What a feeling that must be. Remember "the catch"?
The Catch refers to the winning touchdown reception by Dwight Clark off a Joe Montana pass in the January 10, 1982, NFC Championship Game between the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers. The Catch is widely regarded as one of the most memorable events in NFL history.
Remember the "Golden Goal"?
The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver when Sid the Kid, scored the big goal in overtime. A whole country was watching.....what a feeling that must be.
You are the centre of attention, your team loves you, your fans adore you......all is good.
Imagine the opposite of scoring the "big goal". What if you caused it to happen? What if you took a bad penalty and the other team scored the big goal.
What if you were on defence and got beat on the big goal? What if you had the chance to score the big goal and missed....and the other team goes back the other way and wins? How must that feel? Has that ever happened to you?
It happened to me (more than once......i am sad to admit). Yes, I have been the goat.
I remember a field lacrosse tournament in Niagara Falls years ago....we were an underdog team, made it to the semi-finals against a powerful Peterbourgh club. Peterborough were famous for winning big games. We played a great game, we got to overtime....somehow I found myself in alone on the goalie....my job is to score....I had the goalie at my mercy with a gaping field lacrosse net (6' x 6') begging for the ball....what did I do? - Shot the ball right off the goalies head...an almost impossible feat...but I did it.....and shortly after, my buddy Stu rifled another shot off the cross bar... and you can probably guess the rest....Peterborough went back down and scored...winning the game.
For some reason, moments like that seem to stick in your (at least my) head forever.
There is a word for people that don't make the big goal, or miss the perfect pass, or cause the big goal. In the sporting world, we like to call these people the "goat". And oh yes, these people are remembered.
Last weekend in the NFL we were lucky enough to have two goats. There were a pair of great football games - and in both a "goat" was a big factor.
Game 1 - Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots.
The Patriots triumphed 23 - 20 when Ravens place kicker Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal attempt with 11 seconds remaining that could have sent the game into overtime.
“It’s a kick I’ve kicked 1,000 times in my career,” Cundiff said. “I just went out there and didn’t convert. . . ...... There’s really no excuse for it.”
Game 2 - New York Giants vs San Francisco 49ers
Kyle Williams (punt returner) of the San Francisco 49ers was lucky enough on the weekend to be the goat twice. Earlier in the game a punt that he decided to not catch (which was the right decision) hit the ground, but Kyle for some reason, instead of backing away and letting it bounce, decided to hang around, and the ball took a funny bounce, hit his knee, making the ball live, and the Giants recovered. Not good in a playoff game.
But the game was not over, in fact it was in overtime and the Giants were forced to punt which would give San Fran the chance to win.....there was a punt, Kyle William caught the ball and started a decent run back....he was hit, and out popped the ball. The game was all but over. The Giants field goal kicker hit a chip shot to win.......Kyle Williams was the goat (again). A very tough loss......and shortly after the "extremists" were "tweeting" death threats........nice. Really nice.
The funny thing about sports is, there is such a fine line sometimes between being the hero or the goat....but the fallout after can be massive.
It is easy for me to say, but if you are "the goat" - how you handle it after can go a long way to dealing with it. It is very difficult to look people in the eye, to talk to reporters...you just want to hide.
Guess what? - In life we make mistakes every single day (albeit not always on a massive stage like a pro athlete)...but in both cases, we must deal with it and move on. And yes, it may be corny, but making mistakes, and dealing with them, can quite often make us stronger.
I will keep an eye on these two guys, let's see how they deal with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment