WIn American slang, baseball metaphors for sex are often used as euphemisms for the degree of physical intimacy achieved in sexual encounters or relationships. In the metaphor, first prevalent in the aftermath of World War II, sexual activities are described as if they are actions in a game of baseball. Baseball has also served as the context for metaphors about sexual roles and identity.
WIn the Battle of the Bowling Alley , United Nations Command (UN) forces defeated North Korean forces early in the Korean War near the city of Taegu, South Korea. The battle took place in a narrow valley, dubbed the "Bowling Alley", which was north of Taegu. It followed a week of fighting between the Korean People's Army (KPA) 13th Division and the Republic of Korea Army's (ROK) 1st Division along the latter's last defensible line in the hills north of the city. Reinforcements, including the US Army's 27th and 23rd Infantry Regiments were committed to bolster the ROK defenses. This battle and several others were smaller engagements of the Battle of Pusan Perimeter.
WBowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community is a 2000 nonfiction book by Robert D. Putnam. It was developed from his 1995 essay entitled "Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital". Putnam surveys the decline of social capital in the United States since 1950. He has described the reduction in all the forms of in-person social intercourse upon which Americans used to found, educate, and enrich the fabric of their social lives. He argues that this undermines the active civil engagement which a strong democracy requires from its citizens.
W"Doing a Leeds" is an English football phrase which is synonymous with the potentially dire consequences for domestic clubs in financial mismanagement. The phrase arose after the rapid decline of Premier League club Leeds United F.C., who invested heavily in the late 1990s and early 2000s to attain domestic and lucrative European success, which was capped by high profile appearances in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League. However, in the process, the club built up large debts, and suffered financial meltdown after failing to continue to qualify for the competition, subsequently dropping down two levels of the football pyramid, into the third tier, Football League One.
WA face-off is the method used to begin and restart play after goals in some sports using sticks, primarily ice hockey, bandy and lacrosse. The two teams line up in opposition to each other, and the opposing players attempt to gain control of the puck or ball after it is dropped or otherwise placed between their sticks by an official.
WIn sports, a false start is a disallowed start, usually due to a movement by a participant before being signaled or otherwise permitted by the rules to start. Depending on the sport and the event, a false start can result in a penalty against the athlete's or team's field position, a warning that a subsequent false start will result in disqualification, or immediate disqualification of the athlete from further competition.
WA Hail Mary pass is a very long forward pass in American football, typically made in desperation, with an exceptionally small chance of achieving a completion. Due to the difficulty of a completion with this pass, it makes reference to the Catholic "Hail Mary" prayer for divine help.
WA media scrum is an improvised press conference, often held immediately outside an event such as a legislative session or meeting. Scrums play a central role in Canadian politics and also occur in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand, such informal press events are also called media stand-ups. The same term is now also used for similar gatherings of journalists in the United States.
WThe Mendoza Line is baseball jargon for a sub-.200 batting average, the absolute minimum threshold for competence at the Major League level. It derives from light-hitting shortstop Mario Mendoza, who failed to reach .200 five times in his nine big league seasons. When a position player's batting average falls below .200, the player is said to be "below the Mendoza Line".
WThe New Testament uses a number of athletic metaphors in discussing Christianity, especially in the Pauline epistles and the Epistle to the Hebrews. Such metaphors also appear in the writings of contemporary philosophers, such as Epictetus and Philo, drawing on the tradition of the Olympic Games, and this may have influenced New Testament use of the imagery.
WIn motorsports, the pole position is the position at the front at the start of a racing event. This position may be inside or outside of the front row, depending on where the racing line is on the particular circuit, but it will always be ahead of the other vehicle(s) on the front row. This position is typically given to the vehicle and driver with the best qualifying time in the trials before the race. This number-one qualifying driver is referred to as the pole-sitter.
WA political football is a topic or issue that is seized on by opposing political parties or factions and made a more political issue than it might initially seem to be. "To make a political football" [out of something] is defined in William Safire's Safire's Political Dictionary as "To thrust a social, national security, or otherwise ostensibly non-political matter into partisan politics". In 1953 the gangster Lucky Luciano complained in an interview to Safire that "I been a political football".
WThe Wimbledon effect is a chiefly British and Japanese analogy which compares the tennis fame of the Wimbledon Championships with the economic success of the United Kingdom's financial services industries – especially those clustered in the City of London.