Banana Peal

In a world drowning in disaster and desperation, I'm happy to report that there's something entirely trivial that bugs me. It came up again a few minutes ago. Time to get it out there...

I'm a pretty omnivorous sports fan; even played a few, back in the day. I like it when fans get into the games; there were some memorable Kingdome-shaking roars in the heydays of Ken Griffey, Jr and Edgar Martinez... in which on rare occasions I actually participated.

So it's both mystifying and deeply annoying when speakers in sports venues blare the word (the sound) "Dayo" and fans respond by chanting it. Usually it's played only once, and the response is anything but enthusiastic, like yeah, okay, okay, I'll say it, but why? It occurs in baseball stadia, basketball arenii, all around the country. Who knows where else and in what other sports? It has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with any sports action, can hardly be seen as a rally cry like, for example, "here we go-oh" or "DEE-fence" or, as we chanted at Amherst, "Repel them, repel them, coerce them to relinquish the ball." Or even the cowbell noise, to which people clap.

But "DAAAY-oh? Once?? WTF??? Who came up with that, and what were they thinking? Why not "poh TAAY toe?" Or "PLAY-dough?" What's the point, what does it mean, why is it there?

Dayo.

It really pisses me off.