Another word for "ringer"
January 16, 2010 10:05 AM Subscribe
sportsmetaphorfilter: Is there a word/term for one player who is vastly, ridiculously better than everyone else in their league?
extra credit: It's not "ringer" unless you can convince me the term can be applied to someone who comes by their advantages honestly.
If it's not usain it should be. "Did you see that kick?? She's usain!"
posted by 6550 at 10:12 AM on January 16, 2010
posted by 6550 at 10:12 AM on January 16, 2010
Superstar.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:16 AM on January 16, 2010
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:16 AM on January 16, 2010
"playing a different game", although I have to say, the term "ringer" has never really carried a connotation of dishonesty.
posted by deadmessenger at 10:20 AM on January 16, 2010
posted by deadmessenger at 10:20 AM on January 16, 2010
Ringer would be the word I would use, with sort of a joking connotation. "Ah, she's a ringer!"
posted by limeonaire at 10:25 AM on January 16, 2010
posted by limeonaire at 10:25 AM on January 16, 2010
How about MVP?
posted by Countess Elena at 10:28 AM on January 16, 2010
posted by Countess Elena at 10:28 AM on January 16, 2010
The word prodigy would apply in sports as well as lots of other endeavors.
And I disagree with deadmessenger. Ringer absolutely implies using a devious means to get someone who is literally from a higher league to play on your team. The archetype is Mr. Burns hiring tons of Major League Baseball players at the nuclear power plant so they could be on company softball team.
posted by Babblesort at 10:29 AM on January 16, 2010
And I disagree with deadmessenger. Ringer absolutely implies using a devious means to get someone who is literally from a higher league to play on your team. The archetype is Mr. Burns hiring tons of Major League Baseball players at the nuclear power plant so they could be on company softball team.
posted by Babblesort at 10:29 AM on January 16, 2010
Ringer
2. Slang A contestant entered dishonestly into a competition.
You think that it means "someone really good" because the common application is to enter a really fast horse under the name of a slow one so that it wins the race contrary to expectation and you can take the gambling.
I'd use "Pele of $activity"
posted by a robot made out of meat at 10:31 AM on January 16, 2010
2. Slang A contestant entered dishonestly into a competition.
You think that it means "someone really good" because the common application is to enter a really fast horse under the name of a slow one so that it wins the race contrary to expectation and you can take the gambling.
I'd use "Pele of $activity"
posted by a robot made out of meat at 10:31 AM on January 16, 2010
I hear "The Michael Jordan of [whatever sport]" on the sports talk shows somewhat regularly, describing athletes who play at a higher level than everyone else.
posted by Balonious Assault at 10:52 AM on January 16, 2010
posted by Balonious Assault at 10:52 AM on January 16, 2010
Best answer: "Phenom" (FEE-nom), short for "phenomenon" is the usual slang, and lately "Freak" has come into the sports parlance - both words are used for someone who is almost superhumanly good at their position in a sport. Freak in this usage is a good term, not a bad one. Both words indicate a rare and remarkable talent.
posted by Slap*Happy at 11:00 AM on January 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Slap*Happy at 11:00 AM on January 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary:
gun ... n. ... (esp. attrib.) Aust. a person pre-eminent in any activity (gun fencer, gun picker, gun batsman, gun surfer) ...
posted by toodles at 11:23 AM on January 16, 2010
gun ... n. ... (esp. attrib.) Aust. a person pre-eminent in any activity (gun fencer, gun picker, gun batsman, gun surfer) ...
posted by toodles at 11:23 AM on January 16, 2010
26.2: "If it's a temporary thing such as one game where the player rises above all others, then I'd use "In the zone." Laettner against Kentucky - in the zone. Laettner in the NBA - about average."
