grandstand play noun2 •A successful play or other manoeuvre during a sporting competition in which one or more players shows off unnecessarily in order to entertain or impress the spectators.Instead of throwing it to center, however, she tried to make a grandstand play and threw it the entire length of the gymnasium to the waiting forward. — 1916 •An action or stratagem that is excessively dramatic or sensational and that is intended to appeal to members of the public or to a particular audience."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.’" — 1913 formsgrandstand plays
