Crossing the Line

It still hurts to think about it. I can smell the gym. I remember where my dad was sitting. I remember where my girlfriend was sitting. I remember where my best friend’s hot sister was sitting—don’t worry, I never cheated on my girlfriend. January 17, 2007…we were down two points to TCA. Three seconds left in overtime and there I was, standing thirteen feet from the basket in what seemed to be one of the world’s loneliest places…the free-throw line. Three attempts to make two. I missed the first two and I made the third—the one I was supposed to miss to give us a shot to tie the game. I felt like a goat…like a fucking failure. An all-conference point guard, I wasn’t used to failing in the clutch. As a matter of fact, I had a penchant for making big shots in the clutch. Not that night.

Leodis McKelvin is a Pro Bowl cornerback for the Buffalo Bills. Outside of his defensive responsibilities, McKelvin is a phe-nomenal (imagine Frank Caliendo saying phenomenal in the way he impersonates Jim Rome) return man. In the season’s opener, McKelvin fumbled a kickoff late in the game that ultimately allowed the Patriots to win a game they had no business winning, and forced a loss upon the Bills who had no business losing. Tough turn of events for the Bills. Heart goes out to McKelvin…hate when that happens..when a player makes a bad mistake that basically shines a spotlight on him or her that shouts: “I fucked up!”

The difference between me and Leodis? We both took it pretty tough—I would assume, at least. I still showed up to school the next day…my family, my friends, my girlfriend…they still loved me. Teacher’s still greeted me. My car went unchanged through the day. Yeah, it sucked, but life went on.

Leodis? He came home to a vandalized house—broken windows, wrecked front yard, and a messed up car. The works. All because of one mistake that cost his team one measely regular season game. I hate stuff like this because his play, if it happened in the second half, would have long been forgotten. Bad timing, I guess. But does bad timing warrant such a penalty? Yeah, for a lot of people, playing pro sports would be an awesome “job.” As tough as it is to associate playing sports with a job…it is. That game? A bad day at work for Leodis. How would you like to go home to vandalized house if you fucked up an order or didn’t complete a sale? Fans will get upset…that’s fine. But putting someone’s life in danger—and their family’s life, not to mention—is absolutely absurd.

C’mon people…don’t you get it? I don’t think these people are in the majority but still. Back in YEAR, N let in a goal in the World Cup for the Colombian National Team, costing them the game versus USA. What happened to him? He was murdered…all because of one mistake at work. Awful.

Maybe athletes should face scrutiny for poor performance—no, not that performance—in their private lives because they are “public figures,” but they should face no repercussions from the public for poor performance on the job. (Shaking my head).

Two weeks later I hit a three to beat that very same team at the buzzer…On December 20th, Leodis will have a chance to redeem himself…I hope he doesn’t worry about what will happen if things don’t go his way.