I still remember the horror stories as if my dad had told them to me just the other day. It feels as if I was there to watch as Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner let the last out of game six of the 1986 World Series go through his legs. I grew up hating him for something I wasn’t alive to witness. I hated him for what the game meant to my dad, for what it meant to the team, the city and how that play ruined an entire season.
What I never seemed to realize is the pain he must have gone through, the sinking feeling he experienced as he watched the fate of a season literally slip past him.
Buckner and the Red Sox had a chance to redeem themselves in game seven, but ultimately wound up short, falling to the Mets four games to three.
However, what would have happened if the Sox had won? Or even better – if Buckner had been the hero of game seven? In sports there are heroes and scapegoats, winners and losers, but no one ever said you couldn’t be both.
As Cade Foster jogged off the field after missing a 52-yard field goal in overtime – his third miss of the game – you can’t help but wonder if he had the same sinking feeling as Buckner 25 years earlier. As LSU piled up around Drew Alleman after his game-winning field goal, Foster must have been thinking that could have been him.
As far as comparisons go, both Buckner and Foster know the pain of being the scapegoat. Hours after the heartbreaking loss to LSU, the sophomore kicker took down his Facebook page. Who could blame him? He was now social pariah number one in the state of Alabama.
A week later in Starkville, Foster would again miss a field goal. During Alabama’s game against Georgia Southern, Foster was another 0-1. In fact, since watching his 52-yard attempt fall wide left, Foster hasn’t made a kick.
The national championship game will be a shot at redemption for the Crimson Tide and, perhaps more importantly, a shot at redemption for Foster.
Though the sophomore is a mere two-for-nine on the season, he remains the Tide’s best option in terms of long-range kickers. In a game that figures to be close, the Tide’s title chances could very well rest on the sturdy leg of the Southlake, Tex., native.
For many Crimson Tide fans, this scenario seems like a nightmare plot. However, Foster’s teammates remain faithful in his abilities with the game on the line.
“It’s a team game, and if we lost, it’s a team loss,” safety Robert Lester said. “No one player lost the game. We want to keep him up, he plays a big role on this team.”
And while Foster might not have much support outside of his teammates, he has one more supporter here. I have never had the opportunity to talk to Cade, and I admit I don’t know much about him. But, I do know these things.
He has never given anything but his all, he has never given up, and as a member of a team that has been through so much, he is already a winner.
However, it doesn’t matter what the student body thinks, what I think or even what his teammates think. The only confidence Foster needs in the national championship game is his own. That, combined with his powerful leg, is the only thing that matters as Foster lines up for another kick at redemption.
