Yeah, yeah.

 If Zidane had come better prepared , he could have blown Materrrazi and himself up to settle the matter. 

Buzz Kill

Imagine if the greatest footballer of our generation was a Jew. That's right: imagine Zidane, who is the greatest footballer of our generation, as a Jew. Now imagine that a German (or Italian — who were also fascists) calls him a "dirty Jew."

The offender's reputation would be smeared by all the Jewish run newspapers in town, he would be branded a racist and he would be sued by a high powered attorney for slander.

But there would definitely be no "fisticuffs."

Buzz Kill

In American football, basketball, hockey, boxing, etc, players taunt each other all the time with racial slurs, or about each others’s mothers and sisters. They try to make the other player lose his cool and commit a foul. It is an old trick and most seasoned players don’t fall for it. I feel sorry for them both. It does neither of them any credit. And a son should not have to pay for the sins of the father. They are young men, and inshallah, this is a lesson for them in later times, when their playing days are behind them.

Ginan Rauf

One is so terribly sorry for Zidane. What a shame to end his
career in such a fashion, taunted by a racist continent- including-
the right wing in his ‘‘own’‘ country. So the two European countries
had a chance to show off their teams and to expose the failure of
the human spirit too as displayed in this persistent racism. I
wish Zidaine had the strength and compsure to restrain himself, to
win the cup. Alas he is only human. All that has befallen him fits
right into the stereotype of the racist. They drive people mad with
their racism and then gloat when people lose it, all the while
disguising their own hysteria. They cannot take it that people with
darker complexions are human. And if it is affirmed that the Italian
player used a racial slur then what kind of a victory is that for Italy?

i guess the lesson here is that even “progressive” islam will try to justify violence.

So many good points Ginan.  

I was reading how Ann Coulter was reconsidering the McCarthy period as something positive and maligned by "liberals" (of course).

If you look down the blogroll here: you will see all the same cultish paranoid hysteria: Gates of Vienna, SCA, Shrinkwrapped, Pat Insanity, Anchoress sometimes. 

What is someone supposed to do withe these intolerable, unreasonable people. It IS infuritating to be told by Siggy whether a woman should wear a head scarf or not. 

 "Shut the hell up!" what do you know about it? 

 But they never shut up…

We need a halal, non toxic drug to block out right-wing receptors in the brain. 

Buzz Kill

Ali, I totally called it. I saw the incident and the first thing I thought was, “Ali will not let this go lying down.”

GR: “They drive people mad with
their racism and then gloat when people lose it, all the while
disguising their own hysteria. They cannot take it that people with
darker complexions are human.”

Ameen. That sums it all up for me. Zidane is pretty fair-skinned, but race has become an ethereal taint in the 21st century, as reliant on a complex apparatus of origin and creed as on skin color. I almost think that the clumsy brutality of simple skin-color discrimination was an easier beast to fight than the passive-aggressive monster we’ve raised in its wake.

I think they should have red-carded ‘em both. As much as I sympathize with Zidane, what he did was wrong. But it wasn’t more wrong than what this other guy pulled, and it would have been nice if they were held equally accountable.

Sh!t talking is part of professional sports.
It comes with the territory.

As Irving said.

I think what put Zizou in a bad mood was missing the header. The mafioso just exploited his mood.

Buzz Kill

Zidane deserved the red card. The ref had no choice. He did not know what was said to Zidane. But now that the match is over and if it is proven that Materrazzi did use a racial slur, than FIFA should ban him from the next few international games and give him a hefty fine. It was a sad end to a
glittering career. But the fact remains. Zidane is the greatest of his generation. If he had manged to win this cup
though, he would be spoken of at the same level of Pele and
Maradona.

Ginan Rauf   Willow you are so right. The verbal wounding is not recognized because   it is elusive, difficult to trace. It eludes the camera. it is the psychological   torment that doesn't leave a trace and absolves the perpetrator of responsibility.    Reminds me of that wonderful  novel Mrs. Dalloway. Septimus warren    returns from War and is shell shocked, what we call suffering from post    traumatic disorder today. The mental establishment tells him to get a    sense of proportion, to act like a man because where is the hurt. Aren't   some forms of psychological torture actually designed to leave no trace on   the body.    Yes, they should have both been red carded.    aaa- who says verbal wounding isn't a form of violence?    a question for sports buffs- definitely not me- is this really the first time   the camera is used to red card someone? 

