As essay on keeping one\'s cool

1. A rare commodity: keeping one's cool up.* Egos are often the major obstacle, i
BY ANDREW RATHER King Kong-sized example is expected t
be on full display next month at the trU
of Kenneth Lay, the unabashed forme
Kytc Boiler played so poorly last Sunday chairman of Enron Corp.
he likely cost himself his job as starting Some sports Journalists last summe
quarterback of the Ravens But th« com- contrasted the general fan forgrvenesi U
posure be summoned after the £ime — ward Jason Giambi, the Yankees slu^c
acknowledging his errors, praising his who publicly apologized without admit
teammates and opponents — was u In- ting to steroid use, to the bitter reacikn
spiring as his previous three noun on the toward the Orioles' Rafael Palmeiro, win
gridiron w-nent. famously wagged a finger at Congres
The French call it 'sangfroid*—compo- and emphatically said he'd never usei
sure In the face of adversity — ana It steroids before testing positive for them
seems a rare quality these dayi In the Sandy Hiilman, chief executive oCfke
realm of Wg time sports, or btg business of Baltimore advertising and public reU
or politics for that nutlet lions agency Trahan. Burden am
Character hu been a rare commodity Charles and a former aide to Wllllart
In pro sports In Baltimore the past year. Donald Schaefer, said Sunday's otHruar
to put K mildly. And Boiler's locker of Sen. Eu^ne McCarthy recalled for he
wouldn't necessarily be the first place to
go looking Tor some. But there It was a conscience than for his defeat
week ago. Bui Buckner. the former baseball playet
Boiler faced a gantlet of microphones seemed to maintain a stofc dignity cwi
and notebooks with reporters wanting to though most of New England wanted hi
know how he felt about blowing another scalp after a ball trkkled between his leg
name for the Ravens. He threw two cosily and helped cost the [one-suffering Ha
Intf rtvpUons and fumbled the ball while Sox the Wurld Series In 198& Neither dli
scrambling, without even being hit. He Dan Rather melt down when his flaw
looked as anxious as If it were his first report on President Bush's military sen
- . i v as the Ravens starlet not hu third ict- tarnished hu legacy at CBS. Trie prc
season. It has been like this many Sun- ducer blamed for the mistake, Mar
days, although this may have been the '-'- • I . ' said Rather supported her as oth
most ugly, bordering on tragicomical. or executives abandoned her.
And vet. after the game, Boiler found a M. Hirsh Goldberg, a Baltimore pubii
composure that eluded him on the field relations consultant who served as .
at Mile High stadium. Questions from the press seoetary to former Baltimore Ma)
media didn't agitate him. He didn't point or Theodore R. McXeldin and forme
fingers, except to lavish praise on his Maryland Gov. Harry II. Hughes, wrote.
teammates and on the Denver Broncos. 1984 book about the history of mistake;
He seemed disappointed in his perform- The Blunder Book: Colossal Errors. Mino
ance but not despondent. He may have Ravens qujr lerb.ick Kyle Boiler cjS biled compoiure alter a disastrous performance in lait week's game against Denver. Mistakes, and Surp.isme. Slipup* Tha
stunk it up on the field, but afterward ex- Hoi* Changed ihe Course of History.
hibited grace under pressure — what Er- Goldberg said It's rare for people ti
nest Hemingway defined as courage. His contract has at least seven figure* his for a rtljiiwly young man. You contrast on July -t. 1939, two years before he suc- even notice when someone reacts admi
They did a great Job I had two inter- girlfriends have hourglass figures. And that with corporate America, where cumbed to amyotrophlc lateral sclerosis, ntily to failure because *people really fc
ceptions and fumbled the ball I cant yet, publicly at least, he has taken a Cate- sometimes the CEO doesn't see some- is one of the most celebrated moments of cus on the blunder.' That's especially *
turn the ball oven* Boiler told a duster of gory 5 storm of criticism In stride. For all thing as a personal failure on his part, class under duress. *For the past two In sports and In this era, with cabie T
reporters. 'I'm going to make mistakes. I the kids watching ESPN, It's too bad his but that everyone around him has let weeks you have been reading about a and Internet sites replaying miscue
am human. If 1 can limit that [turnovers!, " ind stumbling got the them down. That leads to bad scenes.' bad break I got,* he told the crowd, "yet again and again.
HI do my best... My offensive line cbd a Leaders who maintain dignity under today, I consider myself the luckiest man The legendary college basketball coad
fabulous Job.... Denver, that's a good de- ance. Immense attack and pressure are among on the face of the Earth.* John Wooden, who, truth be told, hat
fense there.* •Sometimes, the only thing you can sal- history's greatest heroes: Lincoln, Gan- Grace in the face of personal failure is a more experience with winning than las
On the surface, at least. Boiler's per- vage from colossal failure Is your dignity dhi, King. Mandela, others find a voice in different challenge, but also rare on the Ing. said that 'sports do r.ot build charac
sonal gifts might lead one to presume Ifou can at least walk away with that.* crisis, such as Rudolph Giuliani whose public stage. It's easier to find the oppo- ter, they reveal IL"
he's led a charmed 24 years and wouldn't said Kevin OTCeefe, president of the Balti- tone of resolve and fortitude after SepL site-, political leaders, executives, even A Japanese proverb put It another way
be equipped to deal wtih advemty more office of Weber Shandwick, whkh 11 was more inspiring than his mayoral- clergy, refusing to acknowledge a failure. "Fall seven times. Stand up eight.*
•Jesus in deals,* the college newspaper counsels companies on crisis manage- ty before that Concerns about legal exposure, real or
called him at the University of California. ment. fBoUer) showed a lot of maturity Lou Cehrlg's speech in Yankee Stadium imagined, increasingly forbid 'owning a ndrvw, [tint r*SP belt ui nxo m