World Cup Final - France v. Italy

My friend believes that the NBA is rigged (ala the game ending foul calls in favor of Wade in 2 of the Finals games). If France had won, cynics could certainly have believed the World Cup was rigged by giving Zindane a penalty kick in the first 10 min to give France its first and only goal on what looked like a ridiculously simple contact among players. But Italy won and thus it is hard to blame the outcome on officiating, so TSA maybe there is hope for a cynic, after all.

Zindane, Zindane, Zindane…oh mon dieu…what are we to think of you...retiring as the captain of the world cup team with the Final your last game…what a story…wait a minute it gets better, double overtime, and still tied, and you get to kick penalty kicks for the world championship…and what is this I hear – you are the BEST in history! This is your moment…or so the story could have been. Instead, you couldn’t hold your composure for 2 more minutes, you had to headbutt a guy’s chest. What--Did the guy call your mom fat? She probably is, get over it. And so your legacy ends as the headbutt guy. This will now be a lasting memory for big game mental follies and replacing the indelible Chris Webber time out as number 1 on my list. On the world stage, double overtime, a professional – inexcusable. Who knows with Zindane in the line up during the penalty kicks if the outcome would have been any different.

But can the French hate this guy…yes, but not completely. We must remember, without Zindane’s Academy Award winning flop in the first ten minutes, France wouldn’t have scored at all. So we would have never gotten to the overtimes for the head-butt to begin with.

So Congratulations Italy, sorry to Trezeguet of France who missed his penalty kick. And congratulations to Puma for winning the Sponsorship war over its brother Adidas.

And if you'd like to do some of your own headbutting - Enjoy this submission by J.R.