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Wednesday, July 12, 2006
"That" Headbutt
I'm beginning to think that this past World Cup will be remembered simply as the "one where Zidane headbutted the guy". The number of stories about it since Sunday has been astonishing.
What amazes me, though, is the response of some journalists. Perhaps not so much so now, but when there were rumours that Materazzi called him a terrorist, people seemed to think this made Zidance's action justifiable.
It seems to me that violence due to "what someone said" is never justifiable. Just because those words are "terrorist" would not justify attacking someone else. It's a disturbing trend these days - anything referencing terrorism, one is allowed to do whatever they wish. And contrary to what some other columnists seem to want to be seeing, this does lessen Zidane's reputation. Arguing to the contrary reminds me of Prof. Platonov's defense that "just because he did good things in the world of mathematics, he shouldn't be so harshly punished for almost killing his wife".
I'm beginning to think that this past World Cup will be remembered simply as the "one where Zidane headbutted the guy". The number of stories about it since Sunday has been astonishing.
What amazes me, though, is the response of some journalists. Perhaps not so much so now, but when there were rumours that Materazzi called him a terrorist, people seemed to think this made Zidance's action justifiable.
It seems to me that violence due to "what someone said" is never justifiable. Just because those words are "terrorist" would not justify attacking someone else. It's a disturbing trend these days - anything referencing terrorism, one is allowed to do whatever they wish. And contrary to what some other columnists seem to want to be seeing, this does lessen Zidane's reputation. Arguing to the contrary reminds me of Prof. Platonov's defense that "just because he did good things in the world of mathematics, he shouldn't be so harshly punished for almost killing his wife".
Comments:
It's interesting how the pendulum swings on these sorts of things -- in response (finally) to the near-forgiveness of Zindane's actions, there were a couple of columns in today's papers pointing out that trash talk is all over sports, and most people know how to keep their cool.
I think that for many French people who have admired Zidane for so long (especially with his cinderella background), admitting that this incident is a black mark which will forever tarnish his record is too painful. They'd rather make excuses for his actions than admit that their hero acted like a thug.
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I think that for many French people who have admired Zidane for so long (especially with his cinderella background), admitting that this incident is a black mark which will forever tarnish his record is too painful. They'd rather make excuses for his actions than admit that their hero acted like a thug.
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