Being Snubbed: The Media Creation That is Ruining Perspective

The day after any subjective decision-making process, especially in sports, there is the inevitable onslaught of media coverage regarding “who got snubbed.”

Headlines after determining the NCAA tournament field trumpeted Colorado State, Temple and Murray State as those robbed of their chance for March Madness glory.

Damian Lillard and Demarcus Cousins were snubbed for the NBA All-Star Game.

Chris Sale and Hanley Ramirez had their spot on the MLB All-Star roster rudely stolen from them.

(And the Lego Movie should have been nominated for Best Animated Film)

It’s the lowest hanging fruit of journalism, play into a fan base that wants sympathy for their mistreatment or to feel their favorite player was cheated out of an opportunity. But really what this layup of journalism does best is expand our growing community of blamers.

Don’t get me wrong sports are meant to be debated, that is the glory of competition and the process of being a fan...but all the blaming?! The idea that everything is someone else's fault has become too common in everyday life.

Take the job market for example – beneath the downward trending unemployment statistics, getting hired is still really hard and far from a breakaway layup. The entire process makes you feel vulnerable, exposed and often ignored. You wonder, without closure, why you weren’t a match or even worth a call. You lose hope faster than Cleveland Browns fans.

But at each employment dead end, you have a choice to make:

A: Start blaming others

or

B: Start learning

Blaming is the road most traveled:

• My college didn’t prepare me


• My major was stupid


• The resume writing company ripped me off


• The career advice I read online set me up to fail


 

These are all excuses we hear daily and if these phrases feel familiar please ask yourself: “Does it help?”

Do you feel better when you point the finger?  Does it help you with your next interview? Does it pay your bills?

Colorado State had an incredible season with 27 wins, but the moment they came in 3^rd place in their conference they left the door open to be left out. They did. Not the tournament committee. Not you. Not me. Them. Own it.

The Rams players deserve the right to feel upset and disappointed, but then it’s time to move on and use the negative result to fuel the next experience.

Same thing goes in the job market.

And please, spare me the comment you are currently crafting in your mind…something like: “it must be nice to be so preachy from your high horse!” Realize I have been turned down for plenty of jobs that I have really wanted and I've felt the same level of disappointment and vulnerability. We all face it, and I've done my share of blaming, I make no claims to be above it.

But here’s the option B we should all pursue: Learning from it.

Study yourself and what went wrong, audit your skill set and see if it matches where you want to be, re-live your interview and see if you said or did something you can improve on next time.



I know seasoned veterans who have re-invented their career multiple times, gone back to take classes that they believed could improve their marketability and failed more times than you'd believe. But to them it was all part of the process of improving for the next opportunity.

Spare yourself the blame game and stop being “snubbed.” Own who you are, what you know, what you've done and if it’s not enough, recognize that and do something about it.

If Colorado State lays an egg in the NIT because they are so down about being “snubbed”, who does that help?

If you mess up your next opportunity because you’re so consumed with the root of previous failures, who wins?

There is no winning the blame game, direct your energy for something that has a chance of helping you dominate your next opportunity - well, at least after an completely allowable mourning period.

photo credit: CSU Mascot CAM The Ram. via photopin (license)