“Swagger.”
It’s one of those terms that, once it worms its connotative way into the parlance, establishes a beachhead. But unlike “edgy” or “snarky” coinages, this one trumps trendy. Negatively so.
After the University of Miami suffered that humiliating 40-3 Peach Bowl defeat to LSU last season and began this year with a loss to Florida State, fans and – especially – pundits immediately zeroed in on the reason. The ‘Canes, it was determined, had lost their “swagger.”
Say what? One would have thought that deodorizing a strutting, insolent air was worthy of approbation. Are people actually nostalgic for braggadocio and bluster? For Exhibit A of America’s dysfunctional black culture?
Let’s face it, watching Miami with “swagger” is like looking at looters. Maybe that boorish, in-your-face genie can’t be totally re-bottled, but if class means anything, it should be worth settling for less swagger and a few more losses.