Even the most casual sports fan knows that tonight the two teams with the longest championship droughts in baseball will be facing off in the opening game of the 2016 World Series. But did you know we are making a teeny mistake if we write “Go Tribe!” or “Go Cubs!”? It should be “Go, Tribe!” or “Go, Cubs!” Let’s review.
How would you punctuate “I congratulate you Zelda on your award”? We need a comma on either side of “Zelda” because we are addressing her directly, right? So we also need punctuation on either side of “Tribe” and “Cubs” because in “Go, Tribe!” and “Go, Cubs!” it’s as though we are talking directly to the team.
Citing this error is nitpicking, however, so I wouldn’t fret about the punctuation unless you’re thinking of getting a “Go, Tribe!” or “Go, Cubs!” tattoo.
In other sports news …
In case you were wondering if the WNBA has ended its season, this item from last week will fill you in. Look for an amusing error in the second sentence of the report.
Nneka Ogwumike’s short jumper with 3.1 seconds left gave the Los Angeles Sparks a 77-76 victory over the defending champion Minnesota Lynx for their first title in 14 years in the deciding game of the WNBA finals on Thursday night. The league MVP joined her teammates in celebration as a stunned crowd slowly filed out after finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Wow. I didn’t know attendees of WNBA games get to participate on the court. And apparently members of the crowd at the final game performed well.
The culprit? The infamous dangling modifier. The words “after finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds” need to appear directly in front of or directly after the player who accomplished that feat. So this would work: After finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds, the league MVP joined her teammates in celebration as a stunned crowd slowly filed out.
Go, Tribe!
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