Snyder Shouldn't Brag Too Much

Governor Rick Snyder, during his opening speech at the annual Mackinac Policy Conference on Tuesday, said that Michigan is doing well but needs to 'learn to brag' about its accomplishments, to let more people know the good things happening here. The attitude appears to reflect something which Nolan Finley wrote in the past Sunday's Detroit News. He said that the Governor needs to learn how to brag about his accomplishments in turning Michigan around because it's necessary in the world of politics. Finley asserts that, without selling yourself, others might not see the good which has been done. In politics, when the line between success and failure is finely drawn, when it may only take a small twist to upend someone's efforts (such a Democratic takeover of the state Supreme Court, as Finley says) then you have to make sure people know that you're responsible for the better times or the voters (and investors) will abandon you.

Sadly enough, he's probably right. Politics is one big what have you done for me lately world, and a very unforgiving and inconsiderate one at that. Voters, and more particularly opposition political parties and their leaders, either do not play fair or think clearly, or, really, act in a combination of both. Still, how many of us like braggarts? It's okay to sell yourself, but if you don't pay attention to how it's done and walk carefully, even the successful are frowned upon.

How many great athletes are seen as jerks simply because they say, in effect, 'I'm great and you're not?' Isn't that one of the biggest turn offs in sports today, that too many athletes seem too full of themselves, too over the top? Admit it, in our hearts we like the Alan Trammells better than the Kirk Gibsons, even though Gibson's heroics are more brash. Everyone loves that photo from the 1984 World Series of Gibson with his arms in the air, skipping around the bases after that home run. But that home run didn't win the game per se (the Tigers were already ahead) and who won the World Series MVP? Alan Trammell, who much more quietly dominated during the Tigers' triumph that season.

If you must brag, and, to be fair, it doesn't seem as though Finley is calling for anything over the top from the Governor on the issue, then do it by the force of your actions more than anything else. Point it out, if you must, if political reality forces you to do so. Still, we aren't quite so cynical about the average Joe as we are about the average politico. If crowing a bit, as Finley calls it, means stumping for Republican House candidates, as Finley also suggests be done, okay, do that. But be careful if you want too much more. Bragging normally oozes from arrogance more readily than from real accomplishment. If Snyder is to grab people by the nape of their necks, he must do so as gently as he can.

Football: Guilty of Unsportsmanlike Conduct

I am an overall sports fan, which means that I'll watch just about any sport to pass the time of day. Of course, the biggest sports get the bulk of my attention, which means I watch a pretty good amount of football. Yet I find myself slowly tiring of it. The reason? It's a combination of two factors: certain rules, and the ridiculous amount of grandstanding which has become part of the game.

Sports are supposed to be sportsmanlike. That means respecting your opponent. How can it be said that you're respecting the other team when you trash talk? What is it saying about them when you gesture wildly after every single play? That stuff is particularly galling late in blowout games: it's arrogance if you're winning and quite frankly silly when you're losing. Why not let your actions speak for you, guys? Remember that in the end it's only, and I mean only, a game. You aren't saving lives or tending crops or curing disease. You're merely fortunate to live in a country with enough disposable income to support your playing kid's games. Get perspective, even, or perhaps especially, on the field.

There are rules I don't like either, on the very same grounds of sportsmanship and fair play. Why should a quarterback be allowed to throw a ball away when he's in danger of being sacked, with no penalty? I know what you'll say: to protect him because he's vulnerable. But doesn't he know that he's playing a brutal game? Besides, the NFL doesn't protect other players in the same way: running backs aren't allowed to toss the ball down when a tackle is immanent, and they're often in as vulnerable of a position as the QB. What such a rule does is penalize the defense. It violates one of most basic rules of sportsmanship: if I have the best of you I've earned the benefit of it.

Spiking the ball to stop the clock is another gripe of mine. Many games have been won because a team with no time outs simply spikes the snap into the ground, allowing them to race the kicking team onto the field and win a game. But again, this punishes good defense while rewarding poor clock management. It's unsportsmanlike, and even the rules of a mere game must have integrity. They must, shall I say, play fair. If the quarterback has no intention of running a play then he should at least get the penalty for intentional grounding: 15 yards and a loss of down.

The defense of allowing this action is that it makes the games more exciting. Still, I say the games need integrity ahead of excitement. If we're supposed to learn certain things from sports, like fair play, then the rules must reflect that quality. Period. Otherwise the game can only teach us that winning is all that matters. You can't get more shallow than that.