Sports are a great source of enjoyment and competition for people around the world . There are many expressions related to sports in English that we use in our daily lives . In the United States , the most popular sports include baseball and American football . So , terms and sayings connected to those games are especially common . We often use sports-related terms in our daily lives to describe moments of success , difficulty , failure and fairness . Timothy Wahl teaches English as a second language to adults in Los Angeles , California . He also wrote the book , Footballogy : Elements of American Football for Non-Native Speakers of English . Wahl says using sports idioms is a great way to sound more like a native speaker and better understand a new culture . Knowing how to use American sports idioms can help people from different cultures make personal connections in a foreign place . Here are a few expressions to practice . Let's consider the phrasal verb “huddle up .” The verb "huddle " means to crowd together . In American football , the offensive team huddles throughout the game to discuss its plan of play . The team forms a sort of circle with their backs to everyone else . This helps keep the players ’ brief meeting private . They do not want the opposition to learn what moves they are planning to make . Apparently , the football huddle began at Gallaudet University , a university for students who have hearing disabilities . The players use sign language , speaking through signs they make with their hands . So , the Gallaudet players faced each other so the other team could not see their hands . Here are two example sentences of the phrase used outside of football : The students huddled up around the chemistry teacher as she performed the experiment . The patient's doctor and family huddled up to discuss possible treatments . One of the most common American football idioms is “a Hail Mary .” "Hail Mary " is the name of a Christian prayer . It is used in football to describe a play made by the losing team toward the end of the game . The play is not likely to be successful but is made in desperation . The prisoner hid under a car in a Hail Mary effort to escape police . The idiom “drop the ball ” most often describes a situation where someone failed to do something important or necessary . This term is used in many sports . A baseball , football or basketball player can “drop the ball ,” usually resulting in some kind of loss or penalty for their team . Listen to this short discussion as an example : Sorry , I'm late for work . I had to walk because there was no gas in the car . John was supposed to take it to the fuel station . Didn't you also tell me that he left your phone outside in the rain yesterday ? He has really been dropping the ball lately , and only I seem to suffer the results !