Right. The fatal flaw is putting the power to diminish one's selfhood in one's opponent's hands. True sportsmen don't do that.
 

The second sentence there is nicely put. But can we at least balance it with, "True sportsmen don't call their opponents 'terrorist'"?
 

According to the latest reports, the Italian in question admits to flinging an insult of a variety common on the professional football pitch (perhaps the "whore" comment?), but not to using the word "terrorist", which he claims to be too ignorant to even understand. Since Zidane has not yet spoken, I suppose we have to take this at face value. Sure, it wasn't nice to trash talk, the practice is perhaps akin to diving, its the way less talented players tend to even things out, but is it unsportsmanliike -- or are we just being too precious for our own good?
 

I don't take Materazzi's words at face value...if he had called Zidane's sister a whore, would he now admit that? Doubtful.
 

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Yup,"its the way less talented players tend to even things out."
Are you kidding us?
Yes, Michael Jordan was less talented than most NBA players. So was Larry Bird. Two of the greatest trash talkers were also two of the greatest players.
Trash talking is common on the pitch and common on the gridiron. Common on the diamond and common on the rink.
Unfortunately, that's the reality of the way things are.
More importantly, Zizou has a history of unsportsmanlike conduct and this was a particularly notorious instance of it.
Why don't you (anon #3) address the issue of Zidane deliberately trying to hurt an opponent. He did it on Sunday and he did it eight years ago in the World Cup as well.
 

12:15 anon, not one person that knows anything about the NBA, or actually watched Jordan play for that matter, would agree with you that he "was less talented than most NBA players." That's actually the most idiotic statement I've seen in print in recent memory, on any subject. This is what happens when Harvard folks try to comment on pop-culture or sports--one of those uncomfortable Woody Allen-type moments.

Sorry, but someone needed to speak to that nonsense. I understood your basic point, but your example was so hugely flawed as to even warrant a retraction.
 

to 12:51 anon: I believe 12:15 anon was employing irony on the issue of NBA talent.
 

Yes, I now believe you're right--sorry anon 12:15. I read it as arguing that Jordan made up for lesser talent with mind games. All NBA players do indeed talk smack, the greats included--the most famous of which was Pippen's comment to Karl Malone before freethrows that "the mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays." Big leap from that, however, to calling someone a "son of a terrorist whore." Basketball players tend to talk trash about their opponents skills--not their race or their family (other than, perhaps, references to "yo-momma").
 

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Please delete the "yo-momma" comment. As well all know, Italians don't speak jive.
 

to anon 1:10 (and 12:51).
Glad you finally got the irony that I intended.
Now you said "Basketball players tend to talk trash about their opponents skills--not their race or their family ."
You really are kidding, aren't you?
Have you ever listened to trash talk. I think not. Go to an NBA game and pretend you know something about sports. Walk down to courtside and listen for a minute. "son of a terrorist whore" is baby talk.
You can't get irony; you don't know much about sports. You accuse me of being part of "Harvard folks."
Why don't you address the issue of deliberately trying to hurt an opponent (don't forget Zidane did this twice in the World Cup), rather than trying to be PC.
Wake up... he deliberately tried to hurt an opponent on the field of play. What do you have to say about that?
 

No, I meant the original "yo-momma" comment -- not the immediately preceding comment about how idiotic all this eggheaded speculation is. To paraphrase, "I know NBA Basketball players, they are friends of mine. They trash talk about ANYTHING - race, family, religion, facial appearance, sexual prowess, you name it." See The Dozens.
 

I wonder if the analogy between the NBA and the World Cup isn't misleading. In the NBA, trash talk is an art form, and everyone knows it's bullshit, exaggeration, hyperbole. Is it the same at the Cup? (Where, after all, people speak different languages.) And is calling someone the son of a dirty terrorist beyond the bounds of even trash talk?

In any case, even in the NBA there are lines that you cross at your own risk, and I suspect that most players know that.
 

And now even the fans in Detoit know that.
 

Getting one's Shakespeare quotes off of the MTA's "Poetry in Motion" series (the Othello quote's up on the subways now) somehow fails to impress.
 

It wasn't supposed to impress. The person who sent it along was well aware of where it came from.
 

YOU walk down to courtside and call a player a "son of a terrorist whore" and you'll be leveled, just like those fans in Detroit. The same goes for another player. I don't recall too many people going for Bird or Jordan's throats--that's because most people know their limitations.
 

Anon 4:40
I don't think you have a clue about the NBA. Do you and anon 12:51 hang out together?
You said:"I don't recall too many people going for Bird or Jordan's throats--that's because most people know their limitations."
Anon 12:15 was saying that Jordan and Bird were the trash talkers and they (and others) can get away with a lot more than "son of terrorist whore."
Also, no one was saying that a spectator should mouth those words.
Why did you choose to make that up.
Go to courtside and listen... mothers, grandmothers, uncles, brothers... all fair game in the NBA (and NFL)in some of the worst vituperation imaginable. I'm not saying it is the right thing; I'm saying this is reality. It is an effort to get into the opposing player's head.
However, why has no one... no one addressed the question of deliberately trying to injure another player. Would that be too embarrassing for you in assessing Zidane's conduct.
 

Anyone who walks down to "courtside" and calls Dywane Wade a "son of a terrorist whore" will be laughed at.
 

Anyone who posts anything really funny on this blog will be deleted.