1. During the excitement of the championship game it was tied point for point in the last few moments nobody noticed that one of the cheerleaders had sprained an ankle.

2. The two finalists were judged on 1 their talents 2 their personalities and 3 their poise.

3. The newspaper article said: "William Casey known as 'Hot Shot' to his teammates scored the winning goal."

4. Phil won state honors (All-State Coaches team not included and Governor's Team) during his last two years in high school.

Reading the sentences above, you notice that there is a confusion of ideas, a need for some kind of signal mark in each sentence to keep our understanding clear.

Sentence 1, for instance, includes an explanation (it was tied point for point in the last few moments) of the main thought (nobody noticed that a cheerleader got hurt).

When we need to add an interpretation or explanation of the main thought, an interruption or explanation not radically enough removed from the main thought to call for dashes, we use parentheses. 

So sentence 1 should read:

     During the excitement of the championship game (it was tied point for point in the last few moments) nobody noticed that one of the cheerleaders had sprained an ankle.

In sentence 2 we have a list that calls for some kind of separation to keep ideas clear. Again, we need parentheses because they are used also to enclose numbers, letters, or references inside the sentence.    

The two finalists were judged on (1) their talents, (2) their personalities, and (3) their poise.

Sentences 3 and 4 have the same problem of needing signal marks for clarity. In these cases, however, we need brackets. In sentence 3, for instance, we must remember that brackets are used to set off editorial explanations or comments in books, newspapers, and magazines.

      The newspaper article said: "William Casey [known as 'Hot Shot' to his teammates] scored the winning goal."

In sentence 3, we must remember that brackets are used when we add explanation on or additional information inside a parentheses.

     Phil won state honors (All-State [Coaches State Team not included] and Governor's Team) during his last two years in high school.

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