Headbutt Sullies Soccer’s Image? Oh, Puh-leeze

For what it’s worth, Laurie, ESPN’s end-of-the-year Sportscenter portrayed the headbutt as a positive “that’s enough!” reaction to all the smack talk and violence in sports. (When I heard that, I almost fell of the treadmill in disbelief.) Because, according to Chris Connelly (yes, the same one who used to work for MTV. He’s dripping with credibility.), Zizou was punishing Matrix for insulting his family (didn’t they both say that didn’t happen?), so he’s a hero.

Ok, deep breath. I’m actually getting angry just thinking about it. I’ll try not to go into how the point is that Zizou let down his team, not stood up for the downtrodden right now, when he smashed into Matrix, but come ON.

I guess I’m not sure why everybody needs to assign some Bigger Meaning to it. It was one act in two people’s lives. It didn’t even directly (and probably not even indirectly) affect the outcome of the came.

It was an impulse control issue. It was a “losing the plot” issue. It was completely a part of who Zidane is and was. I have a very interesting YouTube video, in French, of Bixente Lizarazu talking to Zidane after the Portugal game, warning him that the Italians were going to try to make him lose his cool. Zidane says, “Yes, I needed to hear that.” Then it happens anyway. Shakespearean. The king brought down by his fatal flaw.

(Damn. Here I go assigning Bigger Meaning.)

Okay, here’s something that’s not philosophical. My own end-of-year headbutt wrapup: That headbutt was So. Freakin’. Sexy. In a very primal kind of way.(And I have just revealed my deepest, darkest secret to the world. But I know I’m not alone. So score one for soccer in America.)

Laurie – funny how all these pundits built up Zizou into a demi-god during the WC, when he didn’t ask them to, and then they belly ache because he ruined their script. It’s so stupid. Just like they tried to turn Portugal into villains while propping up England’s sorry display. The media plays favorites and they love to pick winners ahead of time for their stories to sell.

Let them play. Let there be controversy and yes let them dive, while the refs hopefully do their jobs. It’s been a great year for footy in my opinion too.

And Martha, ESPN’s coverage is horrible sometimes. Like you said “Dripping with Credibility”.

hello All football fans …. i need a big bog favor … could you help me out with a poll … its an australian poll for South australian of the yr .. and John Aloisis is one of them .. even though you may not no him, could you vote for him (pres vote now as many times as u like .. the more the better … even if u dont like him or know him, it would be very very good for soccer in australia if he win .. plz football fans, lend us a hand .. thanks

here is the link: http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20953089-31624,00.html

thnaks again

HA! Laurie, we had NO idea you felt that way. No, really.

I see no deeper meaning in the headbutt but am still just ranging angry about it, because by doing it Zizou left the team he was supposed to be leading out there to suffer without him. I just cannot get over that. (Try not to hate me for it, Laurie, but I lost a lot of respect for the man over it. I can’t help it, it’s the idealistic former coach and athlete in me, I think.)

You knew? Really? Dang. I thought I’d hidden it so well.

I hear what you’re saying, Martha. But I also see it more from a mom’s perspective. I have one child who is similarly driven and passionate. (Although fortunately slightly less impulsive.) He feels everything with 100% of his person. Even the bad things. He will be hugely successful because of this focus, but it could also be his undoing. Because when he FEELS, whatever he feels at that moment is all there is in the universe for him. And he wasn’t raised in the “mean streets of La Castellane.” (A phrase which appears in every single Zidane article you’ll ever read. Not that I’ve, y’know, read that many.)

I guess if I have a point, it’s that this was Zidane, every bit as much as the roulette and the gorgeous free kicks. You can’t separate the passion — both good and bad — from the person.

(In the immortal words of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, “There were many things in my youth that I’m not proud of… they were loose threads… untidy parts of myself that I wanted to remove. But when I pulled on one of those threads… I unravelled the tapestry of my life.”)

Maybe the miracle isn’t that it ended like this, but that he managed to channel that passion positively as much as he did.

Dang. Here I go again. That Bigger Meaning thing.

Aw, Laurie, you love him. I hear what you’re saying and must admit there’s a good chance I’d think of it the same way if it was Figo instead of Zizou. I still think you’re letting him off easy, but I do get you.

And, yes, there’s something very sexy about a pissed-off footballer.

Also, have you seen the Zidane movie? You need to, obviously. Either way, this is probably the piece of writing of which I’m most proud (yes, even more proud than the post about the pope’s football team), and you’ll totally get it.

Oh, and happy holidays! (I hope you get there before New Years.)

Ladies – thank you for making this a “a kinder, gentler” blog. Nice to hear some real point of views expressed without underlying aggression.

Football is first and foremost a spectacle. We watch and then impose upon the spectacle, and it’s participants, our deepest emotions and passions. That’s why it’s so tumultuous. Players are not different. They have their nature and we should not expect them to be anything but themselves. Hopefully we all grow from experience, but emotions can get carried away at any age.

We all lived that head butt. It could not have happened any other way. To change it would be to unthread what makes us, us. Zizou is still a giant of the pitch and always will be. This WC was bumpy, but the drama was no less worthy of the greatest stage on Earth.

A kinder, gentler blog? Oh, shoot. My estrogen is showing.

(Hate when that happens.)

Thanks, Luis. You’re a good addition to the mix as well. “… the drama was no less worthy of the greatest stage on Earth.” Well put.

Martha, I SO want to see that movie. A French audiomagazine I subscribe to did a piece on how it was made a couple of months ago and I’ve been dying to see it ever since. I am patient. I will wait.

P.S. Would it freak you out to know that I’d already read your review? (And, of course, loved it.) Google is a frighteningly powerful thing.

HA! Well, the review got a comment from a woman I WAS IN LINE NEXT TO at the movie who saw it because of a “Zidane” newsfeed. So no — I actually almost didn’t bother b/c I though maybe you’d be alerted the moment it went live. It’s a magnificent movie in about a billion different ways, even for those without a Zizou obsession. I can’t wait for you to see it. (Do you have a region-free DVD player? I just preordered it here.)

And Martha, you’re probably right. I am letting him off easy. Especially since he was captain of the team. But, y’know, moms do tend to cut their kids some slack occasionally.

And pursuing that thought is just…icky. So I’m done now.

*reads Marth and Laurie’s comments*

*squishes them togther in her arms*

I love you guys.