"Son of a Terrorist Whore"

Details are starting to emerge about just what prompted Zidane to viciously headbutt Italian player Materazzi in Sunday's World Cup Final. Two UK newspapers, The Daily Mail and the Times, employed lip readers to determine the nature of the words exchanged on the pitch between Zidane and Materazzi during the game. Evidently, while Materazzi was holding Zidane away from the ball, he taunted the French star by saying, "Hold on, wait, that one's not for a nigger like you." (Zidane is of mixed French and Algerian heritage.) Soon after, Materazzi continued with his slurs, saying, "We all know you are the son of a terrorist whore. So just fuck off."

For Materazzi's part, he claims he was only responding to an arrogant staredown and snide comment from Zidane beforehand.

I don't particularly care what was said between the two players (though Materazzi's comments, if those were his actual words, are beneath contempt) because the resulting effect on the game was to diminish the athletic challenge that is the nature of the World Cup itself. It also, needless to say, diminishes the players and demonstrates a weakness in their professionalism. Trash talking is part of any sport (anyone who has ever played Monopoly with me will attest to this), and one would think a player of Zidane's experience would be able to channel his anger at Materazzi, however justified, into his game rather than Materazzi's chest. Materazzi, in successfully baiting a French player who would certainly have been a danger to Italy in the PK round, has shown himself to be a savvy practitioner of foul-drawing, leading an opponent to commit a greivous mistake in the crucial final moments of overtime. Materazzi may or may not be a bigoted asshole, but he's certainly an asshole. But, then, isn't that part of being a professional athlete on the field?

On a somewhat related note, here's a look at some of the front pages of Italian and French newspapers on the day after the Final (via kottke.org).

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Speaking of harrowing incidents, two of my blogging chums have witnessed some disturbing events recently. Schrand, the maestro of Chronicle West, observed two city workers blatantly dumping a brain-damaging toxic substance into a canal that empties into a local creek. We hear about this kind of thing all the time, but Schrand's outraged eyewitness account is a reminder of all the other environmental crimes that we either don't see or choose to ignore.

Indelible Soul reports on another classic American pastime: the SWAT team invasion of a neighborhood where some troubled loner with a gun has barricaded himself and his family in their home. The fun begins, appropriately enough, on the eve of Independence Day.

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On a lighter note, check out these awesome t-shirts.