It’s perverse isn’t it. He brushes it off, shrugs it off and no one would know what exchanges had taken place. Bigotry is allowed to go on. He does what he does and as you said the bigots gloat. Not only that, but human nature is taken out of the picture and people such as aaa here come in and preach about muslims justifying violence.

Personally, I wish he showed some restraint.

There’s got to be a better way of dealing with it. Writing about the experience comes to mind.

FIFA rules forbid camera referenced violations. The forth referee said he saw it. The French coach (and I ) believe that is a lie.

There was a long delay for such a obvious violation.

But violations happen constantly. Only a fraction get called.

Buzz Kill

He stood up for himself. I’m with him on this one.

You’ve got it wrong.

George Weah had the best example. He waited till AFTER the game to let a racist Portuguese defender know his response.

Weah, the greatest African player ever, broke the man’s nose.

Zin al-Din should’ve helped France win the World Cup. He could then have stuck the boot (or his forehead) into the racist Italian player, racist European fans who insult black players, and the racist bastards in France who think the team is too “black”.

And then, perhaps, head butted the shite out of Materrazi in the tunnel.

Zidane is a hero to a culture that rarely finds itself looking up to such idols. Is it fair for some “professional” Italian (scandelous) player to brusquely insult, not only the man’s dignity, but his faith? I believe in an eye for an eye, however, in this situation, I believe it was…an insult for a headbutt in the chest. The arab part of Zidane was revealed.

Cheers

FLY RACIST FLY!

Once in a while I just love to see a racist get knocked into the air by some guy’s frickin’ head.

Zidane took his head (read:mind) and crushed Materrazzi’s chest (read:heart)

Love hurts.

(of course I too will recant if it proves otherwise)

Hi Danny

What part of the Arab world is your specialty?

Did you live in the Middle East for some time? You sound quite "knowledgeable."

Buzz Kill

M. baited him on his mom who is on her deathbed, the Italian coach knew Z. knows Italian well and all the buttons to push. Z’s problem was falling for the bait. It was a chess move to insult him like that. Whatever, insults, head-butts, it is sports, this is typical. They should do what we do in American Sports. Fine the people involved, make someone publicly apologize for saying the bad thing so fans will know that the sport “does not approve” and move on. In pro-wrestling news, a while back Randy Orton made a “poo” in one of the female wrestler’s gym bag. This all happened off-camera, not part of any wrestling narrative. Orton was promptly scheduled to wrestle Kurt Angle who proceeded to “break” Orton’s ankle. Orton was thus secretly suspended for the violation (and fined) for a few months. RVD recently got pulled over on the road and the cop discovered a bag of weed in the car. He was suspended for 3 months, had to drop both champ belts he was holding and the show did spots by other wrestlers saying “My only addiction is wrestling.” If the amoral WWE can figure out how to deal with these things, then it is not rocket science. Who is the Italian’s PR person? Sheesh!

Whether we like it or not, and although I have always some kind of sympathy for the Italians, they however did very nastily steal the win from the French by provoking Zidane, especially Materazzi. I do not think this is real victory for them at all. The French, full with chivalry, proved once again the whole time that they were at the control, despite the referee’s biased attitude for the Italians (except at the very beginning) and Zidane has been, is, and shall be forever one of the greatest, such as Pele, Platini and Beckinbauer.

Hey Buzz,

I’m only 17 but I am from Damascus, Syria.

All those praising Zidane should back up a moment and take stock of the facts, as we know them presently.

- We don’t know what was said between the two players
– You can’t assume France would have won with Zidane. You can say France had momentum, you can say Zidane is the best, but you can’t pretend they definitely would have won.
– The overwhelming response to Zidane’s headbutt has been disappointment, shame, confusion. How can one claim that Zidane’s momentary abandon had a positive effect when compared to the negative? Maybe he hurt one racist, but he confirmed the beliefs of 500 million others.

Well put eck.

Society over-glorifies the undeserving.

Zidane is a professional athlete and, as such, sort of an overgrown boy. Anyone who has spent much time around pro athletes knows many are stuck in a state of suspended evolution, emotionally.

We look to athletes and musicians and actors to lead the way, be heros and solve the worlds problems. And when they take themselves too seriously, some of them actually take up the challenge.

For every Bob Geldof and Bono, there are tons of Kate Moss’s and Michael Jackson’s who buckle under the weight.

The only thing better than a strong hero is a scandal about a weak human being who made it all the way to the top just to be shamed and slamed down.

