For Frank, Wednesday morning was extra special. Frank is a New Jersey native and grew up a fan of the red, white and blue. Messier was the captain of the franchise’s lone championship in the past 68 years, when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994.
Thoughts going though Janice's head: "New Jersey so he is a Devils' fan. Wait, nope. Why would it be extra special for a Montreal Canadiens' fan from New Jersey to meet Mark Messier? Oh, nope. He's a Rangers fan. Stupid sport writer." It isn't just me having them on the brain, "Blue, White and Red" is a commonly used for the Habs. "The Broadway Blueshirts" is the Rangers' nickname. Is it wrong for me to expect a professional sports writer to be a better writer and to know more about hockey than myself? Does this man not have editors?
To the point:
"Being a Rangers' fan, Frank was excited to meet the former captain."*
Colourful sports writing:
"For Frank, Wednesday morning was extra special. Frank is a New Jersey native and grew up a fan of The Broadway Blueshirts. Messier was the captain of the franchise’s lone championship in the past 68 years, when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994."
This warrants a new tag.
*Are you happy now Ky? Or are you going to complain now about the use of the passive voice?
As much as I hate the dreaded word "actually", I'm going to use it.
ReplyDeleteActually, "Being a Rangers' fan, it was extra special for Frank to meet the former captain" is equally confusing in that it has a misplaced modifier. The "being a Rangers' fan" applies to the "it" in this sentence, and not to Frank, who is indeed the Rangers' fan.
It was a hastily written sentence in annoyance. I think your love of grammar is making you miss the point.
ReplyDeletePassive voice isn't a grammatical error, it's a stylisitic choice that is generally frowned upon. I'm all for the passive voice when it's necessary.
ReplyDelete