Mr. Simpson is known to have spoken of his legal team in such football metaphors.

Continuing the football metaphor, he said: "Instead, we're going to have the greatest fourth quarter in Presidential history."

American corporate executives seem convinced that football metaphors convey all the important messages about corporate life.

(Condoleezza Rice's reliance on football metaphors should be a warning to us all.)

The old football metaphor for this state of affairs was bell-ringing, as in, for example: 1.

"The consensus among us is that this is a ground game," he said, using a football metaphor.

He is fond of using football metaphors, a tendency that has been remarked upon by journalists and political commentators.

But he cannot "run to daylight," in this year's final football metaphor, until he puts daylight between himself and the past President.

The football metaphor is of no use to us here, ladies and gentlemen: in order to make progress intelligently, the team needs to be mixed.

He collected starting pitchers this winter the way Division I schools stockpile scholarship players, to further the football metaphor.