Being in the zone is about one's own focus and level of skill. If I do something and everything is flowing perfectly and I am moving forward toward each goal as expected I am in the zone, if I am distracted, frustrated, constantly making stupid mistakes that trip me up, forgetting what I was trying to do before I am done, I am no longer in the zone. This applies to any endeavor, including sports.
posted by idiopath at 11:26 AM on January 16, 2010
Being in the zone is about one's own focus and level of skill. If I do something and everything is flowing perfectly and I am moving forward toward each goal as expected I am in the zone, if I am distracted, frustrated, constantly making stupid mistakes that trip me up, forgetting what I was trying to do before I am done, I am no longer in the zone. This applies to any endeavor, including sports.
posted by idiopath at 11:26 AM on January 16, 2010
That is to say, being in the zone is agnostic to the presence or absence of competitors, and has little to do with how well you match up against them.
posted by idiopath at 11:28 AM on January 16, 2010
posted by idiopath at 11:28 AM on January 16, 2010
As far as I know, there isn't one perfect word to describe that one ultimate player. Great players are compared to others with descriptions like "Jordanesque" or "Shades of Willie Mays". Also, if a player is great, they are often know by just a nickname like "King James" or "A-Rod" or "The Great One".
If the player is on an opposing team, or is clearly playing against competition below his/her skill level, I believe the correct term is "that one bastard."
the term "ringer" has never really carried a connotation of dishonesty.
That is exactly what a ringer is. Someone brought in who gives a known unfair advantage to a team. Danny Almonte in the Little League World Series a few years back is about as good an example as I can come up with.
posted by clearly at 11:35 AM on January 16, 2010
If the player is on an opposing team, or is clearly playing against competition below his/her skill level, I believe the correct term is "that one bastard."
the term "ringer" has never really carried a connotation of dishonesty.
That is exactly what a ringer is. Someone brought in who gives a known unfair advantage to a team. Danny Almonte in the Little League World Series a few years back is about as good an example as I can come up with.
posted by clearly at 11:35 AM on January 16, 2010
I don't think 'freak' is exactly it--it carries an additional connotation of insane physical gifts, winning the genetic lottery, if you will. Think of somebody like Michael Phelps.
posted by box at 11:37 AM on January 16, 2010
posted by box at 11:37 AM on January 16, 2010
"Ruthian".
Agreed with the various variations of "league of their own".
"Ringer", to me, is not merely someone who is better than the competition, and is not necessarily someone who comes by their advantages dishonestly. It's someone who is playing in a league vastly inferior to their level of skill, e.g. Albert Pujols playing in your local neighborhood softball league.
posted by Flunkie at 11:51 AM on January 16, 2010
Agreed with the various variations of "league of their own".
"Ringer", to me, is not merely someone who is better than the competition, and is not necessarily someone who comes by their advantages dishonestly. It's someone who is playing in a league vastly inferior to their level of skill, e.g. Albert Pujols playing in your local neighborhood softball league.
posted by Flunkie at 11:51 AM on January 16, 2010
Actually, I take back "Ruthian". I misread - I thought you were asking for something to describe someone who is vastly, ridiculously better than everybody else, not merely than everybody else in their league.
For similar reasons, I would object to the various suggestions here like "Jordanesque", "superstar", "prodigy", et cetera. I, for example, was vastly, ridiculously better than everyone else in my gym class at basketball, but I was not a prodigy, nor of course was I a superstar or Jordanesque. I wouldn't have even made the starting lineup on the school team. I just happened to get lucky to be the only person in that particular gym class who had previously played fairly often, and that was enough to make me utterly dominant.
There you go: "dominant".
posted by Flunkie at 11:59 AM on January 16, 2010
For similar reasons, I would object to the various suggestions here like "Jordanesque", "superstar", "prodigy", et cetera. I, for example, was vastly, ridiculously better than everyone else in my gym class at basketball, but I was not a prodigy, nor of course was I a superstar or Jordanesque. I wouldn't have even made the starting lineup on the school team. I just happened to get lucky to be the only person in that particular gym class who had previously played fairly often, and that was enough to make me utterly dominant.
There you go: "dominant".
posted by Flunkie at 11:59 AM on January 16, 2010
e.g. Albert Pujols playing in your local neighborhood softball league.
