Sometimes, a sword is not a sword. Sigmund Freud might have had some fun with the Detroit Tigers-Chicago White Sox broadcast on NBC Sports Chicago Sunday, where broadcasters Jason Benetti and Steve Stone analyzed the journey across the field of a balloon object that they called a sword. The object in question went from fair territory to foul territory to looking like it would blow into the stands to dropping into the White Sox dugout. And yes, it had some similarities to a sword, but there seemed to be a rather more direct phallic reference going on.
Here’s the discussion of that from Benetti and Stone:
“Now we have a, a sword. Benintendi doesn’t need a weapon out there in left field, so he’s going to let it roll by.” “Yeah, you certainly don’t like to get stabbed in the back.” “That’s true. Watch your back.” “It’s going to try to wend its way into foul territory, picking up momentum.” “Is there a clown in the park, maybe, with the balloon animals?” “It’s in foul territory now.” “Oh boy. Look out.” “It knows exactly where to go, get off the field and get out of play.” “And what a journey it was.”
Ultimately, this probably worked out better than if the broadcasters had tried to discuss what the balloon actually was supposed to represent. That might have gotten dangerous in a hurry. And we did get some good play-by-play and analysis of what was going on with this “sword.” But still, this was one of the more phallic things on a broadcast in a long while. And unlike locker room scenes or telestrator mishaps, whoever came up with this balloon appears to have been fully intending for this to be displayed.
[CJ Fogler on Twitter]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.