Littoral, not figurative
September 15th, 2011 | Littoral Combat Ship Ships | Posted by Dave Brown
OK, folks. Scoop Deck doesn’t want to get into a whole thing here, but there’s something we have to say. Now that littoral combat ships are getting named, launching, deploying and being celebrated at baseball games, it’s time to get used to the word “littoral.”
It’s pronounced “literal,” not “lit-TOR-al.” So the next time you see, say, an admiral saying it wrong, do the right thing and correct him or her. OK, maybe that’s not a good idea. You could, however, tell the admiral’s aide. Give the two of them something fun to talk about in the back of the SUV on the trip back to the office.
Now that we’ve taken care of that, can you think of any other common Navy mispronunciations?
Mabus makes good on winning pitch
September 14th, 2011 | Baseball Littoral Combat Ship Navy secretary Photos Ships | Posted by Bill McMichael
The Navy’s top official visited the National League Central Division’s top team Tuesday as Navy Secretary Ray Mabus threw out a ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game at Miller Park, part of a day-long celebration of Littoral Combat Ship 5 being given the name Milwaukee. The original announcement was made March 18.
The Navy didn’t supply a pic of Mabus rifling a fastball off the Miller Park mound. But it did snap the secretary chatting on the field with former not-so-great-but-he-admits-it baseball player Bob Uecker, the longtime and beloved Brewers radio broadcaster who graced the movie “Major League” with lines such as, “Heywood leads the league in most offensive categories, including nose hair. When this guy sneezes, he looks like a party favor. ”
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus gives Bob Uecker a USS Milwaukee ballcap before throwing the ceremonial first pitch at the Sept. 13 Brewers-Rockies game at Miller Park in Milwaukee. // U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Sam Shavers
We like baseball at The Scoop Deck, so here’s a priceless line from Uecker that a screenwriter didn’t write: “I led the league in `Go get ‘em next time’.”
Back to the action: Mabus also met with Brewers players and, out on the field, introduced the crowd to a graphic of the future USS Milwaukee, displayed on the park’s Jumbotron screen. Earlier in the day, Mabus took part in other activities around the city, including the hosting of an event at Discovery World for Navy supporters, sailors and local officials.
No word on whether Mabus stuck around for the end of the game but if he did, he saw joy in Mudville: the Brewers beat the Rockies 2-1 on a walk-off home run by slugger Ryan Braun leading off the bottom of the 11th.