part of a coaching staff I am smart enough to see the perfectly obvious.


Do you have any idea how many times ESPN has interviewed an athlete for an extended period of time and never aired it because the guy was so freaking stupid and could barley string together an entire sentence and they didn't want to embarrass him? POB will be fine.
 
As i write this I am in an airport overhearing a conversation involving a recent UNL grad telling another person he cant find work. Lots of interviews. No one will hire him. I started counting the "likes". Had to be at least 30 in two minutes including a few "double likes". Im sure he is a bright kid but if he speaks that way in an interview setting, it will be a tough time getting hired.
 
Do you have any idea how many times ESPN has interviewed an athlete for an extended period of time and never aired it because the guy was so freaking stupid and could barley string together an entire sentence and they didn't want to embarrass him? POB will be fine.
Given the quality of the interviews they sometimes air, I'd be horrified to hear these throw away interviews!
 
I've got a brother whom I love who says "you know" an average of 14 times a minute...I know...I've counted...my wife thinks I have an obsession...

He also whistles.....:(

Had a customer a few weeks ago that also repeatedly said "you know" and if I didn't respond in the affirmative he would ask "but, do you know?".... I wanted to scream by the end of the conversation.
 
Regarding POB, a lot of times those verbal crutches like "you know" and "I mean" become more prevalent when the speaker is uncomfortable. I'm willing to bet that he doesn't use it so much in normal conversation and that it will get better as he gets used to doing interviews with 50 reporters surrounding him.
 
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Literally. That word is literally overused by literally too many people

"Basically" isn't too far behind. When I hear someone say basically I have a hard time not rolling my eyes.
 
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ummm, uhhhh, and what not, can be over used.

I over use "you see what I'm saying?"
 
I mean like you know who cares home many times he says I mean.....it's not a speech contest.

Unless it's TM3 of course, then somehow it matters. o_O
 
We used to have a Staff Sgt. in the Marines that would constantly use the word "irregardlessly" in just about every conversation he had. It was really annoying. As far as athletes, I still remember when the Bucs won the Super Bowl, they interviewed John Lynch and Simeon Rice after the game. I wasn't sure Rice spoke the English language after listening to his mumbling, rambling gibberish. He had a great game though.
 
Typical free board deal. Pick out some minor nervous speech pattern by an 18 year old and blow it out of proportion while some make hearsay comments about his intelligence. Some of you guys are real peaches. Let's see somebody stick a microphone in your face and see how you do.
 
Typical free board deal. Pick out some minor nervous speech pattern by an 18 year old and blow it out of proportion while some make hearsay comments about his intelligence. Some of you guys are real peaches. Let's see somebody stick a microphone in your face and see how you do.
I speak in front people often and usually do it well. I was on a panel the other day and unexpectedly had to begin by relating my biography. Sounds like a slam dunk, but I just couldn't think of anything interesting about myself and was real uncomfortable and stammering. I am amazed our players speak as well as they do what with being young and having cameras in their faces.
 
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