World Cup, cry baby athletes, and poor sportsmanship
 

Stan4dSteph asked I make another thread rather than continue a derail so here I go.

First of all, I watched maybe 90 minutes of the world cup in total. 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there, and highlights, or lowlights as they might be called.

I despise a lot pro athletics because of the egos and attitudes of an ugly minority. The world cup seemed to take the cake though.

During the live action I watched, I saw dives and fakery that should embarrass anyone attempting to use such tactics and still call themselves an athlete.

I saw what could be the biggest cheap shot I've ever seen, by France's Zidane, not live, but I think well within context.

I've seen whining by grown men about calls and officiating and whatever.

In coaching HS atheletics, I don't let players fake. I don't let players cry or whine. If they do, they take the bench. If one did something like Zidane, he'd be off the team, and most likely suspended by the governing HS athletic body anyway (taking a swing in AZ is a one game suspension. Aggravating factors may be cause for a season ending suspension.)

There is no excuse for taking cheap shots. Period. I don't care what Italy was doing to Zidane. He's a hot head and an embarrassment to France. He has a track record (or so I've heard) of such things.

S4S said in another thread that she didn't blame him. I don't see how anyone can not blame him. Grown men are responsible for their own actions.

I've always been tired of US professional athletes being treated like a special class. Apparently it is more world wide than I had thought.

Not that I particularly condone it, but the diving and whining plays a larger role than just diving and whining. Certainly there is some of that (just as there is in any 30 seconds of an NBA game) but they serve a more strategic purpose.

First of all, soccer is a sport that relies on just one on field referee (the assistant judges on the lines don't get to call on-field fouls; just off sides and possession). This means that frequently he is out of position and could be 50 feet or more away from the action when play is moving fast. So when illegal contact happens you want to make sure that guy way over there sees it. I don't know about other people but I was trained to overreact to contact once possession was lost anyway.

And in a sport that doesn't stop being "hurt" for 30 seconds is frequently much appreciated by everybody.

I forgot to watch the game and turned it on in time to see the medal distribution so I can't comment on the specific plays but in general the things you complain about are just part of soccer. It is like complaining about intentional delays of game at the end of a basketball game. You can, and technically you have a point but that's just the way it is.

Perhaps that's why I just don't like soccer, then. I don't dispute your NBA comment either - I don't lie pro athletics at all, particularly the NBA.

I suppose I see intentionally trying to deceive an official who is all by himself as kind of, well, cheating and unsportsmanlike. But if that's part of soccer, then it's part of soccer.

However, what Zidane did shouldn't be part of anything. Except cage fighting.

Well, he did say he's retiring from soccer, so maybe you've spotted his next move?

"Introducing the fighter to my left, straight from the World Cup, the Frenchman Insane Zidane!"

There is a lot of diving in soccer, but there are some teams that are much worse than others. Argentina and Italy seem to be particularly bad.

There are 2 line judges that assist the referee, but there is stuff that is missed.

I'll take soccer over the NBA, NFL or baseball though.

At least when I was playing it wasn't so much deceiving the official as much as making sure they could see what was going on. That is, an illegal tackle is an illegal tackle whether you fall down or not but the ref is much more likely to call if if you fall down.

Of course, the incentive to not start falling to the ground every time another player was near is that eventually they'd start giving you reason to hit the ground.

That headbutt looked like it hurt! Ouch!
What an asshole...

More details about the incident are emerging. Here's a story with details.

Apparently the Italian player was calling Zizou the "son of a terrorist whore" and making other vulgar and racist remarks.

"Son of a terrorist whore?"
Wow. Harsh.
:D