Mistakes Happen

No one ever dreams of losing the game for your team. As children we fantasize about hitting that homerun in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. We dream of swishing that shot before the buzzer to win a basketball game. We imagine the feeling of scoring the game winning goal. Billy Cundiff is now a legend but not for any of the right reasons and was dubbed by one twitter user as the Bill Buckner of football. I have to say, this is totally unfair.
ESPN produced a series of segments in a show called 30-for-30. The one I am referring to is called "Catching Hell". The episode discussed the desire for a scapegoat in sports and in fact life. The Boston Red Sox in 1986 were leading in the World Series over the New York Mets 3 games to 2. After taking the lead in the 10th inning the Red Sox's pitcher Calvin Schiraldi allowed three straight two out singles. Bob Stanley came in in relief duty and threw a wild pitch. The next batter was Mookie Wilson who hit the famous groundball that went through Buckner's legs and the Mets won the game. Everyone blamed Buckner for the loss, but in reality, both pitchers lost the game. The Mets came from behind again in game 7 and won the series.
In 2003, the Chicago Cubs were playing the Florida Marlins also leading in the series 3 games to 2. The Cubs were leading the game 3-0 in the eight inning with one out when Luis Castillo of the Marlins hit a foul ball along the left field line. Cubs outfielder Moises Alou chased the ball towards the stands. As the ball began to decline, a number of fans reached over the wall to try and catch the souvenir. Steve Bartman's hand hit the ball and prevented Alou from making the catch and recording the second out. Alou yells at Bartman and the who stadium began heckling this man who did nothing different than what anyone would have done. The Cubs went on to surrender eight runs and eventually lose the game. They then lost the following game and coincidentally lost the series.
Sunday evening the New England Patriots played the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game. After moving down the field to set up a game tying field goal Billy Cundiff kicked the ball and missed the field goal wide to the left. But so much happened before that moment. First of all, with 7+ minutes remaining in the game, Joe Flacco gets intercepted giving the Patriots the ball near midfield. Luckily for them on the very next play, Tom Brady threw an interception and gave it right back to the Ravens. On the ensuing drive the Ravens are faced with a fourth and six with just under three minutes to go with the ball on the New England 32 yard line. A field goal from that distance is approximately 50 yards so Baltimore elects to go for it. They then burn a timeout because there was confusion with the offense. The play that was selected, broke down and Flacco threw incomplete resulting in a turnover on downs. After forcing a punt the Ravens got the ball back with two timeouts. Joe Flacco engineered a drive to get the Ravens in a position to at the very least tie the game if not win it. With 25 seconds left and one timeout remaining, with the ball at the New England 14 yard line, Flacco delivers a perfect pass to Lee Evans in the endzone. However, Patriots cornerback Sterling Moore knocks the ball away from Evans so its incomplete. Two plays later, Billy Cundiff sprints across the whole field and tries to get set for his field goal attempt. The snap was fine, the hold was not perfect but it was good enough and Cundiff missed the kick. Keep in mind, a made field goal would only have tied the game, not won it.
These three events will always be remembered, not because of one individuals achievements, but because of their failures. The truth is, it's sick. The Red Sox never should have blown the game or the series, the Cubs still led after the Bartman incident but allowed it to negatively influence their play, and the Ravens should have used their final timeout to allow Cundiff to be fully prepared. There is no point in saving your timeouts for overtime. Give the guy a break. You saw him running across the field to get setup, he was rushing. He rushed the kick, he rotated his hips too quickly and he pulled the ball left.
ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith said, "that boy Cundiff would NOT fly home with my team". Seriously? What is wrong with people? Last year the guy made the Pro Bowl and led the league in touchbacks, was he allowed to fly on your plane then?
The reason we are even focusing so much on Billy Cundiff is because none of his teammates have openly stood up and said it shouldn't have come down to that play. I'm sorry it happened or whatever. In San Francisco, Kyle Williams fumbled the ball to lose the game for the 49ers but captain Patrick Willis immediately tweeted "keep ur head up. U r my brother n teammate N I would put u back there all over again. We all lost this game tonight not u". Words of a leader, friend and teammate.
People get so involved in sports that they don't make rational statements and sometimes act irrationally. These are people. They are human meaning they make mistakes. I'm sorry the Ravens didn't make the Superbowl I truly am, but these things happen and you need to move on and get 'em next year. Billy Cundiff can fly on my airplane any day and together we won't let Stephen A. Smith on board.