Avs Talk - A Colorado Avalanche Blog

Last night we were treated to some Jim Hughson commentary for the Vancouver Canucks-Colorado Avalanche matchup. I love listening to Hughson and think he's one of the best in the game. His partner was Craig Simpson whose performance was not terribly profound but not dreadful.

My main beef with Simpson was that he lacked the ability to correctly pronounce José Theodore's name. Typically I don't care too much but it had been so long since I'd heard anyone refer to José (Zho-zay) as "Ho-say" that I assumed the matter had been settled.

In case anyone wasn't aware, Mr. Theodore is of Francophone decent, not Spanish. I'm not sure who ever decided that Ho-say was the proper way of pronouncing his name but I'd guess it was a person who didn't know the difference between Spanish and French.

Also, his last name is Thee-uh-door, not Tay-a-dore. I know Tay-a-dore sounds like a French phrase but it's wrong. Again, Tay-a-dore sounds more Spanish than French. At least he didn't combine "Ho-say" and "Tay-a-dore" as that combination might have caused me to have an embolism.

So the lesson is this: if you aren't French and don't know any French, don't try to pronounce a Francophone name as a French-speaking person would. And really, that goes for any other nationality. Either find out from someone who knows or butcher it with an English slant. Don't butcher it by trying not to butcher it. The irony makes it all the more annoying.

Just call him "Joe-say Theo-door" and nobody will complain.