Or, Albert Pujols playing in the major leagues, for example.
posted by themadjuggler at 12:00 PM on January 16, 2010
Or, Albert Pujols playing in the major leagues, for example.
posted by themadjuggler at 12:00 PM on January 16, 2010
themadjuggler, my understanding of "ringer" is not merely, as I said, ridiculously better than everyone else; it's more like "should obviously be in a better league". There is no better baseball league than MLB, even if you subscribe to the theory that Pujols is ridiculously above its level.
posted by Flunkie at 12:03 PM on January 16, 2010
posted by Flunkie at 12:03 PM on January 16, 2010
Totally agree. I just wanted to show people that Pujols is quietly becoming the best player of all-time. I also think "dishonesty" when I hear "ringer."
posted by themadjuggler at 12:08 PM on January 16, 2010
posted by themadjuggler at 12:08 PM on January 16, 2010
I just wanted to show people that Pujols is quietly becoming the best player of all-time.I think that's overly optimistic. He's comparable to Frank Thomas, through Pujols' current age, for example; if anything, I would guess Thomas through 29 years old was better than Pujols' through 29. No one would say that Frank Thomas became the best player of all time.
Don't get me wrong, he's obviously superlative. But "the best player of all time" is an extremely high mark, and to say that a 29 year old is becoming that is to throw away the history of baseball.
posted by Flunkie at 12:16 PM on January 16, 2010
26.2: "it's a very commonly applied sports term"
And common outside of sports.
From the first page of the article:
"the zone characterizes a state in which an athlete performs to the best of his or her ability"
It is measured against the standards of the athletes own potential, not in relation to competitors, as I said before.
posted by idiopath at 12:38 PM on January 16, 2010
And common outside of sports.
From the first page of the article:
"the zone characterizes a state in which an athlete performs to the best of his or her ability"
It is measured against the standards of the athletes own potential, not in relation to competitors, as I said before.
posted by idiopath at 12:38 PM on January 16, 2010
This is a giant derail of a valid thread. Sorry everybody.
posted by 26.2 at 1:09 PM on January 16, 2010
posted by 26.2 at 1:09 PM on January 16, 2010
"Ringer" is often used in this context as a joke. The implication being that the person is so good, he or she could be mistaken for a professional player who's been illegally tapped to play in an amateur game.
posted by muddgirl at 2:14 PM on January 16, 2010
posted by muddgirl at 2:14 PM on January 16, 2010
Much more fun than the above is the phrase used by the coach of the Connecticut women's basketball team to describe their chances in the NCAA tournament: "We're Muhammad Ali ridin' Secretariat".
posted by madmethods at 3:53 PM on January 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by madmethods at 3:53 PM on January 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Yup...we call that player "franchise" or "meal ticket".
posted by vito90 at 4:31 PM on January 16, 2010
posted by vito90 at 4:31 PM on January 16, 2010
2nding "PHENOM"
posted by bunny hugger at 4:47 PM on January 16, 2010
posted by bunny hugger at 4:47 PM on January 16, 2010
I usually use beast in common conversation (e.g., "Did you see the [game] yesterday?! [Dude] is a fucking BEAST!"), but I think natural probably comes closest.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:58 PM on January 16, 2010
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:58 PM on January 16, 2010
I'd probably refer to him/her by using the last name of an establish athlete who showed similar ability, like a Jordan, a Tiger or a Gretzky.
posted by Decimask at 6:31 PM on January 16, 2010
posted by Decimask at 6:31 PM on January 16, 2010
To me, a ringer is not necessarily dishonest himself; the onus is usually on the team that seeks him out. "Oh, you brought in a ringer!" In this context a ringer doesn't mean someone who goes slumming for a game to make himself feel superior, but rather someone whom a team actively recruits to make it better. A ringer can sometimes even be reluctant—like Spearchucker Jones in M*A*S*H*, if I recall correctly. A sandbagger, on the other hand, is inherently dishonest.
I don't think freak, standout, superstar or natural are what you're looking for. There are plenty of all of those in each league. Terrell Owens is a "freak," but so is Adrian Peterson. Phenom implies someone young and good beyond his years. Landon Donovan was considered a phenom when he was 17; he's not one anymore.
