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