Confidence? Confidence? Don’t Talk About Confidence
As Forrest Gump would say, sports and cliches go together like peas and carrots. Whether they come from a broadcaster, coach, or exceedingly glib journalist, you can’t be exposed to some athletic achievement or debacle without hearing a cliche.
So you can imagine my excitement when Devils coach Brent Sutter passed up the opportunity to blame Andy Greene’s struggles on “confidence,” and instead offered a real explanation.
“I’m not real big on that ‘confidence’ thing,” Sutter said.” ‘Why did a player not play well?’ Well, the first thing you always hear is about a lack of confidence. Maybe it’s a lack of other things, too…A lack of work ethic, maybe a lack of [practicing well], maybe a lack in other areas.
He’s right. There are a few exceptions (pitchers without confidence in their fastball will nibble and walk more batters, quarterbacks with no confidence will be afraid to throw the ball downfield), but overall, “a lack of confidence” is a bullshit explanation.
Who knows? A few more people like Sutter and someday there may actually be an intelligent public discourse about athletics in this country.
No Comments »
