Zidane

Enough with the Zidane business... I have to make a few confessions to make first!

1. There are two teams in the World Cup I didn't want to win and they were Italy and Portugal.
2. If you wondering if there are underlying racial reaons for this sentiment, well there are. I have many Portuguese and Italian friends, so I have come know just how much they love, well... being Portuguese and Italian.. They don't need any more help.
3. I love just how good a soccer players Zidane is and I wish I could have watched more of him.

Anyways, Zidane decided to lose his cool on possibly the biggest stage possible. I can't think of any other sporting event that is put on such a pedestal as the World Cup. That being said... it should be expected that every media outlet in the world is going to gab on and on and on about it, it is the nature of the beast. There are two arguments that I just plain don't agree with and don't feel that they should weigh into the debate at all.

1. France did not lose because Zidane got red carded... PERIOD! Zidane was able to participate in 1h50m of a soccer game that could have been finished in 1h30m. Yes he also missed the penalty shots, but the last time I checked Zidane was NOT about to play goal and I have never seen a team in any sport lose a penalty shootout without missing a shot. Zidanes impact on the game was tremendous, however, on that day his impact was not good enough.
2. Oh what about the kids who were watching.. what will they do? The are clearly tarnished for life. No there are not tarnished for life! Kids see lots of stuff, both good and bad. Sure over the long haul the things these kids see will have an affect on who they become because each person will sort out their experiences and mold them into the person they are. However, on head butting is not going to change a person for life and if it did there are far bigger consequences that should be weighed here. Those consequences being that the person in question is so easily influenced that they will inevitably be smoking crack in the next few years.

The guy made a mistake... leave him and his legacy be. Besides there are much bigger sports celebrities who have done far worse, such as Brad Mitchell.