Jordanesque, Ruthian, Manning-like, another Gretzky—invoking the name of someone who could have been categorized as ridiculously better than anyone else is the way to go.
posted by stargell at 10:14 PM on January 16, 2010
I don't think freak, standout, superstar or natural are what you're looking for. There are plenty of all of those in each league. Terrell Owens is a "freak," but so is Adrian Peterson. Phenom implies someone young and good beyond his years. Landon Donovan was considered a phenom when he was 17; he's not one anymore.
Jordanesque, Ruthian, Manning-like, another Gretzky—invoking the name of someone who could have been categorized as ridiculously better than anyone else is the way to go.
posted by stargell at 10:14 PM on January 16, 2010
I've heard the term "the hammer" applied to bringing in a little-known secret superstar who can turn a losing team around. Kind of like a team's secret weapon.
and, as a new and temporary employee, i secretly want to tell my boss "hey, can you call me 'the hammer'?" but that may be a bit unprofessional, i think.
posted by NikitaNikita at 11:18 PM on January 16, 2010
and, as a new and temporary employee, i secretly want to tell my boss "hey, can you call me 'the hammer'?" but that may be a bit unprofessional, i think.
posted by NikitaNikita at 11:18 PM on January 16, 2010
As someone who consumes a lot of sports talk and analysis programming, I don't think there's one perfect term to match what the OP is looking for. I hardly ever hear anyone use the term "ringer" in sports, in whatever context.
Words like "natural" and "standout" are generously applied to lots of good players, but not among the elite. Well, I guess "elite" could work.
"Freak" was the first thing that came to mind. That, "monster," and "machine" are pretty trendy terms right now. Other phrases that I think work are "All-time great" (albeit kind of generic), "In a league of his own" (albeit somewhat passe), and "First-ballot Hall of Famer."
"Phenom" usually applies to younger guys just starting out, although it's occasionally used with older ones, in which case I think it's a pretty high compliment if one is otherwise at a loss for words.
The problem with using names like Jordan, Ruth, or Gretzky is that, to me, it implies that you're comparing their particular style of game to those athletes. Shaq or Nash in their prime wouldn't really be called Jordan-esque, Mariano Rivera wouldn't be called Ruthian, and a goalie or hulking defenseman wouldn't be called Gretzky-esque.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:30 AM on January 17, 2010
Words like "natural" and "standout" are generously applied to lots of good players, but not among the elite. Well, I guess "elite" could work.
"Freak" was the first thing that came to mind. That, "monster," and "machine" are pretty trendy terms right now. Other phrases that I think work are "All-time great" (albeit kind of generic), "In a league of his own" (albeit somewhat passe), and "First-ballot Hall of Famer."
"Phenom" usually applies to younger guys just starting out, although it's occasionally used with older ones, in which case I think it's a pretty high compliment if one is otherwise at a loss for words.
The problem with using names like Jordan, Ruth, or Gretzky is that, to me, it implies that you're comparing their particular style of game to those athletes. Shaq or Nash in their prime wouldn't really be called Jordan-esque, Mariano Rivera wouldn't be called Ruthian, and a goalie or hulking defenseman wouldn't be called Gretzky-esque.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:30 AM on January 17, 2010
A class apart.
In rugby (and soccer, and I suspect many other ball games) one also talks about a player having lots of time on the ball.
posted by MuffinMan at 9:00 AM on January 17, 2010
In rugby (and soccer, and I suspect many other ball games) one also talks about a player having lots of time on the ball.
posted by MuffinMan at 9:00 AM on January 17, 2010
Owns every field/court/pitch/whatever he/she plays.
Can't think of a single noun though.
posted by Goofyy at 12:14 PM on January 17, 2010
Can't think of a single noun though.
posted by Goofyy at 12:14 PM on January 17, 2010
In Australia they could be refered to as "the Bradman of [insert sport/league here]", a reference to the best cricketer of all time, Don Bradman. His average was 99.94, almost twice as high as the next closest batsmen from any other time period including today.
posted by trialex at 2:49 PM on January 17, 2010
posted by trialex at 2:49 PM on January 17, 2010
the boyfriend says "Superstar."
posted by bunny hugger at 8:24 AM on January 19, 2010
posted by bunny hugger at 8:24 AM on January 19, 2010
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posted by Danf at 10:12 AM on January 16, 2010