Bird's the Word

Oh, have you not heard? To quote Peter Griffin, whose avian antics you can witness here, there seems to be an absence of a certain ornithological piece. In short, a bird has had its wings clipped.

On Feb. 3, 1980, Boston Celtics sharpshooter Larry Bird hit the first 3-pointer in an NBA All-Star Game. In this newspaper blurb, "Bird's 3" has become "Bird' 3." What happened to the s? It flew the coop, I guess.

I'm not finished. Allow me to kill two birds with one stone.

That very same sentence has me tense for another reason. The writer has forsaken consistency by opening with a past-tense verb, came, and closing with a present-tense verb, outscores. The timing of the action in that sentence does not demand a switch in tense. The writer would be wise as an owl to change came to comes.

Time for me to fly.

Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow...