Cundiff, Williams show how athletes should handle themselves in adversity
Billy Cundiff and Kyle Williams were both trending topics on Twitter last night, but for all the wrong reasons. Cundiff missed a short field goal that would have tied the Ravens-Patriots game and was immediately eviscerated as if he had killed Santa. Williams fumbled twice in the late stages of the 49ers-Giants game to put the Giants in a position to win. Neither cost their team a Super Bowl (Scott Norwood) or an NCAA title (Chris Webber) or a World Series (Bill Buckner), yet the comparisons to those unfortunate instances prevail
In the era of finger pointing, Cundiff and Williams have done none of that. Cundiff answered questions from reporters, placing the blame on himself. Deadspin/Slate/NPR reporter/failed NFL training camp kicker Stefan Fatsis offered a trilogy (triumvirate?) of explanations of what went wrong on the kick, how Cundiff is handing himself, and how the scoreboard operator at Gillette Stadium was wrong. Cundiff still says he should have made the kick.
As for Williams, he takes to the air tomorrow with an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.
Whether it is an organization that makes a mistake, or an individual, most of the public likes to hear ownership of the mistake, not shifting the blame (see Clemens, Roger and his steroid stories). I say most because there are the deranged people who think it is okay to take to Twitter to threaten folks. MLB Network reporter Trenni Kusinerek offers an interesting column on this, including some vicious threats on Williams (H/T @publiside for sharing on Twitter).
I know when I talk to my six-year-old (who wanted the Ravens to win) about sportsmanship and trying your best, I will point to Cundiff. Not the idiots who took to Twitter and wanted to hang Williams. Unfortunately, more of sports is becoming like the latter.
