I want to spend one day reading the sports sections and websites without seeing the word swagger. Please? Is that possible? It’s like in Being John Malkovich, when the characters can only say one word: “Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich.” We’ve all walked though some secret portal into the realm of Being Mr. Swagger. “Swagger, Swagger.” “Swagger?” “Swagger!”
“I don't know where our swagger has gone,” Redskins cornerback Shawn Springs said recently, about his team’s losing ways. “But we obviously don't have a swagger.” Obviously. Look, the last thing two and three hundred pound guys wearing tights need is a swagger. Does Springs really think the Colts score more points than the Redskins because Peyton Manning walks with more of a strut than Mark Brunell?
Here’s how the venerable Oxford English Dictionary defines the term: “To behave with an air of superiority, in a blustering, insolent, or defiant manner; now esp. to walk or carry oneself as if among inferiors, with an obtrusively superior or insolent air.” An online dictionary provided the following definition: “To walk or conduct oneself with an insolent or arrogant air.”
I understand why people think confidence is important. Sure, you’re going to win more games if you start those games believing you’re going to win them. And yes, you don’t want anybody on your team backing down from a challenge.
But can’t you be and do those things without blustery insolence or obtrusive superiority? I’ve seen enough of those things to last a lifetime.
Nate McMillian, head coach of the Portland Trailblazers, recently told a Sports Illustrated writer about his efforts to help his players shed the team’s “Jailblazer” image: “Be proud of who you are and who you play for, because we’re not that team from the past. You walk out there with a swagger.”
What? From my distant vantage point, McMillan seems like a fine person and a good coach. But I don’t remember Mr. Sonic swaggering in those short shorts he wore in the 80’s or anytime throughout his career. I remember him walking tall and proud and not backing down even when he seemed overmatched talent-wise.
It’s not just sports. This headline appeared last year in the Washington Post: “President Struggles to Regain his Pre-Hurricane Swagger.” Of all the things the President should have been worried about, losing his swagger was way down on the list. But it’s the fault of sports here. We started it and kept repeating it over and over until it was so common we couldn’t even see it anymore.
That’s why Chris Paul is my new favorite player. (Steve Nash -- who no doubt knows all about five pin bowling -- is on a separate level from everyone else.)
In a recent interview with ESPN’s Marc Stein, Chris Paul called David West and Peja Stojakovic his team’s “two best players.” He’s probably the only person not related to those two fine Hornets to think so.
When Stein asked him if Deron Williams (drafted one slot before him two years ago) was “catching up” to Paul, the reigning Rookie of the Year said “Catching up to me? I’ve got to catch up to him. They started 11-1, 12-1. I don’t think he’s trying to catch me.”
Take a look at that quote. Paul didn’t use a typical athlete cop out like “I don’t compare myself to other players.” And he didn’t show his “swagger” and puff out his chest. He highlighted how well Williams’s team was doing. Now, I guarantee you that the next time the Hornets play the Jazz, Paul is going to give Williams everything he can handle. Every game Paul plays, he gives his team a chance to win. He immediately turned a laughing-stock franchise into an exciting young team that cities are fighting over.
I remember watching Paul play for Wake Forest in a classic NCAA Tournament game against West Virginia. The Mountaineers were throwing wave after wave at the Demon Deacons, every player on their team hitting shot after shot. And every time, Paul struck back with a three-pointer or a drive to the bucket. The teams went back and forth, and it seemed like the game could on forever. And you hoped it would. Then Paul fouled out — you knew it was over. He was the difference; with him in there, the team found a way. Without him, there was no chance.
Even though he doesn’t swagger, I think everyone out there would take Chris Paul on their team.
I hope other players begin losing their swagger too. Or at the very least, can we agree to stop talking about it? For a week? Please?
(ps This post is by EZRollah but is under LYF's line for technical reasons).
No comments:
Post a Comment