Greek & Latin for sporting folk
For the football fans out there (or anyone else on T.O. watch), I spotted two classical references in Len Pasquarelli's ESPN.com article on Terrell Owens's return to camp with my Philadelphia Eagles:
... Owens sprinted past the gauntlet of minicams and the phalanx of reporters ...
Interestingly enough, phalanx is the root in the ancient Greek word for the Mediterranean black widow: φαλάγγιον. But I digress.
Pasquarelli also has this gem:
More than a mea culpa, the return of Owens was mostly about the first two letters of that Latin term.
The next isn't classical but sure is classic:
he best moles we've got here, squeezed hard for any nugget of inside information, offered up nothing sexy. So the Reid-Owens meeting, it seems, will never be mistaken for the Yalta Summit.
I think I've just found my new favorite sports writer.