Back when I practiced law, I learned early on that, while questioning witnesses, you can’t always get what you want. But you can always act like you just did.
It’s a concept that carries over into all sorts of other lines of work. Behaving as is everything is happening exactly the way you intended can go a long way toward persuading the neutral observer that, indeed, everything is happening exactly the way you intended.
Even if it isn’t.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan has adopted that approach in the wake of the failed eleventh-hour effort to land Tim Tebow. “Earlier this week I asked Gene Smith and his staff to explore the potential of acquiring Tim Tebow. I think we have a duty to consider all avenues of improving the Jaguars on and off the field, especially given the unique circumstances involving the player,” Khan said in a statement posted on the team’s website, the last five words of which didn’t link to a YouTube video of a cash register ringing. “I appreciate the high level of due diligence Gene and his staff dedicated to this matter, even as late as this evening, and I am very satisfied with the outcome. Our commitment to developing Blaine Gabbert was, and still is, central to our goal of returning the Jaguars to elite status in the NFL. We’re looking ahead with zero regrets.”
So . . . the Jaguars tried frantically to trade for Tebow, the Jaguars failed, and Khan is “very satisfied” with the outcome.
Under that standard, Khan will definitely be “very satisfied” with the final score of most of the team’s games in 2012.