Jim in Columbia, South Carolina, has noticed sportscasters’ use of the phrase on the season with reference to a period of time. This construction shows up in the sports pages as early as the 1880s, first referring to a team’s revenue and...
garbage time n.—Gloss: in American sports, “garbage time” refers to the remaining minutes of a game whose outcome is already apparent. «He is trailing in the polls. His numbers are static. Unless he does something now, right...