Shock the world. These are slowly becoming the most overused words in all of sports. Hyperbole at its best. Somewhere between "guaranteeing" victory and claiming that your team is "disrespected," shock the world became the ultimate catchphrase to utter before a big game. Journalists do it. Players do it. Even entire teams do it. I do have a few words of caution for those that choose to use the phrase....THE WORLD IS NOT GOING TO BE SHOCKED! As a matter of fact, the world probably isn't watching and if they are, you're probably just going to lose and be embarassed when your comments are brought up after the game. Take a look at some of these examples:

* One of the earliest examples I could find was when a number of Texas players said they were going to "shock the world" by beating Miami in the 1991 Cotton Bowl. Shock the world they did. The world was shocked by how badly Texas got beaten (46-3).

* Marcedes Lewis, UCLA Tight End said that the Bruins were going to "shock the world" by beating USC. USC won that game 66-19 and the only shock was how overrated UCLA was this past season (p.s. - after getting blown out by the Arizona Wildcats football team, not their basketball team, you just have to forfeit your right to use the gut wrenching phrase.

* Several Colorado footbal players went on record this season that they were going to "shock the world" when they played Texas in the Big XII Championship game. The only shock in that game was the shock felt when those players looked up at the scoreboard and saw a 70-3 final score.

* High schoolers want to get in on the act as well. Rahim Moore, a football player at LA Dorsey High was quoted in the LA Times (12/2/05) saying "I'm going to shock the world." We're not sure what he was going to shock us with other than his utter lack of originality.

* Even female athletes want to get in on the act. The Leaf Chronicle in Clarksville, TN quoted Austin Peay forward Ashley Haynes (11/28/05) stating "We're going to shock the world," in reference to an upcoming game against the Memphis Lady Tigers. Of course Austin Peay won but were you shocked? Did you even know that Memphis and Austin Peay played a women's basketball game? Did you know Austin Peay had a women's basketball program?

I hopped on lexis/nexis and did a news search for "shock the world" and basketball or football. I got 2,193 hits. This is about 2,190 times too many. There are some instances when the world is shocked by a sporting event. The Jets winning Superbowl III. Chaminade upsetting Virginia. The 1980 US Olympic hockey team. That's it. Three times the world was probably "shocked" by the outcome of a sporting event.

Just to recap, there are three big reasons that no athlete should ever again utter the phrase "shock the world";

1) The world isn't watching. The world doesn't really care about UCLA-USC football games or Austin Peay - Memphis women's basketball games. Not only are these games insignificant but there are just way too many sporting options on television these days. On any given night, I can watch games on ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 8 (The Ocho!), Fox Sports, Sun Sports, CSTV, TBS, TNT, OLN (NHL Hockey in case you haven't noticed) and of course, The Golf Channel. I can also purchase pay-per-view packages that allow me to see almost every conceivable NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, College Basktball or College Football game. What is the likelihood that more than three people were watching the Austin Peay - Memphis throwdown?

2) You will look like a fool if you get blown out. The world will remember Joe Namath. He guaranteed victory and went out and got it. The world would laugh at Marcedes Lewis if they knew about his ridiculous statement because he and his team could not go out and back it up which leads us to number three.....

3) You are just firing up the opposing team. Generally, the only people that care about what you have to say are members of the opposing squad. If you don't think Miami players took umbrage to the comments before the '91 Cotton Bowl or that Texas players weren't fired up to take CU behind the woodshed this year during the Big XII Championship game than you are somewhere between naive and flat out stupid. The world may not be listening to you but the other team certainly is.

-------------Frank Irizarry------------Frank.Irizarry@Gmail.com