the bobble

i never thought that i would be rooting for the dallas cowboys.  in fact, until this year they have been my least favorite team (i am a steelers fan).  but, i changed my philosophy a bit and have decided to root for my brother’s favorite teams after the steelers.  so, since my brother ron’s favorite team is the cowboys, i cheered them on saturday night in their loss to the seahawks.

well, tony romo bobbled the hold on a field goal that was almost certain.  they were at the five or six yard line and would almost certainly win the game.  my heart really sank for him.  as much as i love sports and winning, my heart has always hurt for the athletes who have had the misfortune of making a huge mistake that costs the game for their team.  something about the pain they feel at that moment really connects with me.  (that is part of the reason i don’t watch many movies with the storyline including people dealing with extremely painful experiences.  it just makes my heart hurt so badly for them)

my hope is that this doesn’t define tony romo’s career.  many great athletes (and people) are unfortunately known more for thier mistakes rather than their accomplishments.  (see bill buckner and jackie smith) what happens is that the people who have failed in those moments actually begin to believe that they are failures.  they own it deep inside – it becomes how they define themselves.  and, unfortunately, there are many other people (many of whom have neither that talent nor the ability to perform themselves) that will pound them relentlessly with reminders of where they messed up.

so, my encouragement to tony romo and anyone who tries – win or lose – is this quote from theodore roosevelt…

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

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