In their corner?

Reader question:

Please explain “in their corner” in the following:

Everything else being equal, sending your car to a dealer for service would be an easy decision, because dealers have a lot in their corner.

My comments:

Here, it means that dealers have a lot in their favor.

Dealers of a particular brand of car knows more about the car than, say, the average auto repair shop you find on the sidewalk. For one thing, if there’s something damaged and to be replaced, the audo dealer may have an exact replacement (of the same brand and quality) in store. The average repairs shop on the sidewalk may not have it.

That’s what it means when they tell you to send your car to a dealer for service because dealers have “a lot in their corner”. In plain words, they have the carmakers’ backup in terms of providing screws and parts.

The “corner” originally is a term in the game of boxing. There are four corners in the ring in which two boxers fight. One boxer takes one corner, the other taking the opposite one, leaving the other two as mutual corners. Pro boxers fight up to 12 rounds. In between rounds, that is, whenever a three-minute round is completed, each boxer returns to his corner. There, he sits down on a stool to take a breather. The stool is prepared by those who are “corner men”, i.e. people in the boxer’s corner. Two of these people, his coach and sometimes a doctor even climb into the ring to help him recover and recuperate. They’re often seen to wipe the sweat off his head with a white towel, mend any cuts (stop the bleeding) on his face, feed him a few sips of water, shout words of encouragement into his ear, flap the towel like it were a fan to generate a wind to cool the boxer off or, in the case of obvious and inevitable defeat, throw the very towel onto the floor in the ring to signal surrender...

Anyways, you can see that people in the boxer’s corner are those who are on his side. They’re of his team, at his service, and in support of him.

Hence metaphorically, those who are in our corner are in support of us. In other words, they’re out men.

Alright, here are recent media examples:

1. The official portion of Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Ottawa on Monday reflects Canada’s status as Israel’s best friend.

This is the first time an Israeli prime minister has visited both Toronto and Ottawa. His weekend in Toronto, which included addressing the annual Walk with Israel event, was as much a tourist jaunt – complete with a visit to the CN Tower – as it was an official visit, signaling the intimacy of the relationship that the Israeli Prime Minister seeks to establish with his receptive Canadian host. In Ottawa, he will meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and with Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff...

And while the Conservatives have been criticized for cutting funding to aid groups and non-governmental organizations that are deemed too critical of Israel, the fact is that funding is being cut across government, and it is hardly surprising that the Conservatives would target those cuts to organizations that oppose their policies.

Nevertheless, in a hostile world, Mr. Netanyahu can take solace in knowing that, as long as Stephen Harper is prime minister, he can count on having Canada in his corner.

- With Harper in his corner, Netanyahu gets warm Canadian welcome, The Globe and Mail, May 30, 2010.

2. The day after LeBron James stunned Northeast Ohio by leaving the Cavaliers, a Nike “Witness” poster remained firmly taped to the wall in downtown Cleveland’s Styles and Profiles barber shop.

“What would we take it down for?” asked barber Russell Vaughn, 58. “His decision was his to make. Yes, it was hard on us, but he did what he had to do.”

Vaughn’s comments stirred a swift retort from Ray Paulk, 47, a Cleveland truck driver who felt the way the star departed left behind a bad taste.

“You had one job to do – that was bring a ring home, and you didn’t do it,” said Paulk. “Then you skipped out.”

The debate inside this small shop, featured years ago in one of Nike’s first Witness commercials, reflected the range and intensity of emotions churning in Northeast Ohio since the region’s hero declared he was changing teams.

The conversation is more thoughtful and nuanced in Greater Cleveland than what the nation saw Thursday night, when news cameras captured fans burning LeBron jerseys. Heartbreak is the universal sentiment, but beyond talk radio and sports bars, forgiving voices blend with the accusatory ones.

Within the black community especially, people are less likely to condemn James’ decision and to try to understand it. Local reaction at times has illustrated a generational divide, with older fans more likely to see betrayal and younger fans more likely to defend a young person's right to chase his dreams. And especially down Interstate 77 in James’ hometown of Akron, he’s still the King to many...

Willie Owens, a barber for 50 years in Akron's mostly-black Buchtel neighborhood, not that long ago used to see a young LeBron dribble past his shop window. He's saddened to know the James era is over, but the white-haired man takes a paternal view.

“I had a daughter born and raised here,” he said. “I wish she stayed. But she had to go on and live her own life.”

That sentiment was seconded many times in Owens’ shop, where customers were quick to defend James’ right to move on and expressed gratitude for his time among them.

“He put us on the map,” said Duane Temple, a 53-year-old construction worker. “The rubber companies left. That young man, he doesn’t owe us anything. I’m very proud of him. No matter where he goes, I’m in his corner.”

- All of northeast Ohio isn't mad at LeBron, regardless of what the national news says, The Plain Dealer, July 11, 2010.