The spotlight is just too glaring for some.

In the sports world, athletes are often subject to high-pressure, big money stakes.  Under those circumstances, some thrive while others wilt.  And in just the past few days, we've seen both sides of that particular coin.

Reckless Driving

The 2006 US Open will likely not be fondly remembered in the Mickelson household.

With Tiger nowhere in sight, a third straight major firmly in hand, and only a single par-4 left to be played, Phil Mickelson stood at the 18^th tee at Winged Foot on Sunday with a chance at golfing history.  A win would have made Mickelson the second golfer in 50 years to win three consecutive majors.  Just 450 yards from the finish line, Mickelson tripped.  Right over the hospitality tent.

Mickelson's errant tee shot at 18 sliced so badly that it actually navigated its way through a thicket of trees before coming to rest next to a corporate hospitality tent.  Though the tent was so named, Mickelson's lie for his second shot was not particularly hospitable.

With a chance to save par for a one-shot tournament win or a more likely bogey to force a playoff, Mickelson had one last chance to get to the finish line in the lead, and he ran into a tree.

Rather than chipping back into the fairway to set-up a third shot approach, he tried to slice the ball around the thicket of trees next to the tent and onto the green.  He didn't make it.  Instead, the shot struck one of the trees and carried only 25 yards.

In desperation, Mickelson tried again to reach the green from a less than optimum lie.  The shot sailed left of the green and into the bunker.  With his lead in tatters, he needed to get up and down from the bunker to save bogey and force a playoff with Australian Geoff Ogilvy.  His bunker shot flew the green and landed into the green-side rough.

By the time he finally chipped back onto the green, his lead was gone, the "Mickel-Slam" was just a bad pun that needed to be put back in the cupboard, and Tiger Woods was still the only golfer in the last 50 years to win three straight majors.

Mickelson's putt for double-bogey brought an end to one of the most disastrous and wild 450-yard rides in US Open history.  Although Mickelson's recent history has shown him more than capable of closing major tourneys, Sunday's double-bogey debacle also showed him still vulnerable to the pressure of reaching the finish line in first.

Hurricane Force

Unlike Mickelson, the Carolina Hurricanes somehow managed to avoid tripping over the hospitality tent in the Stanley Cup finals.

The former Hartford Whalers stormed out of the gates in taking three of the first four games of the finals series.  Carolina captain Rod Brind'Amour and his mates simply outskated the upstart Edmonton Oilers, and the play of the Hurricanes' rookie goaltender, Cam Ward, was outstanding.  In all, the Oilers looked badly overmatched.

Indeed, Edmonton was the only eighth-seed to make it to the finals in the Stanley Cup history and had already lost starting goaltender Dwayne Roloson to injury in Game 1.  Down 3-1 in the series and the Hurricanes skating circles around them, the Oilers were done, forks stuck in them and all.

However, the underdog Oilers were somehow able to able to rally in Games 5 and 6.  Facing elimination in both games, third-string goalie Jussi Markkanen, winger Fernando Pisani, and defenseman Chris Pronger stirred the echoes of Fuhr, Gretzky, and Messier.

Markkanen stepped in beautifully for Roloson, stopping 37 of Carolina's 40 shots in Games 5 and 6 and recorded a shutout in that pivotal Game 6.  Pisani, the hometown kid made good, hit the game-winning goals in Games 5 and 6.  And Pronger continued in his role as the team's iron man, logging over 30 minutes of ice time per game and operating at plus-3 during those shifts as well.

So as Game 7 loomed, it was Edmonton who was skating on the faster ice, and it was Marknanen, not Cam Ward, who had been standing on his head the past two games.  Carolina, on the other hand, looked to be sinking faster than Phil Mickelson's confidence on the 18^th at Winged Foot.

But as hockey's brightest spotlight bore down on them, the Carolina Hurricanes did something Phil Mickelson could not.  They were able to drive the final nail into an opponent's coffin.

A pair of defensemen, Aaron Ward and Frantisek Kaberle, scored and gave Carolina an early and, as it turned out, insurmountable lead.  Ward's goal, just a minute into the game, set the tone.  Cam Ward went back to standing on his head, stopping 22 of Edmonton's 23 shots in the game.  Two of those saves came on a crucial flurry late in the third period.  Ward first stopped a nasty 15-foot wrister from Raffi Torres and then shot one of his skates out to stuff Fernando Pisani's put-back attempt on the rebound.  And, for his troubles, the rookie goaltender was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs.

An empty-netter with a minute left sealed the 3-1 win for the Hurricanes, and Rod Brind'Amour and his mates were at last able to drink from the Cup.

Putting the "D" in Defeat

A week ago, the Dallas Mavericks held a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals and were cruising towards a dominating Game 3 win on the road.  But something funny happened on the way to Mark Cuban's victory party.  Dwyane Wade convinced his Miami Heat teammates not to let it happen.  Wade thundered down the stretch in Game 3, bad knee and all, scoring 42 points on 14-of-26 shooting.  While Wade's heroics led the way, it was ultimately up to Gary Payton to sink his only shot of the game and wipe out Dallas' 13-point, late 4^th quarter lead.

In Game 4, Dallas completely unraveled.  Wade poured in 36, while Shaq added 17 and 13 boards.  Even James Posey found paydirt, with 15 quick points off the bench.  And the Mavs?  They had gone from sweep to asleep in the span of five quarters.

Game 5 was closer and more controversial, with phantom foul calls playing a prominent role.  But it was Wade again who dominated the box score with a career playoff high of 43 points.  The Heat's one-point overtime win gave Miami a 3-2 series lead and Dallas that hollow feeling of victory slipping through their collective hands.

So, as D-Wade and the Diesel step up the 18^th tee for Game 6, there are a whole lot of people in South Beach hoping they leave the driver in the bag and stay away from the trees and the hospitality tent.