mongrels

[Laurence Horn]

This morning, one of the commentators on Mike & Mike's ESPN radio
show, former Super Bowl winning quarterback Trent Dilfer, noted that
Ben Rothlisberger of the Steelers is a great (although not greatest)
quarterback, even though he's no "stat-mongrel".  The intended
meaning (normally expressed by "stat-monger") was that he doesn't end
up with impressive statistics, but he [usually, although not last
night] does what he needs to win games).  Googling "stat-mongrel", I
find 10 hits, e.g.

If he were a stat mongrel, he could grab those cheapies from other
players no doubt. Instead, he seems happy to box out and not be
aggressive. Allow others to clean it up.

from a 2006 Sacramento Kings forum re Shareef Abdur Raheem's
rebounding abilities

or derivatively it can refer to someone obsessed with stats:

here you prove you are just a stat mongrel who looks at the boxscore
rather than watching the games.

Both of these uses can of course be attested in far more profusion
for the more...conventional phrase, "stat-monger" (290 actual
g-hits), including one referencing Big Ben ("I'm no stat-mongrel")
Rothlisberger himself, from a 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers forum:

Ben plays what I like to call "pure football" - in other words, he's
not a stat-monger like his peer up north. He just goes out and plays
football and does whatever it takes to get it done. If that means
rolling out and getting pounded, so be it. It's part of the game. Ben
is a real football player.

"stat-mongrel" may be a simple malapropism, but can also be seen as
an eggcorn, gobbling up those tasty numbers.  I haven't checked other
"X-mongrels" but I assume they're out there too.

LH

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org