Quote:

perhaps the sportscaster is telling us that the defender is doing more than just his part; he is working within the larger defensive strategy. a sort of meta-defense.



Hmm, perhaps, but I've never thought of sportscasters as meta sort of people...

As to "verbify," I am astounded! I have never heard it before today. And in 1813? This verbification business goes back farther than I thought! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; languages never stop changing, and the sportscasters among us never tire of creating new words, forms, and uses when they can't remember or don't know the existing terms and expressions. Does the OED also have "verb" as a verb? That would surprise me even more.