Second thoughts

LITTLE ROCK — Let’s just dial down blitz talk

Here is a line that needs to be sacked: “Dial up a blitz.”

That football cliche beat out such stellar competition as “Take a shot down the field,” “It depends on the spot” and “Shy of the first down” to capture the 26th annual Trite Trophy, awarded by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Gene Collier.

“Somewhere, somehow, defensive coordinators lost the ability to just call a blitz, order a blitz, signal a blitz, send in a blitz or even just blitz,” Collier wrote.

“They suddenly were forced to ‘Dial up a blitz.’ It’s a beauty of a cliche, and it meets our ageless criteria: It’s meaningless, it’s everywhere, and I really, really hate it.

“It’s got multiple malignancies, such as the matter of when you do dial, whom do you call?

Second, who dials anything any more? I mean as of, like, 1990, my grandmother and the Yanomamo Tribe of deepest Venezuela were the only people that still had that technology.” Chatty Chad

Chad Ochocinco’s mouth is at it again.

This time, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver took some playful shots at Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis in a conference call with the New York media Wednesday.

“Darrelle Revis couldn’t cover me in a brown paper bag on a corner of a Manhattan street inside a phone booth,” Ochocinco said after asking if everyone had their recorders on. “It’s impossible.”

Ochocinco was actually complimentary of Revis, raving about his cover skills and calling him “one of the best.”

“I don’t care what anybody is doing Sunday night,” he said.

“If you don’t tune into the game Sunday, you have no life. You have no life. You [have] never seen a matchup like this ever before.”‘U’ got served

Barrett Sallee, writing about Wisconsin’s 17-14 victory over University of Miami on Tuesday night, says Hurricane football is nowhere close to where it was in its heyday 25 years ago.

“One of the most memorable scenes from the ESPN 30 for 30 film titled ‘The U,’ was the one where the Miami players show up to the 1987 Fiesta Bowl wearing fatigues, symbolizing that they thought that the game was a ‘war,’ ” Sallee wrote. “My, how things have changed.

“The first 20 seconds of the game, the Hurricanes looked awesome. After that, not so much. Miami looked as if they’d never even seen a tight end before, much less two. Wisconsin tight ends Lance Kendricks and Garrett Graham had their way with the ‘Canes defense virtually all night long.

“I had some Miami people tell me that this game would mark the beginning of Jacory Harris’ 2010 Heisman Trophy campaign.

Maybe they got confused and meant John Clay (if he doesn’t go pro). Despite sitting out part of the game, Clay was clearly the best player on the field. In a game that was billed as ‘size vs.

strength,’ strength dominated.”

Season’s greetings

San Diego Chargers defensive lineman Jacques Cesaire, to the San Diego Union-Tribune, on why the team plays better in the season’s last month than the first one: “Obviously, a lot of guys like Christmas. ... What do you really have to look forward to in September? The first day of school ?”Quote of the day “He’s a great sounding board for me when I hit

one of those curves in the road.” East Carolina Coach Skip Holtz on his relationship with his father, former Arkansas Coach Lou Holtz