“Straw dogs” as they are known in Chinese culture.

Buzz Kill

Hi Danny 17

Were you born in Syria?

When you said, "The arab part of Zidane was revealed" what part were you speaking of?

Thanks

Buzz Kill

Here’s the deal, I think it’s pretty safe to say that Zidane is a great player, and that he faced a lot of difficulties because of his ethnicity.

I would like to be proven wrong on this one, and I would like it to be revealed that Materazzi did not, in fact, insult Zidane’s ethnicity.

However, racism has long overshadowed the game of football and Zidane’s career. Maybe we can all learn from this.

As for taunting in general… It’s going to happen. Sometimes you can rise above it, sometimes you’re not going to.

A good analogy would be the sorts of things that photographers do to get a reaction out of famous people. Ben Affleck, for example, was told, on several occasions, stuff like, “I saw you with your mom at [insert awards show here], wow, she looked like a total whore.” Affleck restrained himself from punching the guy, but I personally find that remarkable.

It’s very, very hard to keep your cool in such situations. Are was asking Zidane to do something we would have a hard time doing ourselves? This is besides the sweat, the fatigue, and the pain in his shoulder…

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want the Cup to be taken away from Italy or anything, and let’s face it, a red-card was deserved, but the larger implications of all of this just seem so terribly depressing to me.

Ginan Rauf

Hi Danny – 17 and born in Syria. you are exactly my son’s age.
anyway, not to act like an Arab/American mom or anything but don’t fall for this nonesense about Arab predilection for revenge or an
eye for an eye or tribal warfare. Remember when Europeans
slaughter each other it’s called World War I or two. When Arabs or
Africans do it’s called tribal warfare, sectarian fighting. Arabs take
revenge and others retaliate. Watch the language.

You mean to tell me that Arabs aren’t vicious, revenge-minded psychos? Next thing you’ll be saying that they don’t like to get freaky with goats!

(that was a joke. please don’t head-butt me.)

Buzz, the “arab” part was meant as a joke, I am arabic…so that would obviously mean there was no insult intended. However, I also cannot tell whether or not you’re remark was sarcastic or not heh, Let me know.

Thanks,
Danny

Hi Ginan, I was just reading over your reply. I am very open minded and optimistic, and to be frankly honest, I have my own beliefs about many things, regarding an eye for an eye. I actually think that this idea is wrong, for it has only polluted our history of violence. I thank you for your concern however, it is much appreciated. I do believe that what Zidane did was quite over the edge, but when such insults are presented in front of a man who has been harassed over the years for his culture, family, religion, lifestyle, and whatever else is vulnerable, his reaction seems quite expected.

Thanks Again,
Danny

>>then what kind of a victory is that for Italy?

A pretty clever (and dirty, too) one, since Zidane got booted from the game…

 
- A Salafi in worship, a Sufi in society, a Secularist in government.

Ginan Rauf

Precisely: dirty. The trick is to make the clever dishonorable in
the court of public opinion.

Indeed. I’m holding my breath for the full investigation, and i’m torn. I truely hope that he wasn’t subjected to a racist insult, but i am convinced that he was and reacted accordingly.

You’re very right about “sportsmanship” and civility being a one way street.

Danny

You are a pretty smart kid. Keep going! You might just make it big.

I was not being sarcastic as much a probing. Usually, some smart ass comes in with an attitude that sounded to me like yours and says something stupid about Arabs.

I was checking to see if you were some junior racist. As you explained yourself, it is clear that you have a healthy mind and I am relieved.

I complain and say all kinds of rotten things about my family. But I don't let anyone talk about them the way I do. Won't tolerate it.

I feel the same way about being an American. There are lots of things Americans can say about being American that are not so hot. I agree with some and others I don't agree. But I won't listen to an outsider criticize Americans.

You being Arab explains everything I needed to know.

Buzz Kill

Look. If taking racial slurs and constant criticism is the no norm then Zidane should’ve showed some tolerance to it. He is a classy player and he totally made himself look bad by letting loose his anger like that. The man was guarding something that he can not change/help, let it go Zidane. Obviously, someone has said that to you before, just stfu and win a soccer game. By defending Zidane, you are saying that it is okay for Ron Artest to fist fight, The MLB player (pardon me I dont remember his name) to punch a cameraman and damage his camera, and worst of all that violence is a “cool” way to solve your problems.

Peace.