So Much for Stopping Racism

Before the World Cup started, FIFA's biggest concern surrounding the tournament was the scattered incidents of racism that had occurred inside and outside some of the stadiums during the qualifying rounds. Mostly it was white fans yelling racial slurs at black players on opposing teams. As a result, before the start of every World Cup game, one player from each team would take a microphone at the center of the field and recite a pledge to Stop Racism in Soccer.

To the horror of FIFA officials, it now appears that one of the most memorable moments of the Cup was sparked by a racial comment. Although Zinedine Zidane has not confirmed it, his family and sources with the French team say that Italian player Marco Materazzi called Zidane "a dirty terrorist", referring to Zidane's Algerian heritage on his mother's side.

I don't know if that kind of insult really calls for a head-butt to the chest, but let's put this in perspective. If someone came up to you and head-butted you in the chest, you would NOT go flying off your feet and lie motionless on the ground for several minutes after the impact. At most, you would feel slight discomfort in your sternum and possibly break out in laughter at the sight of someone doing that to you. Congratulations to Materazzi for flopping just long enough to get the ref's attention, so he could look at the replay of the head-butt on the Jumbotron and issue a red card 5 minutes AFTER the incident happened. I'm not saying Zidane shouldn't have been ejected for his actions, but let's design a new Oscar-like golden statue for Best Actor in the Cup. Any number of Italian or Portugese players would have been eligible for the award. Unfortunately, they were also 2 of the 4 semifinalists.

Memo to Zidane: If somebody calls you a "dirty terrorist" on the street, do not try that head-butt to the chest move. Go for the bridge of the nose. It will deviate your opponent's septum and render him unconscious all at the same time. Just a little tip from me to you.