I love sports: amateur, professional, kids', men's, women’s, in person and on television and radio.

But despite my deep love, there are some phrases and stuff about sports that really bug the daylights out of me. Here’s a dozen of them.  

1. "Step up." I hate it when someone says that so-and-so has to step up or that another so-and-so really stepped up. I don’t know what I’d say instead, all I know is I’m sick and tired of the phrase.

2. Television announcers who wear ties. I mean, why?It’s a pretty fair bet that none of the participants are wearing ties. It’s also pretty safe to say that nobody in the audience is wearing a tie.

3. Television announcers who are homers. I don’t mind an announcer who wants his team to win. But you can carry it to ridiculous lengths. How about the Brewers losing to the Cubs by one run that the Cubs scored on a bonehead play by a majority of the Brewers infield? And then you start your post-game show talking about the wonderful the Brewers' comeback (which fell one run short). Can you hear me Craig Coshun, Davey Nelson and Bill Schroeder?

4. Announcers who don’t know tenses. I can’t stand the European announcers who use plurals with the name of soccer teams. "England were playing great defense."  It just sounds so jarring and is one more reason to hate soccer. There are already enough reasons.

5. "Defense wins championships." Really? This one goes hand in hand with "Offense wins games." I have never heard anything quite so stupid. Any sports fan worth his salt knows that this isn’t true. It’s a phrase that people who don’t know jack about sports us to make you think they do know jack about sports.

6. "She’s a great ball striker." This is usually said with kind of a clipped tone and just reinforces the fact that golf is really a game for the elite and has virtually no touch with real human beings. Why can’t they say she really hits the crap out of the ball. Ball striker, indeed.

7. Let me be honest with you. The coach or athlete who starts the answer to the question with, "Let me be honest with you…"  If you’ve got half a brain you ask yourself, what were you being before? How can I tell when you are lying or telling the truth?

8. "He has to get up in his grill." (Can you hear me Jon McGlocklin) I don’t even know what that means. I think it means get your hands in the face of the guy who is shooting. But I could be wrong.

9. "We are going to play them one game at a time." Is there really any explanation necessary? Anybody who actually says this needs to be penalized or suspended or sent back to school. Or something.

10. All instant replay. I know technology is so wonderful that we can do just about anything with it. But good lord, these delays are getting out of hand. I say get rid of all of it. All of it! Bad calls are part of the game. It was good enough for Henry Aaron and Babe Ruth. I say it ought to be good enough for Alex Rodriguez.

11. Fixing gloves. Baseball players who step out of the box after every single pitch and adjust the straps on both of their batting gloves. (Can you hear me Ryan Braun?) Talk about making baseball games longer than they need to be, this is one of the prime offenders. Make them stay in the batter’s box until the at-bat is over.

12. Party time. This one is especially true of football. When a player makes an ordinary play such as a tackle at the line of scrimmage or catches a pass for a seven-yard gain, they celebrate like they have just discovered the cure for cancer.  is I think the NFL should allow legitimate celebration and ban and penalize all the junk stuff.