grandstand play

Language: en

Meaning: (idiomatic,sports)A successfulplayor othermanoeuvreduring a sporting competition in which one or more playersshows offunnecessarilyin order toentertainorimpressthespectators.1916, Hildegard G. Frey, chapter 8, inThe Camp Fire Girls at School:Instead of throwing it to center, however, she tried to make agrandstand playand threw it the entire length of the gymnasium to the waiting forward.1921October 2, “One-handed drivers menace to public”, inVancouver Sun, Canada, retrieved 30 Aug. 2011, page17:Every baseball fan is acquainted with the sarcastic reminder, "two hands are the fashion nowadays," often hurled at the infielder who foozles an attempt at agrandstand playin the form of a one-handed catch.; (idiomatic,by extension)Anactionorstratagemthat is excessivelydramaticorsensationaland that is intended to appeal to members of thepublicor to a particular audience.1913,Jack London, chapter 12, inThe Valley of the Moon:"He goes strike-breakin'.Grandstand play, that's what I call it. Gets his name in the papers an makes all the skirts he runs with fluster up an' say: ‘My! Some bear, that Roy Blanchard, some bear.’"1960September 19, “The Unwelcome Guest”, inTime:Dag Hammarskjold and Russia's fellow Security Council members, bent on quieting the Congo turmoil, had watched the Soviets stir the fires of chaos, make agrandstand playto Africans by labeling the U.N. a partner to a colonial conspiracy.2011June 8, Danny Hakim, Thomas Kaplan, “Cuomo Urges Broad Limits to N.Y. Public Pensions”, inNew York Times, retrieved 30 Aug. 2011:“Congratulations to Governor Cuomo for anothergrandstand playfor the attention of his millionaire friends at the expense of the real working people of New York,” Danny Donohue, president of the largest union of state workers, the Civil Service Employees Association, said in a statement.

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