I've had a little time to digest Zidane headbutt ("coup de boule") situation, and the various responses to and analyses of it. The general consensus seems to be that Zidane made a mistake, that he's human, that no matter what Materazzi said, Zidane's response was wrong.
I disagree.
Moreover, I have heard very little discussion about how far someone is allowed to go in taunting another player verbally. The presumption seems to be that players can and will say anything to provoke their opponents, that it's part of the game, and that a physical response to a non-physical verbal assault is always wrong. The Gandhi-respecting pacifist in me wants to agree with the latter part, about not responding with violence. But, I disagree with the first part, i.e., that a player can say anything to you.
The problem is, in this case we had a French-Algerian being taunted by an Italian. But I'll tell you what, if we had a French-African being taunted with racial slurs, or if we had an African-American on the receiving end of the N-word, or if someone said something about Tiger Woods' father (God rest his soul)--if there was a physical response to those situations, a LOT more people would be saying it was justified, understandable, etc. etc.
I think that every culture has it's set of taboos, those subjects or words that are "fightin' words" and are uttered at one's peril. In Zidane's case, according to him, Materazzi (who has a well-known reputation for his foul mouth and foul play--a quick look on YouTube.com will bear this out) made comments about Zidane's mother and sister too offensive to repeat.
I liked that Zidane apologized to the children watching, but refused to say that he regretted it, or that he wouldn't do it again in the same situation.
Quite honestly, I respect the message that his act sent out, which, as I read it, is this: there are certain things that you cannot say to me with impunity -- even if I risk being thrown out of the World Cup, I will not allow you to cross a certain line. And I'll bet that Mr. Materazzi will think twice before he utters similar comments to the next player.
For me, it would be unjust to strip Zidane of his Best Player of the World Cup award without knowing what was said to him by Materazzi. Otherwise, we cannot have a sense of how reasonable/unreasonable it was for him to have reacted as he did, or at least to verify that there was a provocation and some guilt to be shared.
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No defense for Mr.Zidane. If he must assault another player because of a verbal provocation(heard by no other, btw) then he is in the wrong profession. Hell, those mama and sister taunts, insults or ranks as we used to call them go back to my Jr. High School days. An everyone does or should know there is no truth to them and its just nonsense being spouted. For a professional soccer player to react like that considering all the circumstances is so crazy...I've been watching professional sports for 40 years and that ranks right up there with Mike Tyson biting an ear as one of the most bizarre and dumbest things I have ever seen.
And Spincycle sey: "I'll bet that Mr. Materazzi will think twice before he utters similar comments to the next player."
If anything, the whole thing was planned to goad Zindane into reacting knowing he has a history of being something of a hothead.
Materazzi wasn't injured and the Italians got the advantage and won the cup while Zidane was disgraced in front of millions. Of course I dont approve of verbal taunts of any kind, its bad sportsmanship, but by reacting with violence and getting ejected you are just encouraging that kinda thing as it became: Advantage Italiano. So sure, he would do it again under the circumstances, why not?
I'm sorry, but its beyond me how anyone can think that was the right thing to do.
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