Thursday, January 26, 2012
Scott Ries, MSW, LISW, above, in his office on the UC Academic Health Center campus. Photo by Cindy Starr / Mayfield Clinic.
With the Baltimore Ravens trailing, 23-20, and just seconds left in their AFC Championship game with the New England Patriots last weekend, it was kicker Billy Cundiff’s chance to save or lose the day. And as most of America now knows, the kick sailed wide. The Ravens’ defeat sealed, Cundiff’s misery was captured for all to see -- on television, on the Web and on the front page of the New York Times. In the land of neuroscience, we may wince and ask ourselves what kind of person wants to be a kicker in the first place? Why do someone’s talents fail when they are needed most? And how do people who have suffered such a public disappointment recover?