Tribune Grammar-Punctuation Stumbles

Players Must Be Thinking Of Lower case: short preposition in title Fantasy League

JOSEPH H. BROWN

Published: Feb Period: abbreviation 20, 2005

The players didn't wear helmets Comma: compound sentence and the goalies didn't wear masks.

If a goalie took a puck to the mouth, No comma: trailing restrictive adverbial clause as Glenn Hall of the Blackhawks did, they Pronoun reference: No antecedent would stop the game long enough for him to get his lip stitched and then continue.

Behind The Net In Lower case: Short preposition Revenues

Lupica may be off on the numbers, but he is right on about hockey Apostrophe "s": possessive before the gerund being a fringe sport.

Today the NHL has 30 teams Comma: compound sentence and most are losing money. The players "Players" is plural possessive ("players' association") unless somebody can make a compelling case that it ranks attributive noun. association's argument that the league is in good financial health simply defies reality.

The NHL's TV ratings are well below those of NASCAR, and its television deal with NBC contains no upfront money, which Broad reference: The adjectivival "which" clause should modify the word preceding it, not an idea the reader must infer. Correction: "This situation" puts it on the same level with the Arena Football League.

Neither side was willing to seriously negotiate Don't split infinitives at will: "to negotiate seriously"; dump that redundant adverb to take care of the problem. until about a week ago, however, so the league shut down.

It's No antecedent for this pronoun: What is suicidal--"this decision"? suicidal, and the silence in most of the United States is deafening.

Little Guys Got Cross-Checked

And it's Falling back on indefinite "it" is lazy writing that clouds clarity: " My sympathy lies with those folks...." those folks - the ushers, bartenders and vendors - with whom my sympathies lie.

Will the fans come back?

It's Another indefinite "it":" "Whether the fans will come back is..." hard to say," but hockey is the sport that can least afford to lose any.

For example, even though I'm a die-hard football fan, I'm seriously Strunk & White's superfluous modifier considering not renewing my Bucs season tickets after another unjustified price increase.

It Again an indefinite "it" looks as if Start here: Hockey players will have to take pay cuts if the league is to survive, but it's Writer has "it" disease: "Paycuts have taken place elsewhere." not as though it Oh, lord: "such things haven't..."hasn't happened elsewhere.

Airline workers have agreed to salary decreases, knowing their jobs depended on it Yet another "it"; change "it" to "them" to agree with "decreases."

Joseph H. Brown is a Tribune editorial writer.

No One Can Know For Lower-case "f": short preposition Sure If Schiavo Would Choose LifePublished: Feb Period for abbreviation 23, 2005

By the end of the day, Moss-grown cliche Michael Schiavo may once again have it Have what? within his power: edit: "...may once again have the power to let his wife die."

An appeals court cleared the way Tuesday to carry out the order of a trial judge ("judge's": possessive before the gerund) allowing the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.

She sometimes seems to react to the people around her, which broad reference:edit-- "this apparent reaction" gives hope to her parents.

We fervently redundant cliche modifer: Strunk & White wish that Michael Schiavo would turn Terri's care over to her parents, but that broad reference:edit--"that decision" seems unlikely after so many years.

Comment on style and content: One knows that editorials in cities in which intellectual ferment percolates at low ebb must mirror boilerplate opinion so as not to spook the herd; but is there any rule against editorialists' adding a wee fillip of originality? a touch of whimsy? a whiff of the hairbrained? or even--God save the mark--a gravid comment that hints at the existence of the eternal verities' wafting about in the firmament above the Bay Area? Just asking.