Sunday was a tough day to be a Harbaugh. It was the older brother's turn, first, as it should be. John watched his Ravens come within a split-second -- literally -- of likely defeating the Patriots when Lee Evans couldn't hold onto a TD pass for the necessary extra fraction of a tick. Then Billy Cundiff yanked one way left, and what looked like overtime suddenly was just over.
Moments later, it was younger brother Jim's turn to start down the winding road toward playoff pain. Backup punt returner Kyle Williams muffed one in the fourth quarter, leading to a go-ahead touchdown by the Giants. And, for good measure, he fumbled in overtime, leading to the winning score. Just like that, a Giants/Patriots Super Bowl rematch was set. And the Harbaughs were sent packing.
Fans were left, in the short term, to discuss a whole new set of big-game goats. Lee Evans woulda coulda shoulda gripped that football more tightly in the end zone. "This is the greatest team that I've been on, and I feel like I let everybody down," he said later. Cundiff wants a mulligan. "It's a kick I've mad a thousand times in my career," he said. Even as teammates had Williams' back, he couldn't escape regret. "You hate to be the last guy that had the ball, to give it up that way in that fashion and to lose a game of this magnitude."
Sports create heroes and goats. Magnitude is pressed upon events by circumstance (Ted Ginn Jr. being hurt, thrusting Williams into the spotlight), by timing (a missed field goal in the first quarter isn't remembered the same as the end of the fourth) and by history (Evans' drop would have been painful regardless, but it is even more so considering Baltimore's bout of oh-so-closeness during the Joe Flacco era).
Goats are made from irony: Gary Anderson didn't miss all season, until ... Brett Favre was so careful with the football until ...
Goats are remembered for single things: Bill Buckner had more than 2,700 career hits, but ... Nick Anderson was a very good basketball player before he stepped to the free throw line late in Game 1 of the 1995 NBA finals, but ...
Heroes are made from the same stuff. Sometimes they rise and fall to the occasion. Many times, though, it's just blind luck and good timing. With that in mind, let's do our best today to go a little easier on those who have been vilified -- whether it's happened-yesterday fresh or it just feels that way.
