Monday, January 23, 2012

The public humiliation of athletes

I'm pleased that the Giants won yesterday. After all the doubts and snide remarks, they're heading to the super bowl. But the game that stays with me is the earlier one between the Ravens and Patriots.

In the last minute of the game, Ravens' kicker Billy Cundiff blew his team's chance to get to the super bowl. All he had to do was kick the ball a meager distance to get a field goal that would have tied the game -- and he blew it.

Will anyone remember anything else from this guy's career? It took a few seconds to make the kick but those seconds will haunt him for the rest of his life. Athletes pay such a high price for these public failures. It's brutal. Here's one excerpt from the article:
Will he be back kicking field goals for the Ravens in 2012? It’s hard to see it after his critical mistake. You know the fans won’t be forgiving him anytime soon.
The guy's life is ruined. And all he did was miss one kick (after kicking well early in the game). For that failure, everyone's calling him a "choke artist" today. It's sad. One lousy kick!